{"id":834,"date":"2012-05-12T20:00:26","date_gmt":"2012-05-12T20:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.71.127.204\/wordpress\/?p=834"},"modified":"2015-10-13T17:42:50","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T17:42:50","slug":"reo-speedwagon-w-styx-woodlands-pavilion-spring-tx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/2012\/05\/12\/reo-speedwagon-w-styx-woodlands-pavilion-spring-tx\/","title":{"rendered":"REO Speedwagon w\/ Styx – Woodlands Pavilion – Spring, TX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Written by Dave Clements <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
May 12, 2012 at 07:00 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Image\"I\u2019m not sure I have had the opportunity to sit outside on a more beautiful mid-May night in Texas AND I have been here for over 30 years. Over twelve thousand people were with me as a nice cool north breeze blew through the The Woodlands Pavilion just as the sun was setting and REO Speed Wagon hit the stage.<\/p>\n

When Kevin Cronin kicked it off with Don\u2019t Let Him Go he and his band mates stayed on the GO right through a 12 song set that ended with Ridin\u2019 The Storm Out.<\/p>\n

Cronin and his \u2018cronies\u2019 came ready to please and if you were there I would be very surprised if you reached any other conclusion than mine.\u00a0 Mission accomplished!<\/p>\n

I would have gotten some way better shots in the HMR Photo Gallery but not for the fact that I had to shoot straight up at the band. Literally, we had about three feet to maneuver just below the mics.\u00a0 Certainly not the most flattering angle to shoot aging rock stars!<\/p>\n

\"Image\"As is usually the case the stage set and lighting were terrific for both REO\u2019s and Styx\u2019s sets.\u00a0 When it comes to this aspect of the show, the Pavilion really has it\u2019s act together!<\/p>\n

The guys stopped their set to pay tribute to one of America\u2019s heroes,\u00a0 Astronaut Douglas Wheelock, who came out and presented the band with an old REO cassette that he had taken on his last mission into space;\u00a0 The band was really loving the opportunity to have Wheelock there to help them kick off their song Fly, which was well received by the NASA friendly crowd!!\u00a0 That same crowds\u2019 collective voice resonated throughout the pavilion and across the lawn as they sang along to the chorus\u2026.\u201dTime For Me To Fly\u201d!\u00a0\u00a0 And as voices rose high in the cool night air, the perfect visual, a \u2018space video\u2019, played on the rear screen behind the band.<\/p>\n

I am happy to report there were no shout outs for \u2018FREEBIRD\u2019, or if there were they were thankfully drowned out by the enthusiastic audience.<\/p>\n

The musical lowlight of the opening set was Bruce Hall, bass player, doing Lead Vocals for a song.\u00a0 Kevin and Neal Doughty, the only remaining original member of the band, gave Hall and the song\u00a0 Back On The Road a big build up.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"Unfortunately as soon as Brother Bruce was at the helm alone it was obvious he wasn\u2019t quite up to the task.\u00a0 It sounded off key, clearly a mistake.\u00a0 Hope there isn\u2019t a requirement in his contract that he must be allowed to sing one song at each performance.\u00a0 If so, the next time you\u00a0 have the opportunity to see them it may be a good time to buy a beer, even at this venue\u2019s ridiculously inflated prices.<\/p>\n

What did work,very well, was Rolling With The Changes and the encore that started with Keep On Lovin\u2019 You, followed by The Storm.<\/p>\n

Styx is a band I had seen many years ago at the Astrodome, I think.\u00a0 It was over twenty years ago and I MAY have been slightly under the influence that night.\u00a0 I remember two things about that show, although a little fuzzy, and that is that they were really loud and that they sounded just like their records!\u00a0 I was so blown away!\u00a0 So I knew those memories were going to create an issue for second time around (especially totally sober).\u00a0\u00a0 Sure enough it did however I am happy to report that it didn\u2019t ruin the evening for me.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"Tommy Shaw kicked off their 11 song set with Blue Collar Man and had a bit of a rough start vocally but fortunately had great Styx\u00a0 music backing him up.\u00a0 Vocals were \u2018in stride\u2019 by the time Grand Illusion started and the band was really on a roll for Too Much Time.\u00a0 (By the way, no one should have too much time on their hands.\u00a0 The reality is there\u2019s \u2018No Time To Kill\u2019!)<\/p>\n

For me the evening\u2019s musical highlight was Keyboardist Lawrence Gowan singing Lady. Certainly a terrific song in my book of favorites and I just liked the guy\u2019s effort to perform.\u00a0 He played some terrific keyboards in a very animated sort of way.\u00a0 I think it shows in the Photo Gallery \u2013 check it out!\u00a0 Also interesting, and unusual, he posed for me, an exclusive shot, period, paragraph.\u00a0 Can you pick it out?<\/p>\n

The evening ended with a musical trifecta – paying 50 to 1 !\u00a0 Come Sail Away , the winner, Rockin the Paradise to Place, and Renegade to Show. Game over!\u00a0 All in all, a wonderful experience, an evening of terrific bands giving it their best\u00a0 for the long term to dedicated, grateful, and spirited fans.\u00a0 Hope we see them again their next time around!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Dave Clements May 12, 2012 at 07:00 PM I\u2019m not sure I have had the opportunity to sit outside on a more beautiful mid-May night in Texas AND I have been here for over 30 years. Over twelve thousand people were with me as a nice cool north breeze blew through the The… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-concert-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":835,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}