KANSAS Carries On With The Classics At Parx: Music Review

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —No one can ever touch the classic lineup of Kansas. But this latest lineup comes pretty close.

Celebrating 50 years as a band, Kansas rolled into Parx Casino last Saturday night with one original member, guitarist Richard Williams, in tow. (Original drummer Phil Ehart missed the show with a hand injury and was replaced by drum technician Eric Holmquist.) Not that it mattered because this performance of complex chord progressions captured every note and then some.

Kansas carries on with such sound musicianship and musical interaction between Williams, bassist Billy Greer, violinist/guitarist David Ragsdale and keyboardist Tom Breslin. And then there’s singer Ronnie Platt who provides soaring vocals to match his stage enthusiasm.

This group has two of the greatest all-time songs in its catalogue. One you hear in grocery stores, maybe at the dentist or a wedding. The other is always ranked in the Top 10 of the greatest classic rock songs.

Another opens their set. That’s “Point of Know Return,” the classic song from the classic album title that the band had performed in its entirety the past few years.

What followed was a bombardment of classic album cuts and hits that the band played to perfection with Williams, Breslin and Ragsdale trading off riffs and playing off one another as Platt captured the spirit of vocalist Steve Walsh, always considered underrated by many but truly one of the finest classic rock singers ever.

The group tried to represent every era, offering “What’s on my Mind,” two from “Masque” in “Two Cents Worth” and “Icarus,” the staple “The Wall,” and the first song from the first album in 1973, “Can I Tell You.” This band re-recorded a version that will be featured on an upcoming classic hits package.

The band showed off its versatility by switching to a four-song acoustic set with excellent versions of “People of the South Wind” and “Hold On,” two hits for Kansas in 1979/1980.

You can close your eyes and listen to “Dust in the Wind” like it should be played in a church. It’s that magical and spiritual. It always has been.

Greer talked about how songwriter/guitarist Kerry Livgren wrote it out of a fingerpicking exercise while Platt delivers a Walsh-like vocal and Ragsdale plays the amazing violin solo made famous by the late Robby Steinhardt.

What really makes this new version of Kansas special is that it can produce new music that fits in with the classic style of the band’s history. The band played the ballad “Memories Down the Line” and progressive rocker “Throwing Mountains” that shows that this group can certainly carry on in the future. Credit goes to Breslin, who has provided fresh energy and such keyboard flourishes that are even better than what Walsh ever offered.

The final four numbers mix vocalist John Elefante’s short, successful run with “Play the Game Tonight,” and “Fight Fire With Fire,” an excellent MTV video back in the day. They’re balanced by “Sparks of the Tempest” and the closer “Miracles Out of Nowhere” that has Greer and Platt trading off vocals just like Walsh and Steinhardt used to do.

And then Kansas goes out with a long-lasting memory as the crowd filters into the Bensalem Township casino. Nothing is more perfect than “Carry on My Wayward Son.”

It offers everything that makes this song a classic, just like this band.