REO Speedwagon Allentown Fairgrounds
8/30/2023 By Alexxis Steele
Photo By Sheri Bayne
Classic Rock is not dead. The evidence was with the thousands of fans that caused traffic to be at a standstill for an hour, and filled the parking spaces to see the double bill concert on the opening night of The Great Allentown Fair.
Adoring fans poured into their seats, eager to see two of rock's greatest bands, Reo Speedwagon and Styx. REO has been their touring partners for the last 25 years, according to Styx keyboardist/vocalist Lawrence Gowan, whom I recently spoke with.
The fans were certainly not disappointed as they performed their greatest hits. Clad in a gray and white spiral striped tee shirt, gray jeans and ¾ length black leather coat, Lead vocalist/guitarist Kevin Cronin hit the stage running.
First off was “Don’t Let Him Go”, followed by “Take It On The Run”, which he encouraged the crowd by saying “C’Mon let’s sing together”. The crowd followed his lead with him on the chorus, and again after the solo, he did the first line, then with arms raised asked them to “Sing It” as the band dropped out with the crowd singing acapella.
He said he discovered something he did not know about Allentown, and that right across the street from their hotel is a church that was built in 1787. Back in the revolutionary war Pennsylvanians were worried that the British were going to come into Philly and steal the Liberty Bell, so they hid it at a church right here in Allentown. “They knew it would be safe with you Guys”. He jokingly said they snuck into the church late last night and it is in our tour bus now.
“We need Patriotism in this country, Don’t we?” We need people to come together and stop fighting with each other and realize we are all Americans. This is the greatest country in the world and we are lucky to be here. I like the fact that he was interested in knowing about the culture in our area, and was genuinely concerned about what is going on in our country and the world.
During the show, Kevin Cronin stated that the band's original keyboard player, Neal Doughty had retired this year, so he enlisted the help of his buddy Rick Springfield to help find a suitable replacement for the band. Rick replied that he had the guy for him that checked all of the boxes, and then some, welcoming Mr. Derek Hill and who was playing a black Grand Piano.
That moment led into him starting their hit “I can’t Fight This Feeling”, joined by the thousands of fans in the audience singing in unison. Lead vocalist/guitarist Kevin Cronin talked about the power of people, and joining together amidst the ongoing differences in this country. The crowd was in agreement.
Later in the evening the band members were introduced. It was good to see drummer Bryan Hitt do a nice extended drum solo.. I think they always seem to be the least appreciated and noticed because they are not as visible as the front line musicians are.
He talked about the band going on a hiking trip in Boulder Colorado on a beautiful day that turned into rain and lightning and how they needed to get out of there as fast as they could.
The experience led the band to writing a song about that experience that he said was their trademark for the first 10 years called “ Ridin The Storm Out”
Cronin said that normally this is the time in the show that they would go offstage, and come back for the encore, but he said “ I feel like hangin with you..” “I like it out here, so I am going to just keep on going.
Getting behind the grand piano, he said that this next song literally changed my life, then he started playing their #1 hit- “Keep On Loving You” At the end of the song he said :Keep on lovin Allentown”, then segued into “Roll With The Changes” ending with “Keep on Rollin Allentown, What do you say! Well, I say that Kevin Cronin and REO Speedwagon put on a fantastic show for their fans, and I hope they keep on Rockin and a Rollin for many more years to come!
Setlist
1. Don't Let Him Go
2. Take It On The Run
3. Keep Pushin
4. Live Every Moment
5. Tough Guys
6. Can't Fight This Feeling
7. Son Of A Poor Man
8. Golden Country
9. Time For Me To Fly
10. Back On The Road Again
11. Riding The Storm Out
12. Encore #1 Keep On Lovin You
13. Encore #2 Roll With The Changes
