REO Speedwagon, Styx join forces for summer tour making stop at Toyota Pavilion Friday
Published: June 30, 2009
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REO Speedwagon, above, is joined by Styx and .38 Special Friday at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain at 7 p.m.
Back in the mid-1990s, REO Speedwagon was several years removed from its salad days but looking to exchange the bars and country fairs the band was playing for the amphitheaters and arenas it once sold out.
"We weren't fools. We realized we didn't have the drawing power to fill up an amphitheater," lead singer Kevin Cronin said. "My thing is, I just like to play. I thought, we gotta figure out a way to get back in and play some nice venues."
Eventually, the band's manager came upon a then-novel concept - team up with one or two other past-their-prime acts. And so, that summer, the Speedwagon hit the road with Fleetwood Mac and Pat Benetar, and the co-headlining tour was born.
"It was really us who got this thing started," said Mr. Cronin said. "Now, it's become the industry standard. It's kind of one of those things of necessity being the mother of invention."
Over the past 15 years, REO Speedwagon has shared the stage with a number of fellow '80s luminaries, including Journey, Def Leppard and Styx, the band's current road partner.
Come together
The two bands will bring their "Can't Stop Rockin'" tour to Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain Friday night at 7. Opening for them will be southern rock stalwarts .38 Special.
This isn't the first go round for the Speedwagon-Styx partnership. The two groups toured back in 2000, and it went so well they recorded a live double CD.
"It was just one of those magical combinations," said Mr. Cronin, noting this tour is the best the band has ever done from a production standpoint.
"When you got three bands that are operating at a high level, it's good for everybody. It raises the level," he said during a phone conversation from a recent tour stop in Atlantic City. "I feel fortunate that the tour is doing so well. Everyone is really happy. And when everyone is happy, they work harder."
For this tour, Mr. Cronin and Styx frontman Tommy Shaw decided to collaborate on a song that the two bands could record together. The result: "Can't Stop Rockin,' " a commentary on the current economic crisis and how they weren't going to let it "ruin our plans," Mr. Cronin said.
"We figured now people could use our songs more than ever," he said.
Writing the song proved challenging given the two had to tailor it to each band's sensibilities, and for the fact that neither was used to working with another songwriter, Mr. Cronin said.
"Writing a song with someone is a very intimate experience. I don't do it very often," he said. "You're opening your soul to another person. It's a very intimate thing to do it right."
Making music
In the end, the song came out "really well," Mr. Cronin said, and at the end of each concert the two bands get together for a rollicking version of it. What's particularly interesting, he said, is that the song takes on the feel of whichever band happens to be closing that night.
"It has just been a riot," Mr. Cronin said. "If you miss the end of the show, your friends will be telling you how stupid you were to leave."
Collaborating on a song, and sharing a tour, is a good exercise for any band, Mr. Cronin said, because it requires you to leave "your ego at the door" and keep things in their proper perspective.
"I appreciate every single person who comes to our concerts. It's humbling," he said. "It keeps you going. It makes you want to go out there and play your (butt) off.
"We are so fortunate to get out here and do what we do. We get to do what we love."
Contact the writer: jmcauliffe@timesshamrock.com If you go
Who: REO Speedwagon and Styx, with .38 Special
Where: Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Details: Tickets are $22.25 to $55 and available through the Toyota Pavilion box office, by phone at 877-598-8696 and online at LiveNation.com.
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