When you go to a triple-bill show like REO Speedwagon, Styx, and Loverboy, you aren’t coming to hear the new stuff they’ve been working on. You’ve come with your oldest friends, your main squeeze, or fellow MTV-generation pals to enjoy a heaping spoonful of nostalgia. Sunday night’s holiday weekend “Live and Unzoomed” show at Wells Fargo Arena delivered just that.
All three bands know what their fans came to hear: The hits. The songs that made these bands the soundtrack to our youths also made them a lot of money. The great thing is that this is what these bands should be doing. Give the crowd what they came to hear in the songs they know and love. In a concert clocking in at nearly 4 hours, all three bands served up sing-along after sing-along. Some songs were nearly drowned out by the nearly 9,800 in attendance, others had the crowd in lockstep harmony with the respective vocalists.
Loverboy kicked off the show with a long lead-in to “Notorious” from their 1987 album, Wildside. While the band took a bit to get the crowd into their set, lead singer Mike Reno lead the group through their hits as he did on the 45s you had when you were jamming out to “Turn Me Loose” or “Lovin’ Every Minute of It.” He still rocks the headband that was a trademark of the band’s early 80s MTV look. Loverboy’s set was filled with crowd participation, none more than the band’s final number of their signature hit, “Workin’ for the Weekend.”
After a brief changeover, Styx was next with the power vocals of Lawrence Gowan and Tommy Shaw and the always fun-to-watch 360-degree keyboard helmed by Gowan. Styx was last in town for the 2021 Iowa State Fair where they played the Grandstand with 80s rockers Great White. The band played a nearly identical setlist, save for two numbers. While it’s hard to believe anyone missed the songs played at last year’s fair, the fact that the band has so many hits but left “Babe” and “The Best of Times” off their setlist is a little disappointing. The offerings the band did bring were still very pleasing to the crowd. Anyone could look around as any of the night’s bands started a number and see groups of friends throwing their arms around one another to sway, hold their beers in the air, and sing at full throat.
REO Speedwagon took the stage as the last act of the night to “Don’t Let Him Go,” the lead-off track from the 1980 album Hi Infidelity. Knowing the crowd had already been through the rock n’ roll ringer for the last two-and-a-half hours, they immediately slowed it down a bit for “Take It on the Run.” Lead singer Kevin Cronin might be 70 years old, but he can still command an audience and a stage. His voice is still in great shape as was showcased on hits like “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and “Time for Me to Fly.”
LOVERBOY SETLIST
Notorious
Lucky Ones
Queen of the Broken Hearts
The Kid is Hot Tonite
Lovin’ Every Minute of It
Hot Girls in Love
Turn Me Loose
Working for the Weekend
STYX SETLIST
The Fight of Our Lives
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
The Grand Illusion
Lady
Crash of the Crown
Light Up
Sound the Alarm
Rockin’ the Paradise Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
Too Much Time on My Hands
Khedive
Lost at Sea
Come Sail Away
Mr. Roboto
Renegade
REO SPEEDWAGON SETLIST
Don’t Let Him Go
Take it on the Run
Keep Pushin’
Live Every Moment
That Ain’t Love
Tough Guys
Can’t Fight This Feeling
Like You Do
Time for Me to Fly
Back on the Road Again
Ridin’ the Storm Out
Keep On Loving You
Roll with the Changes
