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Review:
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Wheatheads rejoice! Another Kansas concert DVD is upon
us. There's Know Place Like Home marks the 35th Anniversary
of the band Kansas and it marvelously covers every period
of their long and storied career. Throughout the 1970's,
Kansas were the preeminent American, symphonic-progressive-rock
band in the world, thanks to the massive success of their
two breakout albums, 1976's Leftoverture, and 1977's Point
Of Know Return, which both reached multi-platinum status.***
Leftoverture immediately became one of my favorite albums
when I first picked it up back in 1976, and it remains one
of my all-time favorites to this day. The band wisely featured
five of the eight songs from this masterpiece, opening the
show with a powerful "Howling At The Moon," and later sending
the crowd home satisfied with THE classic-rock anthem of
all time, "Carry On Wayward Son." Don't believe me? Look
it up in the dictionary.***
The current version of Kansas still features three
of its original members, Steve Walsh (vocals/keyboards),
Rich Williams (guitar), and Phil Ehart (drums). Joining
them are bassist/vocalist Billy Greer, who has been with
the band since 1985, and violinist/guitarist David Ragsdale,
who was in the band from 1991-1997, and recently returned
to the fold after Robby Steinhardt split again in 2006.***
With the departure of Steinhardt, Greer has effectively
taken over as frontman for the band, handling all of the
audience interaction. He also does a superb job with all
of Steinhardt's lead vocal parts. Steve Walsh may still
be the primary lead vocalist, but he is definitely no frontman,
choosing instead to remain silent and stoic behind his racks
of keyboards at the back of the stage. These two excellent
vocalists, along with Ragsdale, easily reproduce all of
Kansas' great harmony vocals of old. Walsh's vocals had
begun to sound a little strained over the past couple of
decades, but this is the best he has sounded in a long while.***
There's Know Place Like Home was recorded on February
7th, 2009 at the White Concert Hall, on the Washburn University
Campus, in their hometown of Topeka, Kansas. The band was
augmented by the local, 50-member, Washburn University Symphony
Orchestra, and if you have been put off by some of the other
rock band-meets-symphony performances of the past, don't
hesitate to give this baby a try. Most of Kansas' classic
material was already very symphonic in nature to begin with,
so this was one of the more blissful symphonic-rock marriages
I have yet to encounter.***
The 17-song setlist is a good one, featuring songs from
eleven different studio albums, starting with their 1974,
self-titled debut, and working up to their latest studio
release, 2000's Somewhere To Elsewhere. The only albums
not represented were Vinyl Confessions and Freaks Of Nature.
After the stirring "Howling At The Moon" opener, the boys
take you all the way back to the beginning with smoking
prog-rocker, "Belexes." If you only know Kansas from their
radio-friendly AOR hits like "Play The Game," and "Dust
In The Wind," then you really need to check out some of
this killer early stuff.***
The Washburn Symphony Orchestra sounded magnificent
this night and they were mixed perfectly throughout the
entire DVD. They never dominated the band's playing, as
with other DVDs of the kind, but they still made the performances
sound huge. "Knowhere" was this more apparent that during
one of my favorite Kansas epics, "Song For America," where
the powerful orchestration kept me in goosebumps throughout
the entire piece.***
Kansas not only revisited some of there lesser known
albums and songs for this show, but they also invited a
couple of famous ex-members to join them onstage. First
up was guitar-wizard Steve Morse, who was in Kansas between
about 1985 and 1989, and played on the albums Power and
In The Spirit Of Things. Watching his magic fingers dance
around the fretboard during the instrumental "Musicatto"
was nearly worth the price of admission alone, and it caused
an enthusiastic standing ovation from the crowd. One of
many this night.***
The highlight of the show for me was seeing Kerry Livgren
up on stage with the band again. Livgren was the chief songwriter
and the soul of Kansas until he quit the band in 1983, soon
after becoming a born-again Christian. In 2000, Livgren
reunited with Kansas to write and record the outstanding
album Somewhere To Elsewhere, but he declined to tour with
the band again. I was hoping to hear a lot more from that
very underrated album, but all you get is the standout track
"Icarus II," which they perform right before what is perhaps
my favorite Kansas song, "Icarus - Borne On Wings Of Steel".***
It was rather strange how they incorporated Livgren
into the performance though. He first shows up to play on
"Hold On," about half way into the set, is not shown again
until "The Wall," about five songs later, where he plays
the music hall's giant pipe organ, and not again until he
comes back out for the "Dust In The Wind," "Carry On Wayward
Son" show closing finale. Having Livgren handle the lead
guitar duties on "Wayward Son" really made that one extra
special. Nothing against Rich Williams, but his lead guitar
work has always left me kind of dry.***
Kansas could really use some work on their stage show,
as the lighting is too generic and repetitive to accompany
a setlist that creates so many unique moods. The same color
patterns and swirling spotlights were used throughout the
entire show, and it was boring to watch. They should check
out a recent Rush concert DVD.***
The production quality of the DVD was mixed. The DTS
and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround tracks both sound amazing,
and a particularly exceptional job was done mixing the band
and orchestra. I can imagine how challenging this must be.
The picture quality and camera work could have been better.
Although most of the concert looked pretty good, there were
still too many blurry, grainy, and dark shots spread about.
The cameras were constantly zooming in and out, and panning
the stage and crowd. You rarely got any good steady shots,
and the constant camera motion got dizzying after a while.***
The only bonus feature was a sound check jam of "Down
The Road," which also included Morse and Livgren. This was
a really cool performance. Too bad it wasn't incorporated
into the set as an encore with everyone involved.***
There's Know Place Like Home is easily the best concert
video the band has put out. The music is timeless, the musicianship
was extraordinary, the crowd's enthusiasm was infectious,
and the orchestration was the icing on the cake. This one
is not to be missed Kansas fans.***
Side note:
On September 1st, the 59 year old Kerry Livgren suffered
a massive stroke and had to undergo surgery to remove a
blood clot from his brain. Let's wish him a quick and complete
recovery.***
Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - November 2009
Paul
M. Roy
Concertdvdreviews.com
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