REO Speedwagon

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

Tuesday 05 June 2007

In many ways, REO Speedwagon are a relic from a previous era, and this concert proved exactly why. They have certainly always been one of my favourite “classic rock” groups, but even, years ago, when I had a good few of their records in my collection, they were always really second fiddle to whatever else I was interested in at the time. It might be said that they were Premier League material, but never really challenging for a place in Europe. Nowadays, with the passage of time, they are firm Championship standard, but not really threatening for the Plays Off. A bit like Burnley say – whereas years ago they were the equivalent of Manchester City.

What made attendance at the concert compulsory was the fact that although being very much a Championship side these days, to continue the football analogy, they still have the equivalent of Christiano Ronaldo playing in their team: a song called “Keep On Loving You”.

This is one of my favourite tracks of all time, and to hear it played live by the band was an emotional experience like no other. It holds dear and deep memories, and so not surprisingly there was more than a tear in my eye. It was worth the price of the ticket on its own, but now that I have experienced it, that is it. A once in a lifetime experience in the real sense – it wouldn’t be that good if I went to see them again.

There were some other good songs too. For instance, “Back On The Road Again” used to be a firm favourite on the Friday Rock Show on Radio One, regularly securing a place in the top favourite tracks. “Take It On The Run” is a close cousin of “Keep On Loving You” and vies with it for nostalgia. However, I have to say that despite the sheer class of these three tracks,  they very much confirm the group’s current Championship status, because nothing else they played was remotely in the same class. It perhaps goes to show why, years ago, I threw out all their vinyl LPs and cassettes and replaced them with a “Greatest Hits” CD.

This type of “Adult Orientated Rock” (or “American Orientated Rock”, to quote my rock chick friend) is all fine and dandy, but it is only OK in small doses because it is much too sugar coated and inconsequential to stand comparison with proper “progressive” or “heavy” rock. It’s a bit like eating nothing but ice cream or cream cake for your dinner, when you really need roast beef and all the trimmings.

I was very impressed with the venue. The Bridgewater Hall is of course purpose built as a classical music venue for the Halle Orchestra, and as such, one is guaranteed superb acoustics. It is also by far the best appointed and most comfortable venue I have been to. It is also very small – which is perhaps why REO Speedwagon chose it, because it would have been distinctly uncomfortable to be sitting amongst banks of empty seats at somewhere like the Apollo.