BoDeans Kickoff Their Summer Tour on Fire
After being off the road for four months and having a new slide guitarist (Ben Peeler – The Mavericks/The Wallflowers) join them onstage for only the second time, one might have expected the BoDeans to be a tad rusty as they kicked off their summer tour at The Kessler in Dallas, Texas last night…but that was far from the case. The revamped band was firing on all cylinders, as they traditionally do, treating fans to a mix of both old and recent material.
Tucked away in the South Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff, the intimate surroundings of The Kessler proved to be a perfect venue choice for the band. The quaint theater was buzzing with all the excitement and energy of a sold-out arena and its acoustics allowed fans to nearly drown out the band on their classic sing along songs, “Good Things” and “Still the Night.” Frontman Kurt Neumann couldn’t help but feed off the energy of the crowd, often smiling ear to ear and even wandering over to dance next to an extremely “spirited” fan.
In addition to the classics, the band also played several tracks off of their 2012 album, American Made, including the show opener “All The World” and “Flyaway.” The real treat of the set though was a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire.” Set to a war march drum beat, the band took the passion of this song to a whole new level.
Speaking of emotions, the band’s encore actually got off to a tearful start with Neumann’s touching introduction to “Stay.” A song about his children and his desire to have them stay that “perfect” age forever and not grow up. Why must you say goodbye/Why don’t you stay awhile/All of the time will fly/You only make me smile/Come on now/Stay awhile. Neumann talked about coming home from the road and having his kids line up against the wall to be measured. ”After I’d make the pencil mark above their heads, they would get all excited and rush off to their Mom, ‘I grew! I grew!’ Meanwhile, I’m left there holding the pencil going, ‘But you promised me you wouldn’t.’”
As the band brought the night to a climactic close with crowd pleasing versions of “She’s A Runaway” and “Closer To Free,” I realized something. Over the years, these songs stopped being just BoDeans songs and became “our” songs. The magic, emotions and memories of the tunes have resonated within us over the years and every now and then we are fortunate to have the band bring these songs to life right in front of our eyes. Thank you, BoDeans…for keeping your promise to ‘stay awhile.’
Were you at the show? What did you think? Share your thoughts with The Classic Rock Blog!
Nugent and his three piece band, that included Derek St. Holmes on guitar and vocals, satisfied the appetites of long-time fans with classic gems such as “Wango Tango,” “Cat Scratch Fever” and “Stranglehold.” Despite drawing the first slot of the evening, Nugent still had time to work in a couple of tributes to The Temptations and Chuck Berry, performing wild versions of “My Girl” and “Johnny B. Good.” It was definitely a surprising twist that stood out as one of the highlights of the entire evening. 
even more so in recent years. The current lineup of Kevin Cronin (vocals), Dave Amato (guitar/vocals), Bruce Hall (bass/vocals), Neal Doughty (keyboards) and Bryan Hitt (drums) have added a powerful punch to the band’s classic hits over the years and their on-stage chemistry is hard to beat. It is always a kick to see Hall and Amato run around together and joke behind Cronin’s back. 
Amid the classic songs “Blue Collar Man,” “Too Much Time On My Hands” and “Lady,” there were a few surprises including a rarely performed version of “Light Up.” A song the band hadn’t played in Dallas since the ’70s. 
“Buckle in…I’m driving.”
was noted that Jon Bon Jovi didn’t really interact with or mention Phil until the end of the show…not this night! Phil received some well deserved kudos from the bandleader on a few occasions including when Jon Bon Jovi joked, “I know it’s a big gig, it’s a really big gig…but you are doing an excellent job!”
Let it be known that Bon Jovi is back! Not just with a new album, but arguably their best album in recent years!
that, right? Well…the evening did get off to a bit of an unusual start. To begin with, you could almost hear a pin drop as Clapton took the stage…I’ll just have to assume that everyone’s jaws were dropped in awe of his presence. But then…another surprise…Clapton, backed by his nine-piece band, eased into the show on acoustic guitar. Surprising — but brilliant! “Hello Old Friend” and “My Father’s Eyes” had sweet, mellow vibes that embraced the arena like a comforting hug between old friends. Then…it was time to rock!
gave the spotlight to former Squeeze keyboardist, Paul Carrack, for his presentation of “Tempted.” Carrack would also play “How Long” and Joe Cocker’s “High Time We Went” later in the show. But a backing band this good…deserves more than one or two spotlights. Guitar extraordinaire Doyle Bramhall II was given numerous opportunities to amaze the crowd — and Clapton — as was noticed with several smiles from the legend as the two traded solos throughout the evening. Second keyboardist Chris Stainton and pedal-steel guitarist Greg Leisz also garnered much deserved recognition from the audience for their tight performances.
As Clapton wrapped up the show with Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” and Cocker’s “High Time We Went,” it was evident that fans had just been treated to a timeless performance the likes of which they may never see again. It was an evening that saw a fifty year career neatly and carefully packed into an exhilarating two-hour time capsule, providing memories that we should all put away for safe keeping…for this show was rock and roll at its finest. 
Before veteran rocker Michael Stanley released The Ride, his eighth album in ten years, he gave the heads-up that this would be a different sounding record. Sure enough, The Ride contains several pleasant surprises but all in all there is one thing that long time fans won’t be surprised to discover…that Stanley has once again created a gem of an album.
“Lucky Again” and “I Can’t Wait.” And then there is, in my opinion, the best song on the album and quite possibly one of the best songs that Stanley has ever recorded…”To Love Somebody.” Stanley’s cover of this Bee Gee’s classic is my hands down favorite. What begins as a stripped down version of the song with just Michael and a guitar, builds into a dramatic piece with powerful backing vocals provided by Don Dixon, resulting in an instant classic cover of…well, a classic. 
Actually…if you do watch Michael McDermott’s live concert on 
