- REO Speedwagon and Styx headlined this year's opening-night concert at The Great Allentown Fair grandstand
- Both played sets that included their hits and deep cuts
- Both bands have been performing for more than 50 years
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — It would seem that, except perhaps for The Rolling Stones, every rock 'n' roll music group will reach the point of deciding whether it's time to quit or to keep performing, at a diminished level, songs that fans love.
Neither 1980s hitmakers Styx nor REO Speedwagon — both now with more than 50 years of performing — seem to have reached that point, based on their co-headlining show Wednesday at the opening night of the Allentown Fair grandstand.
But the listener, in the words of REO's song, can't fight this feeling anymore — that the time is nearing.
REO singer Kevin Cronin's voice isn't the sharp instrument it was, faltering several times through the group's 13-song, 83-minute set.
(Cronin and bassist Bruce Hall are the remaining members of the five-man band's classic lineup.)
"Glad to be back in Allentown. We love it here. We love to rock"REO Speedwagon singer Kevin Cronin
The band also chose to cover much of its career — even though its biggest success was concentrated over four years at the beginning of the 1980s, and it hasn't released a disc of new material since 2007.
It opened with the 1981 minor hit "Don't Let Him Go," presented forcefully, but with Cronin's voice restrained, then right into its 1981 gold single "Take It On the Run," on which Cronin's vocal shortcomings were even more noticeable.
But a full, forceful and precise presentation helped disguise those faults. The 1976 deep cut "Keep Pushin,'" the 1985 minor hit "Live Every Moment" and the 1981 minor hit "Tough Guys" were performed strongly and energetically, but showed why they weren't hits.
Falling short, weaker songs
Similarly, the 1973 deep cut "Son of a Poor Man," which Cronin introduced as a song from REO's days as a bar band, and the 1973 B-side "Golden Country," were weaker offerings.
Far better was the group's second-biggest hit, the 1984 No. 1 "Can't Fight This Feeling," on which Cronin's voice improved, but still wasn't quite there.
And its 1978 hit "Time for Me to Fly," on which Cronin again faltered a bit, is such a good song, that even a weaker version was great. The audience — which appeared to be a near-sellout crowd — cheered its opening guitar strums and gave it a loud standing ovation.
"This song quite literally changed my life forever."REO singer Kevin Cronin, introducing "Keep On Loving You."
But rather than to follow that momentum, REO offered another deep cut, "Back On the Road Again" — a musician's song, but not a great one — and its first Top 100 song, 1977's "Ridin' Out the Storm," with which it closed the main set.
REO opened the encore (it actually never left the stage) with its biggest hit, the 1981 platinum "Keep on Loving You," with Cronin on piano for the first time in the night.
"This song quite literally changed my life forever," he said, and clearly it has meant a lot to fans, as well. But as great a song as it is, it, too, fell far short.
"Glad to be back in Allentown," Cronin told the crowd at one point. "We love it here. We love to rock."
And, indeed, REO closed its set with its 1978 breakthrough hit, "Roll With the Changes" — a rollicking version of a good song.
But in a relatively short set, REO skipped several significant songs: 1987 "In My Dreams" and 1988's "Here With Me," both among its biggest hits; the Top 10 "Keep the Fire Burning," and the lesser hit but favorite "In Your Letter."
A different problem
Styx had a different problem in its 14-song, 77-minute set.
While its performances were strong, some of its material didn't seem to hold up as well.
"Are you ready for a rock show?"Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw
Styx also opened with a non-hit, "To Those," from its most recent album, 2021's "Crash of the Crown."
Styx has two members — guitarists/vocalists James "J.Y." Young and Tommy Shaw — from its classic lineup in its six-man band. (Original bassist Chuck Panozzo joined the band for three songs through the night).
Vocalist Lawrence Gowan, who has now fronted Styx for 24 years — almost as long as original singer Dennis DeYoung — bounded about the stage with energy.
Its 1978 hit "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" was strong but sludgy, and singer/guitarist Shaw asked the crowd, "Are you ready for a rock show?"
Styx clearly has positioned itself as more of a rock band since breaking with the more theatrical DeYoung nearly 25 years ago, but the DeYoung-era songs were some of Wednesday's best.
The 1973 breakthrough hit "Lady," was better, but the crowd gave the band too much credit. "Miss America," from 1977 — sung by Young — actually was far better.
Is it any wonder?
The title song from "Crash of the Crown" was, ironically, aged prog rock, but 1976's "Lorelei," the group's second real hit, stood the test of time and performed well.
After the minor hit "Rockin' the Paradise," Styx stretched its 1978 hit "Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man)" to seven minutes — it was very good.
And then it closed its main set with an expanded — and extended to 12 minutes! — version of its 1977 hit "Come Sail Away," starting with Gowan alone on keyboards, then being joined by the full band (including Panozzo.)
Styx also skipped hits — most egregiously, its biggest hit and only No. 1 single, "Babe"; and the Top 10 hits "Show Me the Way" and "Don't Let It End."
The reason it did is obvious — those all were DeYoung songs.
Yet it opened its encore with "Mr. Roboto" — very identifiably a DeYoung song. And the crowd loved it.
Styx closed the night with its 1979 hit "Renegade."
But perhaps Styx's story for the night was told in its 1981 hit "Too Much Time on My Hands," which it played near the end of its main set.
It was very good, and Shaw changed the words to say "Is it any wonder I'm not the mayor of the great city of Allentown?"
It showed that Styx still has some time left on its hands, but perhaps no longer too much.
