LIVE: Kansas @ Palace Theatre, Albany 10/26/2019
Kansas brought their “Point of Know Return 40th Anniversary” tour to Albany’s Palace Theatre on Saturday night. The show started with a four song acoustic set, the band members each seated on stools toward the front of the stage. Show opener, “People of the South Wind” from 1979’s “Monolith” record brought a loud roar from the Albany fans before the band rattled off “Hold On” from 1980’s Audio Visions album. The next two songs straddled the four decades of their recording career. “Refugee” which was released on 2016’s The Prelude Implicit was followed by “Lonely Wind’ from the band’s eponymous 1974 debut album. To their credit, the audience seemed to enjoy the new stuff as much as the older songs.
The full band set got kicked off with “Cold Grey Morning” from the 1995 release “Freaks of Nature.” Kansas ripped through another handful of songs, dipping back to 1975 for “Two Cent’s Worth,” “Song for America,” and Icarus(Born on Wings of Steel). “What’s On My Mind” and “Miracles out of Nowhere” from 1976’s “Leftoverture followed. Then the band gave the people what they came to see. Point of Know Return, released in 1977 was the highest charting record of the band’s career. They played it front to back, from “Point of Know Return” to “Hopelessly Human.” “Dust in the Wind” was a particular highlight with nearly everyone in attendance singing along (including the ushers nearby). Billy Greer, the band’s current bass player took the acoustic fingerpicking guitar duties that once belonged to original guitarist Kerry Livgren and handled it flawlessly. Ronnie Platt, the band’s singer since 2014 sounded as good as original singer Steve Walsh.
They closed the night out with arguably their biggest hit and most enduring song. “Carry On Wayward Son” sent the Albany faithful out into the chilly October night entertained, satisfied and happy.
Comments are closed.