It could be an interesting mix of parents and children in the crowd at Kent ShoWare Center\u2019s first rock concert, scheduled for May 27.<\/p>\n
Styx, REO Speedwagon and .38 Special, heavy-hitting American rock bands of the \u201970s and \u201980s, will take to the stage 7 p.m. at the \u201cCan\u2019t Stop Rockin\u2019\u201d concert.<\/p>\n
Watching them will be a graying crowd that grew up listening to them, along with a younger group that\u2019s only now discovering them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hearing about parents of teenagers who want to expose their kids to the music they listened to as teenagers,\u201d said Beth Sylves, marketing director for the ShoWare Center, in a phone interview Thursday. \u201cI haven\u2019t heard if the teenagers are excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some kids are becoming more familiar with Styx and REO Speedwagon because hits from the two big-hair groups are featured on the \u201cRock Band\u201d video-music game, which allows players to perform in a virtual band.<\/p>\n
Rock Band and VH1 Classic are sponsors of the \u201cCan\u2019t Stop Rockin\u2019\u201d concert. And true to the interactive nature of Rock Band\u2019s biggest product, fans at the concert can perform their own version of Styx and REO Speedwagon tracks at a mini-stage during the event.<\/p>\n
The video-music game includes \u201cCan\u2019t Stop Rockin,\u2019\u201d the new collaborative song between Styx and REO Speedwagon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world is going through a weird phase, and everybody needs music now more than ever,\u201d said REO\u2019s Kevin Cronin, who co-wrote the new song with Styx\u2019s Tommy Shaw, in a media release to announce the concert tour that opened last week in Amarillo, Texas. \u201cWe all need to join our friends, pool our resources, combine our energies, because there is power in people coming together. That spirit has brought REO and Styx together to write, record and tour together, and celebrate it all with the greatest fans in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
But much of the music at the concert is expected to be a flashback for many fans.<\/p>\n
Hit songs by Styx include \u201cCome Sail Away,\u201d \u201cMr. Roboto,\u201d and \u201cLady.\u201d The Chicago-based band released four albums in a row from 1977 to 1981 that reached multi-platinum status with more than 2 million sold.<\/p>\n
REO Speedwagon, which got its start as a Midwestern cover band, was known for its power ballads, including \u201cCan\u2019t Fight This Feeling,\u201d and \u201cKeep On Loving You.\u201d The group .38 Special, which was actually named for a member\u2019s 1938 Oldsmobile (and not the handgun) produced some choice Southern rock hits, including \u201cCaught Up In You,\u201d and \u201cIf I\u2019d Been The One.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sales for tickets have been brisk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think it will be a pretty full house,\u201d Sylves said. \u201cSales have been pretty good and all of our shows start selling faster the last couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 50 rock fans signed up for a special dinner, concert and shuttle service to the concert offered by Salty\u2019s restaurant in Des Moines, Sylves said.<\/p>\n
REO produced its last album in 2007 with the hits \u201cFind Your Way Home\u201d and \u201cI Needed to Fall.\u201d Styx latest release is \u201cOne With Everything\u201d from 2006 and .38 Special produced \u201cDrivetrain\u201d in 2004.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited about our first rock show,\u201d Sylves said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s an all-ages concert so you can relive your youth with your youth.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
IF YOU GO<\/p>\n
What: Styx, REO Speedwagon, .38 Special<\/p>\n
When: 7 p.m. May 27<\/p>\n
Where: ShoWare Center<\/p>\n
Cost: $85, $65, $49.50 and $39.50<\/p>\n
Tickets: www.showarecenter.com or 253-856-6999<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It could be an interesting mix of parents and children in the crowd at Kent ShoWare Center\u2019s first rock concert, scheduled for May 27. Styx, REO Speedwagon and .38 Special, heavy-hitting American rock bands of the \u201970s and \u201980s, will take to the stage 7 p.m. at the \u201cCan\u2019t Stop Rockin\u2019\u201d concert. Watching them will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":17604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-17603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17603"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=17603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}