Reminiscing...

 

Yeah, Little River Band, 1978... didn't you use that title not so long ago, Jim?

Glad to see some of you are paying attention.  Which reminds me of a joke: back in my 20s, we were so poor, we couldn't afford to pay attention.  Old joke.  Old guy.

Last night, we saw Little River Band in concert at Talking Stick Casino in Scottsdale.  We've seen them before.  Yes, we know that none of the members are "the originals" from Australia.  Wayne Nelson, the bass player and singer was with them back in the 70s, so as close to one of the originals as they have.

Some critics (and the 3 original band members in Australia) have called this version of the band "a cover band."  I'm in the "they are keeping the music alive" camp.  That said, the last time we saw them (at this same venue) was probably 7 or 8 years ago, and Wayne Nelson did most of the lead singing.  They were good and sounded like the records, mostly.  Wayne was the original lead singer on Night Owls.

Unfortunately, Wayne's voice isn't what it used to be.  All 5 members of this current line-up sing.  One guitar player's voice was so gravely that it made my throat sore.  The other 3 singers did fine, each taking a turn at lead vocals.  But, none of them had the same timber and tone of the originals.  The musicianship, though, was excellent.

Overall, it was a good concert.  No regrets in spending the money and making the drive, and we thoroughly enjoyed "reminiscing" with the songs.  LRB had a good number of hits.

Some photos...

 One of the highlights of the evening was the 5 of them singing acapella around a pair of condenser mics...

 

As long as they were all singing, you didn't notice the raspiness or lack of power in two of the singers.

We had a good time.  One the way home, ADOT had closed the southbound lanes of the Loop 101, so we had to take a series of back roads, adding nearly a half hour to trip home.  8:00 concert; it was after 11:00 when we got home.  Yeah, we stayed out just like grownups.  On a Friday night.  With a full moon.  (Maybe I'll get a photo of that tonight.)

Some video clips...