Kansas celebrated the end of its Another Fork in the Road 50th Anniversary tour by putting the band — or at least some of it — back together again.
Original bassist Dave Hope reunited with co-founding guitarist Rich Williams and drummer Phil Ehart – playing only his second date since suffering major heart attack in February — and the current Kansas lineup on Wednesday at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. It was an appropriate venue to close the 18-month tour; the city has been a Kansas stronghold since early in the group’s career, thanks to the efforts of promoter Rich Engler — who produced Wednesday’s show — and local radio during the 70s.
You can see the full set list and exclusive photos of the show below.
Read More: Kansas Drummer Phil Ehart Recovering From ‘Major’ Heart Attack
The Benedum also hosted the latest tour’s first show on June 2, 2023 and, as the Stanley Theatre, was the site of a much bootlegged 1975 concert broadcast on radio.
“It’s a special relationship,” Williams told UCR before the show, noting that Kansas was “more famous in Pittsburgh in particular, and across Pennsylvania, when we couldn’t draw flies back home.”
Ehart joined the group partway through “Lonely Wind,” which finished a four-song semi-unplugged segment of the show, while Hope and Ehart were both part of the subsequent “Hold On” and the encore of “Carry on Wayward Son.” Fellow co-founder Kerry Livgren had intended to be at the show, too, but elected to stay home with his wife, Vicki, who recently suffered a broken collarbone; their daughter Kate played viola on “Dust in the Wind” in his stead. Current violinist Joe Deninzon soloed on a white instrument owned by the late Robbie Steinhardt, whose widow and daughter were also in attendance for the show.
The potent 20-song, two-hour and 10-minute concert found Kansas still in strong form after at the end of the 118-date tour, which Williams said was initially planned to be just 50 shows. Other hits, such as “Point of Know Return” and “The Wall,” were mixed with deep catalog favorites like “Glimpse of Home,” an epic “The Pinnacle” and “Reason to Be,” and the John Elefante era of the band was also represented with “Play the Game” and “Fight Fire With Fire.”
Conspicuously, but not surprisingly, absent was original singer-keyboardist Steve Walsh, who served two stints with Kansas and left for good in 2015. “He’s not interested — he’s made it clear, and that’s his prerogative,” Williams said. “He’s retired, and it’s kind of in the rearview mirror now.” But the guitarist said having any assemblage of Kansas’ old guard together is always special. “They’ve done it several times with us over the years, and it’s always great,” he said. “We have so many great memories together, and it’s always great to see them and play with them again.”
Hope, who left the band during 2000 but has made several guest returns over the years – and still plays in a cover band “for fun” at home on Florida’s Gulf Coast — said after the show that, “It’s got a strong family thing to it. These are my high school friends. It’s hard to say if it’s the music or this or that – it’s all of the above.” He added that he chose to play “Hold On” and “Carry On Wayward Son” because “I don’t have to practice much to do those…I’m not gonna take on ‘Song For America.”
Watch Kansas Perform ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ in Pittsburgh
Ehart, meanwhile, reported that he’s been improving steadily since the heart attack and was cleared by his cardiologist to play on Wednesday. “This (was) a special show,” he noted. “Coming here tonight, seeing the band and getting up and playing, that’s what I’m supposed to do. This is my life. It’s 50 years of drumming. I’m happy to be here.”
Prior to the show Ehart – joined by Kate Livgren and her brother Kyle — was presented with BMI certifications of nine million radio plays for “Carry On Wayward Son” and seven million for “Dust in the Wind.” Eric Gold, whose father Wally Gold signed Kansas to Kirshner Records in 1973, also shared some memories with the crowd.
With the 50th anniversary celebration in the books, Williams said Kansas will now go about the business of, well, carrying on. The group returns to the road during January in Florida with a Kansas Classics show, and a co-headlining amphitheater tour with .38 Special is on tap for the spring and summer. But Williams added that “the odds are stacked again” a new album, following 2020’s The Absence of Presence.
“Never say never, ’cause I’ve said no before,” Williams explained. “There’s a couple things in the can, but we’ve been so darn busy (touring) there hasn’t been any opportunity for the creative process. We’ve got a creative bunch of guys in the band, but the rub on that in today’s reality is it won’t get on the radio. It might get bought by our hardcore fans, but it won’t be played. Meanwhile we’ve got 17 people on the road (whose) families we have to support. Taking off a year to write and record and release an album takes out of the (touring) marketplace, and…if we took that much time off, we’re gonna lose people.”
Ehart, who’s been Kansas’ manager for the past 40 years, echoed the sentiment. “My philosophy right now is just keep the boat afloat, keep doing what we’re doing,” he said. “Let’s concentrate on what’s working, which is (playing) live. Why are we going to go in the studio, come off the road from all these people and go into the studio and make something nobody’s gonna buy? That’s a model for failure.” Ehart and Williams did, however, hold out the possibility that Kansas could record and release something shorter than a full album.
“I’ve been pushing for that for a long time,” he said. “In these times when everything is streaming and very little hard product is sold, why not just release it ourselves, just put it out on the Internet for a 99 cent download. It makes sense to me. So, yeah, that’s quite possible — and quite likely.”
Kansas, Dec. 12, 2024 Benedum Center, Pittsburgh Set List:
“Belexes”
“Point of Know Return”
“Play the Game”
“Fight Fire With Fire”
“Icarus”
“Icarus II”
“Throwing Mountains”
“Glimpse of Home”
“The Pinnacle”
Semi-Acoustic:
“People of the Southwind”
“Dust in the Wind” (with Kate Livgren)
“Reason to Be”
“Lonely Wind” (with Phil Ehart)
“Hold On” (with Ehart and Dave Hope)
“Song For America”
“Can I Tell You”
“Down the Road”
“The Wall”
“Miracles Out of Nowhere”
Encore:
“Carry On Wayward Son” (with Ehart and Hope)
Kansas 2024 Reunion Show
Kansas celebrated the end of its Another Fork in the Road 50th Anniversary tour by putting the band — or at least some of it — back together again.
