REO Speedwagon: 1987-07-XX Oklahoma City, OK (FLAC_AUD_2 CD)

I've had this recording for at least five to eight years but still have never been able to confirm a date for the show.  The only information I was given is this was a 1987 show in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and at The Zoo Amphitheatre (probably the venue).  I looked up The Zoo Amphitheatre online and they say they've had live concerts there since 1936 on their homepage.

There are not many REO Speedwagon past tour date resources it seems.  Even the band's main website only seems to show tour dates between 1995 and 2002 other than their current touring schedule.

I did find a resource that shows the band played Fort Worth, Texas on 1987-07-11, Fort Smith, Arkansas on 1987-07-12, and Kansas City, Missouri one 1987-07-19.  If you know your geography or know how to read a map (in these GPS map-less days), you can see it'd have been likely this Oklahoma City, Oklahoma concert was in this period between the Fort Worth and Kansas City shows or in a close proximity to it most likely.

Just as I was getting ready to post this show, "bobobo" got back to me and said he found the date of 1987-07-15 for this show in his resources.  So I am now using this date as it applies, makes perfect sense, and fits.  But just now, I was listening to the end of "One Too Many Girlfriends" and you can  hear Cronin ask "...what day is this...it feels like a Saturday..." (or something similar).  But from the crowd, it sounds like at least three people say "Thursday".  If it was Wednesday it would have been the 15th and if it was Thursday it would have been the 16th.  So the mystery continues for now.

This recording is actually a very good sounding audience recording that seems to end just a little before the show does.  It is stereo and the vocals, guitars, keyboard, drums, and taper (when they talk) all can be heard fine.  I believe the taper was up front for this show.

The waveform showed some light clipping of the audio but it was not anything major or worth messing with or worrying about at all.  The audio sounds a little processed to me but maybe someone else can take a look and tell?  There are times where the sound is heavier in one channel than in the other and there are sound issues that just have to be heard to be explained at various places in the show.  But overall, it is a great-to-excellent sounding show.  The recording sounds like a low generation copy to me too.

LINEAGE:
None given > FLAC > me > TLH > WAV (to test for lossiness) > Audacity (to view waveform, embed metadata/track titles & info, and then to re-encode) > FLAC 8 > TLH (to check for SBE's and create and verify new ffp & md5 files) > you

DETAILS:
Artist: REO Speedwagon
Date: July 1987 (probably 15th or 16th)
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Venue: The Zoo Amphitheatre
Title: None
Label: None
Source: AUD
Format: FLAC
CD's: 2
Artwork: No
Size: 612 MB
Length: 90:31:08

SETLIST:
CD 1:
101. That Ain't Love
102. I Do' Wanna Know
103. Tough Guys
104. One Too Many Girlfriends
105. Variety Tonight
106. Keep Pushin'
107. Take It On The Run
108. New Way To Love

CD 2:
201. Golden Country
202. Can't Fight This Feeling
203. Screams And Whispers
204. Back On The Road Again
205. Keep On Loving You
206. Roll With The Changes
207. Ridin' The Storm Out
208. Don't Let Him Go (cut)

LIN K:
(1) 1987-07-15 Oklahoma City, OK (AUD)

Dime Torrent - Download Here!
NOTE: I created a torrent and posted it on Dime.  If your a Dime member, you'll know what to do.  If not, sign up for a free account and READ THE RULES.  Go to http://www.dimeadozen.org for their home page.  And remember to keep your sharing ratio at 0.25% or higher so as to not get banned.  It's a much faster download almost always!  Now, back to the original blog post.

This show was at a crucial point in REO Speedwagon's musical career back in 1987.  They were starting to miserably fall from grace and their sales were going nowhere.  Alan Gratzer, a founding band member, left the band the following year (1988) and even before Gary Richrath was fired from REO Speedwagon in 1989.  And with Gary Richrath being let go in early 1989, the band was in trouble not only musically but financially too.

This 1987 concert was when the band was touring on their Life As We Know It LP release and the sales were suffering badly on this release (as well as earlier releases were not doing as well either) and the sales  on future releases only got worse on the next few albums to top the bad sales off.

I've been listening to this show since I started preparing it yesterday and doing this has made a few things clear to me.  The band was in trouble, still able to pull off shows and even please the crowds, but the turmoil was taking over.  Listen to some of Kevin Cronin's talk (and we all know he loves to do this in the shows) in this concert.  He seems tired, says a few things that are really a little prophetic in parts, and he even mentions or implies something about the new songs and sales I think.  The band's music was not sounding bad, however, it was not sounding as energetic either as earlier years and even later or recent years of playing the songs.  Who's idea was it to put a rap intro into "Tough Guys"?  "Golden Country", political ideology and all other connotations put aside, has always been an excellent song musically.  But there is a lot missing (like Richrath playing in the beginning) in this version as the song starts out.  Even though the band was "back on the road again" physically, it sounds like emotionally they were not all there.

It is rather ironic that the main thing Gary Richrath disliked and was worried about in this era of REO Speedwagon's music, which in large was the band taking this "pop over rock" path, was what was musically killing them off and causing their sales to drop off of the charts when this show was played.

It's also ironic that when the late 1990's to early 2000's resurgent and resurrection in the 1970's and 1980's rock bands occurred as they were reuniting; this was also when REO Speedwagon really made their comeback both musically and financially.  But their comeback wasn't made (even though slightly attempted) by playing these songs Richrath hated (the pop and ballad songs taking over when he left) either.  It was  from the band playing the old songs that we all liked and the ones Richrath fought for but lost out on.

We all know it was a lot more than the music that caused Gary Richrath to get fired.  But the battle over the music and then other issues was in large what I feel kept Richrath on his addiction, depression, and downward path for so long.  He felt like an outcast in a band he almost was with from the beginning and he never was willing to break free from the chains that kept him from being able to stay in the band in the late 1980's and early 1990's era of REO Speedwagon sadly enough too.  It was a music a direction, a Kevin Cronin versus Gary Richrath musical taste and control, and the drug addiction member (Gary) versus a cleaned up band the other members had decided they wanted to be or become that was the real end of the best era of REO Speedwagon. 

The band almost faded away and then they made their comeback, rebuilding themselves on their best music and cleaned up lifestyle, and then touring non-stop ever since that kept the band a great and powerful force in rock and roll even today.  And I enjoy seeing them live even today because they sound great and play the songs fans want to hear.

This show being uploaded now is really a rare glimpse into the era of REO Speedwagon's history where they were on the brink of extinction and implosion and were losing some key members.  The band members were fighting and not happy for the most part.  And then this show was at the end of an era that the band would never truly see again and the precursor to the era that brought them back to playing what the fans wanted to hear and knew.  I guess REO Speedwagon stayed strong however.  The band is officially 48 years old now and they have survived.  And as all REO Speedwagon fans know, 'only the strong survive'!

I hope you enjoy the show...
 
Bootradr

SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL!!!

THESE DOWNLOADS ARE FOR FREE ONLY!  NEVER BUY OR SELL ANY LEGALLY RECORDED BUT ILLEGAL TO SELL SHOWS LIKE THIS ONE.  THIS IS FOR FANS AND FUTURE FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR THE ARTIST'S MUSIC RAW & LIVE BUT NOT OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE OR RELEASED.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS BY BUYING THEIR OFFICIALLY RELEASED MATERIAL TOO.

KEEP IT FREE, KEEP IT AVAILABLE, AND MOST OF ALL; KEEP IT LEGAL!!!