Taking the small B.B.’s stage about quarter after eight, Night Ranger rocked through a near 2 hour set of songs from their new wonderful album High Road all the way back through their 30 plus year career. From opener “Touch of Madness,†the first-time-ever playing of “St. Bartholomew,” kickin-in with “Night Ranger†and “Penny†to even managing some Damn Yankees tunes (Night Ranger singer/bassist Jack Blades was in that seminal 80’s band producing the hits “Coming of Age”“and real crowd pleaser this night “High Enough”) the band totally rocked.
Drummer/singer Kelly Keagy sings about as much as Blades, set up as he is in the same front line as guitarists Brad Gillis (org. Ranger with Blades and Keagy) and newer wild-haired blistering player Joel Hoekstra, Blades and the other newer member solid yet understated keyboardist Eric Levy.
What was most apparent was how much Night Ranger love their job. They bounced, joked, played to the crowd-Keagy and vibrato master Gillis are equally as fun to watch-the entire band really exuding an exhausting amount of enthusiasm.
The older nugget “Night Ranger†kicked, the hit ender-of-the-regular-set “Don’t Tell Me You love Me†included Deep Purple’s “Highway Star,†and “Goodbye†saw guitarists Gillis and Hoekstra on acoustics (at least the beginning) and of course we got “Sister Christian†during the encore.
The show ended with the anthem “ You Can Still Rock in America”..and Night Ranger still very much do.
