Night Ranger
BB Kings
New York City, New York
August 17, 2009
Tony Pijar
Night Ranger, once again, stole the show at Rocklahoma – two years running now – and that was with an abbreviated set. Finally, I was able to see the band play a full set at the infamous BB Kings Club in the heart of Times Square. With these guys, it’s all about having fun, but not at the sacrifice of professionalism; they are the consummate performers, but know how to have a good time with their audience; they’re all self-effacing and comedic! They’ve been around for over 25 years now, and finally after a 10 year shutdown, have released an album of new material in “Hole in the Sun”, for sure their best since “Midnight Madness.”
The band opened with “This Boy needs to Rock” and midway through the song transitioned into Deep Purple’s “Highway Star.” Then, drummer Kelly Keagy took over at lead vocals during “Sing me Away.” Jack Blades and Keagy are two stellar vocalists whose voices complement each other very well. As a longtime Night Ranger fan, I was partial to and disappointed when Jeff Watson either left the band or was shown the door, but when I saw Joel Hoekstra rip and more than keep pace with Brad Gillis, I was relieved. Hoekstra fits in with the band like the proverbial glove and looks genuinely happy to be onstage with these guys, and his fret sparring with Gillis must be seen and heard to be believed.
Midway through the set, Gillis and Hoekstra grabbed their acoustic guitars and delivered such an incredible instrumental piece that you could hear every jaw hit the ground. Then Blades and Keagy re-emerged from the side of the stage and more fun ensued. Blades asked Keagy to recall his first concert. “The Doors”, he replied…cue “Roadhouse Blues.” Gillis, when asked the same question, said his first show was the immortal BB King – cue rapturous ovation! And when new keyboardist Christian Cullen was asked about his first show, he burst into the keyboard intro to Van Halen’s “Jump.” It’s all about fun and forging a comfortable connection with the audience. Mission Accomplished!
The rest of the show was a shot of Night Ranger hits and a couple of Damn Yankees’ songs for good measure. They closed with “Don’t tell me you Love me”, the song that started them on their way back in 1983. The first encore, predictably, was arguably the most popular rock ballad of the 1980s, “Sister Christian.” And the second encore one of the best rock anthems of the 80s in “You can Still Rock in America.”
I’ve told you before in the Rocklahoma reviews and I’m telling you again, if you have the chance to see Night Ranger, you must make every point to do so. You’ll look at life a bit differently after you’ve experienced one of their shows!