The Little River Band
The Cotillion Ballroom
Wichita, Kansas
05/03/18

Set List: It's a Long Way There | Man on Your Mind | Happy Anniversary | Take It Easy on Me | The Lost and the Lonely | I'm an Island | Reminiscing |Hang On | Drum Solo | The Night Owls | Piano Solo | Cool Change | Lady | Lonesome Loser

The Little River Band in 2018 is:
Ryan Ricks on Drums
Chris Marion on Keyboards
Rich Herring on Lead Guitar
Colin Whinnery on Rhythm Guitar and Lead Vocals
Wayne Nelson of Bass Guitar and Lead Vocals

The smooth 1970s soft rock vocal harmonies of The Little River Band are hard to equal…so one can imagine what it was like for band leader Wayne Nelson to find a band that could do it like the original lineup…but somehow he did! And they have been on the road ever since.

Wayne joined the LRB in 1980 never imagining one day he would be the last man standing…and the man to own the name of the band!  He has kept the magic alive for decades and assembled and amazing band. The LRB may not have any founding members, but Nelson has played or sang on 22 Little River Band albums/CDs and continues to pour his heart and soul into the music. 

On May 3^rd LRB came back to the Cotillion Ballroom for their first visit since 2007. They took the stage and proceeded to turn on an entire arena of MILF’s and GILF’s in no time! The women of Wichita love this band!

The focus is, obviously, around Wayne Nelson, but guitarist Rich Herring impressed the crowd with his tasty lead skills all night long. The band opened up with the classic tune “It’s a Long Way There” and the harmonies were tight and the band was grooving like a bunch of frustrated jazz players needing a paying gig. 

They were jamming out and on fire…so much so that Chris Marion even had to do his best Edgar Winter impersonation and break out the keytar! No matter how good one is on the keytar…they still are kinda nerdy… Sorry Chris… we rocked with you…but we snickered too! The band played FM hit-after-hit as the crowd sat appreciatively.

“Happy Anniversary” is the one of the most famous divorce songs ever and Nelson had a bit of fun with that fact before leading the crowd in a sing-a-long. After a nice version of "Take It Easy On Me" the band performed two tracks from their latest studio effort, 2014’s Cuts Like a Diamond. Both “Lost and the Lonely” and “I'm an Island” fit nicely in the set of well-known songs.  I can report very few beer and bathroom breaks occurred while the LRB played the new stuff!  

As soon as the newbies were over the band wasted no time getting back to the songs that made the ladies swoon in “Reminiscing” and Help is on the Way.” A couple up front were getting too into it…Get a damn room!

The next big musical moment came with some fine guitar soloing during both the intro and the main section of the song “The Night Owls” by guitarists Rich Herring and Colin Whinnery. The twin leads were cool but then Rich tore it up doing his best Zakk Wylde squeal on his axe!

Once the rocking was done the band took a moment to give the spotlight to Chris Marion, who performed a beautiful keyboard solo that segued into the classic “Cool Change.” “Lady” came next.  Predictably every girl that went to high school between 1978 and 1982 were on their feet acting as if Nelson was signing to them! The trifecta of hits was soon to be completed…but first Nelson had the house lights turned on and took photos of the crowd with a camera. Wayne…this is 2018…get an iPhone! They make it easy to upload the photos to Facebook!

After some laughs and thanking of the crowd the band rocked out a big intro and even teased with a line from a Three Dog Night song before suddenly stopping and turning on the harmonies once again. You guessed it…”Lonesome Loser” was unleashed.

While this song is clearly from the past…the sound, the vibe…even the lyrics…dammit…it is a fun song to see performed live. LRB kicked it in the butt and had everyone on their feet singing along with every word before calling it a night.

At the end of the day, Wayne Nelson and the rest of the band put on an evening of Little River Band hits that were well received. The band played their hearts out and we were home in bed before 11:00 PM.

Now that is a great Thursday night in Kansas!

Go see LRB…it’s a fine night of fine music.

Visit the band at:
http://www.littleriverband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1426748540767090/