Well, being that it was "many moons" ago, I'm not sure what I can actually tell you other than I was a BIG Steve Walsh & Kansas fan since the beginning in about "74"! After Steve left Kansas, @ the time I wasn't sure I could imagine Kansas w/o him. I followed Steve through his solo release & naturally on to STREETS! After having purchased the STREETS album (no cd's back then) & having found a continuance of Steve's great vocals, it was only natural to go to the concert, to which I happily dragged along 4 friends! 8) It was a general admission show, & having aquired a new camera & just discovering the fun of concert photography, my main quest was to get ahold of some pictures of STREETS & possibly shaking Steve's hand! I was able to for-go the normal drink in hand thing as I wanted to really have the picture taking opportunity thing in control. After some real aggressive & determined positioning, I was able to secure a spot right in front of Steve, directly next to the stage, which I never relinquished! 8) No bathroom trips, no drinks, nothing but stand my ground & let the sweat bead from my forehead (it was a scorcher in there)! Actual setlist I cannot remember as I was totally mesmerized by having the vantage point that I did, directly in front of Steve! It was a top notch performance w/ an energy displayed by Steve that embellished his youth & fitness. There were the traditional keyboard headstands & continual stage dancing that we all have come to admire him for! His voice, well "angelic" is a good word for it, as it was still in its prime by my ears & he sang w/ the enthusiasm of someone who wanted people to say to themselves that this guy was going places. It was a pretty wild show & the crowd was into it, @ least up front where I was.
The band was in top notch form & I remember having a hard time taking my eyes off of Mike Slamer, being the 1st time I had really seen him. Boy, Mike can play a "MEAN" guitar, believe me! I guess I hadn't really ever listened to him that closely as Steve's voice always captured my ears & the rest just followed behind, but Mr. Slamer "slammed"! I remember Tim Gehrt being overshadowed by his drum kit from my vantage point as most drummers always are, but that didn't overshadow his technique @ the kit as he was awesome! Billy Greer was a real asset to the band w/ his superb playing of the bass along w/ his backing vocals. As I proceeded to take pictures throughout the show I remember wondering if any of the shots were going to turn out, as I was a real amateur @ the time. I was using a pentax ME-Super camera w/ a very expensive 50mm lens which is all I needed to get very frame filling body shots due to my close proximity. I actually had trouble keeping subjects in complete focus due to the depth of field limitations of the lens w/ close focusing. Lighting was not very bright & just barely adequate for the film of those days. The show was fabulous as it was the only time I ever had the chance to see STREETS & I'm really glad I was able to attend! The "real" highlight of the show was @ the end, when I was practically trying to crawl on the stage in order to possibly get Steve to shake my hand. I remember reaching further than my arm wanted to extend & making eye contact w/ Steve for a second as he approached the edge of the stage & "slapped" my hand in a sort of high-five! YEH!!!!!! That made my night!! It was a tremendous ending to a concert I'll not forget, as I was able to watch one of my favorite bands from 1st row, take pictures & come in physical contact w/ "greatness"! 8)
The question everyone will ask is did my pictures turn out? Well, I've been shooting pictures since that time & of course I thought they were "great" after I had them developed, but ask me now & I'm likely to tell anyone that they're just mere representations of the evening. I'm told their fantastic, but I intend to show them to Steve & Billy @ Sault St Marie next month (04/98) if given the chance & then I'll let them decide! They're memories of a time gone by & I would not give them up for reproduction w/o the explicit permission from both Steve & Billy 1st! Well, that's the story, & I hope it helps you out! Memory fails me for particulars, but that was the jest of it!
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