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Wrapping Up June Tour

written by REO Speedwagon June 30, 2024

Hi friends, okay, our June tour was a stone blast! We hit a bunch of our favorite towns with two of our favorite bands, and ended up with a record breaking crowd last night at Summerfest in Milwaukee. The energy of that Wisconsin audience, combined with perhaps our strongest performance of the year, all built up as the set continued and crescendoed with an explosion of Midwest, REO Speedwagon style rock and roll. The people of Wisconsin have supported REO since our bar band days in Madison, LaCrosse, Green Bay, Milwaukee, and so many other towns all around the state. Summerfest has become our home away from home, (last night was our fourteenth time playing the festival!). So thank you to all the Wisconsinites/Cheeseheads who have been there for us through the years, and for all of your love and support. And in particular one very special lady from Racine, the former Lisa Wells, now Lisa Wells-Cronin. As I said from the stage last night: I am now a Cheesehead by marriage! I could not love my Wisconsin wife more.

So June began with a run of dates with our longtime friends and touring partners, Night Ranger. Those guys have kept the bar high, and keep get better every time we tour together. I love when our special guests are pros, who have been around forever, and are still pushing themselves to new heights. At this point in our careers there are those who choose to become complacent and rest on their past achievements. That attitude does not work for me. Our audiences shell out their hard-earned money for concert tickets, and we owe them our complete and total effort every night. Anything less than our best is simply unacceptable. Jack Blades and I talked about that, and how grateful we are for our loyal fans and the longevity of both our bands, after our completely sold out show at the Starlight Amphitheater, 8,000 classic rock fans in Kansas City. I have a feeling we are going to be seeing a lot of Night Ranger in the future.

Then we were reunited with our young, awesome, hard-working friends, Levon. If you have not seen them yet, (they have opened some fifty shows for REO over the past six years), you need to check out their music. Their vocal blend is literally CSN level, their songwriting is top-notch, and they are solid dudes through and through. It is just a matter of time until they break through big-time. We love the Levons!

So now a well-earned week off at home, and then we head out with our new friends, Train for the Summer Road Trip Tour. We played a mini-show with those guys at the Whiskey a Go Go in LA, did Jimmy Kimmel Live and Good Morning America together, and we are primed and ready to rock and roll. So check the schedule for a tour stop near you. Train is not to be missed. Great songs, great playing, and Patrick Monahan is one of the greatest rock singers ever. I can’t wait to share the stage with him.

Okay, that’s all for now … onward and upward, kc

REO Speedwagon with Night Ranger