A Full-Strength Night Ranger Keeps Motoring Along

Concert Review
Night Ranger
The Vine
Del Lago Resort & Casino
Waterloo, NY
Thursday April 26, 2018
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto

Like any other band that has been around over thirty years, Night Ranger has a very interesting history. While they hit their popularity peak in the mid 80’s, they are still releasing records and touring quite frequently averaging 50-plus shows a year these days. Bassist/vocalist Jack Blades made it a point to the near capacity crowd that they will continue to do both. Blades reiterated what he told us in an interview last year “I got a philosophy if you stop creating that’s when you start dying inside.”

The band seemed to enjoy being up on stage playing The Vine inside Del Lago Resort & Casino Thursday evening. This marked the bands second time playing the venue since it opened in February 2017. Last time they were there they played without the services of drummer Kelly Keagy as he was having heart surgery. Cinderella drummer Fred Coury filled in. This time around the band really dug deep into the catalog playing rare songs such as “Call My Name” and “Can’t Find A Thrill” both from the band’s debut Dawn Patrol.

Night Ranger may very well be that last great band of the 1980s. They still sound and play as good as they did back then if not better. They put on a very entertaining show as demonstrated during their 100-minute set Thursday. With Blades and Keagy sharing the vocal duties, the band kept things interesting like when they threw in their favorite song from 1984, a cover of Don Henley’s “Boys Of Summer”. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other two members of the band who are of equal importance in keyboardist Eric Levy and guitarist Keri Kelli. This may very well be one of the strongest touring lineups the band has ever had.

Blades time in the Supergroup Damn Yankees was also celebrated with the classic cut “Coming Of Age”. Later in the set Blades noted that he was going to throw a curveball as he broke into “Come Again” a song which he did not sing lead on, his Damn Yankee cohort Tommy Shaw did. This led directly into “High Enough” which had the crowd singing along.

From there the band started to roll out their heavy artillery of hits. “Goodbye”, “When You Close Your Eyes” and Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” brought the main set to a close. The band came back for an encore of “Sister Christian” and “(You Can Still) Rock In America” to end the evening.

You couldn’t have asked for a better venue host. The friendly and helpful staff from the courtesy shuttle driver, to the box office people, to all the workers inside the Vine provide the concert goer a pleasant experience that helps make the concert more enjoyable and memorable. Of course, having a great band like Night Ranger perform didn’t hurt either.

Set List
Somehow, Someway
Four In The Morning
Sing Me Away
Coming Of Age (Damn Yankees Cover)
Call My Name
The Secret Of My Success
Sentimental Street
Can’t Find Me A Thrill
Truth
Night Ranger
Come Again (Damn Yankees Cover)(1st verse and Chorus)
High Enough (Damn Yankees Cover)
Boys Of Summer (Don Henley Cover)
Goodbye
When You Close Your Eyes
Don’t Tell Me You Love Me