REO!

’80s pop band to play here Friday

By PETE SORENSON
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

As part of the Homecoming Week activities, REO Speedwagon will perform Friday at 8 p.m. in the Centrum Arena.
Josie Beth Baxter, SUUSA vice president of student activities, said having REO Speedway perform for the Homecoming concert will attract students as well as “older generations.”
“We wanted REO Speedwagon for Homecoming so that we could have a concert not just for students, but also for alumni, faculty, staff and members of the community,” Baxter said. “We hope this concert will help bond the community with the university.”
REO Speedwagon is well-known for its love songs, especially the hits “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Keep On Loving You,” “In My Dreams,” “Time For Me To Fly,” “Just For You,” and “Till the Rivers Run Dry.”
Speedwagon released its first record in 1971. Since then, the band has released 17 albums, including 13 Top-40 singles (two of which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100), and has sold some 40 million records.
Students who attend the concert will receive free admission to the Homecoming dance, which will take place after the concert.
Baxter said the winner of the SUU Idol contest — an on-campus talent competition patterned after the Fox Network show American Idol — will open the concert, and then REO Speedwagon will perform.
She said it will be an event that’s sure to please.
“It’s going to be a great show,” Baxter said. “It will appeal to all ages, and that’s what we wanted for Homecoming.”
Tickets are now on sale and cost $15 for students, $18.50 for faculty and staff, and $19.50 for community members. Tickets can be purchased at the Centrum Ticket Office or by calling 586-7872.
In spanning more than three decades together, REO Speedwagon has earned a loyal cadre of fans.The band continues to appeal to a wide variety of music lovers.

  

REO Speedwagoon members Kevin Cronin, Neal Doughty, Burce Hall, Dave Amato and Bryan Hitt will perform in the Centrum Arena Friday night. The band, which released its first record in 1971, is best known for such hits as “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “In My Dreams,” and “Just For You.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF REO SPEEDWAGON

The five-member group started its career playing small venues, including bars across America, traveling in an old Chevy stationwagon and worked its way up to playing stadiums and arenas.
The current REO group consists of lead singer/songwriter Kevin Cronin, keyboardist and founding member Neal Doughty, bass guitarist Bruce Hall, lead guitarist Dave Amato and drummer Bryan Hitt.
In 1996, the band performed at President Clinton’s 1996 inaugural ball, and since has made apperances on the Howard Stern Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Mahr, VH-1’s Rock n’ Roll Jeopardy, and NBC’s Today Show.
Also in 1996, the band released its 14th studio album, Building The Bridge. Clinton adopted the title song as his campaign theme that year and invited the band to accompany him at stops on the campaign trail.