Live and Unzoomed Tour 2022 in Chicago

4 Jun, 2022 John Kosiewicz Concert Reviews, Pop, Rock

Live and Unzoomed Tour 2022

Legendary rockers REO Speedwagon and Styx joined forces for a summer co-headlining Live and Unzoomed Tour 2022 along with Loverboy. The Live and UnZoomed Tour 2022 kicked off on May 31, 2022 in Grand Rapids, MI. On June 4, the tour stopped outside of the Chicago area.

REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin said, “Tommy (Shaw) and I have done a number of Zoom performances together during the pandemic, and REO and Styx are ready to go get UnZoomed, and out on the road for our fifth U.S. tour together. Add our great friends Mike Reno and the Loverboy guys, and I am totally psyched. If I wasn’t performing in it, I would totally come out to see this show. See you all, LIVE and UNZOOMED!”

THE SHOW

Show Recap Loverboy

First up was Canadian rock band, Loverboy. Formed in 1979, Loverboy line up currently consists of four founding members: Paul Dean on guitar and backing vocals; Matt Frenette on drums and percussion; Doug Johnson on keyboards, synthesizers, piano, saxophone, harmonica and backing vocals; Mike Reno on lead vocals and guitar; along with Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve on bass guitar and backing vocals.

With a short set, Loverboy came out strong with “Notorious” off their 1987 release, “Wildchild”. Their set included favorites like “Lucky Ones” and “Lovin’ Every Minute of It”. They closed out their set with their smash hit singles “Turn Me Loose” and “Working for the Weekend”. The only drawback of there set was they didn’t perform their new single. On January 14, 2022, Loverboy release their new single titled, “Release”. It would have been great to see them perform this new song live.

Show Recap REO Speedwagon

With this being a co-headlining tour, the shows rotate between who closes the concert each night. For tonight’s show, Styx was the closing artist. By default, REO Speedwagon was up second. REO Speedwagon present lineup includes founding member Neal Doughty on keyboards; Kevin Cronin on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and keyboards; Bruce Hall on bass, backing and lead vocals; Dave Amato on lead guitar and backing vocals; and Bryan Hitt on drums and percussion.

With 16 studio albums spanning 5 decades, not everyone is going to hear all their favorite songs. REO Speedwagon did a great job of picking a nice selection of songs for their setlist. Starting out with “Music Man” off their second studio album in 1972, the band was off and running to play some “good old fashioned Illinois rock and roll”. As Kevin Cronin said, “Put the pedal to the medal, nobody makes me feel like you do!”. REO Speedwagon jammed out the night with “Roll with the Changes”.

Show Recap Styx

Closing out the night was Chicago’s very own, Styx who was formed in 1972. The line up Includes: Tommy Shaw, James “JY” Young, Lawrence Gowan, Todd Sucherman and Ricky Phillips.

The Styx portion of Live and Unzoomed Tour 2022 is in support of their new album, Crash of the Crown”. Although, you’d anticipate a show with new songs, Styx did not force it down our throats. Choosing instead, to blend a few songs in with their classic hits. There were two surprised in the Styx performance. In 2021, REO Speedwagon was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Rt. 66 located in Joliet, Illinois. This year was Styx’s turn to be inducted. What better way to do it then at a hometown show? Even better was the fact that founding member Chuck Panozzo jumped on stage with the band and performed a few songs. The night came to a fantastic conclusion with “Mr. Roboto” and “Renegade”.

Show Conclusion

In the end, these three bands brought a great sampling of classic rock. They sounded great and put on a highly energetic show. The audience was mixed combination of younger and older generation. All seemed to love the music and know the words to the songs to sing along. If you have a chance to catch one of the Live and Unzoomed Tour 2022 dates this summer, you won’t be disappointed.