Loverboy Rocks my face off in Tulsa - Twix109 Concert Write OffSep 01 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line They are getting a little older, a little gray but these guys crank - no doubt about a great concert band Williams Employees - “Workin’ For the Weekend” The Williams Companies is a large Natural Gas concern in Tulsa. We are a fortune 200 company, with over 10,000 employees worldwide. We have offices in Tulsa (headquarters), Houston, Owensboro, Long Beach, London, Sydney, Nashville, North Pole Alaska, Nashville, and soon Singapore. We buy and sell Natural Gas, natural gas liquids, and other commodities. Williams started out as a natural gas pipeline company. Once a year – during the fall, Williams puts together a party to celebrate employee efforts and success. It is a favorite event among employees and attended by thousands each year. The eighties arena band Loverboy played a hard rocking concert in Tulsa last year on October 14, 2000 - a Saturday night. It took place at the Convention Center to a select audience. Loverboy was brought in for the annual Williams Companies Employee Appreciation party. I love working for a company that will rent the Convention Center for a night, feed us, get us drunk, and the rock our brains out. It was quite a night. Now some of you may be saying; “hey, this is a little too much like the commercial with Danger Kitty” – the look alike hair band that didn’t quite make it and ended up playing a bar mitzvah, not so. While Williams didn’t exactly bring in Fuel, Incubus or Vertical Horizon – they did bring in a seriously rockin’ band in Loverboy, they rocked my FACE OFF!!! Concerts behind the counter in a small town… Loverboy is a band that has continued touring beyond the days of their greatest success. They are a revival act, traveling and playing their hits to crowds that appreciated them fifteen years ago, very much like Journey, Lynard Skynard, and many other bands that come through town. Tulsa tends to get bands that are either on their way down or on their way up. Incubus is not coming to Tulsa, they are going to Oklahoma City, Pearl Jam does not come to Tulsa, but to Dallas. In addition, we see a similar trend with the logistical problems that we have hosting large convention and sporting events. “Yeah, but Garth comes to town.”…well yes, Garth is probably the biggest act that Tulsa has seen in recent years. Garth comes here out of sheer, hard-core, Oklahoma loyalty…God Bless Him. He could probably continue to fill Driller stadium for as many shows as he would play. Garth Brooks is beloved in Tulsa Oklahoma, and he always will be. He never stopped loving us and never forgot about his roots….”he showed up in boots.” It is time to embrace the larger crowd, to welcome the rest of the world into our very friendly town; there will be a few problems that we will have to deal with, however. We may need more restaurants and hotels to accommodate those who visit us. We may have to put more people to work to service the events that will take place. We may have to enjoy the acts that come here; we may have to travel less to see a higher quality level of entertainment. We may have to put with superior city government and services as an influx of capitol into the city and community helps drive us toward growth. We may even have to let our chests puff out and our pride swell as our downtown thrives and expands. In memory of Scott Smith In a sad and interesting note, this was one of the last concerts of Scott Smith – the bass player. On November 30th, just a short while after they were here, Scott was swept over the side of his sailboat in frigid coastal Pacific waters. They never did find the body, but he fell into 11-degree water after a large wave hit the boat. He was later replaced, but we were honored here in Tulsa with one of their last concert performances. The Band The Canadian based band hit it very big in the early eighties with several large albums, but really made their mark in the soundtrack to the movie Top Gun with the song – Heaven in Your Eyes. Their songs Workin’ for the weekend and You Take me to the top were also huge. They were a major eighties arena band. In the early nineties they reunited for a series of concerts – one of which was ours, and they played with a lineup that they had been using for many years and it was as follows: Lead Vocals – Mike Reno Guitar – Paul Dean Bass – Scott Smith Drums – Matt Frenette Keyboards – Doug Johnson The Set The first set was a local Tulsa band called Uninvited Guest, who played mostly covers. They were not horrible; they played some Prince, Journey, and the like. It was after all a party to celebrate the eighties… Loverboy opened with Hot Girls in Love and then proceeded through a ten song set, playing their hits, Workin’ for the Weekend, Heaven in Your Eyes, The Kid is Hot Tonight, Take me to the Top, Notorious, Lucky Ones, Turn Me Loose and several others. They played hard with the same gutsy, tight rock sound that carried them to the soundtrack of Top Gun. There was some gray at the temples and a receding hairline or two…Mike Reno screamed his brains out, he was cocky, loud, dirty and terribly fun. He was all over the stage, and encouraged those of us in the crowd to shout out the words at times. It was terribly fun. Paul was his normal incredible self; his solos were gritty and fast. There was no question who was the general on this stage, and it was he. There was some delightful keyboard work and the beginning of Take me To the Top in particular was an incredible venue to show of Doug’s command of the keys. The sound quality was excellent, as it was a large room, but not that large a crowd. It was easy to get near the stage with just a couple thousand people. There was a lot of dancing, as alcohol had been served at the party, but not a lot of attitude. It was quite entertaining, however, to watch a concert live with a Gin and Tonic sitting in front of me. And to have gotten legally drunk at a concert and then gotten up front into what passed for a corporate Mosh area, it was delightful. The guys had on their normal concert gear. Reno had on his standard pop suite, and Paul looked like he had just come out of the woods. Jeans and a baseball cap, it was interesting. They did look very eighties though, just a little touch of gray at the temples. The energy of the night was intoxicating. They were driving the crowd and driving it. And in spite of the corporate culture and the Midwestern twang, there was a lot of screaming and raised hands in the air – maybe even a few lighters out there held aloft. They could all still hold their own playing, and there was no question that this was the band that had done their thing so well, for so many. It was an amazing show, and not at all to be taken lightly. Loverboy put on an evening that I will never forget. Write Off Thanks a million to Twix109 (bell bottoms and all), for hosting this very cool write off. This was to highlight a great concert. Please go and read the other concert criminals (awesome writers) who contributed to this very enjoyable write off: Twix109 Deaser26 DomMar107 MrReEvolution MzRizz Hoagie303 CarieP Xxxxer Kaurisma  |
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