REO Speedwagon rolls home
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Loving You’ making the rounds on YouTube, which I find very flattering. Keith is a very talented musician and I think that’s a great honor.”
While their impressive backlog of hits remains REO’s bread and butter, Cronin continues to write new material. “I just finished a new song last week,” he affirms. “It’s just the greatest feeling when you get just the right word, the right rhyme, the perfect chord change to encapsulate exactly what you’re feeling. There’s nothing like it, it’s just the purest part of my being.”
REO has also kept abreast of current trends in marketing and technology. Just this past December, the band released a video game called “Find Your Own Way Home.” Perhaps best described as a First Person Lounger (or “Casual Game” according to the promotional materials) the game allows REO fans to experience an amazing fantasy world where collecting a Wonka-esque golden ticket gets you backstage to meet virtual members of Champaign’s favorite sons. Take that, James Cameron!
“It’s actually pretty fun, kind of addictive,” Cronin says of the game. “I mean, you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to win or anything. But I was pleased to see that my avatar is quite handsome, quite dashing,” he laughs. “I also appreciate the fact that in the storyline of the game I’m missing on my private yacht in Bora Bora.” When it is suggested that this sounds like as much fantasy-fulfillment for the singer himself as for the fan at home, he lets out a hoot. “It’s total fantasy fulfillment for me!” Which is saying something, coming from a man whose dreams have mostly come true.
“I realize that I am extremely privileged,” he says. “I mean, just the honor of getting to go out to the mound at Wrigley Field with my 8-year-old twins and throw out the opening pitch [in June of 2008] was just mindblowing, as a lifelong Cubs fan. Knowing that our music can provide joy, escape and satisfaction to so many people is a great feeling and I never lose sight of that. I am so grateful for my success. I am very, very fortunate.”
Of course, two decades have now passed between REO’s chart-dominating heyday and now, including a precipitous fall from mass popularity and the departure of band founder Richrath in 1989. However, this doesn’t mean that REO has spent the intervening decades coasting on its status as Classic Rock Royalty.
“I realize that a lot of the folks who come out to see us are there for nostalgic reasons,” says Cronin. “They come expecting the music to bring them back to their high school days, college days or whatever. And I am so glad to perform that service for them. But at the same time, I can honestly say that as a band we are still performing on the same level as we were back then, if not higher. My greatest satisfaction is seeing people leave the auditorium with their expectations exceeded. We realize people are spending their hard-earned money to come and see us and it’s good to hear people say, you know, ‘wow, that was worth it.’” He chuckles with pride. “We still kick ass on a pretty high level.”
REO Speedwagon will perform along with Styx and .38 Special from 7 p.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25. Ticket prices range from $39-$59.
Scott Faingold was a founding member of Springfield alternative rock band Backwards Day. He is former assistant music section editor for the Houston Press and author of the novel Kennel Cough. This is his first story for IT since 1989.
