The Sunday night “I Want My ’80s” tour stop at Meijer Gardens also featured fan-friendly faves from Wang Chung, John Waite and Paul Young. The review and photos at Local Spins.
‘A Couple of Hours of Freedom’: Rick Springfield and friends offered that to fans at Meijer Gardens on Sunday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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Rick Springfield revealed the “human touch” to a sold-out crowd at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park amphitheater as the rocker headlined the four-act “I Want My ’80s” tour on Sunday night.
Capping off a night that Gen X dreams are made of, Springfield, 75, heralded the fellow acts on the bill – Paul Young, Wang Chung and John Waite – as a “fan” of them all back in the day and now their friend.
“We just want to give you guys a couple of hours of freedom from the monkeys in your head,” he said, adding that performing live gave him the chance to lose his own “monkeys.”
The crowd, mostly Gen-Xers with children, Gen Z, and Millennials mixed in, was thrilled to cheer for Springfield, whose robust voice and vivacious stage presence belied his age. By the second song, the rip-roaring “I’ve Done Everything For You,” audience members were on their feet, clapping and belting out lyrics at top volume. They were all in.
Wang Chung: Had the crowd dancing. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
A rapid-fire medley followed, with Springfield zipping through snippets of tunes such as the hard-rocking “Living in Oz,” “Two Tickets to Paradise,” covering the late Eddie Money’s hit, and even a tiny teaser for the song everyone was waiting for: “Jessie’s Girl.”
The crowd would have to wait, and that was just fine as a sprightly Springfield rolled out a cavalcade of rollicking hits, such as “Love is Alright, Tonight” and “Don’t Talk to Strangers.”
For the latter, Springfield artfully turned it into a singing contest between the 55-and-under group and the 56-plus crowd, who were louder in their turn at lustily singing the chorus.
On a personal note, the singer told the crowd that he was about to become a grandfather in two weeks, to a baby girl. He also talked openly about his lifelong struggle with depression, which he has had since he was 14.
As for his incredibly youthful looks and vitality, he wasn’t giving away his secrets. “Then I’d have to kill you,” he joked. He also wished all the fathers in the crowd a happy Father’s Day.
As he performed, a huge screen behind him showed clips from song videos, old concert footage, and his appearance as an actor in various movies, and even “General Hospital.” This gave the show a nostalgic touch and the feeling that we were time-traveling to 1984.
An Offer: A sign at Sunday’s show. (Fan Photo)
Or, maybe 1980, the year Springfield’s No. 1 hit came out. The already amped-up crowd saved fuel for “Jessie’s Girl,” and so did the performer and band. The song never gets old, and as the sun sank into the sky, this crowd lost themselves for just a few more joyful moments in a reverie of eighties rock.
John Waite’s 45-minute set was accented by his 1978 hit “Everytime I Think of You,” from the Brit’s time with The Babys. The song featured a scorching guitar solo by Waite’s lead guitarist, Kyle Cook, formerly of Matchbox 20. “When I See You Smile” had the crowd swaying and singing along, but the peak was Waite’s 1984 No. 1 hit, “Missing You.”
Wang Chung got the crowd jumping with their irresistible trio of pure ’80s gold – “Let’s Go,” “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” and “Dancehall Days.” Because the lyric video was playing on the screen behind them, fans were finally able to see that the words in the latter song are “We are cool on craze,” which doesn’t make any more sense than other theories, but a fun song to hear live nonetheless.
Nick Feldman and Jack Hues, who formed the English New Wave band in 1980, both sound fantastic, and their boisterous set was a high point of the show. By the way, “Wang Chung” means “yellow bell” in English, and is the first note in the Chinese classical music scale, although, as the band has stated, it can also mean whatever the listener wants it to mean.
Paul Young opened up with a four-song set highlighted by the delicious “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down,” and the singer’s No. 1 hit from 1985, “Everytime You Go Away.”
NEXT UP AT MEIJER GARDENS: Diana Krall, Abigail Stauffer & The Wisdom perform at 7 p.m. tonight (June 16). Tickets — $100-$102 — available online here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Rick Springfield, Wang Chung, John Waite, Paul Young
Meijer Gardens
Photos by Anthony Norkus
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