John Waite at Ranchmart Center, Leawood KS (2022-06-04) concert review

One of classic rock’s legendary and most distinctive voices is again diving in head first on tour–

John Waite and his band (Tom Hogan- bass; Mark Ricciardi- guitar; Alan Childs- drums), arrived in town to help re-christen the decades-old Ranchmart Center in suburban Leawood, KS, a retail enclave that has recently received a complete and modernized architectural face-lift. 

Waite, coming up on seventy-years-young, has a brand new EP out called Anything (on his own No Brakes Records, order signed copies here) and though we unfortunately didn’t hear any of the new songs in this slightly abbreviated performance, there were plenty of  familiar hits from his over four-decade career, including songs from The Babys and supergroup Bad English.   

Waite and his (recently married) guitarist Ricciardi started quiet-ish, opening with three songs played acoustically with just the duo on stage.  Waite commented that many of the recent places he’d played had been rainy, though it looked like skies above might clear and thanked the crew for repairing the many sound issues they encountered pre-show.

“Bluebird Cafe” was set at the famous Nashville spot and about a waitress Waite met long ago and then bassist Hogan and drummer Childs (who was with Waite on his early 80s solo tours and also played on David Bowie’s 1987 Glass Spider Tour) then joined on stage for one of many Babys classics. 

“We’d like to play a country song”, Waite remarked before their cover of a Vince Gill hit, and before “Every Time I Think of You” Waite mentioned the lush orchestra, background singers, and many backing musicians that all played on the record, and asked the crowd to do their best to fill in.

“Imaginary Girl” was skipped from the setlist and the band charged ahead with a classic from Bad English’s debut album followed by Waite’s biggest solo hit, “Missing You”, a rare song that charted twice, topping the charts in 1984 and then going Top 40 in 2007 as a duet with Alison Krauss.

“Head First” still holds up as an ideal driving song with its chugging beat and the band briefly left the stage but quickly returned for one last song to end their seventy-minute set- a cover of the Led Zeppelin classic “Whole Lotta Love” which no doubt shook nearby storefront windows. 

John Waite continues on the road, headlining (including a free show July 31 outdoors in Rochester, MN) and then joins up with Rick Springfield and Men at Work (ft Colin Hay) for an 18-date summer tour of bigger venues, before heading overseas for stops in the Netherlands. 

(click any photo below to enlarge and see in full)