Zebra w/Donnie Vie at Arcada Theatre, St. Charles, IL (2023-04-08) live review

Easter weekend in the Chicagoland western suburbs wasn’t highlighted by a bunny, but instead by a zebra—

Make that Zebra, as in the classic rock band returning to the area on its 40^th Anniversary Tour, to the familiar confines of the venerable Arcada Theatre in St Charles, IL for a rousing Saturday night show.

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The evening got underway with an opening set of just less than an hour, from Donnie Vie, best-known as the voice of 80’s power pop rockers, Enuff Z’Nuff, in support of his latest full-length, 2019’s Beautiful Things, which he more recently reissued after buying back the rights to his own catalog.

The Grammy-nominated singer recently turned fifty-nine and seems to be rejuvenated by playing with a younger band (most half his age or more). His solo sound is similar to his former band’s melodic power pop with its Beatles influence and dash of vintage psychedelia, but he opened with an Enuff Z’Nuff classic, in case you weren’t sure who he was (and also despite any legal warnings he can’t perform those band songs anymore).

“Fly” featured some touching keyboard work from Alton Smith, and Vie dedicated the ballad to those that helped him conquer his addictions and put his life back on the right track. The set would end with a bang- first, the biggest song by his ex-band, the still trippy “Fly High Michelle” then a storming cover of The Beatles’ “Revolution”, a song Vie said he wished he wrote and that he said was even more poignant today.

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After a brief set change, it was time for live set over forty years in the making- Louisiana/Long Island power-rock trio Zebra first released their Atlantic Records self-titled debut album in March of 1983, and have returned to the road to celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of that major label beginning.

They amazingly have kept fully intact with the same three original members ((Randy Jackson,- vocals, guitars; Felix Hanemann– bass, keys, vocals; and Guy Gelso– drums, vocals) and Jackson continues to defy age and all vocal logic (similar contemporaries and even his idol Robert Plant, have all adjusted their live songs down into a lower key range to accommodate, but not here).

Jackson still can hit high notes most half his years couldn’t attain, and the band still has more than enough collective stamina to put on an entertaining and musically impressive two-hour set.

A threesome since 1975, there was some obvious unspoken shorthand between the members as they decided what other songs would fill out the rough setlist (see pic) and the Chicagoland faithful still embraced them as loyally as they did when the band shared the bill with Sammy Hagar in that summer of 1983, playing Solider Field (no less!), as part of ChicagoFest.

From the opening notes of “As I Said Before” fans leapt from their seats, but were also a little confused, as that song is midway (or the start of Side 2 on vinyl) on their first album, and it was followed by a blistering “No Tellin’ Lies”, which is the title track of their second album.

“How many of you thought we were playing the first album in sequence”? Jackson quipped as everyone cheered, “…that was false advertising!” he exclaimed. “…We’re gonna do it now” Jackson gave in to rising cheers, as radio hit and album opener, “Tell Me What You Want” fired up.

After a driving “One More Chance” and chugging “Slow Down”, the album sequence called out for… “As I Said Before”. “…We haven’t done it in a while”, Jackson said, knowing they opened the night with it, “We did it in soundcheck too!”, Hanemann laughingly replied, so the band (ahem, as they said before...) turned up the volume for the song’s third play of the day, with the crowd in on the joke and enjoying it, even more than previous.

Jackson switched to a 12-string guitar and sat strumming for the band’s biggest hit and first single, “Who’s Behind the Door”, still an epic track that mimics the best Zeppelin songs that start acoustically then balloon into electric greatness.

With “When You Get There” already played, Jackson strapping on a dual-neck guitar signaled the arrival of “Take Your Fingers From my Hair”, highlighted by a shredding tour-de-force that just isn’t seen by the likes of any recent bands. A melodic “Don’t Walk Away” and the sing-along of “The La La Song” would wrap up playing the record live, book-ended by a skilled and noteworthy Gelso drum solo.

All three would harmonize on the 1984 shoulda-been-a-hit ballad, “Lullaby” and “Wait Until the Summer’s Gone:” from that same second album, found Jackson hitting maybe his highest notes of the set. “Arabian Nights” is the lead track from their return 4^th album, and after repeated shouts for “Bears” (it is Chicago, after all) the band gave in, with woos and cheers in return.

“He’s Makin’ You the Fool” from the third album would wrap the main set, and the trio returned with a two-song encore to please the loyal fans with the later-period deeper cuts, “About to Make the Time” and “Light of My Love”, the latter finding Jackson singing, “Don't try to tell me that you're leaving, don't try to tell me it's so hard “- something no doubt fans were thinking, sensing it was the end of the night.

Forty years can go by in the blink of an eye, with music as the soundtrack of one’s life, and for the diehard as well as the casual fan, we’re all highly fortunate that Zebra remains together- both musically bringing back memories of a simpler time and creating new memories along the way. Their 40^th Anniversary Tour resumes this weekend on the East Coast and shouldn’t be missed.

 (Click on any image to enlarge and see in full) Thanks to Dave Rothstein at Loaded Touring for the hospitality.