Why wasn't Loverboy the headliner?
by IndyMommicita on 9/6/09Military Park - IndianapolisRating: 3 out of 5I only caught Loverboy and Billy Squier. Loverboy was the middle act. Mike Reno has had trouble sounding even good in the past. That was not a problem today! He had great volume and range. The crowd was smaller than that for Squier, but it was so much more fun. The band played crowd favorites with lots of energy. Paul Dean kicked ass on guitar, and the bass was a solid player. Matt Frenette was phenomenal manning the drums, giving all he had. Doug Johnson put great emotion into keyboard and backup vocals. I only wish Mike Reno would have had a little more enthusiasm, but that was the only detractor to a great 80-90 minute show. Granted, Squier is an awesome guitarist. He is still extremely skilled without doubt. However, I did not pay to go to a jam session. Several songs ran 7-10 minutes with the guitar solos. When he would let the audience sing out the words, not many knew what to sing. That should have been a hint to stop trying the sing-a-long. Still, it continued to be an uncomfortable reality. He honestly did not seem excited to be playing. It had the feel of, "This is my job, and my heart is not into entertaining these people. I will entertain myself." We ended up leaving soon after the encore started. Loverboy is a summer festival favorite, and I would have loved to have another 30 minutes if they could give it. Why weren't the B.C. boys the headliners? I simply do not understand. My rating would have been at least four stars if they could have closed out the night with some well-known driving hits, or even something from their latest album, "Just Getting Started". If Squier headlines again, count me out.
