Michie Turpin
L to R is Richard Williams, Billy Greer, Zak Rizvi, Phil Ehart, Ronnie Platt, David Manion, and David Ragsdale.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s most enduring album, Leftoverture, Kansas set out last year to perform the entire album live — beginning with the classic rock anthem “Carry On Wayward Son” and ending with the elaborate six-part “Magnum Opus.”
The original plan called for 15 to 20 shows, played in theaters filled with hardcore Kansas fans. “But we didn’t know the tour was going to be this successful,” original guitarist Rich Williams, now 67, tells Isthmus.
By the time Kansas wraps up the “Leftoverture Tour” — which includes a stop at the Overture Center’s Capitol Theater on Nov. 17 — the band, whose music is anchored by a violin, often-introspective lyrics and sweeping arrangements, will have played more than 80 two-and-a-half-hour shows.
Some of the faces have changed over the years, with Williams and drummer Phil Ehart the only original members left. But lead vocalist Ronnie Platt brilliantly fills the giant shoes of longtime Kansas singer Steve Walsh and, along with two other newcomers, has injected fresh life into a band that’s been around since 1973.
The current lineup recorded the first Kansas album in 16 years, 2016’s The Prelude Implicit, and recently released Leftoverture: Live and Beyond, captured on the current tour.
Williams talks about how Kansas continues to carry on...
What was the motivation to record a new live album?
Really, the “Leftoverture Tour” was done to promote The Prelude Implicit. We thought we would play Leftoverture to get the hardcore fans in the seats, and then we’d play the new album for them. It was more of a marketing idea, because we knew we would have a captive audience. At some point, we decided we should record this, because it’s probably not going to happen again. Our outfront console is a recording studio, so we didn’t have the gigantic upfront costs we did in the ’70s.
How do you determine the set list, when you have to build it around an entire album?
We’ve got a lot of material to cover, but it’s not that difficult. All of the Leftoverture songs are covered, and we’re going to play “Point of Know Return” and “Dust in the Wind” — those are givens. Then we start selecting other songs, some we haven’t played in a long time, like [1974’s] “Journey from Mariabronn” or [1975’s] “Lamplight Symphony.” We all had to learn “Questions of My Childhood” [from Leftoverture], which we never played after we recorded it. In the audience are hardcore Kansas fans who will know the material and want to hear them, and it’s fun for us to play them again.
Is Kansas going through a renaissance period right now?
That is a bit dramatic, but it’s also accurate. These last three years have been the busiest I’ve ever had. It’s reminiscent of the early days of Kansas: We’re all fighting together to go out and prove ourselves and keep being creative, writing new material and performing the best we can every night. The give-a-shit factor is as intense as it ever was.
What kept you and Phil going all these years?
Well, there were the dark ages back in the late ’80s and into the ’90s. Classic rock hadn’t rebounded, but we were still out there, traveling around in a bus playing a bunch of crappy clubs. There’s not a whole lot to remember about those times, but they were necessary to connect the dots and get us to where we are today. Fortunately, with this group of seven and and the mindset of everybody involved, this isn’t an effort. This is a joy, and everybody’s looking forward to the next show.
What impact did the departure of Steve Walsh have on the band?
Before Steve retired, there was a lot of material he wouldn’t play anymore. He was struggling with the vocals, and he didn’t want to do the songs. Steve’s heart wasn’t in it anymore, and our set list was dwindling. In 2014, when he finally said, “Guys, I’m going to retire,” it was bittersweet. You hate to see somebody go, but we never thought that we weren’t going to continue.
With this group, there’s not a song we ever recorded that Ronnie isn’t willing to sing. That just makes the whole process now a joy to do. We recorded The Prelude Implicit because everybody wanted to. After 2000, Steve and Kerry [Livgren, longtime Kansas guitarist and songwriter] said they weren’t going to write any more songs for Kansas. So what do you do?
What’s next for Kansas?
We’re going back into the studio in January to record another new album. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of [1978’s] Point of Know Return album, we will play that in its entirety, plus stuff from the new yet-to-be named album.
