REO Speedwagon comes home for the holidays

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REO Speedwagon headlines the Star Plaza Theatre on Dec. 30.

Updated: December 29, 2011 12:02PM

In charge of entertainment for his Brother Rice High School prom back in the 1960s, REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin didn’t need to look much further than the city of Berwyn to find the perfect band. A quick call to Ides of March’s Jim Peterik… and the deal was sealed.

Years later, Peterik would go on to big success with the group Survivor around the same time Cronin and the boys from REO Speedwagon were dominating the radio airwaves. Together, they would join a long line of Chicago-based bands who would not only rock the music scene in the 1980s, but continue on to this day to delight their wildly devoted fan base.

“You definitely have a connection with the people who came from the Midwest and who have survived through the years and are still out there making a living doing what they love to do,” said Cronin, in a phone call from his California home. “There is just something about the music and the bands of the’80s era. And now, here we are in our 50s and 60s still rocking and having fun. I think it has a lot to do with the Midwest spirit and work ethic.”

In fact, there is now talk of a summer tour in 2012 that will quite literally bring together many of Cronin’s Midwestern band of brothers together to share one stage.

“We are not letting out a lot of details on this yet, but we can say that it’s going to be a multi-band show filled with some good ole Midwestern rock and roll,” explained Cronin, whose parents still live in the same Oak Lawn home he grew up in. “Basically it’s going to be a bunch of friends coming together on one stage. It’s going to be a ‘traveling Midwest circus’.”

Originally formed in Downstate Champaign, Ill., Cronin says he is thrilled to be in the area with REO Speedwagon and plans to ring in the New Year a tad early, playing Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana, on Dec. 30. The performance will mark the last night of the band’s yearlong 30th anniversary celebration of the iconic “Hi Fidelity” album, which spawned hits such as “Keep on Loving You,” and “Take It On the Run.”

“Whenever we play in the Chicagoland area, we like to loosen up the set list a bit and stretch it out, especially since it’s going to be New Year’s weekend,” says Cronin, who has recently spent time in Nashville, songwriting alongside country music artists such as Martina McBride and Deana Carter. “We love the city and love the people, but we are not too crazy about Chicago winters.”

The weather aside, Cronin still has a special place in his heart for the city.

“Oh gosh … there is so much I miss about Chicago,” he concludes. “Don’t be surprised if you catch me at the Redhead (Piano Bar), playing the piano at 3 in the morning.”

Tricia Despres is a local free-lance writer.