Night Ranger Delivers on All 7 Wishes!
Written and Photos by: Jim Brown
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino – Sacramento
Night Ranger made a recent stop in Northern California to celebrate their 40-year lifespan as one of America’s premier rock band and to this fan’s delight they sounded perfect!
Music Fan Magazine was invited to document the tour stop at Sacramento’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, an opportunity we could not pass up. Hard Rock has put a lot of effort into creating the stage and theatre to hold shows for about 3,500 people. Which is perfect for those shows you want to see up close and personal. Night Ranger toured and filled arena’s across the country for most of the 80’s and 90’s so it was a special treat to see them in a more comfortable space that Hard Rock offered.
Night Ranger, including the band's founding members Brad Gillis and Kelly Keagy, completely ripped a 90 minute set of stone-cold classics like “You Can Still Rock in America” and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”. Jack Blades, who has been on all but one of the Night Ranger albums over the years, beat the ever-living snot out of that bass guitar right from the opening notes. Keri Kelli took his place on the stage monitor and synced up with Jack and the rest of the band with near album perfection. It was going to be a fun night at the Hard Rock!
It has been 30 years since I first heard Night Ranger when the legendary “Dawn Patrol” album was released.
As a big badass sixth grader, it was edgy enough to keep me in good graces with the cool kids, but wasn’t over the top with the nonsense guitar solos and intelligible screaming lyrics like some other bands of the time. Honestly, I never understood Anthrax? Enter Night Ranger and those iconic rock ballads like “Sentimental Street”, a song that you don’t really know what the lyrics mean but when the DJ put that on the system at Skateland Roller World...it was time to grab that special person you were crushing on and hit the rink for some good ol’ fashion “couples skate” session. Good times.
The music sounded good back then, it sounded clean. Bass was tight and the drums didn’t put unnecessary fills in just to show off. That was 30-35 years ago. What were we in for tonight? As soon as Jack hit the bass for those first few notes, I hesitated. This was the point that we talk about around the office here at Music Fan Magazine, is it better to see your favorite band now or when they were top of the charts years ago? What if they don’t sound good? What if they forget the lyrics or just generally suck? How much did I pay for these tickets and do I really think I’m going to make it to the office on time tomorrow?
Night Ranger proved they still knew how to rock in America and did it very convincingly. With the first two or three songs in the can, Brad thought it was time for some bridge bending riff work and did some sort of arm cross up thing where he fingered the fretboard with the opposite hand. Sounded great. Mathematically, he could be somebody’s grandfather by now I’m sure but I doubt he fits into the typical senior style living situation. I can’t see any of these guys on a pickleball court, nor should they be, they are right where they belong.
One of the bands early hits, “When You Close Your Eyes”, starts off with a nice cymbal tickle and subtle bass line...and over a 20-30 second slow build it unleashes into an all-out sing along song talking about making babies in the back of a Chevrolet, more good times. I was hoping to hear it live from the horses mouth, but was the band, now 40 years later, going to play that song again and risk not pulling it off?
YES! And I’ll be goddamn if I did not immediately snap back to 1985 and my first kegger at a friend's house held in the foothills of Anchorage Alaska. While the party was unplanned, it was legendary and set the bar for all my future keggers to come. With the parents out of town, my friend Cameron had both Night Ranger albums on cassette (Google alert for the Gen Z... look up “cassette tape”, then look up a #2 pencil, then research the relationship between a pencil and a cassette tape).
Anyway, we took advantage of the ol’ Marantz HiFi system while trying to cover our tracks for when the adults returned. I think that is the real power in music, and the songs given to us by Night Ranger. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, if I hear the first notes of “The Secret of My Sucess”, I can recall the movie for which this song was included on the soundtrack and who I saw the movie with, the theatre and the night that unfolded afterward...I feel bad about what Night Ranger had done to that innocent families house that night, see how I made it the band's fault?
Night Ranger continues to drive into the hits and they still sounded great. Have I said that already? I was so pumped to be up front and seeing them play live that I caught the attention of the band... in a good way. Check out the photos that I took, almost privately posed for me because Keri and Brad shot me a look, like “get ready buddy!” and then put themselves in perfect photographic positions that allowed me to take these photos. Thanks guys.
They sounded better than other bands that have been touring for less time. It isn't easy. I’m just a photographer carrying a huge lens around but 3 or 4 shows a week can put me in a jam. These guys are doing the same thing but playing music for sold out shows, jumping around and flirting with the fog machine all while maintaining their high-level musicianship.
I’m not one for graphics behind the band when they are playing on stage, but in this case, it was super effing cool. As Night Ranger hit the first notes of “Sister Christian”, the crowd lost their shit and raised all the available Apple tech in the air for the obligatory cell phone shots...the original Sister Cristian music video played in the background on the big screen.
This was a special moment for anyone that grew up with MTV because Night Ranger had a decent amount of airtime way back then, and they were playing right in front of me sounding every bit as good as they used to. It was a trip. I could see the crowd resonating with thoughts of the prom they attended that played Night Ranger music, the road trips they went on while playing songs by Jack and the guys, and the keggers that had Night Ranger as the soundtrack.
The guys continued the route down memory lane with hits like “Four in the Morning” and “Sentimental Street” and took a small pause when introducing “Goodbye” to the crowd. Jack explained that the song was written in memory of his brother who passed too soon, just as Kelly came around the drum kit to serve as lead vocal and delivered a powerful performance for all of us. Cell phone candlelight was provided which enhanced the whole scene. I’ll never listen to that song the same way.
By this time in the set, I thought they had played all the hits. But then...Jack threw down a few bangers from his time with Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw when he helped found another rock band...The Damn Yankees. Jack started the beat for an all-time Damn Yankees favorite “High Enough” and the crowd lost their marbles again! He sounded great, the band sounded great, everything was just perfect.
I excused myself for a beverage break, the drinks are more affordable here than other venues by the way, and got stuck talking to someone in line. They were here with family that had not seen or heard of Night Ranger before tonight. They liked it a lot and were glad they made the show. I guess they drove from Winnemucca Nevada. Thats a rough place to be from. I should have bought them a beer or something. Anyway, they said how happy they were to see Night Ranger for the first time and I thought something kind of rock snobbish. Why haven’t they been introduced to Night Ranger until tonight? How have they made it this far and not heard them before?
Night Ranger has their music in movie soundtracks (“The Secret of My Success”) and is generally accepted as one of the best things that escaped the 80’s along with Bongo Jeans and Ray Bans. I guess I was just glad I knew the band for a while now and made some great lifetime memories with their music as the backing track. I’m glad I haven’t missed anything.
Jack had the crowd whipped up into a frenzy and the smoke machine was at full throttle. Everyone was singing along, cell phones flashing and most everyone was on their feet. The venue provided ample room to move, and the sound guys had it dialed in. It was Hard Rock after all, there is a reputation to uphold. And they did.
As the night began to close out, I was left thinking of how much the Night Ranger catalog was involved in my life. When my brother and I walked home from school, we’d get to the top of the street and make the turn down McMahon Avenue to our house. This was 1970’s Alaska and we lived on dirt roads. Bears everywhere. Danger everywhere. Well about 4 or 5 houses out, we’d hear slight rumblings of a rock song. We got closer to home and realized it was our father, sitting in the living room with the windows wide open and a smile just as wide.
HE had Night Ranger on the Pioneer turntable, and it was at volume ten! My brother and I thought the same thing then as we do now...our dad was the coolest dad ever. This was supported universally in the neighborhood. Due to my dad and that walk home, our friends ran out to Sam Goody and bought Night Ranger albums. Some went to Warehouse Records (another Gen Z Google Alert!). All of them were better for the exposure to rock music than if they had been introduced to Spiro Gyra or something like that. Night Ranger has been a part of the music memories for anyone that is old enough to remember voting Bush #1 or Clinton. (Election year obligatory name drops)
I had to take a knee at the end of the evening. The challenge of running the camera setup and handling the weight of the hits they were singing was too much. Memories flooded my headspace as I tried to focus in the viewfinder. It was a tough show to shoot but I think the results speak for themselves. Myself and the rest of us at Music Fan Magazine hope you like them.
Is Night Ranger headlining Lalapalooza? No. Is Night Ranger performing at the Kennedy Center for performing arts? No. Does Night Ranger have a special place with anyone that went to high school in the 80’s and early 90’s... yes they do. Night Ranger has performed at the highest-level year after year and they deserve your attention if you haven't already given it. This was nothing short of a great show.
I was exhausted at the end. Jack and some other stagehands threw picks and sticks out to the crowd and son of a gun...the ladies that missed the tour bus call up all those years ago, well they came unhinged and leapt full force forward to get the trinkets the band was handing out. It was reckless actually.
I doubt Night Ranger understood the pent up angst these ladies and gentlemen had growing inside them, nobody was getting that drumstick but them. I was shocked...and I’ve been in the pit at Monsters of Rock, it takes a lot to scare me these days! Well I “noped” outta there and recovered against the wall as the house lights came up and everyone got the signal to get home.
Thank you guys. I never saw Eddie, thought he was coming out tonight, but holy smoke show you all killed it at the Hard Rock!
Music Fan Meters:
Smoke Meter: Not really alot. More of a beer and wine crowd it seemed. If burners roamed amongst us, we didn’t see it. Plus, lots of polyester so open flame would have been consequential.
Fight Meter: None except I say a guy wrestling with the fact that his date wanted nothing more to do with him and wanted instead....to meet Night Ranger! It happens bro... just get over it and don’t take someone you love to a Night Ranger show. Truths are told. It can get uncomfortable. Poor guy.
Sing Along Meter: Yea...off the chart.