Published: July 03, 2008 01:45 am      

Kansas carries on

Ventures rock riverfront

ASHLAND — Veteran surf rock and classic rock acts kicked Summer Motion 2008 off in rousing fashion Wednesday.

The surf rock was supplied by the Ventures, the top-selling instrumental group of all time and members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2008.

Kansas, a band that has gained a whole new generation of fans by having one of its songs featured in a video game, closed out the evening with a blast of 1970s-style progressive rock.

A crowd that festival organizers said numbered roughly 20,000 ate up every note, and Mother Nature cooperated by providing picture-perfect weather.

Three of the four members of the Ventures — rhythm guitarist Don Wilson, lead guitarist Nokie Edwards and bassist/guitarist Bob Spalding — are in their 70s, but one would never know it from the lively sounds that emanated from the riverfront stage during their set.

The Ventures — who formed in 1958 and have been cited as influences by guitar players ranging from Joe Walsh to George Harrison — opened with “Walk, Don’t Run,” their best-known number, and ran through a brisk set that included most of their better-known pieces, along with instrumental covers of songs made popular by other artists.

The latter included “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” “Secret Agent Man” and “House of the Rising Sun.”

The theme from the TV show “Hawaii Five-O” and a cover of the Surfari’s “Wipeout,” which featured the frenetic pounding of drummer Leon Taylor, drew the loudest cheers from the crowd.

The Ventures’ performance attracted several folks who follow the band with near the same devotion that Deadheads used to follow the Grateful Dead. David Campbell, who said he drove roughly 350 miles from Altoona, Pa., to catch the show, was one.

“They don’t come around much,” he said. “Whenever they play someplace close, I always try to go.”

Campbell said he had been a Ventures fan since 1964 and, like many other musicians, learned to play guitar by jamming along with their records.

John and Mary Ellen Magee and their grandsons, Derek, 11, and Luke, 8, drove in from Indianapolis to catch the Ventures. Like Campbell, John Magee, who has played bass professionally for more than 30 years, said he learned how to play from Ventures records.

Mary Ellen Magee said the couple had seen the Ventures perform dozens of times and had traveled as far as California to do so.

“They (the Ventures) know us on a first-name basis,” she said.

Not long after the Ventures closed out their set with “Caravan,” Kansas hit the stage to a rousing reception.

“Welcome to Kansas!” bassist Billy Greer shouted to the crowd as the group launched into “Point of Know Return.”

One of the high points of Kansas’ set was a cover of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” a song not many bands would even have the guts to tackle, much less pull off with the aplomb that Kansas did.

Greer told the crowd the group actually recorded that song about 10 years ago as a tribute to the Fab Four, backed by a full orchestra in Abbey Road Studios, where the original was also recorded.

Kansas has gone through numerous personnel shifts over the years, but the core of group — singer/keyboardist Steve Walsh, drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Rich Williams — has remained intact. Greer joined the band in 1986, and violinist David Ragsdale came aboard in recent years.

“Dust in the Wind” sounded majestic, with Williams’ and Greer’s delicate acoustic guitar picking framing Walsh’s soaring tenor.

According to Summer Motion President Chuck Charles, 14-year-old actor Moises Arias, aka Rico on “Hannah Montana,” was excited about meeting Kansas. The reason? The group’s best-known song, “Carry on Wayward Son,” is featured in the “Guitar Hero” video game.

Charles said he could not have been more pleased with the festival’s opening night.

“Everything’s gone like clockwork,” he said.

The concert series continue tonight when Sarah Johns and headliner Marty Stuart take the stage. The show begins at 8 p.m.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.