Kansas

Not even the most prescient handicapper could have picked Kansas to arrive at its thirtieth-anniversary tour more or less intact. Lately there have even been rumors of a Kerry Livgren return! Yet here they are with lyrics celebrating the Old West every bit as feverishly as all those Lewis and Clark anniversary wingdings (strike one), and with Robby Steinhardt’s in-yer-face violin front and center (strike two). And that huge, AudioVisions noggin that sprang up during the ’80s tours surely should have been strike three. But Kansas still plays like a band whose members still like each other. And for those looking for Kansas standards, an area show tends to have the feel of a family reunion.