Friday night, outside and in

Above: Nothing was ailing the big crowd at the Power and Light District, but the doctor was there anyway. Photos by Keith Myers/The Star

The Power & Light District christened its summer-into-autumn-long free-music series on Friday. The headliner: Three Dog Night.

I was there for the opening set by Dr. Hook, who was not Dr. John, to the disappointment of someone standing next to me. Dr. Hook is not a real physician and in July he'll turn 70, which makes him a year older than Tina Turner. He doesn't move like she does, but he does drink beer while he performs.

After 36 years in the music biz, he has put out some hits, major and minor. He played most of those, like "When You're in Love With a Beautiful Woman," "She Was Only 16, "A Little Bit More" and "Walk Right In." He also did "Freakin' at the Freakers' Ball," which got as big a response as anything else I heard. He also tossed in a few gratuitous verses of "Kansas City."

The district was packed for the doctor's set -- nearly as full as it was for the "Idol" extravaganza last week; the ideal weather sure helped attendance. Some of the businesses facing the stage opened their doors and windows so customers sitting at tables could watch the show. Outside, people stood or sat on whatever was handy: stairs, benches, the upholstered chairs and couches. The Hook show started late but the sound was good. There was no video feed of the first set; the screen just beamed a neon "Live!" behind the doctor and his band. I left for another show before his set was done and before Three Dog Night took the stage; as I left a crowd was forming outside one of the entrances.

The free entertainment continues tonight, and another "American Idol" visits the district. The performers: Vertical Horizon and Josh Gracin. Show time is 7 p.m. You have to be 21 to get in, but anyone can watch from outside.

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The VooDoo Lounge at Harrah's casino hosted another of its local music showcases on Friday. The ACBs and the Roman Numerals opened for the Republic Tigers, who are in training for an appearance Wednesday night on "Late Night with David Letterman." A nice crowd showed up. By the time the Tigers came on somewhere close to 200 people were in the place, I'd guess. I missed the ACBs set but caught the Numerals, who sounded as hard and polished as ever. I'd seen the Tigers three or four times before Friday, and each time they had some "issues" with sound or equipment and things got a little ragged. Not this time, though. The Tigers just released their dandy first album, "Keep Color." They played most of that, including the transcendent "Contortionists," which was divine, even with all the computer-generated assistance. They boys sound ready for late-night prime-time.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Scorp]

I thought the The Power & Light District was an area of downtown that consisted of several blocks of restaurants and bars. Where are the concerts held?

[Tim Finn]

In the big pavilion in the middle, behind McFadden's, which ia scross Grand from Sprint Center

[SidTripp]

Three Dog Night and Dr Hook were both a little before my time but with the show being free and me being curious about what a show at the Power & Light District would be like I wandered over to the district.

Dr. Hook was ok, he played his songs and that was about it, if you are a fan, I am sure you enjoyed the show.

Three Dog Night put on a great show, they are real performers. They played their list of hits and had the crowd going, mixing things up and just having fun. They know how to entertain. They did a rap version of one of their songs for fun, but it would have been better if they would have kept that segment a little shorter, it was fun, but the novelty of it wore off quick. Anyway, they had the crowd going.

And as far as the Power and Light district, I thought it was a blast, people just hanging out having fun. Loved the set up, the ability to go into bars get a drink and come out to the common area. Looking forward to seeing a number of more shows down there.

[Mike Mitchell]

Three Dog Night was fantastic Friday night. Had seen Chuck Negron (formely of TDN) in Olathe a couple of years ago. They both opened their shows with the same two songs. This was 100% better. The P&L is a great venue. The fact that alcohol was served and it was a warm Friday night certainly didn't hurt. The crowd was energetic and the band fed off of it. It looked to me that they had as much fun as we did. For those who weren't there some advice for future concerts. Where you could hear everywhere, you certainly couldn't see everywhere. Sightlines are few and valuable. Get there early and stake claim to an area you know you can see if the place is packed. They were elbows to adam's apples everywhere and two to three deep along the second level railings. Best "vintage" show I think I have seen. Hope they come back soon.

[pellboy]

As someone who grew up with this band and can recall their live albums like Captured At The Forum and Live Around The World, I first caught them at a free show 3 or 4 years ago at Barney Allis Plaza and was absolutely amazed at how good their set was. I of course expected all the hits but thought I would be subjected to mostly medleys without much musicianship but instead was treated to a fullblown quality concert.

Sadly, I missed them the other night but would recomment their show to anyone who gets the chance to catch them live.

[Bill Osment]

Ray Sawyer is NOT Dr. Hook as you implied. Dennis Locorriere sang their best songs and was a main guitarist in the band. Former member George Cummings (left the band in 1975) came up with the name on the spot for a gig because the club owner insisted as such. The rest is history. They made Shel some nice royalities. I once saw the original band and I can tell you that w/o Locorriere, it is just not the same.

Locorriere licenses the name 'Dr Hook' to Ray Sawyer.

Locorriere performs mainly in the UK (where he now lives) as 'the voice of Dr. Hook.' He continues to perform new material too.

Bill