Kansas, Frampton anticlimactic finale
by Steve Webb, The Knickerbocker News, September 8, 1981
When Kansas left the stage Sunday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center amid the strains of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” it ended what will probably end up one of the two most successful seasons the center has had, in attendance terms.
Approximately 9,700 attended the rock show, and 2,700 attended one the night before featuring Peter Frampton. Both artists did credible shows; they played the hits, a little something in between, and did their best to communicate with the crowd.
Still, the two acts were an anticlimactic end for a season with a half dozen downright excellent concerts.
Certainly audience demand was low for Frampton, since the fair-haired guitarist played to about a tenth of what he would have drawn in 1976, shortly after the release of “Frampton’s Come Alive.” He is obviously hurting for a comeback. He has assembled a far better band than he had in his last Capital District appearance in 1979, featuring Cretones guitarist Mark Goldenberg.
And his own guitaring was noticeably practiced and assertive. The problem is that Frampton has nothing new to say. The best songs were from his “Frampton’s Camel” album, a 1973 effort. Back then it was more cute that he wanted desperately to be either Keith Richard or Mick Taylor. Now, he plays the title cut to “Breaking All the Rules,” his latest album, and one can only groan to recognize it is the basic melody as the Stones’ “Bitch.”
Frampton had to follow one of the Ramones’ usual bang-up sets that managed to squeeze 25 songs into 45 minutes. Backstage, gangly lead singer Joey Ramone remarked that working with 10CC’s Graham Gouldman on the band’s latest album, “Pleasant Dreams,” was a complete turnaround from working with Phil Spector on “End of the Century.” “We were in complete control from the beginning with Graham, and I think it’s our best album,” Ramone said. “Phil Spector is the greatest, and I’d love to work with him again, but he makes it very clear that he controls everything.”
Still, Ramone said the group doesn’t go out of its way looking for big-name producers. “We aren’t into slick production,” he said. “We’re into quality.”
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