Rock band Kansas to play Pittsburgh during 50th anniversary tour

Classic rock band Kansas is returning to the town where it first made a name for itself to kick off its 50th anniversary tour on June 2 at the Benedum Center.

It seems only fitting that Kansas is stopping at the Benedum as part of its “Another Fork in the Road” Tour. The Stanley Theater, as the Benedum was formerly known, was where Kansas made its Pittsburgh debut in 1975.

“We didn’t even have a following in our hometown,“ Kansas drummer Phil Ehart told the Tribune-Review in a 2013 interview. “We didn’t have a following anywhere. We were a very odd band, musically and personally. The state of Kansas – even though we played there a lot – was not a hotbed of support. Once we got out of Kansas, Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania – thanks to (promoter) Rich Engler (of DiCesare-Engler Productions) – were the first to embrace the band.”

Kansas got their big break just prior to that first Pittsburgh show when Freddy Mercury of that night’s headliner, Queen, came down with a last-minute illness and was unable to perform.

“(Kansas) played an extra long set and so did Styx (also on the bill). Styx was great but Kansas absolutely killed it and at that point a new star rock band was born,” Engler said Monday in a phone interview from Florida. “I (booked them) in eight cities around Pittsburgh over and over and over again and finally put them on the World Series of Rock with Bachman-Turner Overdrive in front of 55,000 people at Three Rivers Stadium.”

Engler, who is presenting Kansas for their appearance in June, said he was impressed by the band’s sophisticated sound.

“When I say sophistication, they had some changes in the tempos, and I just loved ‘Song for America’ and all these things,” Engler said. “They were just beautiful, great songs.”

Eventually Kansas became an album-oriented rock station staple with hit songs such as “Carry On Wayward Son,” “Point of Know Return” and “Dust in the Wind,” among others.

There was a time in the late 1970s when radio listeners tuning into WDVE couldn’t avoid hearing the band’s biggest hit, “Carry on Wayward Son,” which was in heavy, heavy rotation back then. The station often ran a version of the song it had recorded from a live broadcast of one of Kansas’ concerts at the Civic Arena in 1977 when it sold out two consecutive nights, breaking an attendance record previously held by Elvis Presley.

The band currently consists of Ehart on drums, Billy Greer on bass and vocals, Ronnie Platt on vocals and keyboards, Tom Brislin on keyboards, David Ragsdale on violin and guitar and Richard Williams on guitar.

Tickets for Kansas’ 50th Anniversary Tour concert at the Benedum Center go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. For more information go to TrustArts.org or richengler.com.