BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A 1970s and ‘80s progressive rock band that topped the charts will return to Wind Creek Event Center, it has been announced.
Also coming is a comedian who for eight years starred on Fox-TV's sketch comedy series "Mad TV" and appeared in more than a dozen movies.
Tickets, at $49.50-$99.50 for Kansas and $39.50 and $49.40 for Spears, go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at the event center website or the box office.Wind Creek Event Center
Kansas, the group that had the iconic hits songs “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind,” will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, May 29.
And Aries Spears, who was a cast member on "Mad TV" from 1997-2005, will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12.
Tickets, at $49.50-$99.50 for Kansas and $39.50 and $49.40 for Spears, go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at the event center website or the box office at 77 Wind Creek Blvd., Bethlehem.
Kansas from 1974-80 released eight straight albums that sold gold or platinum.
But its most popular period started in 1976 with the release of its four-times-platinum disc “Leftoverture,” which peaked in the Top 10 and had the gold, Top 10 hit “Carry On wayward Son” and the radio hit “What’s On My Mind.”
The group’s 1977 album “Point of Know Return” also sold quadruple platinum and peaked at No. 4, with the platinum, Top 5 hit “Dust in the Wind” and the Top 30 title track.
Its 1978 live album “Two for the Show” also went platinum.
Lasting success
Kansas appeared on the Billboard charts for more than 200 weeks throughout the 1970s and 1980s and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums worldwide.
The group’s subsequent albums, “Monolith” in 1979 and “Audio-Visions” in 1980 hit platinum and gold, respectively, and charted in the Top 25.
But the band didn’t have another hit until after original singer Steve Walsh left the band in 1981. He was replaced by John Elefante, who sang the Top 20 hit “Play the Game Tonight” in 1982.
Original guitarist and principal songwriter Kerry Livgren left the band in 1986, as did Elefante, and Walsh returned. Kansas had only one more Top 20 hit — “All I Wanted” in 1986.
Walsh left the band for good in 2014.
Kansas has released just two albums of original music in the past 25 years — “The Prelude Impact” in 2016 and "The Absence of Presence" in 2020.
The band has two original members — guitarist Rich Williams and drummer Phil Ehart — but neither tours full-time with the band.
Kansas also played the event center in 2018, 2017 and 2012. It also played The Sands Casino’s Musik at the Sands series in 2010 and at Musikfest in 2006.
'Mad TV' and movies
Spears got his first big break appearing on the Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam, featured in a 1992 episode, when he was 16, and another at 17 in 1993.
He also performed on the Fox-TV variety show "It's Showtime at the Apollo," and appeared on "A Different World," the sitcom series that spun off from "The Cosby Show."
On "Mad-TV," he created several characters and did impersonations of Cosby, Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, Shaquille O'Neal, James Brown, Al Pacino, Eddie Murphy and more.
He also appeared on the All Star Comedy Jam TV special in 2009, and in the movies "Jerry Maguire," "Josie and The Pussycats" and others.
