REO Speedwagon, Rob Lowe set dates on Strip

Drop the needle on nostalgia. Set the VCR on sentimentality. A rock band and a TV/film star who took off in the 1980s are in the spotlight on the Strip.

REO Speedwagon is reviving its landmark 1981 album, “Hi Infidelity,” on Nov. 11-12 at The Venetian Theatre. Rob Lowe is back with his one-man show, “Stories I Only Tell My Friends,” on June 9-10 at Summit Showroom at The Venetian. Tickets for both shows are on sale 10 a.m. Pacific time Friday.

REO Speedwagon’s plans for the Strip are not new, but the details are. Front man Kevin Cronin forecast the show during the 26th annual Keep Memory Alive Power of Love gala at MGM Grand Garden in February.

“Our idea is to play the entire ‘Hi Infidelity’ album,” Cronin said on the red carpet. “We’re playing every single song. Even the ones I don’t like. That’s the plan. Later this year.”

The plan has been realized. “An Evening of Hi Infidelity … And More” is a performance of the entire album of the same name. “Hi Infidelity” spent 15 weeks at No. 1, powered by the hits “Keep On Loving You” and “Take It On the Run.” The album has sold 10 million units in the U.S., earning the RIAA’s Diamond Award.

The band and Cronin have been popping up in VegasVille periodically this year. REO headlined Pearl at the Palms on Jan. 21. Cronin later sang at the KMA Power of Love gala, in a rock roster organized by Sammy Hagar and renowned musician/music director Greg Phillinganes.

Cronin was also a guest star at Colts owner Jim Irsay’s rock revival/traveling museum show a month ago at Downtown Las Vegas Events Center.

In a statement this week, Cronin said, “The Venetian is an intimate theater, and ‘Hi Infidelity’ is an intimate album. We bared our souls in these songs, so it will be emotional for us to play the whole album for the first time and tell its story. Then we get to blow the lid off the joint with the hit-filled second set.”

Lowe has performed as a solo headliner on the Strip in February 2020, at Planet Hollywood’s Criss Angel Theater. He played the same venue the previous April. In his storytelling format, the 59-year-old Lowe spins the yarns about his film and TV career, while also taking fans inside his personal life as husband and father. His string of ’80s films includes “The Outsiders (1983),” “Class (1983),” “The Hotel New Hampshire (1984),” “Oxford Blues (1984),” “St. Elmo’s Fire (1985),” “About Last Night… (1986),” and “Square Dance (1987).”

Lowe became a significant TV star as well. He won two Golden Globes and earned an Emmy nomination as Sam Seaborn on the NBC political drama, “The West Wing,” from 1999-2003. Lowe also was cast in the title role of “Dr. Vegas,” a CBS series that lasted 10 episodes from 2004-06.

In “Oxford Blues,” Lowe portrayed the Dunes valet attendant Nick. The dashing young man becomes romantically involved with an older woman, who gives him a sports car and enough money to enter Oxford and join the rowing team. This, in pursuit of romantic interest Lady Victoria Wingate.

“I do remember so much about Old Vegas,” Lowe said in 2019, referring to the film’s opening segments, filmed here. “I don’t think one casino in that movie exists anymore. I actually feel really fortunate that I was able to experience that era of Vegas before it was gone forever.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.