Rick Springfield – Mystic Showroom – Prior Lake MN – February 25th 2018

Rick Springfield Mystic Lake Casino Prior Lake, MN 2/25/18

I’ve had the opportunity to see Rick Springfield several times throughout his career. The thing that I was strikes me with him is not only how he doesn’t age but how great his voice still sounds. I know he got a bad rap in the 1980’s because he was promoted as a teen idol. But there’s some really great songs underneath all of that nonsense.

Last night was no exception to that. He played several songs off of his new album “The Snake King” including what I believe may be the first single “The Devil That You Know”. The songs are real straight ahead rock and seem to fit him well. It was great that he didn’t just do the hits from the 1980’s but included songs throughout his career including one of my personal favorites “Jesus Saves (White Trash Like You)”. He also covered one of Katy Perry songs “Roar”. He introduced it by saying “many of his hard-core fans wish he would stop playing it”. I get that, because when I go see a band that I really like and they play a cover, I always think why don’t you play one of your own songs instead? The one song he covered that he should’ve dropped is “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. I’ve never been much of a fan of that song and it seems like one of those rock songs that’s been so over covered that it’s lost any charm it actually had at one point. The one that surprised me the most was the very last song of the evening “Kristina”. I thought he stopped playing that a long time ago but he is now brought it back into the set. It’s also worth mentioning that he had an incredible backup band. They were absolutely perfect.

If you’re a hard-core fan, I don’t need to sell you on Rick Springfield so would like to speak to the people that think he’s lame. He’s an incredible performer and a really good songwriter. You should give him a shot and go see him when he’s in your town. You’ll walk away being glad you did.

Review and photos by Tommy Sommers