We headed off to Three Forks, Montana, on Friday, August 11, to catch REO Speedwagon’s show at Rockin’ the Rivers 2006.
We decided to stay in a motel in Three Forks, instead of camp at the site. When we arrived in Three Forks we saw this really nice tour bus parked at the Sacajawea Hotel. I thought it could be REO’s bus, but figured it could be mostly anyone traveling through the state.
When we checked into our motel down the road, we relaxed a little, and then headed out to the festival about 4:00 p.m. We drove by the Sacajawea Hotel and low and behold REO lead singer, Kevin Cronin, was sitting on the front porch relaxing! We drove around the block and parked and walked up to the porch and I asked, “Hey Kevin, do you mind if we chat with you for a few minutes?” He said, “Sure gentlemen, come on up.” I introduced myself and my son and I told him I’d seen REO about 15-20 times over the years and we were big fans. He asked if we were heading out to the show and we said yes. He asked where we were from and we told him and he said, “Oh, yea, a road trip!” We told him we’d seen REO in Billings with Styx and in Kellogg, Idaho, on the mountain and that I’d seen him a bunch of times in the Midwest (Kansas City, Columbia, etc.). He asked my son if he played an instrument and my son told him he played lead guitar and sang. We got his autograph and shook hands and then we left. (Reminder: Kick my butt for not having a camera.)
Nevertheless, this made my day to meet Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon. My son and I were very excited and Kevin Cronin was very nice man whom I have even more admiration for after finally getting to meet him.
During the concert, my son and I managed to elbow our way to the front of the crowd and Kevin pointed to my son and threw him a guitar pick. Nice, very nice.
More on the Rockin the Rivers concert in the next post.