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I was first introduced to Orleans walking along the upper quad at IC my freshman year, Fall of 1974. The song was If. I recall going to the record store while home on Thanksgiving vacation to pick up the album. The cashier commented on my good taste. That same year we saw you play at the North Forty. Orleans has been a playlist on my Spotify and younger generations are often moved by the songs while riding in my car. As the photo editor of the Ithacan my sophomore year, we used a passage from 'Time Passes On' underneath the photo of a student, Mike Biondi, who had passed away in a tragic car accident returning from the North Forty.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I took my wife to the Tilles Center to attend your concert with The Guess Who. It's rare we would take a Friday night off this time of year away from our sailboat we keep on the eastern end of the North Fork of Long Island. That's how badly I want to attend the concert. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and the performance was great. I would have liked to have heard some additional songs such 'If, Fresh Wind, and Your Life My Friend'. Had I previously read the story about your yet another royalty dispute with a record company, I might have expected to hear 'Two Faced World'.
Since Time definitely does pass on, it's not easy to hold on to the past. And as Billy Joel said in one of his songs 'The Good Old Days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems'. Best of luck in keeping Orleans going. Though if the average age of the people in the audience was any indication, do it quickly. Lot's of fans with rolling walkers, cane's, crutches and even one with an inflatable donut cushion.
Rick Morse
Hi Rick
Apologies for the delayed reply, but it gets busy around here. 🙂
A lot has changed since the days of the Quad and the North Forty. Time has seen band members come and go ... and come back and leave again, sometimes permanently and irrevocably (RIP Wells and Larry). As was noted at the Tilles show, I am now the last of the original 4 still touring as Orleans (John having retired from the road). That fact affords me the privilege as well as the responsibility of carrying the baton forward with the highest of standards to meet. I view each show as a challenge to keep the respect that Orleans, the institution, has earned over the past 5 decades.
The fact is there are some things the original band was famous for that, frankly, the current band is not so good at. For example, early on we were more of a "jam band", very capable of erupting into spontaneous instrumental improvisations. On the other hand, the current band is all about the songs themselves and their arrangements, as well as the ubiquitous vocal harmony. As such, we choose to do what we do best.
Plus, given only 45-90 minutes in any particular show, there's only so much of the over 200 recorded songs we can include, so the "playlist" is necessarily tight.
As for age, neither band nor audience can escape the inevitable. Here's wishing a long, happy and healthy life to all reading this.
Lance Hoppen
