REO Speedwagon played their final show on Saturday (December 21st) at Las Vegas’ Venetian Theatre. However, the same exact band lineup will continue to tour next year, billed as Kevin Cronin.
Earlier this year, it was announced that REO Speedwagon would cease touring after 2024 due to “irreconcilable differences” between singer Cronin and bassist Bruce Hall, and that the Vegas gig would be their last.
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That said, Cronin recently announced a co-headlining 2025 North American tour with Styx, and will perform with the same musicians — just not under the REO Speedwagon name. Hall stopped touring with the band in 2023, so he wasn’t part of REO Speedwagon’s most recent lineup anyway. It appears that for legal reasons, Cronin and company can’t use the name REO Speedwagon moving forward.
The final lineup for REO Speedwagon consisted of Cronin, lead guitarist Dave Amato and drummer Bryan Hitt, who have played in REO Speedwagon since 1989, along with keyboardist Derek Hilland, a member of REO Speedwagon since January 2023, and Matt Bissonette, who has been REO Speedwagon’s touring bassist since November 2023. That same lineup will head out next year on Cronin’s tour with Styx.
So, with all that in mind, REO Speedwagon’s final show (in name only) featured a 19-song setlist, beginning with their 1980 album, High Infidelity, played in its entirety, and ending with the classics “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and “Roll With the Changes” (including family members and crew).
During a five-minute farewell speech from the stage, Cronin thanked all the classic REO Speedwagon members, even Bruce Hall, saying, “We couldn’t have done it without any of those guys.”
He went on to say, “I feel sadness that this is the final REO Speedwagon concert, and at the same I feel grateful to have been part of this incredible ride. We have all been brothers on this amazing musical journey called REO Speedwagon, and I wish you all nothing but the best — and when I say you, I mean everyone who has been part of this band, part of our crew and part of the REO Speedwagon fan family.
He continued, “The REO Speedwagon name is being retired tonight, but the music, the spirit, the songs of REO Speedwagon will live on with this band and with me under the name Kevin Cronin. We hope you join us on that adventure. And now, let’s roll with the changes — what do you say?”
See video footage of the Vegas show, including Cronin’s onstage speech, below, and pick up tickets to Cronin’s co-headlining tour with Styx at this location.
Setlist:
Don’t Let Him Go
Keep on Loving You
Follow My Heart
In Your Letter
Take It on the Run
Tough Guys
Out of Season
Shakin’ It Loose
Someone Tonight
I Wish You Were There
Music Man (acoustic)
In My Dreams (acoustic)
Time for Me to Fly
Keep Pushin’
Live Every Moment
Golden Country
Ridin’ the Storm Out
Can’t Fight This Feeling
Roll With the Changes (V.I.P., wives, children, managers and crew sang last chorus)