The Vine Showroom, del Lago Resort & Casino, Waterloo, NY | November 7, 2026
By Jon Verno | Metal Mayhem ROC
In an age when everybody and their brother seems to be booking a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas and asking four figures for a ticket, it felt good to get into a room like The Vine. Watching five musicians play off each other and feeling the crowd respond took me right back to what got me hooked on going to shows. Night Ranger gave us one hell of a reminder of what happens when a band just plugs in and plays.
Night Ranger came to The Vine on the heels of Best Of, their August collection of remixed and remastered hits alongside newer cuts. They opened with one of those hits, “(You Can Still) Rock in America,” the lead track from 1983’s Midnight Madness. That first riff got the room going, and by the chorus you could hear why they still open with it.
They kept that energy going with “Sing Me Away,” the second single from their 1982 debut, Dawn Patrol. Drummer Kelly Keagy, who co-wrote it with Jack Blades, took the lead from behind the kit. Two songs in, you already had a feel for how this band shares the spotlight.
That momentum carried into “Four in the Morning,” from 1985’s 7 Wishes. Blades says he actually woke up and wrote it at four in the morning. You can hear that restlessness in the verses until it all comes out in the chorus. Three songs, three albums, and already a good taste of how much ground Night Ranger covered in those first few years.
“Coming of Age” took us back to Damn Yankees, the supergroup Jack Blades had with Ted Nugent, Styx’s Tommy Shaw and drummer Michael Cartellone. Brad Gillis looked like he was having a ball digging into Nugent’s licks. Nugent was a little freer with the whammy bar on “High Enough,” but those Damn Yankees songs fit right into the Night Ranger set.
A tip of the hat to Keri Kelli, too. The first time I saw Night Ranger, they were opening for KISS on the Creatures of the Night tour in ’83, with original guitarist Jeff Watson. Kelli’s been in the band full-time since 2014. He fit right in on those familiar leads, and he and Gillis were on point all night.
“Sentimental Street” eased us back into Night Ranger’s catalog, with visuals that suited the song’s softer sound. Then “Rumours in the Air,” a Midnight Madness cut that turned up in Sixteen Candles, brought in a darker groove. Between songs, Blades smiled, telling stories and goofing around with the crowd. You could tell he still loves the gig and is damn proud of what the band’s built over 44 years.
Before “The Secret of My Success,” Blades talked about Night Ranger’s soundtrack work. The band saluted Michael J. Fox, who starred in the 1987 film, for the way he’s faced Parkinson’s. Fox wasn’t there, but he still got a big round of applause. Then Eric Levy’s keyboard hook got the song moving. Levy looked like he was having the time of his life up there.
I liked seeing Keagy’s kit stage right, angled toward the other guys. You could watch him play off the band, especially during “Night Ranger,” the closing track from Dawn Patrol. The rest of the guys jumped into his drum solo, banging away on cymbals, cowbells and extra floor toms.
The band returned to Damn Yankees with “High Enough,” before Blades brought the room down with “Goodbye,” which he dedicated to a friend he said he’d lost to an overdose. “When You Close Your Eyes” picked the pace back up, and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” brought out one of the night's best riffs. Then Levy changed the mood with the piano intro to “Sister Christian,” giving Keagy’s voice all the room it needed. Keagy wrote it about his younger sister Christy, and hearing him sing it in a room that size still gets you.
The band also gave a shout-out to Tesla bassist Brian Wheat, who spends part of the year in upstate New York, and to former W.A.S.P. guitarist and solo artist Chris Holmes, who was in the room. The two have joined forces in a new band called T3rminal.
My one setlist change? Flip the last two. I would’ve sent everyone back into the casino with that “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” riff ringing in their ears.
Hearing hit after hit was like climbing into a time machine back to that first Night Ranger show in ’83. I’m going to make a point of catching these guys more often than once every 20 years.
Big shout-out to Jon Freeman from Freeman Promotions for the media access and to the Night Ranger guys for the tickets.
By Jon Verno | Metal Mayhem ROC
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