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Apr 6, 2007 10:24 pm US/Central
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REO Speedwagon Plays Walmart
by John Reger
(WCCO)
REO Speedwagon became a rock icon with number one hits "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "Keep On Loving You." They played giant stadiums in the 70's and 80's, but Friday they performed at the Walmart in Eagan.
The band is promoting it's first new album in a decade and it has an exclusive deal with Walmart.
"I've been watching them for 30 years," said Jay Powell from Cottage Grove, "and I had to come to Walmart to meet them, I never would have thought that."
Kevin Cronin and Bruce Hall performed a short acoustic set for a crowd of fans, most of them over 40.
"REO was the first rock concert I went to when I was 14 years old," said Jeri Jensen, who made the trip from Hastings to see the band. "I saw them at the Met Center in Bloomington."
Walmart has an exclusive deal to sell a three CD set that includes a DVD and some greatest hits. For two weeks it is the only place to buy the new music.
"We're people-people," said lead singer Kevin Cronin, "and this is where people come to buy music."
Teaming up with a big retailer like Walmart or Best Buy is the latest sales gimmick by artists targeting adults.
"Because they're the ones still buying music in the CD jewel case form while their kids are downloading it for their ipods," said John Rash, Director of Media Negotiations for Campbell Mithun Advertising.
"Do I walk into a Walmart and act the same way I would at Madison Garden? absolutely not," said Cronin. "That's part of the beauty of this, these people come in and it's kind of in our living room."
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)