Photos by Andy Argyrakis

Barely a moment went by in the back half of the 1970s into the ‘80s when the Little River Band wasn’t in regular rotation on the radio in either its native Australia, here in America or elsewhere.

Though many members have come and gone, in addition to several legal disputes between longtime/semi-retired guitarist Stephen Housden, and co-founders Graeham Goble, Glenn Shorrock and Beeb Birtles over rights to the name, bassist/vocalist Wayne Nelson has stayed nearly constant since 1980, spearheading the latest line-up of keyboardist Chris Marion, drummer Ryan Ricks, guitarist Bruce Wallace and fellow guitarist/vocalist Colin Whinnery.

Besides personally gathering their post-2000 recordings across “Fan Favorites,” Capitol Records just compiled both the “Ultimate Hits” and “Masterpieces” collections, along with remastering all the primary projects from 1975 to 1986.

That basically meant the Little River Band had no shortage of tunes to select from when it filled up a considerable portion of the beautifully restored Genesee Theatre, which was just the right intimate size to showcase everyone’s tightly-knit harmonies, at least after ironing out the “technical gremlins” the front man said they were battling.

Nelson and company spent a solid chunk surrounding the period the former Illinois resident/session man officially joined, such as the gold-certified “Time Exposure,” produced by The Beatles’ frequent collaborator George Martin, and the Frontiers Records reboot “Cuts Like A Diamond,” plus the main prior moments, despite not playing on those initial recordings.

Although that latter aspect is a point of contention with the above originals and purist fans, it’s not much different from what Foreigner does on dates without Mick Jones or Asia featuring John Payne, seeming to please more casually-minded listeners simply concerned with the quality of the songs themselves.

In any case, this edition of top-notch musicians always delivered, from “It’s A Long Way There” and “Man On Your Mind,” to “Happy Anniversary,” “Take It Easy On Me” and many more throughout roughly 90 headlining minutes.

In fact, as the Genesee got to “Reminiscing,” it revealed just how many smashes the Little River Band accumulated both before and after its current leader took the reins, including “The Other Guy,” “Help Is On Its Way,” “The Night Owls,” “Cool Change” and “Lady.”

It also became apparent what a wide net the group cast between pop, soft rock, country flavors, album-oriented directions, and in the instance of the closing “Lonesome Loser,” some serious rock and roll chops, once again carried adeptly by the man who was in the middle of it all.

For additional information on Little River Band, visit LittleRiverBand.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the Genesee Theatre include Rick Springfield (Feb. 24); Killer Queen (Mar. 16); Celebrating Meat Loaf (Mar. 18); Indigo Girls (Mar. 23); Il Divo (Mar. 24); Classic Albums Live: Eagles’ “Hotel California” (Mar. 31); Blue Öyster Cult (Apr. 6); Brit Floyd (May 6); Ruben Studdard & Clay Aiken (May 12); Rain: A Tribute To The Beatles (May 13); Stewart Copeland (May 19); Los Chicos Del 512: The Selena Experience (May 20) and “Happy Together” featuring The Turtles (Aug. 18). For additional details, visit GeneseeTheatre.com.

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