Celebrating their 43rd year of existence, San Francisco’s Night Ranger brought their A-game to MGM Northfield Park Friday night, 21 November, to a sold-out audience of 1,900, performing all the favourite songs from their 1982 Dawn Patrol album up to the present day.
Night Ranger
MGM Northfield Park, Northfield, Ohio – 21 November 2025
Words: Jim and Donna Balentine
Photography: Jim Balentine
Tonight, the three remaining original members, bass player Jack Blades, lead guitarist Brad Gillis, and drummer Kelly Keagy, along with longtime members Keri Kelli (guitar), who joined in 2013 and Eric Levy (keyboards) in 2011, sent the energetic crowd back into the Time Machine.
All the great MTV hits were fired out tonight, including Don’t Tell Me You Love Me, Rumours In The Air, When You Close Your Eyes, Sentimental Street with the biggest power ballad in the band’s career, Sister Christian, to end the evening.
The key to the ‘Secret of their success’ has to be that the Band actually gets along, as you can tell on stage by the banter between the members and how they just seem to enjoy playing with each other.
Jack Blades, in his early 70s, shows as much stage presence and excitement as he did in the early days opening up for KISS in California in 1983. His voice sounds almost like it did on all the original records, and he holds down the bottom end on bass while maintaining that fantastic stage presence. 
Brad Gillis, who for a brief time substituted for the late Randy Rhoads in Ozzy’s band in 1982, still plays the famous red 1962 Fender Stratocaster that he has had since the beginning and looks almost the same as when the band first started out. Gillis still plays those monster riffs and crunching lead guitar solos, taking command of the stage.
Kelly Keagy is one of a few drummers in bands who also share lead vocals, and he can still drum with the ferocity of days gone by. Tonight, he gives us that famous raspy voice that created some of the band’s biggest songs.
Keri Kelli has been a fantastic replacement for the original second guitarist, Jeff Watson. MGM Northfield Park was witness to his outstanding double lead guitar harmonies with Gillis, and we also saw how he stands out on his own with his own solos. 
Levy on keyboards is a perfect fit, replacing original keyboardist Allan Fitzgerald. He could almost be a look-alike on the podium as you watch his magical fingers perform some of the most memorable musical parts of the band’s catalogue. 
Growing up with MTV, a day would not go by that you would not see a Night Ranger video on TV. The band had at least two full concert productions on the famous Saturday Night Live concert series in the ’80s, too.
Even a casual fan could name at least five to ten video hits from the band, and all night long on Friday, the whole MGM crowd would sing note for note along with the band.
The great thing about Night Ranger is that they do not play the same set list every night, so it’s a nice surprise to hear certain songs while still playing most of the hits. We even had Damn Yankees tracks Coming Of Age and High Enough.
Blades mentioned their history in Cleveland, including the first time they came to the Agora, where approximately 15 people showed up on a snowy winter evening, and even pulled out an old WMMS shirt to the roar of the crowd.
One thing for sure is that Night Ranger are as strong as ever and can be enjoyed by the young and the young at heart, thinking it is 1985 all over again.
So if you have not seen them in a while or never have, take the opportunity to experience one of the greatest bands that came out of the ’80s.
