A modest crowd of middle-aged men and women went back in time to the hit music of their college days. Concertgoers witnessed the harmonious combination of old and new Survivor band members during its fall 2016 tour, which included a stop at Shippensburg University’s H. Ric Luhr’s Performing Arts Center last Wednesday.

Before Survivor took the stage, Pennsylvania native duo, Steve DiDomencio and James Mack, known as DIDIMACK, warmed up the stage and audience with their harmonious voices and acoustic guitars. While the two spoke little to the audience between songs, their original catchy music made up for the small bits of awkward silence.

Some of the songs that DIDIMACK performed included “With Friends Like These” and “Too Blue To Play The Blues.” As its performance progressed, DIDIMACK confessed that they primarily perform for small local venues. Before concluding, the duo genuinely expressed their gratitude to the audience for spending some time with them and giving them the opportunity to share their songs.

After a brief intermission, the long-haired and skinny-jeaned Survivor band members assumed their positions on stage and opened with the well-known song, “I Can’t Hold Back.” Thrilled by the first song selection, audience members excitedly sang and clapped along throughout the song’s entirety. “I Can’t Hold Back” was followed by the songs “High On You,” “Poor Man’s Son” and “Rebel Girl,” each of which was broken up by the cheers of fans from the audience.

Original Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan then took the spotlight. He gave the audience a few words of inspiration to think about and live by while introducing the song “Light Of A Thousand Smiles.”

“I’ve dreamed of being a guitarist since I was a child, and my dream came true,” Sullivan said. “Everyone has dreams, they are each different, but everyone has them. Anyone’s dreams can come true if they believe in it enough, and that’s what this song is about.”

These words spoken by Sullivan struck a deep and emotional chord for many, as a hush fell over the room. A few members of the audience swayed their arms back and forth in the air to the slightly slower tempo song.

Sullivan continued to keep the attention focused on him for a while longer. The rest of the band members cleared the stage, aside from his son, Ryan Sullivan, who is the current drummer for Survivor. Frankie Sullivan became one with his guitar as his fingers moved up and down it effortlessly in a several minute long guitar solo.

If anyone questioned whether Sullivan was still as gifted on guitar as he was 40 years ago, his performance surely debunked all disbeliefs. Clearly enjoying himself as he danced around on stage and encouraged all individuals to clap along, Sullivan made his way off stage and into the crowd, where he touched hands with fans and coaxed those who were not clapping along with him to let loose.

After some time, Sullivan’s son accompanied him on the drums with a little father-son duo before the rest of the band members reappeared. When all of Survivor’s band members were together again on stage, they performed a few more songs, and then ended with fan favorite and “Rocky”theme song, “Eye Of The Tiger.”

It is nearly impossible to sit still during “Eye Of The Tiger,” as the strong guitar strums naturally gets your blood pumping. Almost everyone was out of their seats during the playing of Survivor’s final song of the night, and some die-hard fans were even jumping up and down, clapping and singing along. Ending with a well-earned standing ovation, many fans left pumped up for their drive home thanks to the musical and lyrical power of “Eye Of the Tiger.”

While the entire original Survivor band no longer performs together, the 2016 version of Survivor is by no means a tribute band. Original Survivor guitarist, Sullivan is still actively living his dreams on tour with the band. In addition, newly welcomed members Ryan Sullivan, Billy Ozzello, Walter Tolentino and Cameron Barton flawlessly embodied both the sound and image of the popular ‘80s band.

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