The 1970s was the era of the rock-and-roll live album. Seemingly every major act of that period released a concert recording, and many of those -- Cheap Trick's At Budokan, Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive, Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains the Same -- stand today as classics.

Less heralded but deserving of a place on that list is Kansas' Two For the Road, their 1978 progressive-rock masterpiece which has just been re-released for its 30th anniversary in a remastered, expanded two-disc set.

"We dug into the vaults and discovered all these old recordings of songs that didn't make the cut, because you could only get so much onto even a double album back then," says Kansas guitarist Rich Williams, better known to casual fans as the one with the eye patch. "The tapes were disintegrating, and we literally had to bake them in an oven as part of the process of transferring them to digital."

Fans wanting a taste of the more seasoned Kansas will get their chance when the band closes the first night of the Snowden Grove Music & Bike Rally tonight at the Southaven Amphitheater.

The new Two For the Road includes the original album in its entirety; "Closet Chronicles," a song from the vinyl release that didn't make it onto earlier CD reissues because of time constraints, is included. There also are 10 tracks culled from the same half-dozen concerts, including live versions of the Top 40 hits "Cheyenne Anthem" and "Miracles Out of Nowhere."

"We were listening to the completed album the other day," says Williams. "We're much better players today, but those kids did pretty well."

Kansas emerged from the surprisingly fertile Topeka garage-band scene in the early '70s. After numerous personnel shifts, they landed their major-label deal and in 1974 released their debut, Kansas, a showcase for what is still a potently original blend of American roots music (mostly represented by Robby Steinhardt's violin), arena rock and progressive virtuosity.

"We were just trying to be different," says Williams of their unique sound. "We weren't too concerned with what you labeled it. What is 'Dust In the Wind?' It's more something Woody Guthrie would have written than any kind of rock song."

That song, a drum-less meditation on death which marked its 30th anniversary last year, was Kansas' only Top 10 hit and continues to define the band thanks to re-use in film and television shows. Unfortunately, most of the appropriations -- from "The Simpsons" to "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" to Will Ferrell's rendition in "Old School" -- play the deadly earnest song for laughs, a fact which doesn't bother Williams.

"We've got a sense of humor about it," he says. "No matter how you look at it, it's a huge honor and just raises the visibility of the band."

Another Kansas classic, "Carry On My Wayward Son," has also found new life through the video game Guitar Hero II, a game that the nongamer Williams has trouble slogging through.

Kansas has not been too concerned with adding to their recording legacy in recent years. Their last studio album was eight years ago. Instead, the band members are pursuing various side projects. Longtime singer-keyboardist Steve Walsh has been working on a solo project -- available for preview on the band's Web site, kansasband.com.

And Williams and the rest of the band, minus Walsh, are working on a side project called Native Window.

"It's nothing like Kansas," says Williams, who hopes to release the album in the next year. "It's more stripped-down, more Americana than anything we've ever done."

All these projects are ancillary to Kansas' main thrust, which these days is touring. In recent years the band has played a handful of successful symphony shows where the classical element of the violin is amplified with the addition of a full-blown orchestra. Williams says the band hopes to finish a live CD and DVD of one of these shows soon.

And the band recently played its first tour of Eastern Europe, where they performed before 4,000 people in Bulgaria.

"It was intense because we didn't know how much they knew," Williams says. "But when we started playing 'Dust In the Wind,' they knew every word and were just singing right along."

Snowden Grove Music & Bike Rally

Where: Snowden Grove Amphitheater, Southaven

Tickets: $20 general admission lawn seating, $30 reserved seats. Three-day passes are $37.50 (lawn) and $47.50 (reserved). Tickets available at the Snowden Grove box office and all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at (901) 525-1515 and online at ticketmaster.com.

For more information, visit snowdengroveamphitheater.com and tcbconcerts.com.

Today

Gates open at 4 p.m.

Music lineup: Kansas, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Bad Company's Brian Howe, Blind Melon

Saturday

Gates open at 3 p.m.

Music lineup: Saliva, Drivin' 'N' Cryin', Blackfoot, Aquanet, Surrender the Fall

Sunday

Gates open at 2 p.m.

Music lineup: Charlie Daniels Band, .38 Special, Gabby Johnson