MR

Just got back from the Free Speedstreet Styx concert. This was my first in person experience with the band since the Dennis days. Before I give my review, let me state that I have always been and will always be a DDY fan. For those of you who cannot fathom supporting or accepting the 21st century edition of the band DO NOT read any further.

This band absolutely KICKS ASS. It may not be your mama's Styx but they are undeniably one hell of a collection of talent. Not only that, but if it's been a while since you've seen them, bring earplugs...this band goes all the way to eleven. I was completely blown away. Infreakincredible.

Yes, I would have loved to hear Dennis sing his songs, but let me put this into perspective: Considering today's musical climate and what passes for art, few bands remain that actually play rock and roll. Even fewer have the energy that Styx has. If you stay away from a show due to a stubborn unwillingness to accept "fill ins" you are cheating yourself. If you want to think that JY is a pompous ass go ahead, but go to the concert regardless.

The setliest was identical to the Peachtree show that Bugsy posted earlier. EXACTLY the same (even the Medley).

Blue Collar Man-Grand Illusion-Lorelei-Lady-Too Much Time-Snowblind-Walrus-Summer in the City-Medley (Put Me On/Light Up/Mademoiselle/Heavy Metal Poisoning/Midnight Ride/Sing for the Day/Shooz/Queen of Spades/Great White Hope/Half Penny/Borrowed Time/Superstars/Mr. Roboto/Rockin the Paradise/Man in the Wilderness/Put Me On reprise/Grand Finale)-Crystal Ball-Fooling Yourself-Miss America-Come Sail Away Encore:Locomotive Breath-I Don't Need No Doctor-Renegade.

The show lasted about 90 minutes and they didn't take a single break. One song right into the other. The crowd was into the show with Lady, Walrus and Come Sail Away seeming to be the ones the crowd liked the most. (Somewhere in my head I heard Yogi saying "Larry is the new voice of Styx).

A couple of observations: JY and Tommy still use alot of their famous 'rock poses' that they have used for years. Larry seems to have adult ADD. The guy just can't sit still for a second (nice stage presence though). Ricky is one happy guy. Smiled the ENTIRE show. The band has without doubt adopted a 'harder' edge to their sound and Todd beat the snot out of his drumkit.

I tried taking as many photos as possible. However the shots were at night and were difficult to capture. My wife managed to get some better shots than I did as it is her camera. However my camera (still camera, not a camcorder) did allow for over 12 minutes of video footage that turned out much clearer. The problem is that the camera isn't really designed for audio capture (very small mic.) and due to the volume of the show, the audio sounds terrible. I was less than 50 feet from the stage. If anyone would like a disc of what I shot, I'd be more than happy to send a disc along to ya.

Still overall, one of the best shows I have EVER gone to. Great Night (ears still ringing).

Scott

Ime waiting for the "You must of been drunk" or "You dont know what your talking about" comments.

I cant wait until 13th June the first of my 3 Styx shows in a week.....
Excellent review......Thanks so much.

EVERYTHING IS COOL IN THE LAND OF THE NEW STYX WORLD...

LOOK AROUND.....LIFE IS GOOD

Scott
I'm with you all the way on this one, I'm a massive DDY fan , but when I saw them in Florida 3yrs ago they blew me away!!!! LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL
Cant wait for the 16th June,front row centre Birmingham, then Manchester the day after, if I can get more time off work I'll be going to Nottingham as well
Exellent review Scott and a honest opinion

Scott...

I have always enjoyed your honesty. I'm glad you enjoyed the show.


Peace

yup, that about sums it up.

Glad you all had a good time.

Bugsy

swwskj wrote:Just got back from the Free Speedstreet Styx concert. This was my first in person experience with the band since the Dennis days. Before I give my review, let me state that I have always been and will always be a DDY fan. For those of you who cannot fathom supporting or accepting the 21st century edition of the band DO NOT read any further.

This band absolutely KICKS ASS. It may not be your mama's Styx but they are undeniably one hell of a collection of talent. Not only that, but if it's been a while since you've seen them, bring earplugs...this band goes all the way to eleven. I was completely blown away. Infreakincredible.

Yes, I would have loved to hear Dennis sing his songs, but let me put this into perspective: Considering today's musical climate and what passes for art, few bands remain that actually play rock and roll. Even fewer have the energy that Styx has. If you stay away from a show due to a stubborn unwillingness to accept "fill ins" you are cheating yourself. If you want to think that JY is a pompous ass go ahead, but go to the concert regardless.

The setliest was identical to the Peachtree show that Bugsy posted earlier. EXACTLY the same (even the Medley).

Blue Collar Man-Grand Illusion-Lorelei-Lady-Too Much Time-Snowblind-Walrus-Summer in the City-Medley (Put Me On/Light Up/Mademoiselle/Heavy Metal Poisoning/Midnight Ride/Sing for the Day/Shooz/Queen of Spades/Great White Hope/Half Penny/Borrowed Time/Superstars/Mr. Roboto/Rockin the Paradise/Man in the Wilderness/Put Me On reprise/Grand Finale)-Crystal Ball-Fooling Yourself-Miss America-Come Sail Away Encore:Locomotive Breath-I Don't Need No Doctor-Renegade.

The show lasted about 90 minutes and they didn't take a single break. One song right into the other. The crowd was into the show with Lady, Walrus and Come Sail Away seeming to be the ones the crowd liked the most. (Somewhere in my head I heard Yogi saying "Larry is the new voice of Styx).

A couple of observations: JY and Tommy still use alot of their famous 'rock poses' that they have used for years. Larry seems to have adult ADD. The guy just can't sit still for a second (nice stage presence though). Ricky is one happy guy. Smiled the ENTIRE show. The band has without doubt adopted a 'harder' edge to their sound and Todd beat the snot out of his drumkit.

I tried taking as many photos as possible. However the shots were at night and were difficult to capture. My wife managed to get some better shots than I did as it is her camera. However my camera (still camera, not a camcorder) did allow for over 12 minutes of video footage that turned out much clearer. The problem is that the camera isn't really designed for audio capture (very small mic.) and due to the volume of the show, the audio sounds terrible. I was less than 50 feet from the stage. If anyone would like a disc of what I shot, I'd be more than happy to send a disc along to ya.

Still overall, one of the best shows I have EVER gone to. Great Night (ears still ringing).

Scott

You must have been drunk and you don't know what you are talking about ,
90 min show with 5 covers in the set and a medley and it kicks ass
I will leave it at that ,

Glad you had fun but I like the real thing baby!

DarrenUK wrote:Ime waiting for the "You must of been drunk" or "You dont know what your talking about" comments.

I cant wait until 13th June the first of my 3 Styx shows in a week.....
Excellent review......Thanks so much.

EVERYTHING IS COOL IN THE LAND OF THE NEW STYX WORLD...

LOOK AROUND.....LIFE IS GOOD

It 's so good that their new cd lasted about 2 days and then vanished,
This concert sounds like a joke
They have a guy trying to sing Dennis songs
There doing covers live and the show is 90 min
Big effort on there part.

Glad you enjoyed the show. They sure put on a GREAT one!!

I'm ready to see Styx if they come around on their Fall tour....I just hope they'll put a few Cyclorama tunes back in the set. In my mind I view them as a new band that plays a lot of my favorite Old Styx tunes, and happens to have TS and JY as members.

The new Cd lasted 2 days and vanished....not here in England its the only Styx Cd since Grand Illusion thats got regular radio airplay since Grand Illusion on rock radio......2 days is not bad tho ......as it lasted a day longer than Edge Of The Century and Brave New World.

Scott: Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy reading your thoughts.

Scott, I'm glad that you enjoyed the show Thanks for the review.

I don't mind the Cyclomedley, but I hate being teased, I would really LOVE to hear Mademoiselle, Superstars and Sing For the Day live

Scott, did you like the medley? How was the crowd size?

Again, I'm glad you had a great time

Thanks for the mostly positive response. A couple of additions, I was certainly NOT drunk, although I'm sure most of you had gathered that by now. The show's attendance was hard to gauge, Styx played in the middle of "speed street". There were 3 major stages and Styx was dead center of the other two stages and played essentially in the geographic center of downtown. People were passing throughout the duration of the concert so I would guesstimate that at least 10,000 people heard at least part of the show. To be fair, the Home Depot Tony Stewart simulator drew about the same quantity.

Froy, I knew the dissention from you was inevitable, but I gotta say that aside from IML and Bugsy there are few who have covered your back as frequently as I have. I would like to think that I deal in what is. Styx is touring without Dennis. Like it or leave it, that is reality. Argue the merits or legitimacy all you want (I can see both sides), but that is a topic for another day. Call the line-up what you will (Carrot Styx, Nu Styx whatever) but and the end of the day, they do put on a great show. I would recommend to see a Rock 'n' Roll show whenever possible. Go see Styx, Journey, Boston or whoever while you can. Ten years from now you may not have the opportunity.

As for the Medley, I personally loved it. Between the Medley and the featured songs, Styx managed to cover the ENTIRE Grand Illusion album. I know it would be better to hear the entire songs, but the time is simply not there to play them all and via the medley I got to hear some songs live that I would not have had the opportunity to have otherwise.

IML, as a side note when Tommy did the synth voice for Mr. Roboto, the crowd went wild.

Thanks to all those who have appreciated my review. I try to judge Styx in the fairest light that my opinion will allow. The chips can then fall where they may. Styxmike and DarrenUK, I hope you enjoy the show half as much as I did. If you do, the price of admission will be well worth it. (And to think I got to see them for free AND I was closer than I could have ever imagined if I had seen them at an outdoor pavilion setting).

After last night, I will see them at every opportunity possible, and to those who judge without having at least seen them, all I ask is give the new line-up a fair shake. If you still don't like what you hear, you will get no argument from me and will have gained a modicum of credibility from those who would debate you.

As always,

Scott

Scott.
Nice to read your down to earth review.
Also nice to see that you can judge them for what they are and not wear blinkers.
You saw them and appreciated them.If you had seen them and disliked them, i would respect you point of view.
gr8

IML, as a side note when Tommy did the synth voice for Mr. Roboto, the crowd went wild.

Cool... that would be interesting to see... do they sing any of it during the medley and if so who sings it... Gowan?

The song gets unfairly knocked around here... I think it's a complete classic and one of Styx' greatest songs EVER.

And John Panozzo kicked butt on that tune.

IML,

Some of the songs in the medley go by so fast, that if you sneeze you'll miss 'em. All they do of Roboto is Japanese intro. Tommy does that through a synthesizer. My guess is the Roboto portion lasts around 20 seconds.

Scott

Some songs in the medley get a longer play than others. The Medley unfortunately is a necessary evil because of the size of the catalog and they are trying to give some exposure to the whole catalog.

I did read in a Glen post somewhere that he was the one that got Roboto included in the medley, because Tommy and JY downright hate that song.

I have a good copy of the medley on mp3 if anyone wants it.

It is true though, especially with Roboto and a couple of other songs that if you sneeze, you'll miss them.

Many wish they would play the whole songs of those, but time wise is you would only get three of the songs in their entirety.

Put Me On gets the biggest chunk of time as it leads and closes the medley.

I think the medley is a good idea and I have heard the mp3 of it.

I am a huge fan of the song "Put Me On." Great harmony and lots of fun to listen to. The way it leads into Madamoiselle on the CB album is just wonderful, too.

Bugsy

I am a huge fan of the song "Put Me On." Great harmony and lots of fun to listen to. The way it leads into Madamoiselle on the CB album is just wonderful, too.

Right on!

The song gets unfairly knocked around here... I think it's a complete classic and one of Styx' greatest songs EVER.

Although I've done some of the knocking around here, I wish they'd play this one in its entirety for the fans' sake. It always got a great response at the shows I attended, whether as part of the Cyclomedley or when it was incorporated into Edge Of The Century. (Thanks, Glen!)

The reason for knocking this to the top o' the heap is for our friends in the UK. Does the reaction here mirror that of what you chaps in the Isle of the Atlantic have seen? My rabid curiosity is getting the better of me.

Scott