Styx's Tommy Shaw is looking for a good gig

by **SuiteMadameBlue** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:54 pm

Here's another Styx article.

From newtimesbpb.com
Originally published by Broward-Palm Beach New Times 2005-07-07
©2005 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2005- ... print.html

Out in the Styx
Aging bands + offbeat venues = interesting concerts
By Steve Koppelman | Doc Le Roc | Ben Westhoff

UPI Photo/Michael Bush
Styx's Tommy Shaw is looking for a good gig.
Christopher Smith

Joe Rocco

Huge stadium concerts can be a drag. The sound sucks. The band is so far away that the musicians look like gyrating ants. Tickets cost a fortune. What's a fan to do?

The smart thing is to wait 20 years until the popularity of your favorite monsters of rock wanes enough that they end up playing smaller venues in smaller towns.

Take '80s prog-hair-elevator-rock-opera pseudo-fusionists Styx, for example. Back in the States from a European tour, Styx is currently winding through the sticks, hitting places like the Elkhart County Fair in Indiana and the Chanute Municipal Airport in Kansas. Here in South Florida, the band is thrilled to hit Hollywood's Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino -- one of a handful of indoor, air-conditioned venues on its summer schedule.

Of course, the Seminole is the exception to the rule. Most venues Styx and other fallen-from-glory dinosaurs play don't sport indoor plumbing, let alone wall-to-wall carpeting and Keno. Below is an Outtakes-compiled list of South Florida's most infamous, off-kilter shows, just to remind you young'uns how good you got it today.

The Scorpions at the Pompano State Farmers Market, August '92. The "Winds of Change" were blowing, but even they couldn't puff up these deflated German windbags. When Hurricane Andrew literally raised the roof during "Rock You Like a Hurricane," remaining fans looted merch stands for commemorative, screen-printed zucchini.

"Weird" Al Yankovic at the Florida Swap Shop Circus, September '99. Parodies from "Amish Paradise" to "Smells Like Nirvana" to "Eat It" won over a tough crowd initially more interested in the Bling Booth than the quirky accordionist. A triumphant Yankovic left with fronts and a perm.

Tesla at the CityPlace Fountain, July '01. It was a five-man acoustical jam, all right, but this overheated, midsummer gig by the group famous for covering "Signs" was a sign itself. Two local seniors were hospitalized for heat stroke, several pairs of cotton-poly pants spontaneously combusted inside Armani Exchange, and a toddler was briefly misplaced under guitarist Tommy Skeotch's cascading locks. No more rock at CityPlace.

PM Dawn on the front steps of the Lake Worth Shriners' Club, January '95. Crystal-kissing hip-hop heads were disappointed when they read the band's name on fliers and couldn't figure out what time to show up. Bemused, befezzed Shriners canceled the show and threw a keg bash instead.

Whitesnake, White Lion, and Great White inside a Port Everglades shipping container, May '04. These three faux-metal giants had such a hard time landing a gig that they were relegated to a 10-by-10-by-40-foot steel box. Great White's pyrotechnics were flawless, sadly sparing the bands and their lone, toothless fan from their inevitable fate. -- Steve Koppelman Styx, REO Speedwagon (REO Speedwagon!), and the Outlaws play at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's Hard Rock Live Arena, 1 Seminole Blvd., Hollywood. Tickets cost $30 to $60. Call 954-523-3309. Sonic Surgery

by **ek88** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 1:51 pm

Take '80s prog-hair-elevator-rock-opera pseudo-fusionists Styx

Well, that's an interesting description. Can't say as I've heard that one before!

by **bugsymalone** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:57 pm

Take '80s prog-hair-elevator-rock-opera pseudo-fusionists Styx, for example

Well, that's an interesting description. Can't say as I've heard that one before!

That one rivals the "parking lot full of whale vomit" album description, eh?

:roll:

Bugsy

by **mr.v** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:04 pm

After reading that article all I can say is...

WHY?

Was that susposed to make people want to go to the show? Or was it a weak attempt at humor.

by **evileyes** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:37 pm

mr.v wrote:After reading that article all I can say is...

WHY?

Was that susposed to make people want to go to the show? Or was it a weak attempt at humor.

More pointless dribble from an industry that more and more seems to exist mainly just because.

by **ek88** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 11:21 am

That one rivals the "parking lot full of whale vomit" album description, eh?

Yes, indeed

Was that susposed to make people want to go to the show? Or was it a weak attempt at humor.

If it was humor, it made me feel like the only guy in the room who didn't catch the joke :wink:

by **classicstyxfan** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:00 pm

not to worry ek, cus you werent the only one !

by **ek88** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:53 pm

Thanks classic. I appreciate that more than you'll ever know!!!!!!

by **SuiteMadameBlue** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:45 pm

I think he was cutting down the band/bands.

I'm so sick of critics with their crappy reviews and promotions of the upcoming concerts. Some of these cities and venues are lucky that these artists even come to their town!! I've written a lot of critics/reporters with the correct information/history of the band Styx. None of them do their homework anymore. Most of them are idiots!!

by **styxfanNH** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:05 pm

maybe he should look at this picture to see the size of the crowd

Yup, just a couple of fans left

and look the fans are so old they are all in wheelchairs.....

by **SuiteMadameBlue** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:22 pm

Funny that you had this picture up here!!! LOL This is from Summerfest last week. It was a FREE show!! All the "headliner" stages are packed like this. You guys really have to experience Summerfest.

My friends are right in the picture in the front row - LOL That's where I would've been if I went - LOL

by **classicstyxfan** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 11:29 pm

I'd be in that picture, but I was standing just under the "k" in ek88 a couple of posts up :lol:

by **Zan** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:24 am

BTW, the show at HardRock was AWESOME last night.

by **SuiteMadameBlue** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:00 am

Where's your review????? You'll have to make a new thread. Did Tommy sing "Boat on a River"?? He added it to one of the shows in Michigan. I would love to hear that song live!!! Did you take any pictures? How were your seats or did you stand???

by **Hippie** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:36 am

When I read reviews like this, I think of what a "know it all" reviewer had to say about Journey's Arrival

Paraphrase "Didn't rock as much as Trial By Fire, though I must admit I liked the the soft ballad All the Things I've Loved About You."

Reviewers these days are really just putting words together. I read somewhere that most reviewers are simply frustrated artists themselves. How can we expect anything but venom from them?

by **sadie65** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:44 am

Hippie wrote:When I read reviews like this, I think of what a "know it all" reviewer had to say about Journey's Arrival

Paraphrase "Didn't rock as much as Trial By Fire, though I must admit I liked the the soft ballad All the Things I've Loved About You."

Reviewers these days are really just putting words together. I read somewhere that most reviewers are simply frustrated artists themselves. How can we expect anything but venom from them?

Those who can...do.
Those who can't...review.

by **bugsymalone** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:48 am

Those who can...do.
Those who can't...review.

Excellent, Sadie! The critic"s corner seems to be the last refuge of the untalented. :wink:

Bugsy

by **froy** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:58 am

Zan wrote:BTW, the show at HardRock was AWESOME last night.

Did they sell more than 600 tickets this time ?

by **Adam** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:28 am

Once again, Froy's vow to take a vacation from this board has been interrupted by his incontrollable compulsion to slam Styx. Counting tickets again are we, Froy?

by **Zan** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:31 am

froy wrote:
Zan wrote:BTW, the show at HardRock was AWESOME last night.

Did they sell more than 600 tickets this time ?

Is that a fly I hear?

The venue seats about 6,000 and it was mostly sold out.

by **styxfanNH** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:40 am

The 600 tickets was Dennis in Beverly Mass

by **Zan** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:46 am

Because I hate feeling left out, Carousel had about 40-50 people at our last gig. The largest crowd we've ever played for was Duffy's tavern on St. Paddy's day, for about 500. Oddly enough, not one person has felt the need to discuss it at any time.

by **Ash** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:55 am

SuiteMadameBlue wrote:Great White's pyrotechnics were flawless, sadly sparing the bands and their lone, toothless fan from their inevitable fate.

I can't BELIEVE what this guy said about Great White. I can't FUCKING believe it! After what happened with Great White and several hundred people dying due to bad pyrotechnics in New England, I am horrified and shocked that this MORON would say something so utterly insensitive to the band (who lost their guitarist in the blaze) and the families of the 180 some odd people who died in that fire.

Unbelievable

MR

Styx's Tommy Shaw is looking for a good gig

Styx's Tommy Shaw is looking for a good gig

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