First of all, NH, I am very happy you and your son have had a wonderful time at all these shows. It is cool to meet up with friends, no question, who share your enjoyment of the experience.
You said:
Like it or not, Larry is stepping out as a main presence in the band and the idle talk of where is Dennis has all but disappeared, at least at these three shows.
My feeling is the true DDY fans are not going to these shows, so this is NO surprise to me. What is left are fans who know the Classic Styx, but like this lineup as much or more, and the newer fans who truly have no clue who Dennis is other than being a voice on some Styx albums they have bought prior to Cyclorama.
Larry's renditions of Doctor and Walrus are simply amazing. With Doctor being even higher energy than it is on BBT
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that the name "Styx" is now associated with songs they never wrote? And that new fans are rocking out to, and singling along with, tunes that are covers of other artists' work? Maybe it is just me and I am old fashioned. Styx was known for its amazing shows which presented THEIR music with near perfect, studio quality. This is what they prided themselves on.
That said, I am not going back on my statement that they need to take the Dennis sung songs out of the performance. There are more than enough TS and JY "Styx" songs to cover 2 or more hours of concert time.
The sound was great at each show was fine. The better of which was at Gilford. But with that said, it was really an issue with the venue that had anything to do with the sound.
Sadly, this is the case with lots of touring acts now. Dennis has had his problems with sound quality as well. It goes with the territory.
Again, nothing beats seeing concerts in the company of friends, family and fellow fans.
Bugsy