MR

.......As a more recent fan, been a fan since hearing Damn Yankees, then got into Styx afterwards.......I'm anxious to see them live. I've got 2 dvds, which are cool and the "Return to paradise" album.
What would be cool would be an Aussie tour. Do they have enough popularity over here though? Sure Babe was a hit, but was there anything else that was big over here?

I remember Foreigner and The Doobie brothers doing a tour here in 1995.

Cant Styx do the same type of deal with another band like Foreigner. Toto, Journey, whatever?

I'd kill to see this band. TOMMY RULES!!!!

Miss America rocks!!!

Unfortunately I think that's one market that Styx didn't even tour in when they were huge.

I do know that Styx did get a few Gold albums in Australia (I even saw one on Ebay!) but I don't think the fan base is there after all these years.

I know Tommy did a promo tour of Australia way back when, but the rest of the band were in Japan at the time (I think).

I don't think they have a market there to be quite honest, and the cost of bringing a band down there, it just wouldn't be economically feesible to do.

Many classic rock bands have had to cancel their tour dates down there due to poor ticket sales.

Damn shame, I love this band!!!! I love the Dam Yankees and Shaw/Blades stuff too.

Not likely. Promoters are just not interested in bands like this and Toto for example. It took me and an indie promoter to get Toto here last time.
Love to see it happen.

For a band like Styx or JOurney to play outside the USA, there has to be decent up front money to make it worth their while to haul gear, crew, etc. That can be offset by more dates to generate more money.

Journey's tour of the UK this year is an example of how it can be done if there is demand. Styx is opening for Deep Purple and my guess is even if they are losing money, it's a loss leader. I would bet they are trying to gauge interest. Sure, they did that short tour of the UK last year, but you heard the people griping a bit.

I think bands like Styx and Journey are finally realizing that incessant touring of the USA has diminishing returns and they need to break new markets or go away and come back ...