Seeing Dennis tonight in Cleveland

[Ehwmatt]

I'll be seeing Dennis in a few hours. Last time I saw him was 5 years ago or so with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, which was a fantastic show. I'm pretty excited for tonight. I'll get back at you guys with a review at some point. With all the talk of singers with shot voices and the like, Dennis doesn't get much respect outside of the fan circles for how well he has kept his voice in shape over the years... I expect him to sound great tonight. Anyone seen him lately?

[Ehwmatt]

Just got in, and goddamn if that wasn't one of the best shows I've seen in years. At 61, Dennis might be sounding better than I've heard him on any live recording or anything all the way back to the 70s. What's more is that I'm pretty sure he was nursing a cold, as he put on another jacket over his first one and kept running off to the side of the stage to blow his nose. I don't know how the guy's doing it, but his relatively clean lifestyle and obviously being in decent shape have really helped him keep it up. The show was mixed unbelievably well too... nothing got drowned out or got too loud as the night went on. The band this time around killed the line-up I saw when he was with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra... having that 2nd guitar player there made a huge difference - those guys sounded heavy and rockin. Here's the set list best I can remember in no order (I'm sure I'm forgetting some..)

Grand Illusion
Lady
Pieces of Eight w/ classical breakdown (almost felt like a TSO song)
Desert Moon - Killer extended solo outro from Tommy making an already tasteful guitar song even better/more emotional
Lorelei
One Hundred Years From Now (much better live)
This Time Next Year (ROCKED live)
Castle Walls (why did Styx never play this - a mystery)
The Best of Times
Come Sail Away
Babe
Light Up
Rockin The Paradise
Mr. Roboto
Show me The Way acapella w/ Susan, the other backup girl (you know, the smokin hot one), and the bass player.
Prelude 12/Suite Madame Blue (what a treat hearing Prelude)


Well, that's about all I remember.. I'm sure I'm leaving one or two out. Highlights of the show were probably Castle Walls, Tommy's Desert Moon solo, and staring at the backup singer all night. But there wasn't a single song that sounded off at all. I've seen and enjoyed the Gowan line-up 3 or 4 times and I loved Cyclorama, but I've gotta admit, this blew every Styx show I've been to out of the water. I gotta imagine if Tommy saw how good Dennis sounded and how much fun he's having with his band that he'd have to be pretty bummed out - at least judging from the go through the motions approach he's got going these days. The two new songs went over pretty well considering most of the people there hadn't heard them - I wouldn't have minded 4 from the 100 Years really. The only other thing I missed was the inclusion of maybe one or two more old solo songs - Don't Wait for Heroes, Suspicious, Black Wall, or Harry's Hands would have suited me quite well. Here's to hoping Dennis doesn't wait another 4 or 5 years to come back to Cleveland. If he comes your way, don't miss out.

[bugsymalone]

WooHOO! Happy to see he included 2 from "100 Years." And "Castle Walls" is truly amazing live. Thanks for the review. Glad you had a good time.



Bugsy

[Jodes]

Tommy definately wasn't "going through the motions" when I saw him on March 15th..

[Phreakboy]

I was there too. Great show. (Especially for only $5 entry fee) I was pleased to see him doing more rockin' tunes for this crowd at the Rib Cookoff.

[Ehwmatt]

I was there too. Great show. (Especially for only $5 entry fee) I was pleased to see him doing more rockin' tunes for this crowd at the Rib Cookoff.

Yeah, we actually bought seats but ended up standing right in the front of the railings cuz we figured the sound would be better. Wish I woulda known how close they'd have the railing before-hand.

[Ehwmatt]

Tommy definately wasn't "going through the motions" when I saw him on March 15th..

Tommy just hasn't looked that happy the last few times I've seen him with Styx... now, when I saw Shaw/Blades in November, that was a totally different story and a totally different Tommy. That's just my take tho...

[Grotelul]

Just got in, and goddamn if that wasn't one of the best shows I've seen in years. At 61, Dennis might be sounding better than I've heard him on any live recording or anything all the way back to the 70s. What's more is that I'm pretty sure he was nursing a cold, as he put on another jacket over his first one and kept running off to the side of the stage to blow his nose. I don't know how the guy's doing it, but his relatively clean lifestyle and obviously being in decent shape have really helped him keep it up. The show was mixed unbelievably well too... nothing got drowned out or got too loud as the night went on. The band this time around killed the line-up I saw when he was with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra... having that 2nd guitar player there made a huge difference - those guys sounded heavy and rockin. Here's the set list best I can remember in no order (I'm sure I'm forgetting some..)

Grand Illusion
Lady
Pieces of Eight w/ classical breakdown (almost felt like a TSO song)
Desert Moon - Killer extended solo outro from Tommy making an already tasteful guitar song even better/more emotional
Lorelei
One Hundred Years From Now (much better live)
This Time Next Year (ROCKED live)
Castle Walls (why did Styx never play this - a mystery)
The Best of Times
Come Sail Away
Babe
Light Up
Rockin The Paradise
Mr. Roboto
Show me The Way acapella w/ Susan, the other backup girl (you know, the smokin hot one), and the bass player.
Prelude 12/Suite Madame Blue (what a treat hearing Prelude)


Well, that's about all I remember.. I'm sure I'm leaving one or two out. Highlights of the show were probably Castle Walls, Tommy's Desert Moon solo, and staring at the backup singer all night. But there wasn't a single song that sounded off at all. I've seen and enjoyed the Gowan line-up 3 or 4 times and I loved Cyclorama, but I've gotta admit, this blew every Styx show I've been to out of the water. I gotta imagine if Tommy saw how good Dennis sounded and how much fun he's having with his band that he'd have to be pretty bummed out - at least judging from the go through the motions approach he's got going these days. The two new songs went over pretty well considering most of the people there hadn't heard them - I wouldn't have minded 4 from the 100 Years really. The only other thing I missed was the inclusion of maybe one or two more old solo songs - Don't Wait for Heroes, Suspicious, Black Wall, or Harry's Hands would have suited me quite well. Here's to hoping Dennis doesn't wait another 4 or 5 years to come back to Cleveland. If he comes your way, don't miss out.

In my opinion, a Dennis solo show will never blow a Styx show out of the water no matter who is in Styx. Dennis' show is tame and light. This is light rock. A rock show is LOUD and rockin. A Dennis solo show is neither.

[Ehwmatt]

In my opinion, a Dennis solo show will never blow a Styx show out of the water no matter who is in Styx. Dennis' show is tame and light. This is light rock. A rock show is LOUD and rockin. A Dennis solo show is neither.

Agree to disagree. I still enjoy seeing Styx, but Dennis rocked the other night and most of the songs he played were indeed loud and rockin, aside from the obligatory Lady/Babe. And the best part was JY wasn't singing Lorelei.

[Toph]

Just got in, and goddamn if that wasn't one of the best shows I've seen in years. At 61, Dennis might be sounding better than I've heard him on any live recording or anything all the way back to the 70s. What's more is that I'm pretty sure he was nursing a cold, as he put on another jacket over his first one and kept running off to the side of the stage to blow his nose. I don't know how the guy's doing it, but his relatively clean lifestyle and obviously being in decent shape have really helped him keep it up. The show was mixed unbelievably well too... nothing got drowned out or got too loud as the night went on. The band this time around killed the line-up I saw when he was with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra... having that 2nd guitar player there made a huge difference - those guys sounded heavy and rockin. Here's the set list best I can remember in no order (I'm sure I'm forgetting some..)

Grand Illusion
Lady
Pieces of Eight w/ classical breakdown (almost felt like a TSO song)
Desert Moon - Killer extended solo outro from Tommy making an already tasteful guitar song even better/more emotional
Lorelei
One Hundred Years From Now (much better live)
This Time Next Year (ROCKED live)
Castle Walls (why did Styx never play this - a mystery)
The Best of Times
Come Sail Away
Babe
Light Up
Rockin The Paradise
Mr. Roboto
Show me The Way acapella w/ Susan, the other backup girl (you know, the smokin hot one), and the bass player.
Prelude 12/Suite Madame Blue (what a treat hearing Prelude)


Well, that's about all I remember.. I'm sure I'm leaving one or two out. Highlights of the show were probably Castle Walls, Tommy's Desert Moon solo, and staring at the backup singer all night. But there wasn't a single song that sounded off at all. I've seen and enjoyed the Gowan line-up 3 or 4 times and I loved Cyclorama, but I've gotta admit, this blew every Styx show I've been to out of the water. I gotta imagine if Tommy saw how good Dennis sounded and how much fun he's having with his band that he'd have to be pretty bummed out - at least judging from the go through the motions approach he's got going these days. The two new songs went over pretty well considering most of the people there hadn't heard them - I wouldn't have minded 4 from the 100 Years really. The only other thing I missed was the inclusion of maybe one or two more old solo songs - Don't Wait for Heroes, Suspicious, Black Wall, or Harry's Hands would have suited me quite well. Here's to hoping Dennis doesn't wait another 4 or 5 years to come back to Cleveland. If he comes your way, don't miss out.

In my opinion, a Dennis solo show will never blow a Styx show out of the water no matter who is in Styx. Dennis' show is tame and light. This is light rock. A rock show is LOUD and rockin. A Dennis solo show is neither.

All depends on your perspective I guess - if you are a casual fan going to each show to hear the "hits" - you are going to recognize a lot more songs at a DDY show than a Styx show, "rocking" aside...

[Ehwmatt]

All depends on your perspective I guess - if you are a casual fan going to each show to hear the "hits" - you are going to recognize a lot more songs at a DDY show than a Styx show, "rocking" aside...

Yeah, I was talking about that with the group I went with. Sure, I go to a Styx show knowing full well I'm not going to hear the majority of the Dennis songs, but the average fan who doesn't even know Dennis isn't in the band anymore might be left scratching his head after the show concludes without the brunt of the Dennis catalogue, which for the most part made Styx famous, Renegade notwithstanding. Lucky for me, I go to a Styx show knowing full well what to expect and ready to appreciate what I get. I don't even mind Larry singing some of the Dennis stuff.

But I gotta imagine the current line-up's live stock is falling because, given their non-stop touring over the last 6 or 7 years plus word of mouth, even the joe six-packs are figuring out most of the songs they identify with Styx aren't going to be played at the Styx show. So yea, I think a Dennis show will appeal to joe six-pack a lot more than a latter-day Styx show. I also just happened to think that the performance at this last Dennis show far outshone any performance I've seen of Styx in person (only the Gowan line-up). Now, some of the Styx shows with Dennis? Probably not... that Return to Paradise show looked like the band was on fire. But, Dennis was great and he was playing the songs that mostly put Styx on the map, but he didn't have a killer crowd either... both line-ups are losing out. So, just re-unite please. Let Larry play the keys and sing Criminal Mind for all I care

[stabbim]

All depends on your perspective I guess - if you are a casual fan going to each show to hear the "hits" - you are going to recognize a lot more songs at a DDY show than a Styx show, "rocking" aside...

Yeah, I was talking about that with the group I went with. Sure, I go to a Styx show knowing full well I'm not going to hear the majority of the Dennis songs, but the average fan who doesn't even know Dennis isn't in the band anymore might be left scratching his head after the show concludes without the brunt of the Dennis catalogue, which for the most part made Styx famous, Renegade notwithstanding.

Depends on the demographic. If they're classic rock radio listeners, they're likely to be more familiar with Blue Collar Man and Fooling Yourself than Babe and Don't Let It End, and there are always a few heavy hitters present that were originally sung by DDY (CSA & Lady being the most obvious.) I think in terms of song recognition, there's sufficient overlap for patrons of either show to come away feeling that they got a decent set list for their money.

[kipthekid]

Classic Rock Radio - at least where I live - plays "The Grand Illusion" and "Come Sail Away" as often as it does "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man." The former is, of late, the most commonly played Styx song on classic rock radio. I agree, however, that a different group of people view Babe, The Best of Times and Don't Let it End as "classic" Styx.

What about Groteful's comments? Well, he's never been shy about taking jabs at Dennis - even going so far as the say that he prefers Cyclorama over 100 Years b/c the former sounds more like a classic Styx "group effort." He even took shots at 'Rubicon,' one of the few DDY tunes from recent years that pleased die-hard new Styx fans AND DDY fanatics. Well, IMHO, Cycloroma, while having several inspired moments from Tommy, was far from sounding alike a "group" effort. From a cohesion standpoint, and a consistency standpoint, 100 Years is, again IMHO, overall a superior effort. Granted, there are a couple of 'classic' DDY stinkers - Breathe Again, I'll be there for you, I don't believe in anything - take those 3 off the record, and you've got the best work done by any member of Styx since 1981.

As far as the live show is concerned, it's pretty close. New Styx' musicianship was taken to new heights with the additions of Gowan and Todd. The vocals aren't what they were - JY's age is showing and Gowan is a very mediocre vocalist. Dennis' band is very professional, very polished - the guitar playing is more "contemporary" than what Tommy and JY bring to the table. Dennis' vocals alone give his band an edge. However, the triads that made Styx famous are and always will be best sung by DDY, JY and Tommy. New Styx is hardly "hard rock" - but, day in and day out, I would say that they "rock harder" than Dennis and his band - which, at the "end of the day" is more versatile than New Styx.