You just have to laugh
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:02 pmhttp://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2008 ... hitheatre/
There’s something about seeing a couple classic rock mainstays in an evening at Red Rocks. After all, you’re literally watching a sliver of rock history play out in front of you, along with a few thousand other people, in the best outdoor amphitheater on Earth. What more could you ask for? And from the looks on their faces, most of the audience on Sunday night agreed.
I jumped at a chance to take in Boston and Styx at Red Rocks for a few reasons — mostly to add some historical perspective to the list of bands I’ve seen over the years, and bands I grew up listening to as a child of the ’70s, and to bring my younger son Sandisz (he’s 10) to see some of that history in action (this would be the second time in a few years that Sandisz will have seen Styx).
On those terms, both bands delivered an adequate performance — and were even pretty exciting at times. Each set was performed impeccably and showed the evidence of either act’s years of touring, recording, touring, and recording, and the last 10 years of (mostly) just the touring. Just about everything is rote at this point, which is not to say the bands didn’t deliver what everyone paid for. Nostalgia is what it is.
Of the two, Styx seems to be the band with an ax to grind about being on classic rock radio’s heavy rotation — selling T-shirts with a bold “Classic Rock MY ASS” printed across the back, over a listing of highlights form the more than 1,100 shows they’ve played over the last ten years. This is the shirt my son picked (Styx is one of his fave classic rock bands), though I told him I doubted he’d be able to wear that one to school … yet.
Trying to prove that they’re anything but classics, Styx took the stage pretty much right on time at 7:30 p.m. and offered up a well-practiced arena set, filled with a fairly complete selection of all the hits Styx fans want to hear. The audience screamed approval at Tommy Shaw’s high energy antics. Running manically across the stage through the whole set, he still cuts an early thirtysomething figure.
The rest of the band performed well, offering hits like “Come Sail Away,” “Lady,” “Fooling Yourself,” “Babe” and “Renegade,” among others. The band played to near-album perfection, in performances studded with signature lengthy guitar and keyboard solos. As usual in Styx productions, Dennis DeYoung’s keyboard antics were a highlight, with DeYoung spinning the entire keyboard platform around on its custom merry-go-round, and dancing around and on and off the platform as it spun, all the while keeping up with the music.
There’s something about seeing a couple classic rock mainstays in an evening at Red Rocks. After all, you’re literally watching a sliver of rock history play out in front of you, along with a few thousand other people, in the best outdoor amphitheater on Earth. What more could you ask for? And from the looks on their faces, most of the audience on Sunday night agreed.
I jumped at a chance to take in Boston and Styx at Red Rocks for a few reasons — mostly to add some historical perspective to the list of bands I’ve seen over the years, and bands I grew up listening to as a child of the ’70s, and to bring my younger son Sandisz (he’s 10) to see some of that history in action (this would be the second time in a few years that Sandisz will have seen Styx).
On those terms, both bands delivered an adequate performance — and were even pretty exciting at times. Each set was performed impeccably and showed the evidence of either act’s years of touring, recording, touring, and recording, and the last 10 years of (mostly) just the touring. Just about everything is rote at this point, which is not to say the bands didn’t deliver what everyone paid for. Nostalgia is what it is.
Of the two, Styx seems to be the band with an ax to grind about being on classic rock radio’s heavy rotation — selling T-shirts with a bold “Classic Rock MY ASS” printed across the back, over a listing of highlights form the more than 1,100 shows they’ve played over the last ten years. This is the shirt my son picked (Styx is one of his fave classic rock bands), though I told him I doubted he’d be able to wear that one to school … yet.
Trying to prove that they’re anything but classics, Styx took the stage pretty much right on time at 7:30 p.m. and offered up a well-practiced arena set, filled with a fairly complete selection of all the hits Styx fans want to hear. The audience screamed approval at Tommy Shaw’s high energy antics. Running manically across the stage through the whole set, he still cuts an early thirtysomething figure.
The rest of the band performed well, offering hits like “Come Sail Away,” “Lady,” “Fooling Yourself,” “Babe” and “Renegade,” among others. The band played to near-album perfection, in performances studded with signature lengthy guitar and keyboard solos. As usual in Styx productions, Dennis DeYoung’s keyboard antics were a highlight, with DeYoung spinning the entire keyboard platform around on its custom merry-go-round, and dancing around and on and off the platform as it spun, all the while keeping up with the music.
