August Zadra

[SuiteMadameBlue]

The 2 acoustic shows were unbelievable.

If Dennis isn't able to put an album of new tunes out, he should re-record those songs acousticly.

I said it before, Dennis needs a way to get this lineup recorded and out to the public.

If Dennis can get 3 or 4 songs done and combine them with the acoustic stuff, that would take the pressure off of writing an entire album and bridge the gap untilhe does.

I would love this, myself. A nice acoustic album. Jimmy is a terrific acoustic player and I would think that would be a most enjoyable album of music with these new players involved, IMO.

I will add, that if Dennis does have the opportunity to put out another album, it sure would be nice for it to get a bit of promotion. I have always felt 100 Years was allowed to die on the vine in Canada after producing that No. 1 single in Quebec. And it never even got any sort of promotion in the US. He got a few decent interviews and positive reviews and a couple of TV appearances and then, nada.

Bugsy

He'll be playing a few songs from 100 years next week...

DDY: I have many songs from my solo catalogue that are great songs and I would love to play them live. From '100 Years From Now' we played six of them live over the last few years, but I dropped everything when I added August Zadra in the band and we really started playing the music of Styx. Songs that August sings like "Renegade," "Too Much Time on My Hands" and "Fooling Yourself" have taken up spots in my set list that I once used for solo material. We have done "Private Jones," "Turn off CNN," "Crossing the Rubicon," "100 Years From Now" and "This Time Next Year" live and we will be playing those songs next week in Quebec because it was a number one record up there.

[styxfanNH]

That means he has a 2+ hour set up there and goes into the changing set list theme of Dennis.

[brywool]

COOL

[Archetype]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

[Boomchild]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

[chickenbeef]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's not a band so to speak

[Boomchild]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

[chickenbeef]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

[Boomchild]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

See what? I'm sorry but I don't get your point. Can you please more direct?

[chickenbeef]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

See what? I'm sorry but I don't get your point. Can you please more direct?

he's trying to make his solo shows look like a styx concert

[Archetype]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

See what? I'm sorry but I don't get your point. Can you please more direct?

he's trying to make his solo shows look like a styx concert

They're more Styx than Styx.

[chickenbeef]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

See what? I'm sorry but I don't get your point. Can you please more direct?

he's trying to make his solo shows look like a styx concert

They're more Styx than Styx.

well actually there's 5 individuals who have right to the styx name and 4 of them are against 1. you do the math

[Archetype]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

See what? I'm sorry but I don't get your point. Can you please more direct?

he's trying to make his solo shows look like a styx concert

They're more Styx than Styx.

well actually there's 5 individuals who have right to the styx name and 4 of them are against 1. you do the math

Rights to the name don't mean anything. Dennis could call his band Viagara and it would still be more Styx than Styx. The "real" Styx needs to knock off the childish games and start playing ALL the classics if they want to be taken seriously. Lawrence Gowan is more than capable of singing Mr. Roboto, Show Me The Way, etc.

Supposedly, the Regeneration tour will mean drastic changes in Styx's setlist. We'll see when it happens. I wouldn't hold my breath.

[brywool]

Rights to the name don't mean anything. Dennis could call his band Viagara and it would still be more Styx than Styx. The "real" Styx needs to knock off the childish games and start playing ALL the classics if they want to be taken seriously. Lawrence Gowan is more than capable of singing Mr. Roboto, Show Me The Way, etc.

Supposedly, the Regeneration tour will mean drastic changes in Styx's setlist. We'll see when it happens. I wouldn't hold my breath.

I don't agree. Just because the band isn't playing the cornier songs in the Styx catalog doesn't mean they're not Styx. McCartney doesn't play "Silly Love Songs" anymore even though it was a H U G E seller (Number 1 single of 1976). He's smart enough to realize that it's a horribly dated song. Dennis needs to have a little of that mindset for crap like "Roboto". It's probably the same reason that songs like "Eddie" and "Homewrecker" and "She Cares" aren't played at Styx shows. Those songs don't stand up when put beside the others that're being played.

"Show Me the Way", on the other hand, is a great great song. I remember seeing Dennis and Styx do it accapella on the Grand Illusion Anniversary Tour. It was excellent. As decent as Gowan is (and I like him), I don't think he could pull that off. Nor do I think he would want to. It could be that the members of Styx say "You know, that's REALLY a Dennis signature song. Let's not do it." and it could be out of respect (doubtful but possible) or it could be that the band has enough stuff to do without "going there".

Dennis doesn't play "She Cares" or "Man In The Wilderness" or "Plexiglass Toilet"- by your definition, he's not Styx either, is he?

Silly argument.

[chickenbeef]

Rights to the name don't mean anything. Dennis could call his band Viagara and it would still be more Styx than Styx. The "real" Styx needs to knock off the childish games and start playing ALL the classics if they want to be taken seriously. Lawrence Gowan is more than capable of singing Mr. Roboto, Show Me The Way, etc.

Supposedly, the Regeneration tour will mean drastic changes in Styx's setlist. We'll see when it happens. I wouldn't hold my breath.

I don't agree. Just because the band isn't playing the cornier songs in the Styx catalog doesn't mean they're not Styx. McCartney doesn't play "Silly Love Songs" anymore even though it was a H U G E seller (Number 1 single of 1976). He's smart enough to realize that it's a horribly dated song. Dennis needs to have a little of that mindset for crap like "Roboto". It's probably the same reason that songs like "Eddie" and "Homewrecker" and "She Cares" aren't played at Styx shows. Those songs don't stand up when put beside the others that're being played.

"Show Me the Way", on the other hand, is a great great song. I remember seeing Dennis and Styx do it accapella on the Grand Illusion Anniversary Tour. It was excellent. As decent as Gowan is (and I like him), I don't think he could pull that off. Nor do I think he would want to. It could be that the members of Styx say "You know, that's REALLY a Dennis signature song. Let's not do it." and it could be out of respect (doubtful but possible) or it could be that the band has enough stuff to do without "going there".

Dennis doesn't play "She Cares" or "Man In The Wilderness" or "Plexiglass Toilet"- by your definition, he's not Styx either, is he?

Silly argument.

he fore sure could do that song it's just that what would they take out to play it???? blue collar man, renegade, lady, grand illusion, sca, tmtomh??? miss america??? no, they can't take those ones out

[brywool]

he fore sure could do that song it's just that what would they take out to play it???? blue collar man, renegade, lady, grand illusion, sca, tmtomh??? miss america??? no, they can't take those ones out

Seriously?
Miss America could go. Or... GASP! they could play a bit longer.

[chickenbeef]

he fore sure could do that song it's just that what would they take out to play it???? blue collar man, renegade, lady, grand illusion, sca, tmtomh??? miss america??? no, they can't take those ones out

Seriously?
Miss America could go. Or... GASP! they could play a bit longer.

music america is a concert staple

[brywool]

he fore sure could do that song it's just that what would they take out to play it???? blue collar man, renegade, lady, grand illusion, sca, tmtomh??? miss america??? no, they can't take those ones out

Seriously?
Miss America could go. Or... GASP! they could play a bit longer.

music america is a concert staple

Doesn't have to be. If it was "Come Sail Away" or "Renegade", you'd have a point. It's JY and his singing that song hasn't gotten any better. They'd be better to give him another song. I'd rather hear Heavy Water, Midnight Ride, Heavy Metal Poisoning, Great White Hope, or These are the Times. I don't think Styx peeps would walk away going "Wow, they didn't play Miss America. I'm so dissapointed".

[Everett]

he fore sure could do that song it's just that what would they take out to play it???? blue collar man, renegade, lady, grand illusion, sca, tmtomh??? miss america??? no, they can't take those ones out

Seriously?
Miss America could go. Or... GASP! they could play a bit longer.

music america is a concert staple

Doesn't have to be. If it was "Come Sail Away" or "Renegade", you'd have a point. It's JY and his singing that song hasn't gotten any better. They'd be better to give him another song. I'd rather hear Heavy Water, Midnight Ride, Heavy Metal Poisoning, Great White Hope, or These are the Times. I don't think Styx peeps would walk away going "Wow, they didn't play Miss America. I'm so dissapointed".

JY would be

[chickenbeef]

he fore sure could do that song it's just that what would they take out to play it???? blue collar man, renegade, lady, grand illusion, sca, tmtomh??? miss america??? no, they can't take those ones out

Seriously?
Miss America could go. Or... GASP! they could play a bit longer.

music america is a concert staple

Doesn't have to be. If it was "Come Sail Away" or "Renegade", you'd have a point. It's JY and his singing that song hasn't gotten any better. They'd be better to give him another song. I'd rather hear Heavy Water, Midnight Ride, Heavy Metal Poisoning, Great White Hope, or These are the Times. I don't think Styx peeps would walk away going "Wow, they didn't play Miss America. I'm so dissapointed".

you'll see great white hope soon enough

[Archetype]

Almost every recent concert review of Styx you'll see says something to the effect of "One glaring omission from their set list was Mr. Roboto"

There are probably thousands of people who know Mr. Roboto and not any other Styx songs.

Everyone goes crazy when they do the fifteen seconds of it in the medley. The crowd really gets energized when Dennis does the full song.

Now throw in The Best Of Times, Babe, Show Me The Way, Don't Let It End; some of Styx's most commercially successful songs EVER. Styx doesn't play them! It's like going to see Journey them not playing Don't Stop Believing or Faithfully. Mr. Roboto is Styx's Don't Stop Believing as far as recognition goes. To try to bring Plexiglass Toilet or Man In The Wilderness into this argument is a fallacy because those songs aren't well known.

Now look at Dennis DeYoung circa 2010-- he and his band play EVERYTHING that Styx is known for. Don't be surprised if Crystal Ball ends up in the set in the near future. They play the songs that made Styx famous. You'll hear Babe, Mr. Roboto, and Too Much Time On My Hands at the same concert performed by an extremely energetic, tight, talented band. They're truly "more Styx than Styx" There's maybe a handful of fans who would be upset about not hearing Miss America, but I think that hearing Mr. Roboto is a more than fair trade off for the fans.

If Dennis manages to get his act on a package tour, "Styx" will have MUCH to worry about. It wouldn't surprise me if he did next year; he's really making a name for himself now and the good reviews are pouring in. August Zadra is much more Tommy Shaw than Lawrence Gowan is Dennis DeYoung. Now if Styx would just lighten the hell up and play Mr. Roboto, etc. Dennis would have a much more difficult time breaking into their market. Gowan's a great singer and performer, but he is being restrained by his band mates.

The supposed Regeneration tour might change things.

[chickenbeef]

Almost every recent concert review of Styx you'll see says something to the effect of "One glaring omission from their set list was Mr. Roboto"

There are probably thousands of people who know Mr. Roboto and not any other Styx songs.

Everyone goes crazy when they do the fifteen seconds of it in the medley. The crowd really gets energized when Dennis does the full song.

Now throw in The Best Of Times, Babe, Show Me The Way, Don't Let It End; some of Styx's most commercially successful songs EVER. Styx doesn't play them! It's like going to see Journey them not playing Don't Stop Believing or Faithfully. Mr. Roboto is Styx's Don't Stop Believing as far as recognition goes. To try to bring Plexiglass Toilet or Man In The Wilderness into this argument is a fallacy because those songs aren't well known.

Now look at Dennis DeYoung circa 2010-- he and his band play EVERYTHING that Styx is known for. Don't be surprised if Crystal Ball ends up in the set in the near future. They play the songs that made Styx famous. You'll hear Babe, Mr. Roboto, and Too Much Time On My Hands at the same concert performed by an extremely energetic, tight, talented band. They're truly "more Styx than Styx" There's maybe a handful of fans who would be upset about not hearing Miss America, but I think that hearing Mr. Roboto is a more than fair trade off for the fans.

If Dennis manages to get his act on a package tour, "Styx" will have MUCH to worry about. It wouldn't surprise me if he did next year; he's really making a name for himself now and the good reviews are pouring in. August Zadra is much more Tommy Shaw than Lawrence Gowan is Dennis DeYoung. Now if Styx would just lighten the hell up and play Mr. Roboto, etc. Dennis would have a much more difficult time breaking into their market. Gowan's a great singer and performer, but he is being restrained by his band mates.

The supposed Regeneration tour might change things.

styx have done best of times with larry. don't let it end is crap so is half of roboto althought the chorus is cool. babe is gay too. this is the rock n' roll styx and people continue to flock to them whenever they are in town. simple as that

[Archetype]

Babe might be "gay" to you, but it is their ONLY number one song ever. More people know Babe than Blue Collar Man or Miss America. People flock to the package tours; even those generally don't sell out. Though they sometimes do well. Styx alone usually draws about 2,500 people.

[chickenbeef]

Babe might be "gay" to you, but it is their ONLY number one song ever. More people know Babe than Blue Collar Man or Miss America. People flock to the package tours; even those generally don't sell out. Though they sometimes do well. Styx alone usually draws about 2,500 people.

you're not too bright are you?

[chickenbeef]

Babe might be "gay" to you, but it is their ONLY number one song ever. More people know Babe than Blue Collar Man or Miss America. People flock to the package tours; even those generally don't sell out. Though they sometimes do well. Styx alone usually draws about 2,500 people.

boat on the river has been number one 13 times

[Boomchild]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

See what? I'm sorry but I don't get your point. Can you please more direct?

he's trying to make his solo shows look like a styx concert

His shows are titled "Dennis DeYoung and The Music of Styx" so they are going to look and sound similar. It's not like he is out on tour calling himself Styx like when The Temptations had their issues and there were two touring groups calling themselves The Temptations. What else would you expect to have? Dennis playing the Styx songs in a totally different way then he did when he was in Styx just to make you feel he is not trying to be Styx? He has clearly pointed out this is him performing some of Styx's Greatest Hits.

[Boomchild]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

See what? I'm sorry but I don't get your point. Can you please more direct?

he's trying to make his solo shows look like a styx concert

They're more Styx than Styx.

While I can agree that DDY's shows seem to cover more of the popular hit songs, I still do not feel DDY's band is more Styx then Styx. I mean that from the "Classic Line Up" point of view. I feel the same way with the current version of Styx.

[Boomchild]

August has the same birth date as Tommy-- certainly an omen

I truly think that August is the best thing that happened to rock music in the past few years.

I think that his addition to DDY's band has breathed some new life into DDY and his shows.

they've breathed life into it. dennis has had technically good shows but they've never been alive until now. he's hit gold with this guy. now he has two guys acting like tommy and jy and he can pretend he's in styx and doesn't have them thinking for themselves because it's a band so to speak

While I can agree about your comment about his shows being more alive then before, I can't agree with the rest of your comments. It's true that August sings similar to TS, I don't think that means he is acting like him. If that was totally true you could then say Gowan acts like Dennis simply because when it comes to his keyboard playing he plays the material almost note for note to the way that DDY performed them on the original recordings. For DDY's entire solo career he has had a banking band with line up changes as apposed to forming a new group. When you look at the musicians that performed on all of his solo albums the musicians were not always the same people. That's because he is a solo act and the shows, music and material is about him not the members in the band that is backing him. Which is not that much different from other artists that have gone solo. BTW, Have you gone to one of his shows since the line up change?

http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

just look at that and you'll see

See what? I'm sorry but I don't get your point. Can you please more direct?

he's trying to make his solo shows look like a styx concert

They're more Styx than Styx.

well actually there's 5 individuals who have right to the styx name and 4 of them are against 1. you do the math

I think it's 3 people have the rights to the Styx name. I doubt that LG, Todd S., RP have any real ownership of the name. I would think that TS, JY and even CP would want to keep ultimate control of the name and band in their hands. The others are more like employees. I would even go as far as to say that it is more then likely worded that way in any agreements those newer members have. Also, it always doesn't come down to just the math. No one can deny the positive things that DDY contributed to the band and the overall impact that had on their success. To name one, he gave them their ONLY number one hit song.

[Boomchild]

Rights to the name don't mean anything. Dennis could call his band Viagara and it would still be more Styx than Styx. The "real" Styx needs to knock off the childish games and start playing ALL the classics if they want to be taken seriously. Lawrence Gowan is more than capable of singing Mr. Roboto, Show Me The Way, etc.

Supposedly, the Regeneration tour will mean drastic changes in Styx's setlist. We'll see when it happens. I wouldn't hold my breath.

I don't agree. Just because the band isn't playing the cornier songs in the Styx catalog doesn't mean they're not Styx. McCartney doesn't play "Silly Love Songs" anymore even though it was a H U G E seller (Number 1 single of 1976). He's smart enough to realize that it's a horribly dated song. Dennis needs to have a little of that mindset for crap like "Roboto". It's probably the same reason that songs like "Eddie" and "Homewrecker" and "She Cares" aren't played at Styx shows. Those songs don't stand up when put beside the others that're being played.

"Show Me the Way", on the other hand, is a great great song. I remember seeing Dennis and Styx do it accapella on the Grand Illusion Anniversary Tour. It was excellent. As decent as Gowan is (and I like him), I don't think he could pull that off. Nor do I think he would want to. It could be that the members of Styx say "You know, that's REALLY a Dennis signature song. Let's not do it." and it could be out of respect (doubtful but possible) or it could be that the band has enough stuff to do without "going there".

Dennis doesn't play "She Cares" or "Man In The Wilderness" or "Plexiglass Toilet"- by your definition, he's not Styx either, is he?

Silly argument.

So, do you feel that the current Styx is playing only the songs fans would like to hear? If so, then why is it I keep seeing people posting that they need to change their set list? Also, I am curious what songs you think are "Corny".

[Boomchild]

It's JY and his singing that song hasn't gotten any better.

I tend to agree. Actually I thought that he did one of his best vocal performances of Miss America on the '96 reunion tour. For some reason his voice has sounded better on their studio recordings then his live performances post '96, '97. Makes me wonder if they are tweaking his vocals on those studio performances to make his vocals sound better then they actually are.