GI/Po8 Erie, PA

[Archetype]

This was my seventh time seeing Styx since 2003, and it was undoubtedly their best performance yet. The band is tighter then ever. The vocal harmonies are terrific, and Lawrence is nailing the Dennis songs. He isn't a clone of Dennis by any means, but he is almost perfect for harmonies, and his voice does justice to the DDY-led songs. His weakest point was definitely Castle Walls, but it was still a lot better than it seems to be on youtube. I'd give his Castle Walls performance a 6/10, and every other song he did was much better, so he's pretty damn good. He made Queen of Spades and I'm OK his own. I had a lot of concern about I'm OK, but he sang it almost perfectly.

The highlight for the concert for me was definitely Man In The Wilderness, with Queen of Spades at a very close second. Tommy's voice was great, and the dual guitar solo was incredible. Like Lawrence, JY sounds a lot better live than he does in youtube videos. He did a fantastic job with his songs.

After the concert, I met the band by their tour bus. Ricky and Todd stopped and talked to everyone personally. Lawrence stopped briefly and addressed everyone before going in the bus. Tommy, Chuck, and JY just walked by and waved and smiled and got on the bus. I bought a signed copy of Regeneration. It's really growing on me. They threw in a lot of subtle musical differences and the drums are much more in the forefront than they are on the original recordings, which I really like because Todd is a beast.


I won't keep you guys waiting a month this time: Photos

[Everett]

Thanks for the review. Yogi should be happy now

I hope they can get the dvd/cd out by christmas.

[Babyblue]

This was my seventh time seeing Styx since 2003, and it was undoubtedly their best performance yet. The band is tighter then ever. The vocal harmonies are terrific, and Lawrence is nailing the Dennis songs. He isn't a clone of Dennis by any means, but he is almost perfect for harmonies, and his voice does justice to the DDY-led songs. His weakest point was definitely Castle Walls, but it was still a lot better than it seems to be on youtube. I'd give his Castle Walls performance a 6/10, and every other song he did was much better, so he's pretty damn good. He made Queen of Spades and I'm OK his own. I had a lot of concern about I'm OK, but he sang it almost perfectly.

The highlight for the concert for me was definitely Man In The Wilderness, with Queen of Spades at a very close second. Tommy's voice was great, and the dual guitar solo was incredible. Like Lawrence, JY sounds a lot better live than he does in youtube videos. He did a fantastic job with his songs.

After the concert, I met the band by their tour bus. Ricky and Todd stopped and talked to everyone personally. Lawrence stopped briefly and addressed everyone before going in the bus. Tommy, Chuck, and JY just walked by and waved and smiled and got on the bus. I bought a signed copy of Regeneration. It's really growing on me. They threw in a lot of subtle musical differences and the drums are much more in the forefront than they are on the original recordings, which I really like because Todd is a beast.


I won't keep you guys waiting a month this time: Photos

Thhanks i really enjoyed seeing your pics

[yogi]

What was the crowd like? How many in attendance?

[Archetype]

What was the crowd like? How many in attendance?

The Warner Theatre has 2,250 seats. It was at about 50% capacity right before Styx went on. It was damn close to being full by intermission. I hear that tickets were reduced to $20 at the door. It was pretty enthusiastic crowd, very loud.

[brywool]

Nice photos!

[masque]

thanks for the review....i too thought man in th ewilderness and I'm OK were great when I saw them. very nice photos as well! thanks for posting them.

[froy]

What was the crowd like? How many in attendance?

The Warner Theatre has 2,250 seats. It was at about 50% capacity right before Styx went on. It was damn close to being full by intermission. I hear that tickets were reduced to $20 at the door. It was pretty enthusiastic crowd, very loud.

So there was 1100 people standing in front without a ticket waiting to get tickets for 20 bucks?
If true that's terrible for the people who paid full price.
As said before they will give away free tickets if you wait it out.
Shows how bad there situation is,

A tour like this with Dennis would be sold out and multiple nights in many cities,
Also bigger houses, If these guys think there doing great selling Tee Shirts and giving away tickets great for them.
Styx has been reduced to 20 year olds who have no clue of what They could be seeing instead of what they are being fed.

[brywool]

[froy]

"brywool"

[yogi]

With Dennis though does the show EVER occur???

[froy]

With Dennis though does the show EVER occur???

A long time ago

[yogi]

I cant see Dennis doing this show.

If Dennis does this show HE doesnt get to sing Roboto, Show Me The Way, Babe, Best Of Times, Dont Let It End, Lady etc...

In my opinion this show spotlights an album that he didnt care for (Pieces Of Eight), and puts the other band members more in the spotlight. From the little I know of him Dennis couldnt do this. I like the hell out of him but his ego seems too massive to do this show.

[pinkfloyd1973]

I cant see Dennis doing this show.

If Dennis does this show HE doesnt get to sing Roboto, Show Me The Way, Babe, Best Of Times, Dont Let It End, Lady etc...

In my opinion this show spotlights an album that he didnt care for (Pieces Of Eight), and puts the other band members more in the spotlight. From the little I know of him Dennis couldnt do this. I like the hell out of him but his ego seems too massive to do this show.

I'd rather see him do one of his own albums, either "Boomchild" or "Back to The World"

[Boomchild]

I cant see Dennis doing this show.

If Dennis does this show HE doesnt get to sing Roboto, Show Me The Way, Babe, Best Of Times, Dont Let It End, Lady etc...

In my opinion this show spotlights an album that he didnt care for (Pieces Of Eight), and puts the other band members more in the spotlight. From the little I know of him Dennis couldnt do this. I like the hell out of him but his ego seems too massive to do this show.

With respect to the issue of selection of songs, if that was true then I think you would never have seen Dennis do the "Lost Treasures" tour. As far as his ego, I used to think that he had a real huge ego. He certainly does have one, you need it in that kind of business or you will get steam rolled. The reason I think people over state Dennis' ego was due to how he talked about certain things. More recently I have noticed that he clarifies things more then he used to. An example would be if someone asked him if he knew when he wrote a great song he used to answer just "Yes" and that's it. Now he makes it clear that by meaning "Yes" he means in terms as a great song for him. If Dennis was so wrapped up in being the only guy in the spotlight then I don't think you would have him saying that Styx was the efforts of all it's members. If you want to talk about an over the top ego look to JY for that. He wants to take more credit for the success of Styx then he is responsible for. The sad fact is that he actually believes it himself.

[Archetype]

I met George their tour manager as well. He's a pretty nice guy. I told him that I've seen Styx seven times and he was really appreciative of my support.

[StyxCollector]

I cant see Dennis doing this show.

If Dennis does this show HE doesnt get to sing Roboto, Show Me The Way, Babe, Best Of Times, Dont Let It End, Lady etc...

In my opinion this show spotlights an album that he didnt care for (Pieces Of Eight), and puts the other band members more in the spotlight. From the little I know of him Dennis couldnt do this. I like the hell out of him but his ego seems too massive to do this show.

I don't see where you're coming from at all. Dennis has never had any hatred for Po8. He's done the title track and QoS among others. He did think it was too same-old same old as GI and saw they needed a change to survive, but he didn't hate Po8.

I think if the people who think Dennis has an ego every got a chance to talk to him, you'd see he is pretty normal. You do have to have a big set of stones to survive, but Dennis gives more credit to everyone else in Styx than they do to his contributions. Actually, I take that back. Gowan is respectful, Tommy has been, but JY is not.

Dennis has had a more varied set than Styx over the years and has done rarities. At this point he's just giving the majority of fans what they want - the hits. Styx has yet to cater to the die hards UNTIL this tour.

[yogi]

Dennis ABSOLUTELY PUBLICALLY has stated that he was disappointed with HIS contributions to the Pieces Of Eight album.

I have talked to Dennis and he REALLY seemed like a nice guy. It was VERY brief but he took the time and he and his family were GREAT.

I also realize that he gave (allowed) Tommy the spotlight when he first joined the band and he did the exact same for Glen(title tracks). Still he seems the type that if the spotlight starts to shine too bright on someone else instead of him he wants that light back. It is human nature and I really dont blame him for that. VERY Reggie Jacksonish.

Still here is why I believe that THIS show never happens with Dennis. Off of those two albums Dennis has 1 top 40 hit. Tommy has 3, and Sing For The Day stalled at 41. Yes, the song The Grand Illusion is a Styx hit, but it is not a top 40 hit.

I believe that Dennis would do something like The Grand Illusion & Paradise Theatre albums back to back, but there is no way he would leave Babe, Roboto, Lady, Dont Let It End, The Best Of Times, Show Me The Way, etc... sitting on the shelf when 'his' fans left for home.

[Keiferb]

What was the crowd like? How many in attendance?

The Warner Theatre has 2,250 seats. It was at about 50% capacity right before Styx went on. It was damn close to being full by intermission. I hear that tickets were reduced to $20 at the door. It was pretty enthusiastic crowd, very loud.

They managed to almost pack out a 2,200 seat venue by intermission. Impressive. Are you sure they just didn't open the doors and let transients in to get warm?

Here's some perspective. Roger Waters, Philadelphia, Wells Fargo Center, ~18,000 seats, sold out 3 nights this week. Tickets from $50 to $180. Not an empty seat in the joint at the start.

[Boomchild]

I met George their tour manager as well. He's a pretty nice guy. I told him that I've seen Styx seven times and he was really appreciative of my support.

Did he offer you a gold star too??

[MCM]

I was at this show and it was much better than I had expected. If they were coming anywhere near Pittsburgh again on this tour I'd buy a ticket all over again. Po8 has always been one of my all time favorite albums so it was really something to see/hear the songs on it live that have fallen by the wayside over the years.. Our seats were front row on Larry's side and seeing this show gave me a whole new appreciation of him.. I don't usually pay much attention to him but by default we kind of had to pay attention. He really does put a lot into the show I though he did an exceptional performance of Castle Walls and Queen of Spades. Overall I was extremely pleased with the entire experience.. Todd is a monster, Chuck was there, Tommy was all over the place, etc. etc.. The spinning keyboard didn't annoy me like it usually does..

One question for the OP or anyone that may have seen this show, was it me or did Tommy completely miss the first line of Superstars??

[Archetype]

I was at this show and it was much better than I had expected. If they were coming anywhere near Pittsburgh again on this tour I'd buy a ticket all over again. Po8 has always been one of my all time favorite albums so it was really something to see/hear the songs on it live that have fallen by the wayside over the years.. Our seats were front row on Larry's side and seeing this show gave me a whole new appreciation of him.. I don't usually pay much attention to him but by default we kind of had to pay attention. He really does put a lot into the show I though he did an exceptional performance of Castle Walls and Queen of Spades. Overall I was extremely pleased with the entire experience.. Todd is a monster, Chuck was there, Tommy was all over the place, etc. etc.. The spinning keyboard didn't annoy me like it usually does..

One question for the OP or anyone that may have seen this show, was it me or did Tommy completely miss the first line of Superstars??

He did. Our seats were right in front of Tommy. He was turned around looking at the guitar amps when he was supposed to be singing the first line. He really quickly turned around to the mic and had a very obvious "oh shit" look on his face. He then started the song at the second line. At least we know that they aren't lip-synching