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ENID, Okla. – April 2016 – Styx was still touring in 2016 and continues to put on a great rock’n roll show. I first saw Styx in the 70’s when they were at their peak but they still kicked it decades later.
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There were many highlights during the show including the appearance of Chuck Panozzo who came from behind the stage to play on several songs. Panozzo has suffered with HIV and looked frail but he was able to play his bass licks just like the good old days.
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Tommy Shaw and James Young sang, talked and engaged the audience throughout the evening. They both sounded terrific on vocals and played guitar like any top band today. The band played a long set of hit tunes and took a twenty minute break before returning for another set of chart topping tunes.
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Dennis DeYoung was missing from the lineup and the group seemed to stay away from many of DeYoung’s biggest songs. Their keyboard replacement player, Lawrence Gowan, did an awesome job and had the energy of three band members. His playing and vocals were a good addition to the band.
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The six musicians have committed to rocking the Paradise together with audiences far and wide by entering their second decade of averaging over 100 shows a year, and each one of them is committed to making the next show better than the last. Styx draws from over four decades of barnburning chart hits, joyous singalongs, and hard-driving deep cuts.
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Styx hit its stride with guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw’s first LP with the band, 1976’s Crystal Ball, and then they become the first group to score four triple-platinum albums in a row: The Grand Illusion (1977), Pieces of Eight (1978), Cornerstone (1979), and Paradise Theater (1981). Over the ensuing decade, Styx weathered the shifting winds of the public’s musical taste, reconvening for a highly successful 1996 Return to Paradise tour that was expertly documented on both CD and DVD in 1997.
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After more than a decade together on the road, this incarnation of Styx is looking forward to performing as many shows as it can as long as it can. “It all comes back to the chemistry,” says bassist/vocalist Ricky Phillips. “The legacy of this band will be that it brought joy to millions of people,” notes drummer Todd Sucherman.
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