LIVE: STYX – December 27, 2018

Venue: Soaring Eagle Casino

City: Mount Pleasant, MI

Date: December 27, 2018

Review and Photographs by: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur (www.toddstarphotography.com)

Some bands pack their setlist with hits that demand you see them perform time and tie again.  Styx is one of those bands… even if it means driving two hours to catch a second show in a matter of a few months.  Still out promoting the killer concept album The Mission, the guys in Styx hit the stage just a couple nights after a holiday break and did something not many bands can pull off… opening the show with a track from their latest release.  “Gone Gone Gone” kicked things off and the crowd jumped both feet into the rock and roll net the band cast from the first note.  Wasting no time after the opening track, the band kept the energy level cranked up and ripped into the rocking classic “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” and those in the SOLD OUT venue couldn’t contain their excitement as they sang and danced in the aisles.  Next up was “The Grand Illusion” and the band was firing on all cylinders as they took us all on a fun classic rock ride.  With guitarist Tommy Shaw and keyboardist Lawrence Gowan trading off lead vocals on various tracks through out the evening all the while playing their respective instruments.  “Lady” and “Light Up” were classic Styx bookends for the recent track “Radio Silence,” also from the bands latest release, the aforementioned The Mission.  From classic tracks to new songs, rockers and ballads, the rhythm section of drummer Todd Sucherman and bassist Ricky Phillips locked in together and kept the show clicking along with perfect timing and a thunderous bottom end.  “Crystal Ball” brought something new to many in the crowd – the never-recorded lost verse that Tommy Shaw dusted off for a one-off special show in 2016 with the Cleveland-based Contemporary Youth Orchestra.  Not one to be outdone, longtime member and guitarist James ‘J.Y.’ Young took his turn behind the mic on “Miss America.”  Original bassist and founding member peppered the audience with a couple appearances during the set, allowing Phillips to don a double necked guitar for once track and giving the band a heavy handed sound on others when two bass guitars anchored the bands sound.  After the band tore through “Rockin’ the Paradise,” they added a third track from The Mission as they introduced the capacity crowd to “The Outpost.”  With huge hits still in their rock and roll arsenal, the band made their way through “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” and “Too Much Time on My Hands” before making way for the keyboard instrumental “Khedive,” which morphed into “Come Sail Away.”  The encore featured “Mr. Roboto,” which the band dusted off earlier this year for the first tour since 1983 and arguably the bands biggest hit “Renegade.”  As these guys add dates in 2019, make sure to get your tickets to one of the best shows on the road!

Setlist: Gone Gone Gone – Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) – The Grand Illusion – Lady – Radio Silence – Light Up – Crystal Ball – Miss America – Man in the Wilderness – Rockin’ the Paradise – The Outpost – Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) – Too Much Time on My Hands – Khedive – Come Sail Away – Mr. Roboto – Renegade

Complete set of STYX show photos HERE

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Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries