REO Speedwagon and Styx in the same concert. As soon as I heard that this might be happening, I knew I had to go, even if I had to travel to do so. Both bands have been favorites of mine since 1982, when I was first discovering rock music. Styx are the band I listened to as a teen when I was feeling out of sorts. While I wasn't as big of an REO fan back then, they have always been one of my faves, and now that I'm an adult I have a new appreciation for their music and they have become my favorite band. REO Speedwagon and Styx scheduled four shows together. I chose to go to the last two, Evansville, Indiana and Nashville, Tennesse. I decided I would fly to Nashville (from Kansas City) and then rent a car and drive up to Evansville from there. I'd seen REO Speedwagon 5 times previously (all in the past 2 years), and each time they were awesome. I hadn't ever seen Styx live before, but from reports I knew Styx are every bit as good live as REO are.
Now, Dennis DeYoung to me is the heart of Styx. So I kind of felt like it wouldn't be Styx without Dennis. But, at the same time, I'm a big Tommy Shaw fan. I knew that it would be a great show. Tommy would never give his fans less. Plus, I trust Tommy. So, despite the fact that Styx would be touring without the member who to me makes Styx Styx, I trusted that if Tommy says it's Styx, it's Styx.
I got ready Friday night, and went to bed. Well, half way through the night I wake up, WAY to excited to sleep. I was going to see Styx that night!
I left the morning of the concert. I had a 7:25 flight, so I had to leave for the airport bright and early. I got to Nashville on the plane, got the rental car, and headed up to Evansville. Since I had plenty of time to drive up, I decided to take things slowly. I stopped at the literary park in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where I got to see a copy of King Arthur's Round Table, the sword in the stone, and a Greek amphitheatre. Then I decided to take US41 up instead of the Pennyryle Parkway since I had the time and it would allow me to experience a bit more of Kentucky. I also stopped at the Audubon museum in John James Audubon State Park in Henderson, KY, just sought of Evanville, IN. It was neat to see the full size prints of Audubon's wildlife drawings.
I arrived at my hotel in Evansville at 3:30. Unfortunately, the room was not yet ready, because all but two of the maids had called in (sick I assume) that day. It was another hour before my room was ready. That left me less than 15 minutes to get ready for the show before my ride arrived.
I went out to eat with some of my fellow REO fans in Evansville. Lisa offered to pick me up at the hotel, since there is limited parking a the venue. That sounded good to me... I wouldn't have to worry about how to get there, and I could drink if I wanted to. (I'm not a regular drinker, but I do enjoy it every now and then.) Lisa offered me a wine cooler, and I accepted. At this point I was already quite hyper with anticipation for the show, and had already decided that I was better off drinking alcohol than caffeine. I knew I didn't need any more stimulants!! We had dinner at Hacienda. There were 10 of us. After dinner, Lisa wanted to wait for Kathy Stover (REOFANS fanclub president), who had thought we were meeting at the other Hacienda. I didn't want to miss a note of Styx, so I hitched a ride with Lisa's friends (met through REO and the internet) Franda and (can't remember). Got to the concert with about 10 minutes to spare. I decided to wait and get my t-shirts between shows. BAD idea, as the ones I wanted (one Styx, one REO) were sold out by the time I got back up there. I wasn't worried though. I figured some had been set aside for the next day's show. And I now knew to buy them before the show.
I think perhaps it's a good thing I didn't get to see Styx in Kansas City. Two and a half hours of Styx the first time seeing them just might have been too much all together. I was awed by Styx. My favorite member wasn't there, true. But, after watching the concert, I felt like Styx is Still Dennis's band, even without him performing. It was great to hear his songs live, even without him. I didn't miss Dennis performing. I felt like everything Dennis has given to the band was still there, because it's not his singing and keyboard playing that are why I like him, it's the creativity... the songwriting and music creating.
The concert seemed quite long. Hard to believe they played less than an hour and a half. I guess because they played great song after great song it seemed longer. I'm not used to that much awesome music being packed into that small of a space. (It had been a while since my last REO concert, and I'd seen a lot of lesser artists in the meanwhile.)
Set list:
Styx did not introduced the band members at this show, which surprised me. I figured with the membership changes for the tour they would want to say who's who. Apparently, from what I've heard, they usually do introduce the band and this show was an exception.
In my opinion, and Dennis DeYoung fans who have not gotten to hear Dennis's music played live before definitely should go if at all possible. Seeing his music done live by Styx was still awesome, even though Dennis was unable to be part of it.
One thing I can't help observing... every time I see Tommy Shaw live his hair has been shorter. Makes me really wonder about the Damn Yankees tour that will hopefully happen next year!
(See pictures of Styx live in Evansville)
There's not much to say about REO. They came out and did their usual stellar job. It was kinda cool having REO play after my very first Styx concert. If they hadn't come out and played after Styx, I think I'd have plum forgot why they are my favorite band. They reminded me. [Addendum from 2005: That was before I discovered the Elders. :)]
Set list (order may not be exact)
I was quite tired after the show, so I went back to the hotel to get some sleep. Unfortunately, I again got only about a half night's rest. I woke up totally overwhelmed by the fact that I had just seen Styx and could not get back to sleep. I was just too charged. I did eventually get back to sleep, but not for long before it was morning. I ate breakfast, went for a swim, got dressed, packed, went to church, finished packing, and checked out of the hotel at 11:30. I ate lunch at the Denny's classic diner, then headed to Nashville, this time taking the Pennyryle Parkway instead of the slower route. I got to my hotel right at 3. I took a nap, as I was by this time in bad need of rest.
I went out to eat at Applebees with two REO fans, Rachel and her boyfriend Mike; and two Styx fans, Chris and her mom. A small gathering, but we had a nice time. Chris and I both decided to eat light... This was her first Styx show and my 2nd, and we were both TOO excited to eat much. I had lemonade to drink, as I wanted to experience this 2nd concert without drugs... no caffeine, no alcohol. When I got to the venue, I bought my t-shirts. And, sure enough, when I checked between bands, they were out of the two I had bought. Glad I already had mine.
Same set list as the Evansville show, except they didn't do "Like You Do" and they did "Tough Guys" instead of "Golden Country".
The audience sat for a good portion of the show. And it's not that they weren't into it. They were sure cheering loud. But they were doing so while sitting. They finally got on their feet when the band did "Time For Me To Fly". I suspect the heat had them subdued. I know it did me. I was merely energetic rather than hyper.
Kevin talked more than he did in Evansville. As part of the intro to "Just For You" he asked how many people in the audience were not songwriters. "That Ain't Love" got an intro, where as it hadn't at the Evansville show.
Bryan got to do two drums solos -- at the beginning and end of "Riding The Storm Out". At the beginning while Neal was doing the moody keyboard thing Bryan did a drum solo before Kevin did the intro. He got to do another drum solo at the end. The multiple short solos is cool. I don't think I'd want to sit through a long drum solo. (He also did similar drum solos in Evansville, I just don't remember them as specifically.)
During "157 Riverside Avenue", Dave broke out into "Cat Scratch Fever", with Bryan joining him, as has become their custom. I caught Kevin and Neal giving each other expressions (for the benefit of the audience I think) like "I don't know what's got into them".
They introduced the band this time, except Neal, who got skipped, unless I just blanked out while Neal was introduced.
I must admit, I did the "Keep On Loving You" bathroom / drink run again. It was quite hot that day, so I'd been drinking lots of water. I was singing along while making my trip, though.
Same set list, except "Rockin' The Paradise" and "I Will Be Your Witness" added between "Best Of Times" and "Heavy Water".
When Tommy did his guitar solo during "Grand Illusion", I was thinking "I want to see Damn Yankees". That's because it is in Damn Yankees where I have really come to appreciate Tommy as a guitarist.
On the Ragtime thing, at this concert, I noticed Gowan played it with his back to the audience. This was cool, because we could see his hands working on the keys, which was neat to watch. The odd thing is that he also had his back to the audience when talking to the audience before playing it. Tommy and Todd were dancing together while Gowan played this.
I didn't really like Gowan's vocals on "Rockin' The Paradise", though I did on the other songs.
While they played "I Will Be Your Witness", which Jack Blades co-wrote with Tommy I became, for the length the song, a Jack fan. It was cool to hear a song co-written by Jack performed live by Styx. Major cool. I was a happy Jack fan.
For me "Come Sail Away" was the best part of the show. I think the end of the regular set (before the encore) is a great spot for the song.
Styx did introduce the band at this show. And they learned from experience, it seems. Tommy reported in one of his notes from the band when the came to Tennessee earlier in the summer, that when JY introduced him and said he was from Alabama, the audience booed... seems there's a football rivalry there. At this show, JY said "And, from South of the Mason-Dixon line". The audience majorly cheered that! I'd forgotten Nashville is in the South, so I was at first suprised by the level of cheers.
I had no big desire to go back stage. I would have loved to have gotten Glen's autograph on Retrospectacle. But other than that going backstage didn't seem like a big deal to me. I've gotten to interact with both Glen and Tommy online, and I don't have any desire for Tommy Shaw's autograph. The other three members I am not that big of a fan of as individuals, though I do of course appreciate their parts in making Styx Styx.
I was disappointed by the lighting on Todd during the Styx shows. It was very hard to watch Todd because he was hard to see. It was much easier to watch Bryan's drumming with REO. I think that's mostly because REO have a more brightly lit stage. Styx use darkness... the stage goes dark between songs and often stays dark or mostly dark during the songs except for the spotlight. It's hard to see Todd because he's behind the drums and not spotlighted. And unfortunately, they didn't spotlight him till the end of the last song, "Renegade". REO keep the stage lit... it never goes dark between songs, and in general they keep the stage more lit. REO seem to be more bare bones and less showy than Styx, though they do have their elements of showiness.
I hadn't heard about any post show gatherings, and I needed the sleep anyway, so I went back to the hotel. I wrote some notes about the concert before going to bed. Well, again I didn't get much sleep before waking up too excited to get back to sleep. By the time I got calmed down enough to sleep it was nearing 6 am, when the hotel's continental breakfast opens. I was too hungry to go to sleep knowing I could soon eat breakfast. So, I ate my breakfast, then decided to look at the tour stuff. Discovered if I wanted to go on a tour I had to be ready by 8:30. So I figured out what tour I wanted to do, made a reservation, and then packed up my stuff. I put my luggage in the rental car, and then waited for the tour bus in the hotel lobby.
On the morning leg of the tour we drove around a good portion of Nashville. We got to see the Parthenon (didn't get to go in, because it's closed on Mondays), the new football stadium, and a good portion of downtown, and we drove by the homes of some country stars. We stopped at Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry, and at the country music Hall of Fame. At the Hall of Fame museum, I got distracted from seeing all the stuff by a couple different displays that included parts of Alan Jackson videos. They dropped us off for lunch at Ruby's Cafeteria. Not what I would have chosen. I did get to pick a table with a great view though... Alan Jackson pictures! The rice I had with my meal was flavorless. At least it was cooked well, so when I doctored it up by adding lots of pico de gallo, it was great. In the afternoon, the first stop was at some small museums. We could choose either the car museum, the wax museum, or the Willie Nelson museum. I chose the car one, and got to see one of Alan Jackson's cars. Cool. Next was the Opryland hotel, where we took a boatride inside the hotel. Yes, inside... in the inner courtyard... or rather, one of them. That hotel is huge! Next was the Opryland Museum. I was lucky. I just managed to find the Alan Jackson display before our time was up. We finished up the day by seeing the Grand Ole Opry House.
The tour bus took awhile to get me back to the hotel because of traffic. I was afraid I'd be late getting the rental car back to the airport when it was due back, but I made it just in time. I got to the terminal, only to find out the plane was going to be nearly an hour late. I wasn't entirely disappointed the plane was going to be late, as this gave me time to go eat my dinner. So, after getting my boarding pass, I went and got me some dinner, and then waited for the plane. I made it back to Kansas City safe and soundly, and my husband was waiting for me at the airport to drive me home.
See pictures of Styx live in Evansville
Ellen's Homepage
Nature of the Beast: Ellen's Tommy Shaw Appreciation Page
Ellen's REO Speedwagon Page