I got to hear some really great songs too!  Mr. Roboto, Desert Moon, Suite Madam Blue, Babe - all the songs you miss!  He even snuck in a little bit of "sing for the day" keys during one of the songs (I don't remember which one) - I think that was stuck in there just for we die hard fans!

Speaking of die-hard fans.  I've always considered myself one - I know all the history - grew up with the band, took sides during the break ups, cried when I heard about John - etc. etc.  I felt like I was a Rush fan who happened into the concert last night - talk about some die-hards!  

In any case - the concert hall was almost full (which I was happy to see for a Thursday night when the weather folks were calling for severe Thunderstorms).  The crowd was into the music too!  It started right on time at 8pm and they played for 2 solid hours.  I wish they could have played for 3!!!

Dennis was in Fine voice - and looked great too!  He was his usual joking self, all the while being the bandleader he is.   I got a kick out of him playing his keys with his right hand, all the while directing himself and the band with his left hand.  I truly admire his attention to detail and perfectionism.   

The band is outstanding.  Jimmy is a guitar virtuoso, and his harmony's to Dennis on Desert Moon were awesome.  I know he does a lot of gigs in New Jersey when not with this band - I hope to get to see him at one of those too.  August can not only play guitar = he can SANG.  August is a ROCK STAR.  I am glad Dennis was able to get him to join this band, because he brings energy, and vocal/guitar talent that rivals any professional.  His chops on the "Tommy" songs (to me) pretty much equalled that of the original.   Dave Anthony is "new" to the band on drums - but you certainly couldn't tell!  He is a rock drummer, and kept the beat driving throughout.  It amazes me just how good he is!  Craig Carter is an awesome bass player - doing the calm, cool look while playing yet singing the high harmonies.  He may not jump around stage, but he is a key ingredient to this band.    One thing I noticed about this band was - there was an air of "having fun" among them all.  Being in the second row - I could see all the glances, smiles, nods as they moved around stage, and played off each other.  This was refreshing to see, and made the experience all that much more fun.

No setlist (I wasn't writing them down - just singing along).  Great concert, great music, great crowd!  I know I am preaching to the choir - so to speak - here, but DO NOT MISS this concert.  Only there will you get to hear about the latest CD that Suzanne purchased, and get to hear Dennis sing a little bit from that CD (Meghan Trainor).

I took a few pictures (though I didn't keep my phone out for most of the concert - I was there to enjoy the music).  Of course, the guy in front of me recorded every song - so I guess look for his videos on youtube.  You might hear me singing on them!!!! LOL.

In any case the photos are on my facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/jaytlehman/posts/1462966283995149 (not sure if this will come through - if not, my facebook is /jaytlehman)

One on Instagram too:  https://instagram.com/p/11-VdGR5fd/

and I'll attach a photo here of August:  

It was a fun night that I wished could have lasted longer, but loved every minute of it!

Cheers,

Jay

So, I had the chance to see DDY's show at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA this past Thursday. The last time I had seen a DDY show was in 2010 so it had been awhile. The Keswick is a good place to see a show since the venue has good acoustics. The only thing is they really need to do is renovate the place. It needs new seating among other things. I was surprised at how this venue has been let go. Especially since AEG is operating it.

As usual, DDY did not disappoint. They put on a very high energy show and the band was tight. Seeing clips on YT does not give justice to how good a band DDY has put together. The show was well paced, with the slower material put in just the right spots. I liked the newer lighting design which consisted of a lighted riser. DDY's voice was as powerful as ever. The set list consisted of the following:

The Grand Illusion
Lady
Lorelei
Blue Collar Man
Desert Moon
Mr. Roboto
Babe
Fooling Yourself
Don't Let It End
Suite Madame Blue
Too Much Time on My Hands
Rockin' The Paradise
Best of Times
Renegade
Come Sail Away

I was surprised that SMTW was not in the set as well as CB. I really enjoyed the reworked versions of Desert Moon with the extended guitar solo and RTP with Jimmy and August trading off solos. I also loved the acoustic version of DLIE. Some interesting things that I observed that night was the crowd's reaction to Babe and DLIE. In other threads here people have commented that fans don't seem to want to hear those songs as much and how they are forgotten since radio does not play them anymore. Those two songs got more applause and crowd reaction then others in the set. So, I think the common perception from a casual fan standpoint is the reverse. Meaning that the casual fan is interested in hearing those songs since they don't hear them on the radio all the time. The other thing is the whole debate of just which act better represents Styx' music. Frankly, I think it comes down to which one you are seeing. When your seeing the current Styx you'll get the response that they do when talking to other fans. When you are seeing DDY you get the complete opposite response. So to me you can't use it as bench mark as to which is the most accurate answer.

An amazing set of shows. There were three shows each night for the three nights Dennis performed. Each set was thirty minutes long, with a 45 minute break in between shows. If you're a big fan, you just get back in line for the next show; if more of a casual fan you might stop to hear some hits, then continue on and see some of the other attractions at EPCOT. Only one song was repeated in the three show block (Babe).

The band was in fastastic form and sounded great. If you have not seen Dennis in the past year and a half, be sure to get out to see him soon. Some songs might even sound better than the original recordings. The band really works well together and it is a real treat to watch them perform.

DDY and his band did a wonderful job. It was the hottest most humid concert I've ever attended, which is saying a lot because I've seen shows outdoors in Phoenix in the middle of summer, but DDY and the band managed to stay cool and active throughout the show.

The lights glare into the camera at times because of the height of the stage, but I think the sound came out better than it did in the video we took in Vegas last year.

So i flew down to Disney that Wednesday he was going to perform, and i got to EPCOT at about 1ish i guess, and by the time i rode Mexico and got over there it was 2ish, and there was already a line of about 10 people for the 5:30 showing, so i sat for hours on that hard concrete, and as it got closer to the show people jipped in line and i was the 30th by the time we got let in, but thats another story, which i may ramble about later.

On one of my trips to the bathroom, i passed by Tom Sharpe, but wasnt sure if it was him or not but i once i saw him on stage, i knew it was he who i passed.

The first show was pretty good, there was pretty much no between song talking on that first set, which was to be expected but the one time he did say something was when he got Suzannes age wrong, but at least it was wrong in the correct direction! He played what you would expect him to play on a 6 song set and everyone was nuts the entire time, it was pretty cool.

The second show i sat out of so i could stay in line and be in the front row for the third show (this is when i saw you Ron, id love to hear what you thought of the show since i could only hear it, and barley that since i was talking to people in line), evidentaly floridians go to these shows all the time, and people save each other spots in line and such all the time, and the people i was talking with were not happy at the people in front of us who kept jipping.

Then the third show, for that night, what an amazing show, by this time all of us had already seen him at least in one of the other shows that night (as heard by the roar of the crowd when he asked us) and so it was much more relaxed than the first show. I got front row on this,but i was a bit too far to the left, but it was still a great seat. We sang happy birthday to Suzanne and he sang some song i never heard before about being 64, my mom said it was before either of our times. Then he asked if we would rather hear Suite Madame Blue of Sail Away, and, honestly after rewatching the recording, Sail Away was clearly the winner, but he sang Madame Blue instead, which is what i voted for. Oh and i got Dennis's setlist for that third show, which i thought was cool.

The second day i didnt want to wait in line forever and had reservations at the coral reef at 3 (great food btw, especially for someone who has a TON of food restrictions such as myself, damn Crohns disease) so i got the band for Chase holders that allowed me to get 'priority seating', so me, being the crafty thinker i am, wanted the seats RIGHT in front of the piano for the third show, so i had my mother wait in the big line at the first show so she would be in the front for the second show and just keep waiting for the third show, she doesn't like concerts anyway so she didnt mind. In that line i met someone that was at the Reading Styx show, about 2 people in front of me, and so that was funny and i saved her seats then for that third show, but anyway, we got let in first, and out 'priority seats' ended up sucking and being farther back than if we waited in line, so when they released the big line and they all came in we were allowed to run up and get better seats, which we did. I met Jimmy that day, and the sound guy told me hed get me Augusts pick at the show ( i told him i got Jimmys at the New Jersey show) and during that first show, Jimmy saw me in the crowd and yelled hey at me, which was pretty awesome, well didnt yell, more mouthed it but you get the idea.

I sat out that second show with my mother and got front row for the third, which was kind of a mistake being sooooo close to the piano, because i didnt get good camera footage, but it was cool when Dennis pointed at me during Too Much Time (ironic that i had been to EVERY show, and clearly DID have waaaay too much time on my hands haha), but then at that show the sound guy got me Augusts pick (he noticed me and asked, i didnt go and bother him about it, i dont like to be rude). But that third show was AMAZING.

Eat To The Beat was an amazing experience, a great way to spend my 18th birthday, in my favorite place on earth, seeing the person, who is probably the most influential person in my life. (my future plans involve bio/mechanical engineering, and i want to focus on robotic prosthetics.....so roboto had to be some influence there, plus his music has guided me through every moment in my life, from the happy to the sad, no one else has come close to influencing me more). I really hope he does this next year. I heard from the people there that some of the people that wouldnt be invited back are people such as Eddie Money, who stayed on stage waaay to long and cursed, and Dennis didnt even say Hell in Grand Illusion, he left it up to us like usual, but his response was just "i dont know, who are you?", the only comment that was a bit iffy was when he asked if it was getting warmer to us (which i agreed but my mother strongly disagreed) and said he may just take all his clothes off...and that that would be a Grand Illusion, which was hillarious and the crowd was dying, but i dont know what the folks at Disney thought, but honestly it wasnt that bad so i assume he will get invited again. He drew a huge crowd, the area holds 2700 i think one guy said, and it was packed.

After that first show on the second day, i went to the bathroom and people were commenting on the show and wondering if he was gonna play the same stuff, and me being there the previous day opened my big mouth and let everyone know what he was probably going to play....which got me mistaken for someone who worked with the band, and got tons of more questions asked too. One guy said that he was a big fan when he was younger (he was probably only in his early 30s) and it was by chance he was there and saw he was playing and asked if he would do Pieces of Eight, which surprised me, thats not one that usually comes to mind when people want to hear the more obscure stuff.

The people i became friends with in line the second day, when the guy went out to smoke, he was talking to the photographer and the Disney people were messing with Dennis's stuff and that why during the first show on the second day, Jimmys guitar didnt work right away and something was wrong with Dennis Keyboards. Which during the Jersey show his top keyboard wasnt working right and during Fooling Yourself i could see his face was frustrated and he was clicking some buttons but before the solo, he quick switched to the big yamaha, and the Disney shows he was using a different top keyboard. He also evidentally bit his lip during one of the first songs at Jersey, my dad saw him, but i didnt notice. Not sure why i mention this, just a random thing he noticed.

One thing about the Jersey show, i wish he would have had better merchandise, i thought it was REALLY lacking, i got the book (which to my surprise was signed, so that was cool) and a Dennis DeYoung shirt in the style of the Styx logo, that was kind of ehh, but really wanted a shirt and dont like babe all that much to get that shirt.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to get to this show but I am SO glad I made the drive over to see it. I really was determined to see this lineup with Tom, Jimmy, August and Craig as the new additions.

The place looked pretty full, and one of Dennis' people said the venue was about 80-85% sold out. Not bad for a foray into Texas where he is not well known at all outside of Styx.

Here is what I posted on MR.com. with a few tweaks:

If there is an opportunity, this is a show you should see. Dennis has been given a new performing life with this band he has now, no question.

There was a ton of energy onstage and they are a tight, together, working group. While there was a lot to like about his former backing band, there is simply no comparison to these stellar musicians.

Dennis said they had not played together for three weeks and, honestly, you could feel what I sensed as genuine camaraderie these guys (and gal) have among themselves. They were having fun and nothing seemed forced or fake. Dennis bounces off of them and vice-versa and it all works very well.

August, Jimmy and Craig are first rate players/singers. I was also enthralled with Tom Sharpe’s showmanship and accomplishment as almost an orchestral drummer. I kept hearing fills, sounds, rhythms that just made the onstage sound so complete and realized it was Tom using all kinds of things to create interesting backgrounds to every song. He has a nice theatricality about him, too.

And Dennis. What can I say? He was just full of electricity. The voice is still dead-on perfect. He still does the dorky moves but has added some pretty nifty footwork as he works the stage. He moves around like a skinny cat and mugs and grins along the way. And his keyboard work is off the chain. It was SO great to see that part of him opened back up again. He got standing O’s every time he tore it up.

And speaking of standing O’s. The audience, including me, acted like starved Styx music fans. Ones who wanted to see and hear the original singer and keyboardist. They stood up over and over and, for the last 4 songs or so, just stayed standing and danced and swayed and sang along. Everything a concert like that should have been.

Dennis has cut down a lot on the between songs patter. Mostly it is back-to-back-to-back songs, all which, of course, I could sing along with word-for-word. (Some new comments from him. I had not heard him talk about stopping dyeing his hair in 1997 and how so many musicians, Brian May for example, are all finally starting to look like him now that they have stopped, too. It was a fun, funny take on aging rockers.)

The setlist was one I much liked, though still a few I would love to hear at some point.(CastleWallsCastleWalls) He did do a beautiful “Desert Moon” with a long, terrific guitar solo from Jimmy. I have never been a fan of “Don’t Let it End”, but this acoustic version, totally stripped down, is just wonderful. Just wow to that one. Nothing not to like about it.

"Mr Roboto” has really become a camp highlight at his shows, no question. The audience went nuts over it, and you could tell Dennis took it just the right way. His smile said it all – “Yeah, it’s campy, but didn’t we all have fun with it?”

He said, after “Roboto,” that his was the only show where you will hear “Show Me the Way” and “Mr. Roboto” back-to-back. Yep. SMTW was predictably gorgeous.

One of the (many) highlights was, of course, “Born for Adventure”. Blew everyone back to the back wall. I cannot believe he has put this in his show and very grateful for it, too!!

The audience had lots of younger people in it and, of course, plenty of us old rock fans. It was a nice mix and I really do not think anyone went home disappointed. As I said, nice crowd. The entire lower section was full.

There were, as usual, a few sound glitches that Dennis actually addressed onstage to the guys. Told them nothing could be done. Mostly everything was pretty tightly packaged and I didn't detect many problems. They had not played together for 3 weeks, so there may have been some missteps, noticeable only to them.

I have seen DDY many times, and you can tell whether he thinks the show went well and if he had a good time. I sensed he was quite happy about everything and the reception he got in Texas.

I talked to Suzanne after the show briefly (and Dennis) and both asked how I thought it went. Big ups from me, of course! Hey. I truly meant it. One of the best of his shows I have ever seen.

The only other DDY show I would someday love to experience is the acoustic show. Maybe someday. Right now I am happy.

The Duplicates

Lady

Mr. Roboto

Babe

Renegade

Come Sail Away

(honestly, if you went to a show, you would expect to hear these songs, and be pissed if you didn't)

The Omissions (from his current "normal" 2-hour show set list)

Don't Let it End

Show Me the Way

Desert Moon

Born for Adventure

4:00 Show

Grand Illusion

Lorelei

Blue Collar Man

Best of Times/AD 1958/The End

6:30 Show

AD 1928/Rockin' the Paradise

Too Much Time

Fooling Yourself

Suite Madame Blue

The on stage energy level is absolutely amazing. The band really works well together and it shows (or they do a really good job of hiding that they hate each others guts). The sound and performances have even improved from one year ago. Two musical highlights:

The keyboard playing that Dennis did before "Blue Collar Man" has grown to the point of the entire band coming in and joining him. It sounds really good.

Tom Sharpe using a rainstick during "Suite Madame Blue" (a rainstick [simply] is a long cylindrical tube with beads inside of it. You play it by slowly tipping the one end to the other, and the beads give the illusion of rain. It has a South American origin). The subtle effect this has greatly improves the sound of the beginning of the song, without being in-your-face (ie There is a quiet part in the song here so I need to play something), something that unfortunately too many drummers do. What Tom does works so well that listening to the original studio version makes you feel like you are missing something.

I heard many people talking before the show about how they knew maybe "one or two" Styx songs. However they all seemed energized and that they recognized a lot of the songs once they were performed. The crowd was as receptive as an audience at a show where they paid just to see Dennis. Those that were there just because they happened to chose that day to go to Hersheypark enjoyed themselves just as much.

It was a real intimate venue, and Dennis even came down off the stage to do "robot" moves with some 10-year-old girls at the front of the stage during Mr. Roboto. But it was a mad dash after the second show, as severe thunderstorms were moving into the area. Unfortunately, I got soaked. But it was a fun day anyway,.

Dennis is definitely feeling up to his old self again. He was bouncing so much I was wondering if he had installed springs in his shoes. The top notch show that we know and love is BACK and with a vengeance! They ROCKED the PDA tonight and have all earned a good night's sleep.

Dennis' voice was 98% back. A couple of times he seemed out of breath but that could have been because he never stopped moving all night! The undertones and timbre we've gotten used to from Dennis were all there; I was so glad to see him feeling well after getting that flu from heck. His ol' corny jokes and bombastic arm movements leading the band were front and center and he gave it his all tonight. He was really looking good in a shirt and tie and jean jacket.

Let's see what I can remember that was funny/interesting. We got the extra treat of the bilingual 100 Years from Now with Jean Ravel. Yes, he did slip in Sing for the Day into Fooling Yourself and gave us a whopper of an intro to Too Much Time on My Hands. During Rockin' the Paradise, he goes over to John, who is busy with foot pedals (I think) and pushes the bottom of John's jeans up to his knee! Maybe so John can see his foot better??? John managed to not miss a beat despite being fairly amused!! I think I got a few shots of him still smiling.

After Babe, Dennis introduced Suzanne and gave her the customary hug and she gave him the customary "bottom" squeeze, and I hope that Suzanne doesn't understand French because he alluded to her age to the audience! Yikes! Dangerous stuff Dennis!!! He then reached for his water bottle, which was empty and Suzanne immediately got him another one to which the audience said, "Awwwww ...."

During the August/Jimmy guitar duel, it looked all he world like August playfully ran up to Jimmy's guitar footpedals and pressed a random one just to get Jimmy's guitar to do something unexpected and get his attention and win the duel. But nope, I found out later from August that one of the footpedal boards was kaput so they had to share one!!! I certainly couldn't tell.

Craig's backup vocals are amazing. He must now be wearing the tight thong that Dennis always jokes about.

They did have a few audio problems that were quickly looked after. It didn't take long for a roadie to fix whatever needed to be done. I did find that Dennis' concerts are louder than they used to be. But, I would expect that considering the chemistry between Jimmy and August. I thought it was just me at first but the same thing was said to me by someone else. Or maybe I'm just getting old ...

Anyway! I'll have some pics to upload for y'all later this weekend. I've got some vids too, in particular the audience reaction to Suite Madame Blue (Yes, Ron, I know!!!!). It didn't take long for the audience to get on it's feet and he received a standing ovation, of course.

Oh yeah, after the show, I finally got to meet Craig! He gave me his setlist and I got his autograph, as well as Tom, John and August. Geof and I got to talk to Craig, August, Tom, Jimmy and John. Tom wanted to know when the "big day" was and after I told him, Geof asked him if the band was busy that day. LOL!

Bedtime, it's almost 1 a.m. But I wanted to get this all down before it leaked out of my brain. If I remember anything else, I'll add later!

Amanda

The set list has been the same for about a year; all of the big Styx hits, plus Desert Moon. The current band lineup has been together now for a little over one year, and they really are good together. Jimmy and August compliment each other so well, and Craig's high vocals are amazing. The "back and forth" guitar solo added into the end of Rockin' the Paradise is one of my favorite parts of the show, and both August and Jimmy play the guitar part when it comes in after the slow synthesizer solo in the middle of Suite Madame Blue and it sounds amazing! Dennis' daughter, CarrieAnn, was an added vocalist for the show, so the "Americas" in SMB sounded really cool with six people singing them.

Of course there are people that like to shout out song titles for the band to play. Someone shouted out Private Jones, and since they were quite insistent about it, Dennis sang the first verse--which sounded pretty good considering half of the band had never performed the song EVER (plus Dennis was having trouble remembering the words, which is typical when someone doesn't practice or perform a song regularly). Someone shouted out another song (I didn't hear what) to which Dennis replied "Why not just ask for The Serpent is Rising?" and then proceeded to play the opening bars. The solo that Dennis plays prior to the start of Blue Collar Man is amazing, and while he has played Little Fugue in G in the past, his current solo has the feel of Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D minor (the fast part). (If you're not sure what that piece is, it's the "Halloween music" used whenever people want a scary organ solo. If you look it up, you'll recognize it) Also, one song (and I forget which one, maybe Amanda will remember) Dennis included a few bars from Sing for the Day into the keyboard solo.

So I heard some great music, performed by wonderful people, and got to spend time with a few great people as well. But now it's bedtime.

That being said, the show was pretty much what you would expect: Styx Greatest Hits. The only 'Styx Hits' missing were Crystal Ball and Miss America. Desert Moon is added to the set. This was the first show where Light Up was omitted, and Don't Let It End was performed acoustically and sounded amazing. Show Me the Way is now performed in a "full band" version.

Probably one of the coolest parts of the show was the guitar part in Suite Madame Blue right before the 'Americas'. You know, that part that JY always used to f*** up and play too fast, and John/Todd would have to work the tempo back to where it belonged before the vocals kicked in. BOTH August and Jimmy did it together, starting it from the raised portion of the stage in front of the drum kit. It was an "I didn't expect that" moment.