Chester, PA show

[Wasaabi]

I wasn't sure if I was at a Kiwanis Club convention/meeting or a rock concert. The show was set-up in a large conference room with the stage rising about 3' off the floor. I would guess attendance at about less than 1000. Acoustics were great in this carpeted, low ceiling room. There really isn't much to say except that it was PHENOMINAL! The new band set-up works very very well! I miss seeing (and hearing) Kate on vocals, though.

 

I even ran into our fearless leader/moderator, Ron, who was stuck for several hours in the parking deck trying to leave...at least he had a rum and coke while he waited.

[Ron]

First the bad, then the good:

The venue was horrible. It was a ballroom with about 1000 seats (sold out) set up in a semi-circle, with the stage in the center of the circle. This meant that if you were on either side, your "facing front" view was of the side of the stage. While all of the performers onstage tried to accommodate those in all areas of the venue, it it still a negative for the site. With the room being so small, there wasn't even the space for monitors/cameras that larger venues use to help make the show more inclusive of those in the limited viewing seating areas. Even with prime seats, with the ceiling being only 25 feet up, the stage, like Glen mentioned, was only 3 feet off of the ground. Also, there were no ceiling-mounted stage lights or spots. The spots were in the back on the room, and were aimed straight, instead of down, onto the stage. This made the stage look darker. No criticism of Matt and his lighting, he could only do so much with what he had. I thought the sound of the room was also a bit "dead". While a hall that echos is worse, I felt the somehow this deadness was able to suck some of the energy out of the music. While some casino venues have their performance theater somewhat separate, here you had to walk through the OTB area to get to the venue. The parking garage was also the strangest design that I had ever been in, and not very good with traffic flow. The "hour I was stuck in the garage trying to get out while at the bar" was followed by an hour trying to get out of the garage. Considering that I only live 30 minutes away, it was a royal pain. For a facility that is less than one year old and built by Harrah's, you would think that they would have done a better job.

 

Now for what was on stage:

WOW! What a show. Sixteen songs that a causal fan would expect to hear at a Styx show. When August kicked in on vocals for Blue Collar Man, I thought I was listening to a 1980's version of Tommy Shaw. His vocals were strong and on the mark. Unfortunately new bassist Craig Carter had been ill all week, but did a great job with the bass lines, while hiding in the back. Jimmy covered most of the vocals for Craig, but gave warning that once he is well and able to sing again, he will blow everyone away. Dennis was on keyboards a lot more than he had been in the past as well. Overall, the energy level on the stage was way up from previous shows--and I am not saying that the rock shows the past few years have been dull, either.

 

Dennis had said that he gets hired to provide memories (see his exact quote in my interview with Dennis from 2009). These memories that most people want to hear are the songs of Styx--the paying customer doesn't care about disagreements between band members or the dirty laundry that has been thrown about over the past 10 years: They care about the music. With the current incarnation of the band and set list, Dennis provides the entire thing. Casual fans probably do not know who wrote what song, and for years have been walking away from a Styx show wondering why they didn't hear Mr. Roboto or Babe, while people seeing Dennis missed Blue Collar Man or Renegade. Now, they get them all in one show. While the Dennis-haters are probably saying things like "Yea MAN, he had to add those songs because his shows didn't rock", I say "Why would you go see the group billing themselves as Styx now-You get more of a classic Styx show by seeing Dennis". The new show Dennis is doing makes "Styx" obsolete.

 

In addition to Blue Collar Man, Too Much Time..., and Renegade, this show featured the debut of Fooling Yourself, and song that I personally have missed hearing. The only non-Styx songs were Desert Moon, and the Beatles' The End, which was added after A.D. 1958 during last year's acoustic shows. The band is still working on another song to add to the set, which wasn't quite ready for this show.

 

I will admit that I had some reservations about the show prior to attending. I am in the minority: I prefer hearing the deeper cuts. For me, the hits got me to like the band, but it was the deeper tracks that made an impact on my life. I'm one that would much rather hear Pieces of Eight and Queen of Spades over Renegade. But I realize that this is a personal preference, and that more people (more ticket sales) want to hear the hits. I think the new show will provide an additional boost to the current phase in Dennis' career.

 

People rushed the stage for Renegade, and given our current discussion about this at another show, it gave me a good laugh.

 

[Wasaabi]

First the bad, then the good:

The venue was horrible. It was a ballroom with about 1000 seats (sold out) set up in a semi-circle, with the stage in the center of the circle. This meant that if you were on either side, your "facing front" view was of the side of the stage. While all of the performers onstage tried to accommodate those in all areas of the venue, it it still a negative for the site. With the room being so small, there wasn't even the space for monitors/cameras that larger venues use to help make the show more inclusive of those in the limited viewing seating areas. Even with prime seats, with the ceiling being only 25 feet up, the stage, like Glen mentioned, was only 3 feet off of the ground. Also, there were no ceiling-mounted stage lights or spots. The spots were in the back on the room, and were aimed straight, instead of down, onto the stage. This made the stage look darker. No criticism of Matt and his lighting, he could only do so much with what he had. I thought the sound of the room was also a bit "dead". While a hall that echos is worse, I felt the somehow this deadness was able to suck some of the energy out of the music. While some casino venues have their performance theater somewhat separate, here you had to walk through the OTB area to get to the venue. The parking garage was also the strangest design that I had ever been in, and not very good with traffic flow. The "hour I was stuck in the garage trying to get out while at the bar" was followed by an hour trying to get out of the garage. Considering that I only live 30 minutes away, it was a royal pain. For a facility that is less than one year old and built by Harrah's, you would think that they would have done a better job.

 

Now for what was on stage:

WOW! What a show. Sixteen songs that a causal fan would expect to hear at a Styx show. When August kicked in on vocals for Blue Collar Man, I thought I was listening to a 1980's version of Tommy Shaw. His vocals were strong and on the mark. Unfortunately new bassist Craig Carter had been ill all week, but did a great job with the bass lines, while hiding in the back. Jimmy covered most of the vocals for Craig, but gave warning that once he is well and able to sing again, he will blow everyone away. Dennis was on keyboards a lot more than he had been in the past as well. Overall, the energy level on the stage was way up from previous shows--and I am not saying that the rock shows the past few years have been dull, either.

 

Dennis had said that he gets hired to provide memories (see his exact quote in my interview with Dennis from 2009). These memories that most people want to hear are the songs of Styx--the paying customer doesn't care about disagreements between band members or the dirty laundry that has been thrown about over the past 10 years: They care about the music. With the current incarnation of the band and set list, Dennis provides the entire thing. Casual fans probably do not know who wrote what song, and for years have been walking away from a Styx show wondering why they didn't hear Mr. Roboto or Babe, while people seeing Dennis missed Blue Collar Man or Renegade. Now, they get them all in one show. While the Dennis-haters are probably saying things like "Yea MAN, he had to add those songs because his shows didn't rock", I say "Why would you go see the group billing themselves as Styx now-You get more of a classic Styx show by seeing Dennis". The new show Dennis is doing makes "Styx" obsolete.

 

In addition to Blue Collar Man, Too Much Time..., and Renegade, this show featured the debut of Fooling Yourself, and song that I personally have missed hearing. The only non-Styx songs were Desert Moon, and the Beatles' The End, which was added after A.D. 1958 during last year's acoustic shows. The band is still working on another song to add to the set, which wasn't quite ready for this show.

 

I will admit that I had some reservations about the show prior to attending. I am in the minority: I prefer hearing the deeper cuts. For me, the hits got me to like the band, but it was the deeper tracks that made an impact on my life. I'm one that would much rather hear Pieces of Eight and Queen of Spades over Renegade. But I realize that this is a personal preference, and that more people (more ticket sales) want to hear the hits. I think the new show will provide an additional boost to the current phase in Dennis' career.

 

People rushed the stage for Renegade, and given our current discussion about this at another show, it gave me a good laugh.

 

I got to disagree with you, Ron, about the sound. From where I was sitting it did not sound dead at all..maybe not as crisp as a professional concert hall, but definitely better than some of the shows I have been to-Babylon, NY was one really poor acoustical set-up. The sound onstage and backstage was LOUD and distorted. this coming from an outside stage that had glass windows surrounding the stage as well as a concrete floor. Even though the layout was not the greatest in Chester, I still thought the sound was fine. You are never going to get acoustically perfect sound anywhere you go, and sound is subjective anyway. The only performer I heard that had GREAT sound was Steve Winwood (outdoor concert) and it sounded like he was playing in my living room.

 

BTW, I am not picky about the floor layout, how well the lighting was or other things that some tend to care about. I am there for the music!

 

[Ron]

Glenn,

As far as the sound goes, we have some of the greatest musical halls in the country in the Philadelphia area. Even some of the local universities have better venues for acoustics than some ice hockey rinks that are used for concerts. While I don't expect every place to sound like the Kimmel Center, it better sound good from most seats in the venue. My seat was off to the side, 45 degrees from center stage (think corner of the stage and go out on a diagonal), and I thought it to sound a bit weak, with no fault of the artist on stage.

 

As far as going to a show for the music, that is the primary reason. However, there is a visual element as well. If it was just about the music, you could stay at home and listen to CD's. Look at some of the big productions that are done nowadays, where (unfortunately) the visual element is given priority over the music. If part of the concert experience is to see and watch the artists, in addition to listening to them, poor lighting will diminish that aspect of the show. As far as the floor layout, while not a concern to those in the audience, you can tell it effects the performer, as they want to please as many people that paid to see them perform as possible. So in addition to doing what they do every night anyway, now they have to be concerned about spending time in each different area of the stage, etc. The whole floor setup made me miss the great Valley Forge Music Fair, a 3000 seat in-the-round venue, where every seat was a great seat. (Westbury Music Fair on Long Island is similar in construction. Valley Forge was torn down circia 1996, to build a shopping center that I do not frequent to this day)

[ladybugking]

Question, guys. Did Dennis do "his" keyboard parts in "Foolin' Yourself"? If so, that is worth going to see his new show alone! :smile:

[Ron]

Yes Kathy, Dennis did just that. I told Tim after the show it was one of the highlights of the show for me.

In my interview last year when I asked him if there were any songs that he missed playing, I was eluding to Styx songs, but didn't really want to come out and say it directly. Mark one up for me being a bad interviewer. Better than Larry King, but still very much an amateur.

 

 

There were two things I DID miss: Hank's 'Roboto' glasses and head jerk during Mr. Roboto, and Tommy's extended solo at the end of Desert Moon. Jimmy did a nice solo in it's place, but I had gotten used to hearing Tommy's.

 

[ladybugking]

Yes Kathy, Dennis did just that. I told Tim after the show it was one of the highlights of the show for me.

 

Yesssss!!! :biggrin:

 

[blt]

Yes Kathy, Dennis did just that. I told Tim after the show it was one of the highlights of the show for me.

 

What does he do for the rest of Tommy's songs? Is he playing keys, is John or are they both playing?

If both, is he just hitting a few keys with John really playing the rest?

 

 

[Ron]

Both John and Dennis are playing keys. Dennis stayed behind the keyboard for the songs when August was singing lead. I'm pretty sure both of them were playing, but I had a hard time watching both of them due to the limitations of the venue.

[Ron]

I was listening to Return to Paradise yesterday. Comparing what was on that CD to Dennis' current set list, only four songs are not being performed by Dennis:

* Snowblind

* Crystal Ball

* Boat on the River

* Miss America

 

Instead, you get

* Desert Moon

* Light Up

(note: yes, I know Light Up was performed on the RTP tour, but it was not included on the CD)

 

Does anyone have a current Styx set list to compare?