Jodes

Okay.. maybe it was the two bottles of wine , BUT all the pics have captions now. Thinking back to that night.. it was truely magical. All I can say is THANK YOU DENNIS AND CO (YOU TOO GLEN) for a truely wonderful evening..I won't forget it!

This morning I checked my email and saw a posting to a Styx list from Jim Vose, a key member of Styx's crew in the early days. It's a bit long, but I think it needs to be posted here. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I sort of dropped off the face of the earth to get my own career and life back together but I need to pass this on. Styx lost an old dear friend Wednesday night. Mike Coupleditch known as Stretch passed away from cancer in Buchanan Michigan. He originally was a part of the MS Funk entourage and was a close friend to Tommy. He began his career with the Styx in the mid 70's as one of my truck drivers. His attitude, kindness and personality caught my attention and as we grew he did too. I made him my personal assistant and he was my right hand man until I left in 1980. He stayed with them for years after that and then drove for me again in my later business. He was a key person in backstage life and took care of all dressing room and personal needs of the band and myself. He made sure they made it to the stage happy and help me get through some really tough days. Never waivering, he was my rock on many occasions. For those of you that saw Paradise Theater in it's original run, he was the guy that swept the stage at the end of the show. That summed him up perfectly. Always the last one to clean up. After years of being apart, 3 years ago Stretch, John Meier and Bernie Clarkson (Blue), who were all drivers and crew members for me got back together at my house for New Years eve. It was as if we had never been apart. The stories flowed and the memories came back. We laughed and cried and reaffirmed our mutual love for each other. Since then we have been in constant contact. We even went to a Styx show together in South Bend and had a wonderful time backstage with JY and Tommy. The original Styx family is strong. Kathie (my honey) and I drove down to visit Stretch last month at his home with his family. She's only known him for three years and really has only been with him a half dozen times but talks about how special he always made her feel. He was sitting in his chair, very weak but pointed up with a smile. Behind him on the wall were his most cherished possesions......Styx gold and platinum albums. He stated: "It was all worth it, wasn't it boss!" It sure was. I could go on for pages, as usual, telling Stretch stories but for once I won't. I'm too sad. All Styx fans, crew members and band members have lost a dear friend. Please put him and his family into your prayers. VOSE RIP Stretch

All of the pictures are now up on the link above. Not all of them have "captions" but that's being worked on. Enjoy!

Btw.. a few more pics were posted at the link above. That's about 75% of them done now.. Just have to wait a bit longer before they are all on there!

Sorry, but Mike Eldred is just someone I can't get into listening to at all.. His voice reminds me of those old Mighty Mouse cartoons! I haven't really heard Amrick sing at all, so I won't pass judgement on him, but anyone has to be better then Mike! Yes, Kate is doing a wonderful job as background singer.. and she's not bad to look at either!

Here are some images from the Nov 4th show.. These are the ones my g/f shot on her digital camera. The rest are coming soon! http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures...l?id=2099282384 Enjoy!

The Edmonton show.. what can I say? It will be a day I remember for the rest of my life. It's the day that I met one of the greatest voices of rock n roll. When I was growing up in small town Alberta I'd heard Mr. Roboto and Don't Let It End, but I never really got into them until a friend of mine told me to listen to "Heavy Metal Poisoning" after buying Kilroy was Here, I was a fan.. After getting Caught In the Act though, I was obsessed! All throughout highschool and college I was mercilessly teased because I listened to Styx and that "there was no way they'd ever get back together again". As a 14 year old in 1985, I said "I'll see this band in concert before I'm 25". I promised myself that, no matter what happens. On August 11th, 1996, I saw Styx for the 1st time live at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington (I flew down and did a whirlwind trip). It's still to this day the most spectacular show I've ever seen. This June I was heartbroken twice, my beloved Oilers lost Lord Stanley's Cup and Dennis postponed his show. But at least I got to see Dennis in Calgary on July 11th. That just made waiting for this show so much better, because it was going to be in my home city.. finally since 1981 (the paper says 83, but they're wrong, they never came through Western Canada in 83) the voice of Styx returned! So flash forward ten years later, and what better way to have a "early" B-day present was seeing Dennis perform three times that day and meeting him and his lovely wife Suzanne, along with his super cool Manager, Tim Orchard. I also got to hang out at Eds for the soundcheck (club was open and nobody seemed to mind) during the rehearsal, requests were taken and someone yelled out "Love Is The Ritual" they joked about what key to start it in, and it didn't really get off the ground BUT I think they'd do a killer job of it. I would have loved to have heard "All For Love" but I have a copy of it, so I can just listen to that. But I did get to hear Dennis do "Great Balls Of Fire" and Glen do "Gonna Have Some Fun Tonight" during the check which almost made the setlist in Edmonton.. Both sounded great.. even better then when they did them in Calgary! Now the show.. after adjusting the sound concerns, The show flat out rocked, the crowd was great and Dennis was in top form throughout the evening! He joked, he interacted with the audience and of course he did the following songs: Grand Illusion Lady Lorelei Don't Let It End Show Me The Way (Accapella) Castle Walls Light Up Roboto Pieces of Eight Desert Moon Rockin The Paradise Edge Of the Century (yes Glen was there!) Suite Madame Blue Babe Best Of Times Come Sail Away 2 hours of memories, smiles, tears and utter joy! Highlights for me were Show Me The Way (Dedicated to the Canadian & American Military Personnel serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. ) Pieces of Eight (truely chilling) Suite Madame Blue (The Note.. how can you not love the note!) Finally, the one I'd been waiting nearly 22 years to hear live in person, Desert Moon (Not played in Calgary). That was what made the night for me. I don't think anyone went home disappointed! I know I sure didn't. I did take a lot of pics, but I live in a small town, so I need to get into the city to get them developed, or I'll wait a week! Photos from my girlfriend's digital camera are being uploaded today. The rest of the photos should be uploaded within the week! Again special thanks to Dennis, Suzanne and Tim for making it such a wonderful day! Trust me folks, If Dennis comes around (especially with Glen) GO SEE HIM! Personally I don't think it will be another 25 years before Dennis plays Edmonton again!