Styx with Pat Benatar A Concert Review	June 6, 1997 The Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, IL A Review and Photos by The Dude on the Right

Dennis DeYoung

Yep, Pat Benatar was the opener, and she's sportin' a new album called "Innamorata." She could have been a pompous person and just played songs from her new CD that nobody knew, but, nope, she knew the crowd probably paid to see Styx, but would remember her if she hit some classics.

Pat Benatar for me was always one of those rebel rock and roll ladies leading the way for the rest of the throngs to try and upstage her, and, well, even today it would be hard to do music wise. But, this night, it did take a while for Ms. Benatar and the band to stop playing for themselves and realize there was an audience that really wanted to get into the show, if only they would be nudged a little. Opening with "Shadows of the Night," they cruised through some classics, hit some new stuff, brought out a choir, and eventually rocked the house. The old stuff, you know them, your "We Live for Love," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," (complete with a choir of girls who may not have even been born when the songs were hits) "Hell is For Children," and "Heartbreaker" which is still one of the rockenest songs out there. But, she does have that new CD, and touched on a little of her new sound which is much more acoustic driven, sort of bluesy, and has the potential for radio, but I just don't know. The two songs that stood out were her new single, "Strawberry Wine," not to be confused with the country version by Deana Carter, and the song I preferred, "Only You," which had a kind of Irish folksy sound to it complete with violin.

All in all, once Pat Benatar started playing for the show, the place started to rock and the crowd that was finding there seats in the dark took notice. She got an encore, did pick up the pace, so it's TWO THUMBS UP from me!

 

Tommy Shaw

But most of the crowd didn't pay their hard earned cash to see Pat. Nope, they were there to see one of Chicago's favorite bands, Styx. Styx has had one of those careers with more ups and downs than a roller coaster (how's that for a bad cliché?). Seriously, though, from riding high as one of the best anthem-type rock bands who could write a ballad you could get laid to or a rocker that had you singing along, the road for Styx has been shaky lately, starting back on '91. Then they had a gold record and somewhat successful tour with the "Edge of the Century" album. But, as record companies do, Styx lost their record deal. Members were trying solo projects and making hit songs, and things looked bleak for Styx to be back together as a band. But, as things go, last year they hit the road while most critics decided it was for the money - another has-been band not looking to make a comeback - just trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of the fans, and well, you get the gist of that.

 

James Young

Well, low and behold, the tour went well, they recorded their last show in Chicago for a live greatest hits CD, ended up with a record deal, and supposedly hope to have a new studio CD out in '98. But enough of the history of Styx, most of you already knew that stuff. What about the show? Let me start by saying I wasn't disappointed, but I did wish for something and it didn't come true. We'll get to that later.

Styx is out there right now on their "Grand Illusion" tour, which in all honesty sounds a lot like the new live CD they just released. I would say that you should save your money, buy the CD, and not see the show, but that's just not true because one thing about Styx is that through the years they have never been a band to just stand up on stage and sing. Combine a fantastic laser show with great lighting effects, Tommy Shaw working the stage for all that is worth, Chuck Panozzo being just such a

Chuck Panozzo

classic (I love how he just kind of hangs around on stage, and then, all of a sudden, you find him at the front, smiling at the crowd, flicking a pick or two in the front rows, and then drifting back into lurking mode), classic guitar poses, and lots of perky breasts (sorry for that blatant sexist comment, and maybe there were lots of perky guys too, but I wasn't looking at them), in any case, Styx is as much about a performance as it is about music.

From the new stuff like "On My Way" to "Dear John," and from the old stuff from "Crystal Ball" to "Lorelei," this show touched on just about anything Styx ever put out, except one - and maybe oddly enough, my personal favorite, Mr. Roboto. Yea, well, I always liked that album, but sadly my wishes didn't happen because I had to listen to all of the other Styx hits through the years. I guess there is just so much time in a concert, but dammit, "Haven't We Been Here Before" and "Don't Let it End" have always been two of my favoritist Styx songs of all times. Oh well.

 

Chuck and James

The show was great, the band sounded great, and they looked like they were having so much fun and that directly reflected itself with the crowd. The set list is below, and it's pretty self-explanatory, and personally, maybe going against the other critics, I'm looking forward to a new studio album from the boys. This time maybe the record label won't consider a gold, or platinum, or multi-platinum record not good enough.

Styx puts on a great show, probably always has, and probably always will. It is hard to give them anything less than two thumbs, even though they skipped everything from Mr. Roboto, but, TWO THUMBS UP it is.

That's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!