Ticket 2 Ride

Cable Dahmer Arena, Independence, Missouri, September 21, 2024.

More than 50 years since forming Styx, the group is still rocking hard and provides a quality show. This was the second time I’ve seen Styx, the first time was about eight years ago, and all I remembered was how loud and flamboyant they were.

John Waite:

John Waite setlist:

“Midnight Rendezvous” (The Babys song) – A riff song, a minor hit for the group.

“Change” (Spider cover) – A rocking, rather repetitive song that was a Waite solo hit.

“When I See You Smile” (Bad English song) – Waite was part of this arena-rock band.

“Missing You” – Waite’s big solo number one hit.

“Head First” (The Babys song) – From the album of the same name.

“Back on My Feet Again” (The Babys song) – A top 40 song, the last for the group.

“Whole Lotta Love” / “Let Me Love You Baby” – Led Zeppelin was a great choice for a cover, and to end his set. This balanced the mid-tempo songs above. Hard rocking and ballsy, the audience was really into it.

These are the songs, or most of the songs associated with Waite, from The Babys to his solo career. Waite performed with a guitar player, bass and drums. Occasionally, he strapped on a guitar to allow his guitar player to take the lead.

Waite is very spry for a 72 year old, and he’s got his groupies in the audience. Despite the stripped-down sound, lighting and basic band, Waite’s show is as a good 40 minute one. His voice is solid and the band provided his music capably, no-frills.

Styx:

Styx started off as a heavy progressive-rock band, but a pop-rock sensibility. Theatrical at times, and like REO, open to a power ballad. That may be the friction that led to Dennis DeYoung leaving the band.

Styx’s music is quite positive, something I hadn’t noticed until tonight. It’s no wonder that their aging fanbase is still nuts about these songs. Everyone has great memories of when they were playing on local radio or on the basement turntable. These are songs that working class, middle class adults look back on as part of their teen and 20’s life experience. As I look around, gray-haired grandmas are swaying to music, singing the lyrics as their partners, with their Styx tour t-shirts, play air guitar.

James Young is the only original band member who plays full time with Styx. Tommy Shaw joined in 1975, in time for the Crystal Ball album, which contributed to. The other band members have joined since 1999.

Styx Setlist:

“The Grand Illusion” – A great way to open the set, and invitation to the Styx journey. Lawrence Gowan sings lead.

“Too Much Time on My Hands” – Shaw sings lead and contributes some great guitar. A crowd-pleaser.

“Lady” – From 1973, a number six charting song, written by DeYoung. Still a great song to hear, sung by Gowan.

“Lorelei” – Top 30 hit from 1976. Written by Young and DeYoung.

“Miss America” – From a big album, but in my opinion a weaker Styx song in concert. Young wrote the song and sings lead vocals.

“Crash of the Crown” – One of two recent Styx songs, released in 2021. It’s not a bad song, just one most fans probably didn’t know. Young sings lead.

“Crystal Ball” – Shaw owns this song, he still puts great emotion in the performance.

“Rockin the Paradise” – Top ten hit, written by Young, DeYoung and Shaw. Great singalong hard rocker.

“Blue Collar Man” – One of Shaw’s best, and hardest rocking songs. Shaw wrote from the point of view of the fans. He’s a darn good guitarist too.

“The Best of Times” – One of Styx’s signature songs, and a singalong, as one would expect. Gowan sings lead.

“Our Wonderful Lives” – Shaw songs lead and plays the banjo.

“Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” – Shaw sings lead, the audience sings along with him. A top 30 hit.

“Khedive” – Gowan on a keyboard solo. From their 2017 album.

“Come Sail Away” – A big singalong. Gowan sings lead, a great way to end the set. A top ten hit written by DeYoung.

Encore:

“Mr. Roboto” – Not a fan of this song or album. Opinions differ, but I didn’t stay around for this one.

“Renegade” – Like the song, but the traffic in and out of the arena, and a rainstorm, made for an early departure.

Comments

Lawrence Gowan sounds a lot like Dennis DeYoung and handles the keyboards with flare. The spinning keyboard is unique and very showy. He was a great addition to the band.

Shaw seems ageless. Everyone in the band sings, at least on backup vocals. Having three guitar players gives the band great versatility and fills out the sound nicely.

I throughly enjoyed this concert. Styx surprised me. Not only do their songs stand the test of time, their performance and musicianship was first rate.

If I could tweak Styx’s song list, I would add “Mademoiselle”, “Light Up,” and “Suite Madame Blue” from their early days.