Experienced Rockers in the Big Easy

Thursday, January 6, 2011
House of Blues – New Orleans, LA
Styx

(L-R) Tommy Shaw, original bassist Chuck Panozzo and Ricky Phillips of Styx at the House of Blues New Orleans.

It’s a New Year and time to restart my yearly concert calendar. It’s always an exciting time for me, wondering what the year holds and who I’ll see next. And it’s just as exciting to know that I’ll kick it all off with an “old friend” of sorts. Yes, folks, we’re starting 2011 with a tried and true favorite of mine… Styx.  I guess it’s ironic that the last concert review I posted was from a Styx show. Ironic, but not surprising.

After the busy holiday season, I was really looking forward to heading to New Orleans for a little down time. The trip down was uneventful (for once), and the day of the show I spent my time letting my feet take me where they willed. The river, Jackson Square, Café Dumonde, Bourbon Street and the Audubon Aquarium were just a few of the places I visited in one of my favorite cities. I actually bumped into keyboardist Lawrence Gowan while taking pictures at Jackson Square, and some friends of mine ran into vocalist Tommy Shaw over closer to the venue. Turns out these guys love New Orleans, too.

By 4:00pm I was back over at the House of Blues for an early dinner with friends before the show. This is one cool thing about the House of Blues. Eat with them the day of the show and get early entrance into the concert. For a vertically challenged person like me this is a plus, especially when it’s a sell out like this night. There’s nothing worse than dropping a wad of cash on a ticket and not being able to see over the linebacker in front of you. By the time the show started we had claimed our spots on the railing, slightly off center stage.

As usual, the entire experience was great. The sound was spot-on, even for the fans right down front. The lighting was another thing that really makes a Styx show, meticulously planned to enhance the band’s performance , a virtual feast for the eyes and ears.

And, of course, there’s the band. After finishing the Grand Illusion/Pieces of Eight tour last year, I was thrilled to hear them keep a couple of those songs on the setlist. The few times I’ve seen them perform “Man in the Wilderness” and “I’m OK” have always resulted in an incredible response from the crowd. This time was no different and continued to build with well known classics like “Blue Collar Man” and “Come Sail Away.”

For me, this is one of the reasons why a Styx concert experience stands out from others. Even for modern rock bands that I know extremely well, there always tends to be a revolving door of energy among the crowd. It’s a pretty standard formula that is almost expected by fans: start and end with your most popular songs (since this is what people remember most) and alternate any new tracks in between more well known ones to accommodate any lulls in response.

But Styx doesn’t really have any such “lulls.” They churn out each tune with the same amount of energy as if it was their very first (or last.) The crowd responds to that, fueled by memories you can hear all around you (“I remember where I was the first time I heard this song…” or “I used to listen to this all the time in my old Mustang…”).  It’s a bit harder for me to relate to these thoughts, since I was busy being born around the same time as the pinnacle of Styx’s chart reaching success. But I can appreciate them all the same.

A highlight of the show was when original band member and bassist, Chuck Panozzo, joined the group onstage. Chuck doesn’t tour regularly with the band anymore, so it’s great to see him perform on rare occasions such as these. His love for the music is obvious, taking the stage with a “cat-who-ate-the-canary” grin.

Before we knew it, the end had arrived. The confetti had fallen, the beach balls and eco-friendly totes had been tossed, and the band took their final bow. The crowd was high on the lingering notes of “Renegade” as they filtered out of the House of Blues. And I was off to see just how much trouble I could get into in NOLA…