Domo Arigato For Nothing, Styx.

Friday night was the big Styx show. It was a fun time. But I still left angry.

My Intended and I went at the courtesy of one of my youth group kids, Rose. Her mom cleans the house of guitarist James Young, the last original band member still touring with Styx. (Current frontman Tommy Shaw is pretty much an original though--he joined the band in 1977 and was with the band on all of their huge hits except for '"Lady." The original bassist Chuck Panozzo also often joins the band in concert for a couple songs, as he did Friday.)

Anyway, Rose got tickets for three of us youth group counselors to go with her family. And as an extra bonus: meet-and-greet passes (above). After the show, we got to meet James Young and get autographs. I bet you don't have one of these:



The concert was enjoyable and I knew almost all of the songs they played. However, I am very upset with Styx. We are not on good terms right now. I even almost expressed my displeasure to JY himself. But I didn't want him to beat me up. The problem? They played "Come Sail Away." They Played "Renegade." They played "Lady." And they played a bunch of newer stuff no one knew. But what did they not play? The one song I really wanted to hear! That's right: NO "Mr. Roboto." Here's what Wikipedia says about "Mr. Roboto": "It is considered the most well-known Styx song among Generation Y." THE. MOST. WELL-KNOWN. But yet, they just don't play it? Bah. In fact, they went one notch worse than not playing it. They sang ONE LINE of it in a medley. Just to tease me, I am sure. "Oh sure, Todd, we COULD sing it. But we're only gonna do this much."

Domo arigato for nothing, Styx. You're dead to me!

A NEW ERA OF OLD ROCK
Since I didn't have the chance to do the robot during "Mr. Roboto," I just pondered the whole notion of a popular 70s band still playing--but without most of the originals. It's an interesting concept that we've never really had in rock until this generation. The show was cheesy and goofy. It was almost self-parody at times. In fact, at one point, the theatrics and cheese reminded me of Spinal Tap. The guys would try to do choreographed steps and guitar plunges, but everytime someone would forget the step...or have to rush over from the wrong side of the stage at the last minute. It almost seemed like they'd never played together before. Rose said she counted 24 mistakes. She would know--this was her 4th Styx concert.

As an aside, Rose came to church this weekend to see me preach. When it was over, she told me my sermon was "better than a Styx concert." Oh yah.

FREE STUFF!
Anyway, I never saw a band do so much to appease their crowd before. As My Intended said, "Has a band ever thrown out that many guitar picks to the audiences?" The answer is no. During one guitar solo, I swear James Young tossed out 6 picks. SIX. And that's no exageration. During one song break, the band went off stage and returned with armfulls of merch to toss to the fans. Audience interaction is great and many bands would sooner spit on their fans than bend over for them--but the amount of free stuff, posing and attention-getting was comparable to a older sibling trying to get mom's attention away from the baby. "Hey, look at me! I am playing the trumpet...while standing on my head!"

I'm sure this came out of the band's genuine appreciation for the fans. In fact, the fans of a band like this are a fickle brood. They seem to want their Styx...but their 1977 Styx. They don't want the band to be who the band wants to be...but the band they were. Everytime, Styx started playing a song that wasn't a radio classic, floods of people left for the bathrooms. It was intriguing.

PLEASE, GIVE A KEYBOARDIST SOMETHING TO DO!

Some of the attempts to entertain and appease the fans may also stem from some of the newer guys being like, "Dang, I am in Styx! I'm gonna eat it up!" Speaking of that, this concert confirmed my suspicion that the keyboardists of America have too little to do. At the Emery show, the keyboardist spent his time rocking the keyboard angrily. At this show, the replacement for Dennis DeYoung had way too much time on his hands. He took photos of the other band members. He stood on his head. He did a funny dance around the stage. He even had a rotating keyboard that he could spin around and dance with. I am writing the Keyboardist Union. These guys need more to do.

SEPERATED AT BIRTH?

After the show, we didn't get to meet Styx singer Tommy Shaw or the rest of the band. I did want to see Tommy in person though to confirm something My Intended and I each indepedently noticed during the show: Tommy Shaw and David Spade may have been seperated at birth!

DREAM LOG
(December 30, 2006)
I was at the Styx concert, meeting James Young in front of the stage just like in real life. Only this time, Tommy Shaw and the rest of the band came out from backstage too. In fact, they came dancing in a congo line--in their underwear. And I thought, "Wow, backstage must be the place to be!"