LOVERBOY/STYX/REO-CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL PAVILION-HOUSTON

[yogi]

Concert was on 7/24/22

THE BAD: Loverboy was forced to cancel due to some road crew members contracting COVID. The opener now featured some local guy and a beautiful girl who took the stage @ 7:10pm. Didn't hear their band name but I called them The Hillbilly Express. They basically played Blue Grass & Country music. Both sang well but their material was not good other than their closing song, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain, I thought they sucked. I knew prior to the show that Loverboy would not perform, as my son had seen the show the night before in Dallas. The Dallas show had Styx closing and they alternate closing nightly with REO. I was hoping that Styx would extended their set by 3 or 4 songs. Styx was playing the middle slot and came out @ 7:45pm. The sun was directly on the stage and the temp was around 99 degrees when Styx opened their set less then 10 minutes after the Hillbilly Express concluded.
Styx and REO need to do a better job of letting their fans know who is closing nightly. People next to us and in front of us came to see Styx and got there mid Styx set thinking they were the headliner. They were NOT happy. It was my 5th time seeing REO and Kevin Cronin did not sound good. I'm hoping he just had a bad night. If not I've gotta believe they could be close to done. I did not like how Tommy described the history of Styx when introducing both JY & Chuck Panozzo. Tommy stated that Chuck and John formed the band, then when neighborhood kids heard them playing they all started lining up wanting to join Chuck & John's band. Tommy then stated that once JY joined they became popular around Chicago. He did not name Dennis Deyoung, John Curulewski or Tom Nardini.

The GOOD/REALLY GOOD - It was a FANTASTIC show. REO was still very good because how well they played their music it allowed Kevin to have an off night ( if that's what it was). The energy Styx had was second to none. I've seen alot of recently popular rock bands with my son & daughter. Dream Theater, Staind, Korn, Foo Fighters, Breaking Benjamin, Five Finger Death Punch, My Chemical Romance, Shinedown & Ghost. Outside of Shinedown, no one comes even close to having the energy up on stage as Styx does. And Shinedown is a distant distant second. Styx's layered vocals and FIVE part harmonies are second to none. Every Styx song was performed PERFECTLY Sunday night. My daughters future husband was totally new to Styx outside of Babe, Renegade , The Best Of Times & Come Sail Away. For the past 3 years she has introduced him to rock & country music. They have attended many many concerts together. They even took me to Staind & Korn last summer as my Fathers day gift. He was amazed how good Styx sounded. He swears he didnt know that live music could ever sound that perfect. My son went with 4 others on Saturday night to the Styx/REO show in Dallas. None of the 4 knew Styx at all. They all felt the same way as my daughters fiancee did.

The GREAT: REO's Bruce Hall singing lead on Back On The Road Again. Back On The Road Again was by far their best song of the night. It was great and sounded great.
Tommy Shaw - JY introduced Tommy and it was a GREAT introduction. Tommy got close to a two minute standing ovation from the fans. Tommy's voice hasn't aged one bit. Sound The Alarm and Crystal Ball ( they did add this to their set) were both show stopping songs. Tommy is a rock superstar. And as great as Tommy was..........
Lawrence Gowan stole the entire night. Lawrence's showmanship, attire, stage presence, singing, keyboard playing and his overall energy on stage are second to none. I mean this guy is GREAT! My two little nieces had lawn seats with my ex sister in law. We met up with them between Styx & REO. They danced the entire Styx set. They thought LG was the coolest man alive. JY, Todd....... they were all great. The unsung hero of it all may be Will Evankovich. Besides his youth looking good up on stage his writing with Tommy on The Mission & Crash Of The Crown have made Styx relevant today. The venue was packed Sunday night. I'm guessing 10,000 plus fans. Because of Styx we all got our moneys worth & then some. It was an epic Styx performance.

[ChicagoSTYX]

Thanks for the review! Wish I could have been there. I was traveling back from Chicago on Sunday. The crowds have been huge this tour. The band is really on a roll!

[yogi]

Styx was great! Almost forgot, about 3/4 of the way thru Styx's set the entire band other than Gowan left the stage. Maybe it was because Loverboy is a Canadian band but Gowan stayed on and paid tribute to Loverboy by playing the beginning of Turn Me Loose on the organ then we all did a sing along with Gowan leading us in a piano version of Lovin Every Minute Of It. LG truly may be the greatest showman I've ever witnessed in person. Since he joined Styx I always felt his stage presence was really good but he's now completely gone to another level. He's off the charts up on stage. Finally in regards to Styx, the final 3 songs of Come Sail Away, Mr Roboto, and Renegade brought the crowd to a complete & total frenzy.

I've been to a lot of concerts at this venue and it was as packed as I've ever seen it. I've never seen the lawn area that packed. There's a bunch of walking trails leading to the Woodlands concert venue. On the trails there are a lot of benches, tables and places to sit. There is also some really nice condos that surround to pavilion. We left the concert around 10:30 right after REO played Back On The Road again. Walking to our truck there were hundreds of people lining the trail listening to the music. People were out on the decks of their condos listening too.

[ChicagoSTYX]

Styx was great! Almost forgot, about 3/4 of the way thru Styx's set the entire band other than Gowan left the stage. Maybe it was because Loverboy is a Canadian band but Gowan stayed on and paid tribute to Loverboy by playing the beginning of Turn Me Loose on the organ then we all did a sing along with Gowan leading us in a piano version of Lovin Every Minute Of It. LG truly may be the greatest showman I've ever witnessed in person. Since he joined Styx I always felt his stage presence was really good but he's now completely gone to another level. He's off the charts up on stage. Finally in regards to Styx, the final 3 songs of Come Sail Away, Mr Roboto, and Renegade brought the crowd to a complete & total frenzy.

I've been to a lot of concerts at this venue and it was as packed as I've ever seen it. I've never seen the lawn area that packed. There's a bunch of walking trails leading to the Woodlands concert venue. On the trails there are a lot of benches, tables and places to sit. There is also some really nice condos that surround to pavilion. We left the concert around 10:30 right after REO played Back On The Road again. Walking to our truck there were hundreds of people lining the trail listening to the music. People were out on the decks of their condos listening too.

Great place to see a concert. I've been there a few times since moving to the area from Chicago. This tour has had huge crowds across the country! Nice to see.

[LtVanish]

I seen some clips of Kevin Cronin singing at the Austin show, and I think he has lost his voice, he really sounded bad! He has no range anymore, it's a shame. It really makes REO sound flat, and it seemed like REO had really slowed the tempo of their sounds down also. I think its kinda embarrasing that Styx has to open for REO on some nights.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/enter ... 63236.html

To me this review points out the issues many fans have with $haw’s Styx.
Highlights for this reviewer were Come Sail Away, Blue Collar and oh no Mr Roboto.

Styx has so many hits that it would require a show that didn’t include three bands in one night to play them all. But not including “The Best of Times” and “Babe” (both originally sung by long-departed former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung) in the set at all is a disappointing choice.
On a happier note, Gowan once took a turn alone on his spinning keyboard — which he rotated dozens of times throughout the night — and offered a surprise. His solo version of Elton John’s “Rocketman,” which turned into a singalong, was one of the night’s best segments.

I left in the Gowan praise to point out something I have said numerous times before and that is. Gowan sings Queen songs and other popular non Styx songs of the era to get the crowd on his side before singing CSA. This is smart. He does it to distract from the fact that his vocal on CSA is awful and a discredit to the original.

It also points to the reviewers criticism of important songs left out in Dennis’s absence. There is also the reference to Styx not needing those other bands because they’re hits would fill an entire show. All true except $haw has decided no Dennis so instead enjoy Rocketman and We Will Rock You, Bohemian rhapsody etc. This is called entertainment which is fine but it ain’t our Styx.

True STYX FANS want it all one last time.

[yogi]

I see that review far different Suite. If GARTH BROOKS can play a James Taylor medley and Shinedown often includes Skynyrd’s Simple Man,& Staind can cover Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb & Myley Cyrus can cover Zombie there is absolutely no harm whatsoever that Styx & Gowan who is solo playing Rocket Man followed by Kedive which leads into Come Sail Away ( band returns) Artistically it makes total sense. Rocket Man leads into a great piano intro Kedive from Styx’s The Mission album which leads into Come Sail Away which ends with a starship heading for the skies.

Tommy & Styx give LG the stage. I honestly believe that Gowan may be the greatest showman and have the best stage presence of any artist I’ve ever seen. I watched a video of one of his solo shows where he does a 5 minute Triumph medley of Lay It On The Line, Fight The Good Fight & Magic Power that does unbelievable justice to Rik Emmett and Triumph. Styx is 100% firing on all cylinders & Gowan on stage is a HUGE reason. This is coming from DDYs biggest fan in my estimation who wants to see Dennis back with Styx for one more album & tour. & this tour is big enough to have both Dennis & Gowan on the same stage together.

[Monker]

True STYX FANS want it all one last time.

True Styx fans do not insult Tommy and JY and newer members of the band and then say they want to see Dennis join for one last time. There is no reason for Tommy and JY to give such an insulting person what they want, nor the leader who models this behavior. You sit in your cheap seat and lob your critique...you can stay there, nobody cares.

[ChicagoSTYX]

I see that review far different Suite. If GARTH BROOKS can play a James Taylor medley and Shinedown often includes Skynyrd’s Simple Man,& Staind can cover Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb & Myley Cyrus can cover Zombie there is absolutely no harm whatsoever that Styx & Gowan who is solo playing Rocket Man followed by Kedive which leads into Come Sail Away ( band returns) Artistically it makes total sense. Rocket Man leads into a great piano intro Kedive from Styx’s The Mission album which leads into Come Sail Away which ends with a starship heading for the skies.

Tommy & Styx give LG the stage. I honestly believe that Gowan may be the greatest showman and have the best stage presence of any artist I’ve ever seen. I watched a video of one of his solo shows where he does a 5 minute Triumph medley of Lay It On The Line, Fight The Good Fight & Magic Power that does unbelievable justice to Rik Emmett and Triumph. Styx is 100% firing on all cylinders & Gowan on stage is a HUGE reason. This is coming from DDYs biggest fan in my estimation who wants to see Dennis back with Styx for one more album & tour. & this tour is big enough to have both Dennis & Gowan on the same stage together.

I agree 100%, well said.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

I see that review far different Suite. If GARTH BROOKS can play a James Taylor medley and Shinedown often includes Skynyrd’s Simple Man,& Staind can cover Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb & Myley Cyrus can cover Zombie there is absolutely no harm whatsoever that Styx & Gowan who is solo playing Rocket Man followed by Kedive which leads into Come Sail Away ( band returns) Artistically it makes total sense. Rocket Man leads into a great piano intro Kedive from Styx’s The Mission album which leads into Come Sail Away which ends with a starship heading for the skies.

Tommy & Styx give LG the stage. I honestly believe that Gowan may be the greatest showman and have the best stage presence of any artist I’ve ever seen. I watched a video of one of his solo shows where he does a 5 minute Triumph medley of Lay It On The Line, Fight The Good Fight & Magic Power that does unbelievable justice to Rik Emmett and Triumph. Styx is 100% firing on all cylinders & Gowan on stage is a HUGE reason. This is coming from DDYs biggest fan in my estimation who wants to see Dennis back with Styx for one more album & tour. & this tour is big enough to have both Dennis & Gowan on the same stage together.

Garth Brooks can do whatever pleases him though I doubt he left out any of his biggest hits to play James Taylor songs. But the point is that by leaving out the hits Styx fans want to hear and replacing them with other peoples music is a ploy to entertain with others accomplishments.

Gowan is not in Garth Brooks league. When Garth does it it bestows real importance on the gesture, with Gowan it means little because he’s not of Garth’s stature. Tommy has that kind of credibility not Gowan.

If I go to a concert to hear someone I don’t want to hear their peers music if it means they’ll omit their hits. What Gowan does is what lounge acts and club bands do. Come on everybody ‘we will we will rock you” I hear Brian May is working up his Queen version of Mr. Roboto. Reading the comments on Roboto on YouTube I’m always struck by how many people say they thought that Queen did the song. Pretty good company.

As I said this wasn’t meant to bash Gowan. As I watch their current concerts Gowan is the only person moving around. JY spends too much time in the back not prowling the stage as he did before and Tommy is not much different. He’s very stationary as well, Gowan can hop around because he has no guitar to carry only the weight of a silly hat. And vocally he ruins Dennis’s songs.

The two important takeaways of the review are Styx has enough hits to do the entire show themselves and DeYoung is missed.
22 years later and Dennis is still appearing in their reviews and articles. It must really annoy them, which why they ask the interviewers not to bring Dennis up.

Styx has had to use REO for 20 years to team up with to draw bigger crowds. And on their 50th reunion tour half the time they don’t even close the show.
And in those shows they play 11 songs. 11.

True Styx fans have bashed Tommy countless times for his attempt to erase the bands past. They’ll say I love Tommy but he should grow up and give the fans what they want, one last tour.

Finally in order for anyone to claim to know what true Styx fans want they should first be one. Yogi that is not aimed at you. You are very fair minded and a real Styx fan.

[yogi]

Suite we will agree to disagree on this one. I’d love to have DDY back in Styx for one more album & tour. But I’d want him back with Styx as they are now. Shit I’d like Glen to come back too and see what all these talents could do for one album & tour. Also something else you wrote I’ve gotta comment on. When you kind of commented on the Crash Of The Crown song you stated that Styx is now trying to sound like Queen. I agreed with that comment because Gowan sure as hell sounds like Freddy when he sings lead on the last part of the song. You then stated you didn’t want Styx to sound like Queen like they do on Crash. Now you just wrote how so many people commented that they thought Queen was the group responsible for Mr. Roboto. Then you stated Not bad company. Well since Mr. Roboto was Dennis’s baby it’s kind of like you are trying to have it both ways.

To that I say GREAT. Let’s bring Dennis back to his band with that band including everyone that’s in it now.

[Monker]

True Styx fans have bashed Tommy countless times for his attempt to erase the bands past. They’ll say I love Tommy but he should grow up and give the fans what they want, one last tour.

You have gone out of your way to not just state an opinion like the above but to directly insult Tommy, JY, and the rest of Styx. A "true Styx fan" would not do such things. As I said, you lob your insults from the cheap seats and nobody cares any longer.

[ChicagoSTYX]

True Styx fans have bashed Tommy countless times for his attempt to erase the bands past. They’ll say I love Tommy but he should grow up and give the fans what they want, one last tour.

You have gone out of your way to not just state an opinion like the above but to directly insult Tommy, JY, and the rest of Styx. A "true Styx fan" would not do such things. As I said, you lob your insults from the cheap seats and nobody cares any longer.

True, nobody cares anymore (except Suite, and maybe Froy who I still think was DDY undercover). DDY thought they would fail without him but they didn’t and it drives him nuts! They are still going strong. Look at the attendance for this tour!! 2 great new albums after all these years! We Styx fans are really lucky! (Except for Suite).

[Monker]

True Styx fans have bashed Tommy countless times for his attempt to erase the bands past. They’ll say I love Tommy but he should grow up and give the fans what they want, one last tour.

You have gone out of your way to not just state an opinion like the above but to directly insult Tommy, JY, and the rest of Styx. A "true Styx fan" would not do such things. As I said, you lob your insults from the cheap seats and nobody cares any longer.

True, nobody cares anymore (except Suite, and maybe Froy who I still think was DDY undercover). DDY thought they would fail without him but they didn’t and it drives him nuts! They are still going strong. Look at the attendance for this tour!! 2 great new albums after all these years! We Styx fans are really lucky! (Except for Suite).

No, Froy is a real person, not DDY. He used to sell bootleg CD's/VHS/DVD's way back in the early 90's thru the late 90's. He would charge ridiculous prices for them...I'm talking like $50 for a CD and $70 for VHS/DVD...back in 1992 or so. He did this until Journey heard of what he was doing and sent their lawyers after him. He used to post on the Usenet group alt.music.journey until these forums took off and then he moved here with a few other people.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Suite we will agree to disagree on this one. I’d love to have DDY back in Styx for one more album & tour. But I’d want him back with Styx as they are now. Shit I’d like Glen to come back too and see what all these talents could do for one album & tour. Also something else you wrote I’ve gotta comment on. When you kind of commented on the Crash Of The Crown song you stated that Styx is now trying to sound like Queen. I agreed with that comment because Gowan sure as hell sounds like Freddy when he sings lead on the last part of the song. You then stated you didn’t want Styx to sound like Queen like they do on Crash. Now you just wrote how so many people commented that they thought Queen was the group responsible for Mr. Roboto. Then you stated Not bad company. Well since Mr. Roboto was Dennis’s baby it’s kind of like you are trying to have it both ways.

To that I say GREAT. Let’s bring Dennis back to his band with that band including everyone that’s in it now.

No Yogi I didn’t say I thought Styx sounded like Queen on Mr. Roboto to me they do not. These commenters are most likely younger listeners who have no side to take in the Styx saga, they are simply responding to music. The comparison they make is I believe a compliment given the world wide admiration for Queen. I mention it only to prove to the Roboto haters how objective people view the record.

Your admiration of COTC is fine, if it gives you pleasure that’s wonderful. For me and many other Styx fans the record is far to derivative of many of Styx’s peers. Much like Gowan continually playing other peoples music in concert while leaving Styx’s own accomplishments on the cutting room floor.

As I have pointed out before the lack of actual rock music on the Mission was surprising and though COTC had a bit more JY’s influence is noticeably absent.
If they wanted to rock as they claim they have a strange way of showing it.

In this awful world take joy where you find it Yogi.
My quarrel has always been with those on this site who have made it their goal to tear down Dennis’s value and blame him for things he had nothing to do with. Their opinions have been heavily influenced by lies told by JY and Tommy. And omissions like writing Dennis out of their history. You have always called them out on their lies, like the COTTON BOWL crap.

[ChicagoSTYX]

Suite we will agree to disagree on this one. I’d love to have DDY back in Styx for one more album & tour. But I’d want him back with Styx as they are now. Shit I’d like Glen to come back too and see what all these talents could do for one album & tour. Also something else you wrote I’ve gotta comment on. When you kind of commented on the Crash Of The Crown song you stated that Styx is now trying to sound like Queen. I agreed with that comment because Gowan sure as hell sounds like Freddy when he sings lead on the last part of the song. You then stated you didn’t want Styx to sound like Queen like they do on Crash. Now you just wrote how so many people commented that they thought Queen was the group responsible for Mr. Roboto. Then you stated Not bad company. Well since Mr. Roboto was Dennis’s baby it’s kind of like you are trying to have it both ways.

To that I say GREAT. Let’s bring Dennis back to his band with that band including everyone that’s in it now.

No Yogi I didn’t say I thought Styx sounded like Queen on Mr. Roboto to me they do not. These commenters are most likely younger listeners who have no side to take in the Styx saga, they are simply responding to music. The comparison they make is I believe a compliment given the world wide admiration for Queen. I mention it only to prove to the Roboto haters how objective people view the record.

Your admiration of COTC is fine, if it gives you pleasure that’s wonderful. For me and many other Styx fans the record is far to derivative of many of Styx’s peers. Much like Gowan continually playing other peoples music in concert while leaving Styx’s own accomplishments on the cutting room floor.

As I have pointed out before the lack of actual rock music on the Mission was surprising and though COTC had a bit more JY’s influence is noticeably absent.
If they wanted to rock as they claim they have a strange way of showing it.

In this awful world take joy where you find it Yogi.
My quarrel has always been with those on this site who have made it their goal to tear down Dennis’s value and blame him for things he had nothing to do with. Their opinions have been heavily influenced by lies told by JY and Tommy. And omissions like writing Dennis out of their history. You have always called them out on their lies, like the COTTON BOWL crap.

Regardless of what you think or say Suite, thousands of people are seeing Styx each night of the tour this summer and they are loving it. Isn’t that what really matters??? Besides, DDY has retired.

[Monker]

To that I say GREAT. Let’s bring Dennis back to his band with that band including everyone that’s in it now.

Correction. It's not his band. Dennis signed away his rights to Styx when he signed the settlement to his own lawsuit.

It's Tommy and JY's band now...Dennis has nothing to do with it. I'm sure that is why Tommy said he hasn't spoken to Dennis in over 20yrs...he wants absolutely NOTHING to do with him. Allowing him back for one concert is like having an ex constantly begging to get back with you for 20yrs and then telling you "let's just have sex one last time." Despite what went on in the past, how fun it was, how happy it seemed people were, how happy it made you, how happy it would make you witnessing that "one last time", having sex with Dennis one last time is kind of gross at this point.

[Monker]

No Yogi I didn’t say I thought Styx sounded like Queen on Mr. Roboto to me they do not. These commenters are most likely younger listeners who have no side to take in the Styx saga, they are simply responding to music. The comparison they make is I believe a compliment given the world wide admiration for Queen. I mention it only to prove to the Roboto haters how objective people view the record.

Stop trying to revise history. You argued for a couple weeks how bad it was for people to compare "Crash of the Crown" to Queen. My argument was that it was great honor to be compared to Queen (and Pink Floyd)....good for Styx. Now you are completely reversing your argument for Kilroy just because you feel it benefits you. That is the very definition of hypocrisy. You are just diving into minutia to try to excuse is.

[LtVanish]

Yes Froy is a real guy I met him a few different times at DDY Shows.

[Jodes]

Yes Froy is a real guy I met him a few different times at DDY Shows.

God forbid I ever do meet the fellow. I'd probably be escorted out of whatever venue in handcuffs.. Well that is unless I get him to hit my first, then I'll claim self defence!

Seriously though, it would not be a good situation even if it doesn't turn violent. The guy needs to be put in his place.

[ChicagoSTYX]

Yes Froy is a real guy I met him a few different times at DDY Shows.

God forbid I ever do meet the fellow. I'd probably be escorted out of whatever venue in handcuffs.. Well that is unless I get him to hit my first, then I'll claim self defence!

Seriously though, it would not be a good situation even if it doesn't turn violent. The guy needs to be put in his place.

I'm sure his is locked away in some sort of institution.

[Jodes]

Let's hope.