It’s been 10 years since legendary rock bands Styx and Foreigner toured together. So this summer the bands decided to get back together to tour once again on the “Renegades & Juke Box Heroes Tour” produced by Live Nation. Along with British Rocker John Waite, the stage was set to have a blockbuster summer tour. On July 20th the bands had a stop at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, FL.
The crowd was massive at the venue that day and everyone was decked out in their favorite rocker’s merchandise and some ladies even went 80s mode with bright colors and poofy-teased hair. And while the threat of thunderstorms loomed in the background, the crowds weren’t scared away and were ready to rock Tampa. John Waite opened the night rocking the fans with some great songs including “When I See You Smile” and “Missing You“. John did surprise the crowd closing the set with a cover of Led Zepplin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. John sounded amazing and the fans cheered hard for every song he performed.
Next was Foreigner the rockers who first formed back in 1976. The band has sold over 80 million records and 9 studios albums. And after 48 years the band is still going absolutely strong and showed it that evening. Between Kelly Hansen’s frontman skills and vocals to Bruce Watson’s guitar playing and Jeff Pilson’s bass playing they rocked that stage. Toss in Michael Bluestein’s keyboard performance, Luis Maldonado magical guitar playing, and Chris Frazier on the drums, Foreigner was on fire that night. Kelly is truly an animated and fabulous frontman and vocalist. He over the years made these Foreigner songs all his own. And they had an amazing selection of songs including “Head Games”, “Cold As Ice”, “Jukebox Hero”, and their first-ever single, “Waiting For a Girl Like You”. They wrapped it up with “I Want To Know What Love Is” and “Hot Blooded”. Sadly, this show was part of Foreigner’s farewell tour and they ensured Tampa remembered this performance. They will be missed.
Our headliners for the evening was the rock band originally from Chicago, IL Styx. For 52 years this rock band has traveled the world entertaining audiences with their rock music. They are a force in rock music, with 17 studio albums (with 4 going to Multi-Platinum) and still making new music. Their most recent album, Crash of the Crown, was released in 2021. Styx is James “J.Y.” Young (guitar, vocals), Tommy Shaw (guitar, vocals), Lawrence Gowan (keyboards, vocals), Todd Sucherman (drums), Will Evankovich (guitar), and recent addition Terry Gowan (bass). And they were ready to rock.
Styx has such an amazing catalog of music, putting together a setlist of songs the fans will love is a challenge. The one thing Styx will do is bring fans through a range of energy through their setlist. “The Grand Illusion” is slow in pace but grand on a musical scale. “Too Much Time on Our Hands” is the song that gets the crowd dancing and moving and has a very party-like vibe. Follow that with “Lady”, one of the bands most popular ballads that peaked to #6 on the Billboard Top 100, that brings the fans into that romantic phase of their music. And then drop behind it “Lorelei” that pumps the energy up again getting the fans to sing along. And that was just the first 4 songs of the evening.
When I grew up listening to music, I knew of Styx for mostly their singles, but didn’t follow them closely then. It wasn’t till later when I dug into their albums and enjoyed the heck out of them. My first opportunity to see them live wasn’t until 2017. I was starting out writing reviews and photographing bands. They were performing at Sea World and I was blown away with their live performance. And ever since that day, I did my best to attend and review every show in my area because they are still as good if not better than when I saw them the first time.
Styx now is slightly different than they were in 2017. Terry Gowan, Lawrence’s brother, is now playing bass for the band. I loved his style and his passion. He was animated and engaged the crowd to get them amped up. Will, their producer of The Mission and Crash of the Crown, is a full time member of Styx. He’s plays so smoothly and always looks calm as he plays. The rest of the band remains the same. Todd their drummer is a 10 time winner in Modern Drummer and it shows. He is incredibly talented and those skills shown off during these songs is incredible. Lawrence is an incredibly talented pianist and vocalist. He always has such flair when he performs and is an entertainer. Tommy is not only a fabulous vocalist, he is an amazing guitarist. He pours his rock soul into Styx’s music and his vocals during performances. Last and never least, J.Y. is the foundation of the band. He is the epitome of a rock guitarist and always has this smirk and smile going as he plays. Plus, the man can sing! I always hope there is a song on the setlist where J.Y. can let his vocals rip, like he does in “Miss America”. This incredible combination of skills and personalities makes Styx what they are today; a legendary rock band.
The rest of the setlist had some fabulous gems from their catalog. “Rockin’ the Paradise” is always the song that gets people up on their feet and moving. “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” is one of fans favorite sing-a-long tunes. And “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” is one of those classic life-lesson songs that everyone knows. The closed the set as they always do with the classic sing-a-long of “Come Sail Away”. And the crowd waits for that lyric “We climbed aboard their starship/We headed for the sky” when Lawrence just pours it on. I get goosebumps every time I hear it live. But, the encore is truly special with two of my wife’s and mine favorite songs to hear. First, “Mr. Roboto”, which they kept off the setlist for a long time. I love they brought it back and Lawrence does a phenomenal job singing it. And second, “Renegade” the song that we will crank up in the car singing along. Tommy knocks it out of the park every time he sings it and it really fits him performing it. Go check out all things Styx over at https://styxworld.com.
Overall, it was a fabulous night of classic rock music with all three artists providing amazing performances. The tour lasts a little more than two weeks at this point. Do yourself a favor, if it comes near you, go see it. You will not regret it.
Be the first to comment