It was literally two months ago that I was at Universal Studios to photograph one of my favorite bands who is celebrating 50 years of music together. That band is Styx. These legendary rock icons are on a full tour celebrating this momentous anniversary and were coming back to the St. Augustine Amphitheatre once again. Whenever they come down to Florida, they always prefer to play there for the acoustics, the beautiful venue, and the spectacular crowd that always comes out to support them. This time though, they brought along another legendary rock band in Night Ranger! Styx and Night Ranger together is just a match made in heaven and felt very fortunate to be approved to photo and review this show.
It was a beautiful evening in St. Augustine when my wife and I arrived at the show. She’s been a huge Styx fan before I even met her and she was probably just as excited if not more to see them. After we got through security we headed over to the merch booth because I knew she’d want to come home with something as a memory. Two Styx shirts later she was heading to her seat as I was getting ready to photograph. It was already a crowded venue before Night Ranger came on to take the stage. And the moment they stepped out, the crowd roared and I could already sense it was going to be a truly fun evening.
Night Ranger formed back in 1979 out of San Francisco, CA. Their first album Dawn Patrol was released in 1982 and would go on to receive rave reviews. They would go on to release 4 additional albums before taking a hiatus from recording in 1989. They would come back in 1995 to release 3 additional albums before taking a recording break once again. But, after coming back in 2007 with a new album they would release 4 more studio albums including the most recent ATBPO in 2021 for a total of 13 studio albums. Night Ranger is Jack Blades (vocals/bass), Kelly Keagy (vocals/drums), Brad Gillis (guitar), Keri Kelli (guitar), and Eric Levy (keyboards).
The band started off their set like the way any 80s rock band would start it off, fast and furious. They started it off with (You Can Still) Rock in America from their 1983 album Midnight Madness. Infused with heavy keyboards and guitars, the band got the crowd already starting to move and rock along with them. It was an excellent choice to open their set. And Night Ranger was already starting to have fun on stage. They were loving it just as much as the crowd. They followed up with “Four in the Morning” from the 1985 album 7 Wishes. It’s a nice solid rock song to get the crowd to sing along with them. Right behind that was “Sing Me Away” from their debut 1982 album Dawn Patrol.
This was the first time I got to see Night Ranger perform live and I was absolutely loving their performance. I had forgotten they did the title track for Michael J. Fox’s movie The Secret of My Success and performed it that night. Jack jokingly said it took them two weeks to complete the song but told the production crew it would be months. The coolest thing about that performance was seeing them all get on the drumset with Kelly and all beating away at it at the same time. I’ll admit it was a scenario I wish I was able to photograph because that would have been an awesome picture to capture. They played the single “Night Ranger” and explained the story how they changed their name from Ranger to Night Ranger because another band had the name Ranger. But, the truly special moment of the night was having Jack invite Tommy Shaw from Styx on stage. Jack and Tommy have been friends for a long time and formed a band together known as Damn Yankees. With Tommy on stage they performed Damn Yankee’s mega-single “High Enough” and the crowd went absolutely ballistic during the performance.
Night Ranger celebrating 40 years since the release of their debut album still rocks in on the stage, sounds amazing, and perform like the day they first started. Jack’s vocals are top nottch and he seriously knows how to work the crowd. Brad and Keri make their guitars sing and bleed rock and roll and their showmanship as they perform is so much fun to watch. Eric delivers those keyboard notes like no other and Kelly is a phenomenal singer and a great drummer. They closed out their set with “Sister Christian” from Midnight Madness (such an awesome song) and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” from Dawn Patrol. Such an excellent performance from Night Ranger and the crowd agreed wholeheartedly from their applause and cheers. You can find their merch and music HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- (You Can Still) Rock in America
- Four in the Morning
- Sing Me Away
- The Secret of My Success
- Night Ranger
- High Enough
- Goodbye
- When You Close Your Eyes
- Sister Christian
- Don’t Tell Me You Love Me
And then came our headliners Styx. The band that formed in 1972 out of Chicago, IL would go on to release their debut self-titled album that same year. They would take the radio world by storm with hit after hit and selling over 20 million records from their start to 1984. The band went on hiatus from recording until 1990 with the album Edge of the Century. They would take another recording hiatus and return in 1999 with Brave New World and two more albums. They’d go into recording hiatus once more in 2005 until they released The Mission in 2017 and followed up with Crash of the Crown in 2021. They have a total of 17 studio albums. Styx is comprised of Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitar), Lawrence Gowan (vocals, keyboards), James “JY” Young (vocals, guitar), Ricky Phillips (bass), Todd Sucherman (drums), and Will Evankovich (guitar).
The band introed into the show with “The Fight of Our Lives” from their 17th studio album Crash of the Crown. It’s a very short song, but a good lead in to get their setlist rolling. Next up was “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” from the 1978 album Pieces of Eight. It is absolutely one of the best sing-along songs Styx has as you hear the crowd sing the chorus back word for word. From there they moved into “The Grand Illusion” the title track from their 7th studio album from 1977. This is one of those soul-searching songs if you pay attention to the lyrics. Styx here reminds us never to let the things we see on television and movies fool us into what life should be, though this could truly be applied to social media in our day and age.
The reason Styx has stayed relevant for 50 years is they, first, have a fantastic catalog of songs they can choose to perform, second have a fantastic set of band members, and third, know how to deliver to their fans what they want to hear. You can’t help but fall in love with songs like “Lady” one of their most well-known rock ballads, “Crystal Ball”, probably one of my favorite songs by them, and “Too Much Time on My Hands” especially when Tommy sings “I got dozens of friends and the fun never ends as long as J.Y. is buying.” And as for the members of Styx, all of them are so special and unique. Tommy as one of the lead vocals and guitar player has the crowd eating out of his hands. With his good looks, phenomenal voice, talented guitar skills, and charming personality, you can’t help but like him. Lawrence is a classically trained pianist, amazing vocalist, and a wonderful showman on the stage. He looks so natural playing the keyboards backwards or throwing his leg up on it and spinning the keyboard around. And if Styx is performing “Rockin’ the Paradise”, you can be sure he’s throwing on that technicolor jacket, a hat, and dancing through the entire song. J.Y. is a masterful guitarist and is smooth through his notes and shines during guitar solos. And when he sings, all eyes are on him with that crooning voice. Ricky may appear quiet on the stage, but is a great bassist and delivers those wonderful notes through the songs. Todd is the master of the drums and it absolutely shows. He’s fast and will hit each note one after the other with no pause. And Will is not only a skilled guitarist but as master behind the scenes as he produced Styx’s last two albums.
But, we could never forget, Chuck Panozzo. One of the original founding members plays the bass like no other and has such a beautiful groove in his music and style as well. And while Chuck doesn’t usually tour with the band, you can bet he will always be on stage with them when they come to Florida. The moment he stepped out on stage, the crowd went wild, and stayed to perform a few songs with the band including “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” from The Grand Illusion. Even better, when Lawrence played his piano solo titled “Khedive”, Chuck and Lawrence performed their own small solo song titled “Lost at Sea” and it was great! It was awesome to see him back grace the stage again.
When it comes to closing out a show, Styx is a master of the craft. They almost always close their set with “Come Sail Away” because not only is it such a wonderful song, but it has everyone in the audience singing it along with Styx. But, Styx always loves to do an encore for the crowd. First was one the band recently added back into the setlist over the past year or so, “Mr. Roboto” from the 1983 album Kilroy Was Here. It is such a great song from the notes, lyrics, cadence, and the crowd adores it. And then they wrap up the night with some heavy rock in “Renegade” from the 1978 album Pieces of Eight. It’s probably my wife’s favorite Styx song with wonderful guitar hooks, catchy lyrics, and just an all out rock performance.
Styx did a masterful job, as always, that night and left the crowd always wanting more. The way every rock show should be delivered. You can find the music and merch of Styx HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- The Fight of Our Lives
- Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
- The Grand Illusion
- Lady
- Light Up
- Crystal Ball
- Rockin’ the Paradise
- Crash of the Crown
- Save Us From Ourselves
- Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
- Too Much Time on My Hands
- Khedive/Lost at Sea
- Come Sail Away
Encore
- Mr. Roboto
- Renegade
A night of rock from Styx and Night Ranger is any rock fan’s dream show. Phenomenal performances from both bands that evening and hope that they tour again together soon. If you have an opportunity to see this show, do yourself a favor and go. You will not be disappointed.
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