He was curiously underused here, as the group did not play any songs that would have benefited from another set of strings. Also onstage with an electric guitar was Will Evankovich, who co-wrote a lot of the material from 2017's The Mission and this year's Crash of the Crown. The uplift it provided was only boosted by the rest of the songs. They opened with the first song on their new album, 'The Fight of Our Lives' and soared later in the set with 'Sound The Alarm'. Most of the songs we all know rocked: The Grand Illusion, Lady, Fooling Yourself and Blue Collar Man. Chuck remained on stage for the later classics, including Renegade and Mr. Founding member Chuck Panozzo took the stage for a short duet with Gowan on the brand-new 'Lost at Sea'.

Their vocal harmonies and arrangements were spot-on. The rhythm section of Ricky Phillips on bass and Todd Sucherman on drums was steady and unassailably in the pocket with the rest of the band.

Gowan spun his keyboard, pranced about when not providing keyboard support and stood on his stool with his other foot planted on the keyboard for 'Come Sail Away'. Singer-keyboardist Lawrence Gowan has emerged as the showman of the group, with Tommy Shaw is a steady yet passionate frontman.

The sound mix was clear and plenty loud, though a little too muddy in the bottom end for me - this might have been an issue with the house sound. Though there are songs and moments we all expect in a Styx show, there were also some nice surprises and successful road-testing of their more recent material this evening.Īs always, they put on a spirited, highly professional show. This is the eleventh time for me in nearly forty years and the fifth time with this lineup. We experienced the guys in Murphys, California on a near full moon.

Styx at little creek casino