I'm at the Virgin Megastore in downtown Salt Lake City in line for a publicity event for the rock band Styx. Thom is here and with him is his wife and beautiful daughter. Thom is the person who told me about tonight's event so I am grateful to him for that.

I have never seen these guys in concert (aside from some live videos) so this is a significant event for me — to get to meet the musicians who wrote and recorded the first music I fell in love with. Even though I am not a “big Styx fan” now, I still possess a tremendous affinity for Stygian music.

The tour bus pulled up in front of the store almost exactly at 7p.m. The band members (minus Glen Burtnik) strolled proudly and enthusiastically through the store to the area in the back which had been set aside for this event.

It only took about 10 minutes before we were at the head of the line. I didn't bring anything for the band members to sign, but I did bring my camera. We had some official person take a picture of Thom and I standing behind James (J.Y.) Young and Tommy Shaw.

The brevity of my one-time encounter with the band Styx was... brief. I wish it could have lasted longer. I wish I could have taken them out to dinner or something. Judging by some of the conversations I heard while I was in line, I wasn't the only one willing to feed these guys.

Styx will be playing tomorrow night at the The Delta Center with REO Speedwagon and Journey. I don't have tickets to this show because I don't really care about REO Speedwagon or Journey and it's not worth $75 to only hear Styx play for an hour.

Thom says they'll come back to Salt Lake. I hope he's right.

Thom & I along with JY and Tommy of Styx