It's late and I should be in bed, but I really, really needed to “flog” this while it was still fresh.

Styx

Tonight was “An Evening With Styx” at the Utah State Fairpark and I went along with my friend Thom, his wife, our friend Jon, and a couple of Thom's friends I don't know well. Thom, bless his heart, got us tickets in the center section of reserved seating on the fifth row. We were nice and close.

I've mentioned my history as a Styx fan in the Fozzolog before, but let me mention it again. Styx was the first band I loved. I was 10 years old when my sister introduced me to the song Mr. Roboto. I got the Kilroy Was Here cassette tape for my 11th birthday. Shortly after, I discovered my brother had The Grand Illusion album on cassette and I “borrowed it” (indefinitely).

In time, I knew most all the songs Styx had recorded. I knew all the names of the members of the band and their history. In reality, I became a Styx fan at a very inopportune time because the band would not record another studio album for seven years (and would not record another good studio album for 20 years.)

Because of this, I never saw Styx live. When the band finally started touring again in the 1990s, I wasn't able to catch them for one reason or another. Finally, in 2003, my time had come to see Styx live.

I was a bit nervous about this show, I'll admit. Styx today is very different than Styx from 1983. Dennis De Young — arguably the “leader” of the band in 1983 — is gone. John Panozzo, long-time drummer, died in 1996. His brother, bassist Chuck Panozzo, is only involved with the band on an extremely limited basis. Replacements were made: Todd Sucherman on drums; Glen Burtnik on bass; Lawrence Gowran on Keyboards.

My nervousness went away immediately, once the band came out. In fact, I felt I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time. It was a completely exhilerating and life-fulfilling experience. I remember thinking at one point about three quarters through the show that if I died tonight, I could die peacefully. There would be nothing left undone... because I finally saw Styx live.

The band was incredible. I think I was most impressed with bassist Glen Burtnik. He's now my favorite member of the band. What a great guy! I mean, this guy made me consider an alternative sexual orientation! He rocks.

I think my favorite part of the show was the “old school medley” which included fourteen songs from older Styx albums including Light Up (from Equinox), Mademoiselle (from Crystal Ball), Shooz (from Crystal Ball), Man In The Wilderness (from The Grand Illusion) — probably my favorite Styx song, Great White Hope (from Pieces Of Eight), Borrowed Time (from Cornerstone), Halfpenny Twopenny (from Paradise Theater), Mr. Roboto (from Kilroy Was Here), Heavy Metal Poisoning (from Kilroy Was Here), and Edge Of The Century (from the album by the same name).

All the songs off Cyclorama — the new album — were great too. Kiss Your Ass Goodbye was awesome. One With Everything was jaw-dropping. JY's vocals on These Are The Times were heartfelt, especially after his dedication of the song to soldiers on active duty.

During Come Sail Away, one verse stuck out in my mind.

I look to the sea, reflections in the waves spark my memory
Some happy, some sad
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had
We live happily forever, so the story goes
But somehow we missed out on that pot of gold
But we'll try best that we can to carry on

When I heard Lawrence Gowan sing that verse, I wanted to turn and embrace my two childhood friends sitting on each side of me (but I didn't... out of respect of their manlinesses... and mine, I guess). This song had developed a new meaning to me since I fell in love with the music of Styx in the early 1980s.

Oh, one last thing... I don't think I've ever seen so many pairs of women's underwear flung onto a stage in my life!

Well, here are some pictures. I'll find some more (I took close to 190) in the next few days and create a section for them under Events.

	JY makes a funny face while Lawrence pounds keys behind.
	Lawrence and that sexy Glen Burtnik during Kiss Your Ass Goodbye.		Glen Burtnik, singing Kiss Your Ass Goodbye, from a perch on the stage-right speaker stack.		Glen running across the stage.
	Lawrence takes a stand... on his stand.
	Lawrence exhibits his 360-degrees of freedom by spinning his keyboard platform while playing.
	Tommy Shaw.
	Lawrence displays a banner made by a fan for Tommy Shaw which wished him happy birthday (the following day was Tommy's 50th birthday).
	Tommy solos during Renegade.
	The whole band.
	Eight high-power confetti cannons showered EVERYONE with little pieces of orange paper.