Styx invites Port Chester to “Come Sail Away”

Mike Singer, Music Manager

Rock and Roll Fame band Styx returned to Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York.

This was a show that I was most certainly looking forward to as Styx was on my bucket list for a very long time.

The show started a little past eight when the house lights dimmed and the band kicked off with their first song of the evening.

From the minute the band stepped on stage the thing that shocked me the most out of everything else in the show was the quality of the vocals and the harmony. If I closed my eyes and tried to guess whether or not I was at the concert or listening to the record/studio version, I wouldn’t be able to tell you which one I was listening to.

The lead vocals of keyboardist and singer Lawrence Gowan and lead guitarist Tommy Shaw were absolutely incredible. Whether it was on fan favorites like “Come Sail Away,” “Renegade,” or “Mr. Roboto,” they were incredible and definitely made the show one to remember.

What I found the most interesting about the show was that the band played two sets. The first set was for an hour which was followed by a break. The next hour was played after the 20-minute break. It felt like the fans truly got their money’s worth and it really did feel like we got two concerts all in one show.

If I had to pick which set I liked more, I would have to pick set two but only by a small margin. The tiebreaker in deciding which set was better was because the encore had two powerhouse songs in “Renegade,” and “Mr. Roboto.”

What you don’t see in most shows, if not any shows, is a former or “part-time” member of the band coming on stage every few songs to play in the band that he helped found. Well, with Styx, that’s different.

Every few songs, founding member and bassist, Chuck Panozzo, hoped on stage to play with the band that he helped form all the way back in Chicago in 1972.

What was even more remarkable to see was the current bassist and former member of Bad English, Coverdale-Page, and Ted Nugent, Ricky Phillips take a backseat and move to the back of the stage so that Panozzo could be in the front. Throughout the show, when Panozzo was on the stage, every now and then, Phillips would walk over to his side and the two would jam together which was amazing to see. You love to see when two musicians, who play the same instrument in a band, have that much respect for each other.

This show was so amazing, at first I wasn’t sure what to expect from the band, granted I had never seen them before. After the band took their final bow on stage, I was left wondering what took me so long and how come I had never seen them sooner.

From the first note that the band played to the last note in the encore, the entire crowd was singing along, and dancing in the aisle. To put it in simple terms, the band gave the fans their money’s worth as I have said, and then some.

Styx put on one of the most fun shows I have seen in a while, and I have seen 36 different concerts. Styx is one of those bands that everyone has to see. No matter where they are, you have to go out and see them, you won’t regret it one bit. So why don’t you join Styx and sail away to the “Paradise Theatre.”