Styx in Niagara Falls Review

Although Styx has been floating around in one form or another for more than 35 years (with some breaks), they still put on a great show. The current line up with Lawrence Gowan (of Criminal Mind fame) has been together for more than 12 years. Gowan is able to pull off strong versions of most of the Dennis De Young vocals - and plays some really terrific keyboad. For shows performed in his home country of Canada - he also gets a particularly rousing response when the band plays his signature solo song - Criminal Mind - which they always seem to do at their Canadian shows.

But the star of the show is clearly Tommy Shaw. Shaw joined the band in 1975 - after Styx released Equinox - and went on to write or participate in many of the band's greatest hits over the following decade. One of the many highlights of this show was Shaw speaking a little bit about how he came to join Styx - and then launching into a tremendous version of Crystal Ball. Over the course of the evening, Shaw played a different guitar for almost every song - and was full of energy - and a huge smile.

The show began promtly at 9 - with Styx launching into a meddley -which included short snippets from a range of different songs - from different albums - including teasers from Mr. Roboto and Paradise Theatre. After the meddley, it was an evening of greatest hits - Grand Illusion, Lady, Blue Collar Man, Too Much Time on My Hands, Suite Madame Blue - and the list goes on. The harmonies were coordinated and smooth, the music was tight and technically accurate - and, as usual, Tommy Shaw, Gowan and James Young were all enjoying themselves - or doing a good job of looking like they were.

The Avalon Ballroom at Niagara is a great venue for concerts. With seating of approximately 1,500, there aren't too many bad seats in the house- which was completely sold out for the 3rd consecutive night.

This concert clocked in at just about 1 hour 40 minutes - including Come Sail Away - and the encore - Renegade. For a Styx concert, this seemed somewhat short. For this show, Styx cut out the acoustic set that they often perform - with Boat on a River, Lights and others. They also seemed a bit less inspired than usual performing Come Sail Away and even Renegade with a bit of a lower energy level than they often bring.

To counter that, they brought out a piece from Crystal Ball which they had never previosuly played live -and also brought out the original Styx bass player - who is unable to play the full concert for health reasons.

Towards the end of the show, many of the audience members - now in their 40s, 50s and even 60s "rushed" the stage and danced near the front - one enthusiastic member placing her underwear on Tommy Shaw's guitar. It was a bit strange to see some of these fans - who might have been 15 or so when they last rushed a Styx stage - running up to yell, wave and sing along with the big hits - but it certainly enhanced the level of excitement.

All in all, though a little bit short - the concert was fun, fast moving and enjoyable - with much of the credit going to Tommy Shaw - clearly the leader of the band - as well as master vocalist and guitar player. His upcoming tour with Jack Blades to promote the album "Influences 2" - should be quite memorable. For now, Styx won't disappoint its fans as it tours the United States - playing sets of greatest hits to nostalgic audiences - who are eager to remember the Best of Times.