onstage whenever he is in the area. Lawrence Gowan, who replaced Dennis
REO Speedwagon. (Photo by Tim Shook REO Speedwagon was next and there
was only about 20 minutes between acts. “Don’t let it Go “ was the first song and a crowd favorite. I saw REO Speedwagon back in the 1980’s and they sounded just as good tonight. The same energy and strong guitar work. They only did one new song and I be- lieve it is called “On My Way.” I liked it. Everyone knows one or two songs from this band but when you see them you remember about 5 or 6 songs. Kevin Cronin explained how he wrote, “Keep on Loving You” and how he couldn’t sleep until he got up and did the demo. That kind of explains that line in the song, “ I don’t want to sleep, I just want to keep on loving you”. It turns out he did want to sleep. REO’s set ended with a tribute to Tom
Petty called “Listen to Her Heart,” which I be- lieve is a Tom Petty song. Styx came out playing a song from the
new CD called “Gone, Gone, Gone. “ The new CD, The Mission is a departure from the tra- ditional Styx sound. (See my new review to come.) They only did three songs from the new CD and part of a piano solo. Other than those new songs, we heard the traditional Styx hits. The original bass player, Chuck Panozzo, came on the stage and played sev- eral of the hits like “Fooling Yourself.”. Chuck has been living with HIV and joins the band
DeYoung back in 1999, sounds just like him and even looks like a young Dennis. I suspect many of the younger fans in the audience don’t know the difference and it is clear that Lawrence has more energy and showmanship than Dennis ever did in his prime. It used to bother me when bands replaced founding members with “clones” but not anymore. Lawrence is his own man and given that so many bands of my youth have either none or only one original member, at least Styx still has Tommy Shaw and James Young. Styx sounded great and they ended the show with the classic “Renegade.”
Tommy Shaw, Styx. (Photo by Tim Shook As an aside, I want to thank Styx for
sponsoring Able South Carolina, which is a work program that supports career develop- ment for people with disabilities. The band sold raffle tickets to win a signed guitar with the purchase of their new CD with some of
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