Styx Live DVD “ The Grand Illusion “, “ Pieces Of Eight “

Styx Live DVD “ The Grand Illusion “, “ Pieces Of Eight “ - My review

Hee hee,

We bought it !

And watched it !

This is a really, really high quality music band’s concert performance.

Perfection !

I’m a big fan of Styx now.

Their sounds are so clear and beautiful with perfect balance.

Styx are :

Tommy Shaw - Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
James “ JY ” Young - Electric Guitars
Lawrence Gowan - Keyboards, Vocals
Todd Sucherman - Drums, Percussion
Ricky Phillips - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Chuck Panozzo - Bass Guitar

The song set list for this DVD are :

Part 1

The Grand Illusion Album

* The Grand Illusion
* Fooling Yourself
* Superstars
* Come Sail Away
* Miss America
* Man in the Wilderness
* Castle Walls
* The Grand Finale

Part 2

Pieces of Eight Album

* Great White Hope
* I’m Okay
* Sing for The Day
* The Message
* Lords of the Ring
* Blue Collar Man ( Long Nights )
* Queen of Spades
* Renegade
* Pieces of Eight
* Aku-Aku

Most of the songs were composed by Tommy Shaw and by former band member and founder Dennis DeYoung. The remaining three songs were composed by James “ JY ” Young.

There is a big screen playing images and scenes pertaining to the songs, while the band is playing, which adds a lot of colorful visuals as well.

The opening of the show stars out, interestingly, with the music of Franz Liszt ! excerpts from his Les Preludes Symphonic Poem !!

This Franz Liszt’s music is in the Greatest hits CD and soon we noticed that and said “ oh, it’s Liszt !!! “ because we repeatedly listened to the CD.

So happy they used the music in the opening.

This is sort of Star Wars-esque type of music, and makes for a grandiose beginning.

Then Styx opens with an epic version of Grand Illusion.

It was awesome !!!

One of the most impressive things about Styx when I first saw their performance in the Improv on ice show, was their drummer, Todd Sucherman.

Until I saw his drumming, my favorite drummer was always Mr. Hasegawa who was from The Alfee ( Japanese classic rock group ). The most dynamic wild drummer I’ve ever seen.

Now I have two favorites, Mr.Hasegawa and Todd Sucherman.

Ray said his favorites are also these two drummers, as well as his other two favorites which are Neal Peart of the band Rush, and Roger Taylor of the band Queen.

I guess I love super dynamic drummer for hard rock / heavy metal music, so it was hard to find a drummer like Hasegawa.

So I was so glad to find another favorite drummer in Styx !

Styx has many impact and impressive things,

Another my favorite part of seeing Styx live besides their music and their performance is,

Their friendly communication and fun during the performance.

When watching them, one can see that they never lost their childhood dream and thrill of when they first picked up their musical instruments.

That thrill is there, and we can see they extremely enjoy playing, like they are in a heaven, with freedom. And they are all connecting with each other and with us, the audience, through music.

It made me smile and felt so great and happy.

I love seeing men keeping their childhood dreams, always keeping that joy and enthusiasm of when they were a little boy.

The songs on this DVD are all performed by Styx perfectly.

It’s all live performance.

Very professional.

No error.

The main vocalists, Lawrence, Tommy and James “ JY ” , hit all the notes with crystal clarity.

The harmonies are big and spot on.

The musicianship is of the highest level.

Tommy and James “ JY “ guitars are crisp, sharp and loud, with absolutely killer guitar solos.

Lawrence is a keyboard wizard, recreating Dennis DeYoung’s keyboard virtuosity as well as one could.

Lawrence is also a kick to watch, as his movements and expressions are often hilarious. lol

While he’s playing, he just can’t sit still even for one moment, so you never know what he’ll do next.

But his keyboard playing and singing are always amazing. Yep, I became a fan of him.

Tommy Shaw seems ageless.

There was a review I read somewhere of a Styx fan who had been at one of their shows this past year, who said that he’s like a miracle of nature. That’s a good description. He’s 58 now, but he plays like he’s still in his 20’s. And he looks young too .

This DVD was made in 2010, and now this year at the Improv on Ice concert, he looks even younger and more healthy.

Both Tommy and James “ JY “ display killer guitar technique and virtuosity.

And Tommy’s singing is pitch perfect and powerful.

His singing is addictive, especially on his songs “ Man in the Wilderness “ and Blue Collar Man “ and “ Renegade “.

Too cool !

His singing is so unique.

I also love high strong sharp clear voices, like Lawrence Gowan and Dennis DeYoung ’s singing.

But I’m especially having addiction for Tommy Shaw’s singing on “ Blue Collar Man” now.

We really enjoyed this DVD and watched it a couple of times already.

Almost everyday we watch at least some parts of it,

for "The Grand Illusion", "Come Sail Away", "Blue Collar Man", "Castle Walls", and also the song “ Man In The Wilderness” which was composed by Tommy Shaw after being impressed with the band Kansas’ Leftoverture album.

Tommy said they had opened for Kansas on tour during that time period.

We both love Kansas’s music as well.

The song Castle Walls has a middle section which is like science fiction’s movie music or like music from another dimension.

Interesting.

I’ve never paid attention for keyboard sound until seeing this Styx live DVD. They made the sounds mysteriously beautiful.

I also love how they care for their fashion and look and originality.

The concert hall looked very elegant classical style and cozy.

Since this particular concert hall was not huge, maybe the audience was selected for this concert ?

How lucky the people who were able to see such an awesome concert.

Hopefully they will tour Arizona area soon, we will definitely go to their concert.

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