Rockin’ Colorado with Styx. Styx’s fans welcome the band back to Colorado at Riverdale Regional Park in Brighton, Colorado. The late summer concert began with Jefferson Starship against a beautiful Colorado sunset. Cathy Richardson is fantastic as the lead vocalist. She captures the spirit of the band throughout the show. The band began with the classic “Find Your Way Back” and “Can’t Find Love.” Jefferson Starship then followed with a new song “Setting Sun,” from their 2020 album Mother of the Sun. “Setting Sun” featured 83-year-old original member David Freiberg on lead vocals.
Richardson and the band started their 80s hits set with “Sara”, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”, and “Miracles”. Most of the fans were dancing and singing along. Jefferson Starship took the audience into a psychedelic hippie trip with the next song as Richardson channeled the iconic Grace Slick from Woodstock with a psychedelic cover of “White Rabbit”. They ended the night with three of their biggest hits from the 1980s “We Built This City,” the Freiberg penned “Jane,” and ended their set with the psychedelic rock anthem “Somebody To Love.”
David Freiberg – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Donny Baldwin – Drums
Chris Smith – Keyboards, Bass
Cathy Richardson – Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Jude Gold – Guitar
Setlist:
1.) Find Your Way Back
2.) Can’t Find Love
3.) Ride the Tiger
4.) Setting Sun
5.) Sara (Starship cover)
6.) Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (Albert Hammond cover)
7.) Miracles
8.) White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane cover)
9.) We Built This City (Starship cover)
10.) Jane
11.) Somebody to Love (The Great Society cover)
The Styx experience kicked off the night by celebrating their biggest hits with new songs from the Crash the Crown album. Styx is now a seven-piece rock band with three original members. They are guitarist/vocals Tommy Shaw, guitarist/vocals James JY Young, and bassist Chuck Panozzo. Lawerence Gowan is on vocals and keyboards with new member Will Evankovich on guitar. The rhythm section consists of veteran Styx beat keeper Todd Sucherman on the drums with Ricky Phillips on bass.
Styx was delayed about an hour by a lightning storm. The fans remained at their seats as the light rain shower came. Many had birthday signs and banners for Tommy Shaw’s 68th birthday. The new prog-rock anthem “The Fight of Our Lives” started the set. Styx followed with the Pieces of Eight rocker, “Blue Collar Man.” Lawerence Gowan followed the Dennis DeYoung classics “Grand Illusion” and “Lady.”
Tommy Shaw introduced guitarist and songwriter Will Evankovich as the newest member of Styx. The Shaw/Evankovich penned “Reveries” from the Crash the Crown which brings the classic late 1970’s Styx sound to the 21st century. “Light Up” was next, with a cheer from marijuana fans in the audience. Then a second lightning storm caused a second half-hour delay to the concert.
Gowan and the band returned to the stage with the crowd roaring hit, “Rockin’ The Paradise.” He took over the stage as he danced and sung with the band. This was followed by the Grand Illusion favorite, “Fooling Yourself,” and a little surprise for Tommy as crew member brought a chocolate cake to celebrate Tommy’s birthday. The audience and band sang “Happy Birthday” to Tommy as he took a small bite from the cake. He followed with one more from Crash the Crown album, “Save Us From Ourselves.”
Styx ended the evening with their biggest hits and fan favorites. “Too Much Time on My Hands” followed by Gowan’s piano solo/intro to “Come Sail Away.” The 1980’s hit “Mr. Roboto,” followed with the LCD light panel on the back of the stage lit up with the Japanese characters for “Domo Arigato.” The night ended with their 1970’s AOR hit and audience sing-along, “Renegade.”
Rockin’ Colorado with Styx, one of the original American AOR bands of the 1970’s. The additional of Will Evankovich has returned Styx to its original 1970’s prog-rock sound, as heard in the Crash the Crown tracks played on this night. Styx is in fine form with first-class musicianship and vocal harmonies few rock bands could match. If Styx comes to a venue near you, get a ticket or two and go. You’ll be singing to every Styx song you have heard a million times on the local classic radio station.
James “J.Y.” Young – Lead vocals, guitars
Tommy Shaw – Lead vocals, guitars
Chuck Panozzo – Bass, vocals
Todd Sucherman – Drums, percussion
Lawrence Gowan – Lead vocals, keyboards
Ricky Phillips – Bass, guitar, vocals
Will Evankovich – Guitar
Setlist:
1.) The Fight of Our Lives
2.) Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
3.) The Grand Illusion
4.) Lady
5.) Reveries
6.) Rockin’ The Paradise
7.) Happy Birthday to You (Dedicated to Tommy Shaw)
8.) Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
9.) Sound the Alarm
10.) Too Much Time on My Hands
11.) Khedive
12.) Lost at Sea
13.) Come Sail Away
14.) Mr. Roboto
15.) Renegade
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Hi, I’m a professional photographer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I started to take photos at concerts because I get bored very easy and need something to do while watching a musicians or bands perform. So I started taking my point and shoot camera with me and recording what I saw and to show my friends. At first, the camera was just a photographic diary of my concert experience. But after a while I started liking the quality of my shots and concert photography became my hobby. I decided to post my pictures on instagram and facebook. I think fans liked what they saw and started to follow me. Concert photography became my passion and finally I asked All Music Magazine if I could take photos for them. They like my concert photography Instagram page and that opened the door to a whole new area – the photo pit. Now I am happy to say I’m chasing my photography dream – as a professional concert photographer.
