Styx / Yes
Date: July 18, 2011

Venue: Starlight Amphitheater
City: Kansas City, MO

Review by Alan Muller
Photos by Elise Del Vecchio

Though the decade of the 1970's continues to fade in the rear-view mirror of America's collective pop-culture conscience, the rock and roll music of that decade clearly refuses to follow suit. Nothing more convincingly expresses this phenomenon, than the host of multi-platinum artists of that era, that continue to fill four-figure venues with ease going in to the new millennium.

Two such high-profile bands that decided to join forces for an interesting co-headlining U.S. tour this summer are Styx and Yes. Their Kansas City stop took in the Starlight Amphitheater on a VERY warm evening, and it would bear watching whether the heat would impact either group's performances.

The undercard for the two heavyweights was a Los Angeles singer/songwriter named Shane Alexander. Cutting the sparing figure of a lone troubadour with his acoustic six-string out in front of Yes' stage arsenal, Alexander wisely spent his twenty or so minutes picking out a few heartfelt tunes. He also sprinkled in a few surprisingly legit tales of his childhood family connections to the Kansas City area. By set's end, Alexander had ably won over the couple thousand-or-so fans that were braving the shadeless triple-digit temp in their seats.

Although initially told that YES would close, it wasn't shocking to learn that a regional powerhouse like Styx got the nod for the late set. And so it was that the prog-rock legends moseyed onstage after Shane Alexander at sundown, and broke right into "Tempus Fugit", the frantic radio track from 1980's Drama. For most YES fans, seeing "Tempus..." live is a real treat because - along with everything else on Drama - Jon Anderson would never agree to perform it.

But alas, it was not Anderson singing alongside stalwarts Chris Squire (bass), Steve Howe (guitar), Alan White (drums) and erstwhile Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes. No, it was former Canadian YES tribute band vocalist Benoit David that emerged from the backstage curtain, striding shoulder-to-shoulder among the seasoned giants of the group.

Unfortunately, the opener was a bit of a disappointment in that it was clearly not an easy warm-up number for Howe. Even more unfortunate was the band's decision not to revisit Drama for the rest of their show - despite Anderson's absence coupled with the presence of Downes. They chose instead to plow straight into the early ‘70s material of their heyday, which was warmly received by the crowd.

The first half of the show concluded with an airing of the title track of their just-released Fly from Here album. The musical prowess of YES finally shifted into gear on this song; all five players locking in nicely on this new "old" piece that both Downes and fellow Drama alum Trevor Horn had originally wanted to record with the band over thirty years ago. Downes in particular was nimbly zooming from synth-to-synth in his horseshoe of keyboard stands.

At that point, Squire was sporting the cream Rickenbacker and, after "Fly from Here", the roadies wheeled out both a pedal steel and a mounted PRS for Howe, who masterfully picked out the gorgeous intro to "And You And I". After largely struggling with the first four tunes of the evening, one couldn't be sure he had it in him, but 'Cord of Life' was a powerful evocative experience on this night. Meanwhile, somewhere in 'The Preacher the Teacher', Downes could be spied reading off his charts. Nice to know he's human!

Likewise, David was up to the heady task of the soaring vocals of "And You And I". Like Howe, David was slow to warm up, but seemed to be in prime throat by "I've Seen All Good People" and never struggled in the second half of the show. His stage mannerism was light-hearted; he displayed just enough physicality to not look out of place in his role as frontman, and the other players interacted very naturally with him throughout. David sounded much more like Anderson at this show than he does online, or even on the new album. The audience appeared convinced as well, as David capably matched Anderson's range.

Probably the most interesting moment of the night, involving either band, saw Howe bridge "And You And I" to the one song in the set that he had no role in crafting. "As you all know, there have been many eras of Yes", he mused aloud in his introduction. "This one is, I guess, from the 80s era." Then, on his candy-apple red Stratocaster, he proceeded to rip out Trevor Rabin's scorching power chords for the intro to "Owner of a Lonely Heart". Howe did not approach the alien 90125 tune by-the-book, preferring instead to tinker with it from the comfort of his own playing style. For one long-time YES fan, it was a very illuminating and entertaining moment.

To close out, YES somewhat surprisingly dusted off "Starship Trooper". It was here the band's cornerstone, Squire, stepped to the fore and just plain cut loose and had some fun. During the song's finale, 'Wurm', Squire paraded the length of the stage. He hammed it up, duck-walking and bogeyed throughout the stomp sequence, with his murky fuzz box effect washing over the surrounding hills and dales. Downes also descended from his nest of keyboards, donning the key-tar for a few measures. Tack in the obligatory encore of "Roundabout", and the Renaissance ambience of the Starlight Theatre itself, and you can put a bona fide evening of YES in the books.

After an efficient stage make-over, Styx blasted off their set with "Blue Collar Man" and "Grand Illusion". The energy level in the building noticeably rose above that of the YES segment, with Chicago's arena rock onslaught bringing most of the lower level of the venue to its feet. Styx's staging was a stripped-down version of the Art-Deco themes from Paradise Theater, providing the barest of backdrops for a show that was to prominently feature the group's three charismatic frontmen.

It's fair to suggest that many rock music heroes of the 1970's have not aged well. That certainly cannot be said of guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw. Featuring an athletic build and flashy attire more common to men half his age, Shaw commandeered the crowd's focus not unlike Mel Gibson in Braveheart. His clarion tenor on workouts like "Crystal Ball" and "Fooling Yourself" was virtually unblemished on this night, and when the spotlight was trained elsewhere, Shaw admirably faded into the background and let his bandmates absorb the attention of the audience.

Shaw's senior colleague in Styx, guitarist/vocalist James Young, also had a strong showing. He favored Fender Stratocasters throughout the night; the first being midnight blue with a mother-of-pearl pickguard, the second being a tobacco-burst model. The musician joined Shaw in repeated schmoozing with a familiar Kansas City crowd that both players have been entertaining for nearly four decades. During "Too Much Time on My Hands", Shaw suggested that the fun never ends as long as J.Y. is buying, after which Young cracked wise about raising the debt ceiling. It's apparently not illegal (yet) to have too much fun in a rock band.

Rounding out the trio was Lawrence Gowan, the keyboardist/vocalist that's clearly past the stage of being Dennis DeYoung's ascended understudy. Gowan intensely attacked his keyboard - mounted on a rotating podium - all night long, and blitzed back and forth onstage for many of his vocal duties.

Bassist Ricky Phillips was very active as well, getting in a good workout interacting with everyone else onstage, including the very solid timekeeper Todd Sucherman. During "Fooling Yourself", Phillips gave way to Styx founding member, bassist Chuck Panozzo. He then rejoined the band with Panozzo as they closed with "Come Sail Away" and encore "Renegade".

Styx safely kept their set list close to the vest, opting to include only one album track off the beaten path (Grand Illusion's "Man in the Wilderness"). They also avoided the DeYoung-dominated Kilroy Was Here. As was the case with YES, the hit parade was a mild disappointment. But Styx made up for the connect-the-dots song selection with their energy and their execution.

For a hot midsummer night in Kansas City, the two unusually-paired bands brought different visions to the same stage. The English and Canadian gentlemen in YES fell short of a signature performance in the brutal Midwestern heat. Styx, however, brought their hometown game. They banged out their ‘best-of' like it was just another fun July evening at the office.