Worldwide tour brings STYX to Ribfest
Originating in a suburban Chicago basement, STYX broke through in the 1970s and '80s with four multiplatinum albums and numerous hit songs.
The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years — Dennis DeYoung was replaced by Canadian singer and keyboardist Lawrence Gowan in 1999 — but continues to release albums and has toured more since 1999 than in all of its previous years combined.
“In the last 12 years that I've been in the band, we've played over 1,200 shows,” Gowan said.
STYX will add one more performance to that list at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 2, during the Naperville Exchange Club's Ribfest celebration at Knoch Park.
Gowan recently talked with the Daily Herald about joining the band, being part of STYX and the Ribfest concert.
Q. How did you become a member of the band?
A. I opened a show for them in Montreal in 1997. People there were very familiar with my music; it has been played as much as STYX music has on the radio in Canada. I never had a release in the United States so they were kind of surprised to hear all these songs they were unfamiliar with. But they heard the crowd singing along to them and they saw me as a piano player and a vocalist.
At the end of the night they said we should do some more concerts together, we compliment each other, and I agreed. A couple years later they reached a crisis point and felt they had to make a change in the band. I was the first man to join.
Q. How does your solo career compare to being a member of STYX?
A. I really enjoy both. STYX is a worldwide, legendary band and it's a privilege for anyone to be a part of that. When I do my solo thing, that's where I originally come from and it's very gratifying, and it's very tough work and it's a lot to live up to.
Being in a band like STYX, where we play over 100 shows a year, it's really impossible to focus on anything else. I have done some solo stuff in the last couple years, but last week we were in Sweden and the week before that we were in England, now we're back in the U.S. for the summer.
There's a lot of demand for STYX to play around the world, and being part of that I get to share the enjoyment with everyone else.
Q. What will the show at Ribfest be like? What music will you be playing?
A. People who come to a STYX show are going to expect to hear “Renegade,” “Blue Collar Man,” “Come Sail Away” ... those are standard songs. They would be very disappointed if we didn't live up to those expectations.
But there's such a depth of material to choose from. Last fall we actually did a tour where we played back-to-back the entire “Grand Illusion” album and the entire “Pieces of Eight” album. So it's likely that we may pull one or two tracks from those records, some of which have never been played live before but have become band favorites over the last 30 years or so that they've been out.
It always comes down to the day as well, whatever feels like the right STYX menu for that day is usually what we try to concoct.
Q. What does the future of the band look like?
A. We just completed another record called “Regeneration 2,” which will be coming out this year. We have a live DVD of the last concert coming out later this year. We always have some new songs that we're trying to find the opportunity to get into the studio to record whenever we can get off the road.
As far as the long distance future goes, I think it's foolhardy for any band to make plans on those terms. It's the kind of life where you really have to focus on the day and not get too caught up in what the future is going to bring because you really don't know what that is.
But we do know that on July 2 we're coming to Naperville, that much I can say for sure.