One With Everything was recorded at the Blossom Music Center in Cleveland Ohio, on May 25, 2006, about three weeks before the concert I attended. The orchestra kicks off the proceedings with some simple "Blue Collar Man"-themed intro music, as the band unassumingly takes their places on stage. As soon as Lawrence Gowan reaches his keyboard stand, he launches into the killer opening riff to Styx's working man's anthem, "Blue Collar Man". Wow! The sound is huge, and the energy in the arena is amazing. Right away you can tell that this is going to be a special night.
For the second song, they go all the way back to 1975's Equinox album for a spirited rendition of "Lorelei". Instead of Gowan handling the lead vocal chores, which were originally performed by Styx's founding member Dennis De Young, JY gave his unique spin on the tune, and it sounded surprisingly good. When the rest of the band joined in on the harmony vocal chorus, it was elevated to awesome.
Speaking of De Young, the band must have really wanted to stick it to their former frontman, when it came to the royalties department. With the exception of De Young's shared writing credit for "Lorelei", and some of his songs being featured in the medley, all of the Styx songs in the set were written exclusively by Shaw or JY. They went so far as to even leave off such beloved Styx classics as "Lady" and "Come Sail Away". What a shame. Don't worry though, because Shaw also wrote many of the band's best tunes, and they are all featured prominently here.
This tour was in support of Styx's 2005 album of classic rock covers, Big Bang Theory, and the show features a few of that albums best tracks. Young introduces the Willie Dixon classic "It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)" with a heartfelt speech about meeting Dixon's widow a few years ago, and about just how insightful some of his lyrics are. One of the CYO's female violinists launches the tune with some wonderful country-fiddle like licks that are eventually matched by Shaw's bluesy slide guitar riffs. This performance simply blew away the album version.
The early highlight of the show was Styx's brilliant cover of the Beatles' "I Am The Walrus". This was easily the best song on the Big Bang Theory album, and hearing it performed with all of its full orchestral glory was amazing. One of the band's best newer songs, comes by way of their Cyclorama album, which was released in 2003. I have the album, and never really found any of the songs to be particular standouts, but, damn if "One With Everything" doesn't sound incredible here. Props again to the CYO!
Article comments
1 - Gator
This is truly a magnificant DVD. I rushed out and bought it as soon as I learned of the Youth Orchestra & Chorus. These youngsters are marvelous. Liza Grossman is doing a wonderful job with these young adults, she is super! STYX made a very wise choice in performing with the orchestra. James Young and Tommy Shaw are very gifted composers, players and vocalists. The new lineup is killer. Amazing musicians and performers. I've been playing for some 30 years and I'm getting up there in age. I love to see the bands I grew up with still rockin' strong. This is not just a nastalgia tour selling on an old name. This is a serious performance that is a must for your collection. As powerful as the performance was, they all appeared to be having a blast, very relaxed, very excited...not "stuffy shirt" or over concentrating. Not to forget the sound engineers...anyone who has actually ever had to mix period knows how tedious it can be. The engineers did an excellent job with over 150 microphones to keep track of. My Bose system played in 5.1 gave me a remarkable mix. Everything was present, nothing overbearing, really fine good clean flat response. Improper sound engineering can break even the best performance. The engineering on this DVD allows the performance to shine. Excellent concert, grab this DVD!
2 - lowell watts
at a time when our school is cutting out the music program, it did my heart good to see that some folks still understand the importance of the arts for our children.