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ladybugking

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  1. Hahaha, Ron. I thought I might hear that from you. I was going to post here and there and then, well, life got in the way. I KNOW the folks here appreciate anything and everything DDY. Those MR people need to hear how good his show is vs, well, that touring Styx show. That said, I think both shows have something to offer fans, and for those who like it, go see them both. Dennis certainly gives one a far more well-rounded look at Styx music and his immense contribution to it. Plus, as we also know, you can get three types of DDY shows vs only one for the touring band. As I said in my review, I would love to catch an acoustic show sometime, too.
  2. I have really gotten behind on things. I meant to post this review here as well. I did post it on Melodic Rock and then, well, things got busy. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get to this show but I am SO glad I made the drive over to see it. I really was determined to see this lineup with Tom, Jimmy, August and Craig as the new additions. The place looked pretty full, and one of Dennis' people said the venue was about 80-85% sold out. Not bad for a foray into Texas where he is not well known at all outside of Styx. Here is what I posted on MR.com. with a few tweaks: If there is an opportunity, this is a show you should see. Dennis has been given a new performing life with this band he has now, no question. There was a ton of energy onstage and they are a tight, together, working group. While there was a lot to like about his former backing band, there is simply no comparison to these stellar musicians. Dennis said they had not played together for three weeks and, honestly, you could feel what I sensed as genuine camaraderie these guys (and gal) have among themselves. They were having fun and nothing seemed forced or fake. Dennis bounces off of them and vice-versa and it all works very well. August, Jimmy and Craig are first rate players/singers. I was also enthralled with Tom Sharpe’s showmanship and accomplishment as almost an orchestral drummer. I kept hearing fills, sounds, rhythms that just made the onstage sound so complete and realized it was Tom using all kinds of things to create interesting backgrounds to every song. He has a nice theatricality about him, too. And Dennis. What can I say? He was just full of electricity. The voice is still dead-on perfect. He still does the dorky moves but has added some pretty nifty footwork as he works the stage. He moves around like a skinny cat and mugs and grins along the way. And his keyboard work is off the chain. It was SO great to see that part of him opened back up again. He got standing O’s every time he tore it up. And speaking of standing O’s. The audience, including me, acted like starved Styx music fans. Ones who wanted to see and hear the original singer and keyboardist. They stood up over and over and, for the last 4 songs or so, just stayed standing and danced and swayed and sang along. Everything a concert like that should have been. Dennis has cut down a lot on the between songs patter. Mostly it is back-to-back-to-back songs, all which, of course, I could sing along with word-for-word. (Some new comments from him. I had not heard him talk about stopping dyeing his hair in 1997 and how so many musicians, Brian May for example, are all finally starting to look like him now that they have stopped, too. It was a fun, funny take on aging rockers.) The setlist was one I much liked, though still a few I would love to hear at some point.(CastleWallsCastleWalls) He did do a beautiful “Desert Moon” with a long, terrific guitar solo from Jimmy. I have never been a fan of “Don’t Let it End”, but this acoustic version, totally stripped down, is just wonderful. Just wow to that one. Nothing not to like about it. "Mr Roboto” has really become a camp highlight at his shows, no question. The audience went nuts over it, and you could tell Dennis took it just the right way. His smile said it all – “Yeah, it’s campy, but didn’t we all have fun with it?” He said, after “Roboto,” that his was the only show where you will hear “Show Me the Way” and “Mr. Roboto” back-to-back. Yep. SMTW was predictably gorgeous. One of the (many) highlights was, of course, “Born for Adventure”. Blew everyone back to the back wall. I cannot believe he has put this in his show and very grateful for it, too!! The audience had lots of younger people in it and, of course, plenty of us old rock fans. It was a nice mix and I really do not think anyone went home disappointed. As I said, nice crowd. The entire lower section was full. There were, as usual, a few sound glitches that Dennis actually addressed onstage to the guys. Told them nothing could be done. Mostly everything was pretty tightly packaged and I didn't detect many problems. They had not played together for 3 weeks, so there may have been some missteps, noticeable only to them. I have seen DDY many times, and you can tell whether he thinks the show went well and if he had a good time. I sensed he was quite happy about everything and the reception he got in Texas. I talked to Suzanne after the show briefly (and Dennis) and both asked how I thought it went. Big ups from me, of course! Hey. I truly meant it. One of the best of his shows I have ever seen. The only other DDY show I would someday love to experience is the acoustic show. Maybe someday. Right now I am happy.
  3. I so agree, Ron. My last anything DDY-related was seeing "Hunchback" in Chicago. It was a blast of a trip and, in addition, I got a nice visit with everyone, and with Charles Lofrano. He was such a sweet guy and I still miss him, even though our contact was limited. The music in DDY's "Hunchback" is as good as ANYTHING ever to be on Broadway. I have never come off of that assessment and I have seen/heard a lot of it.
  4. -- Nice video. Exellent quality and a nice summary of a DDY show. (My browser is Firefox) -- I guess, thanks to seeing photos and videos of August, I always thought he resembled Robin Zander of Cheap Trick. I don't think he looks anything like Tommy Shaw. If you really look at him, though, he looks like .... August Zadra. So there! --I have seen Jimmy in person before he joined up with DDY and so, I never saw much resemblance to JY. I guess for both guys, there is the long blonde hair. That's about it. --I think there are so many more outlets for discussion etc., between Facebook and Twitter etc. I know I spend a little too much time on Twitter, but am sort of addicted and I read a lot of linked articles from there. I find I don't visit DDYTalk like I used to. Or some of the other message boards I used to frequent either. I do know when Dennis does something new or has an interview or whatnot, the board lights up a bit more. AND, years ago, when Dennis had that sucky, awful website, this was the ONLY place to get news about him. Now his website is vastly improved and he is on Facebook, too. Oh, and I completely agree about the civility, Ron. There is "another" board for all that nastiness (though that has largely played out). I like this one to be a place of information and comments. Just my .02 here.
  5. ladybugking

    Regan

    Wasn't there a photo of them with Reagan? Seems I remember one, but have no idea when/where I saw it. Dennis was in it, as I recall. But I also may be mixing it up with the one of them at the stock exchange. That's what old age will do to ya! Ron, I sure hope a new DVD of the acoustic show will happen. I know there is a long process between the talk and the actual product, but I remember the long discussions that took place about the Soundstage show and, sure enough, it materialized and was quite wonderful. What I hope they are trying to re-create on DVD is the uniqueness of that acoustic show.
  6. Thanks, Boom. I am hoping I can get to this show in Stafford, especially since I asked them more than once if they were coming to Texas. It really would be great to hear the lineup he has now and I would love to talk to them, if possible. My last DDY show was way too long ago, even though I have seen him in some great settings.
  7. ladybugking

    Texas!

    For the first time in MANY years (2000?), Dennis will be playing a couple of Texas dates. They are a ways off and who knows what may change, but, for now, he is scheduled for the Stafford Center (near Houston) and a venue in Dallas. I fully plan to attend the Stafford Center one if all goes well for me to do so. It is a bit of a drive, but not bad. I think I recall, in my many queries to Tim (and Dennis) about possibly coming to Texas -- both polite, but a bit, uh, evasive -- Tim did mention the Stafford Center as a possibility.
  8. I gotta add to this remembering the first time I heard Dennis' solo demo of Hunchback and how blown away I was by the incredible music he wrote and how amazingly he sang it. His voice, to me, has never shown greater range. Dawn-Marie was such a wonderful partner on this recording as well. It is too bad it did not get a big production, but so many factors worked against it. He is in good company regarding this. Getting something from working production to full-blown Broadway experience is a huge undertaking and many, many worthy productions never see the light of day. (Or the lights of Broadway, that's for sure.) The Chicago production was simply wonderful for the small venue where it played, and it well deserved the award it got.
  9. Hope Goldmine will post it someday. The one he did a few years ago is on there, so maybe so. Thanks for the cover photo jpeg, Ron. Uhmmm....I might have gone with something different re the cover, but that is just me.
  10. Well, they could not very well mention his "singing" as bringing anything to the table. Oh, and Japan TV video? Anyone seen it? Dennis leaps from the stage to the top of the piano and back to center stage. Just sayin'....
  11. Really? Oh wow. If it is sort an addendum/remake Part 2, we know for sure it will scald Dennis even more and probably present the current band in a bright light of positivity. Ugh! I am on Twitter, but doubt I want to deal with this, Ron. I kinda stick to the feed I have, which seems to suck up way more time than I should allow.
  12. What it seems to boil down to is the current band can do/say anything they want, including changing the history pretty much regularly. Unfortunately, Dennis seems to be powerless to fight this revisionist history. Just more layers of crap laid on by the current lineup in general and JY in particular.
  13. I didn't know about this connection to JY, Boom. I think Not Dead was included to quash those persistent characterizations that Dennis was "too Broadway" and "could not rock." That song, and how he sang it, I think dropped a bucket of bricks on that stupid idea. Many people forget that DDY has one of the strongest rock voices in the business, then and now. He also has a versatile voice. Big, effing deal. The guy is a Master Class in singing, all forms.
  14. Both camps hated this when it reached its final, heavily-edited-to-create-a-villain-(Dennis), made its way to VH1. I have read/heard that some footage was left out of the original and that may be the "remastered" part of this. I really doubt if anyone contributed new interviews, but VH1 might slot in new footage of Touring Styx to update it a bit. The Journey BTM was originally 1 1/2 hours and was shown maybe only once in that length, then further airings were 1 hour. I would like to see that one again, but I think that band feels the same way that Styx does about their program. Trivia: The Styx BTM was the second most-watched of these shows, behind only the debut program on Milli Vanilli. People had great curiosity about Styx, I think, since so little was out there publicity-wise and what was, to many, a sort of mystery band. This BTM on them contributed a LOT to the polarizing of the fan base.
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