On March 18th, 2014, Dennis DeYoung, the legendary front man of Styx and author of five key songs that define that band s career, returned to Los Angeles for the first time during his solo career to play a sold out show at the El Rey Theater. Recorded live for AXS-TV and captured in pristine HD quality, the performance has been slated for release via Frontiers Records.
Los Angeles FM radio giant 100.3 The Sound aided in show promotion with morning show host Uncle Joe Benson offering tickets to listeners in limited supply, just 20 seats available to winning entrants. In just a few short hours of the show s announcement, tickets sold out at an astounding fan appreciation price of just five dollars. With gratitude to fans that have supported DeYoung over the years, the show was truly a gift of thanks to long-time fans that haven t seen him perform outside of Styx in Los Angeles, ever.
With doors slated to open at 8:00 pm, fans started to line the sidewalk on Wilshire Boulevard with tickets in hand hours beforehand. They were all buzzing about what songs the band might perform.....not even their wildest expectations came close to what they would get absolutely, positively blown away by.
The amazing stage set was designed by DeYoung s son. Through the black backdrop shone multiple gemlike circles that glowed from one side of the stage to the other like a blanket of stars with the colors of the rainbow. Neon-like spots aimed both high and low rained down an array of light that swept over the audience. Packed from the front of the stage to the back of the house, the inside of the El Rey seemed more like a night at the Forum in 1985; just bigger than life and ready for broadcast. Opening the show with The Grand Illusion, the band performed for an hour and a half, and saw DeYoung joyously and playfully interacting with the crowd. On two occasions he was handed items from the audience that he shared with fans. One was a copy of the Styx Paradise Theater album, on vinyl, and another was a fan-made sign requesting a personal song favorite Desert Moon.
AXS-TV brought in a 25+ foot boom arm and 8 cameras to capture the magic of the show and the house production offered simply the most crisp and well perfected tone the band could create for a night that fans are going to cherish owning documentation of!