The backstories of some longtime rock bands are like an order at Waffle House: scattered, smothered, covered and diced.
A trio of complementary classic rock acts who performed at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta on Sunday night ― Don Felder, Kevin Cronin and Styx ― each has a messy behind-the-scenes story to tell but gave the nearly sold-out crowd exactly what they wanted: a showcase of familiar hits and in two cases, a replay of two multiplatinum albums from the vinyl era.
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Don Felder, lead guitarist of the Eagles for 27 years until he was fired in 2001, exchanged lawsuits with bandmates Don Henley and Glenn Frey over financial issues. The cases were eventually settled, but any reunion appears unlikely.
Instead, Felder has happily spent the past 24 years touring with his own band. This is his third round touring with Styx, opening the night with a no-nonsense 10-song set featuring eight familiar Eagles songs. He also threw in two solo songs, including darkly brooding midtempo rocker “Hollywood Victim” from his recently released solo album, “The Vault.”
His backing band featured much younger musicians who likely were not alive when any of the Eagles songs they played first came out, but they provided impeccable facsimiles of those massive hits. Felder, at age 77, evokes a California coolness while providing frisky guitar work on songs like “Already Gone” and “One of These Nights.” Vocally, he is no Henley or Frey, but his delivery is entirely adequate, supplemented by an audience that knew all the words to every tune.
And he clearly still gets a kick finishing his set with “Hotel California.” Felder was responsible for the classic song’s musical structure and brought out his double-neck guitar to work the solos.
Credit: RODNEY HO/ajc
Credit: RODNEY HO/ajc
Up next was REO Speedwagon ― except you can’t call this rendition of the band that, despite the fact it is the exact same band that was at Ameris a year ago coheadlining with Train under that name.
Since then, a dispute cropped up between lead singer Cronin and the two other living original members, keyboardist Neal Doughty and bassist Bruce Hall. Doughty retired in 2023, and Hall has been unable to play regularly because of chronic back issues.
Cronin, at age 73, wanted to keep touring under the REO Speedwagon moniker without them. They outvoted him. So he now has to call himself the Kevin Cronin Band and can no longer sell REO Speedwagon T-shirts at the merch table.
He has two veteran musicians in his band, but they arrived in 1989 after REO’s chart-topping heyday: guitarists Dave Amato and drummer Bryan Hitt. He supplemented Doughty and Hall’s absences with former Whitesnake keyboardist Derek Hilland and bassist Matt Bissonette, who was part of Elton John’s final tour.
After crooning the 1981 No. 1 hit “Keep on Loving You” from the piano, Cronin briefly alluded to the name issue.
“We are going to play a bunch of hits back in the day long ago when I was leader singer of REO Speedwagon,” he told the crowd. “It seems like only last year.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/ajc
Credit: RODNEY HO/ajc
Legal issues aside, Cronin exhibited the same level of kinetic energy and joy on stage that he has maintained for a half century, whether it’s on a deep cut like “Hi Infidelity” or the propulsive top 10 hit “Take It on the Run.”
His positivity runs through many of the band’s fan favorites with titles that could have been culled from the “self-help” section of a bookstore: “Keep Pushin’,” “Time For Me To Fly,” “Ridin’ the Storm Out.” And he concluded his 15-song set with a very apropos song: “Roll with the Changes.”
Credit: RODNE
Credit: RODNE
Headliner Styx subbed out its ailing lead singer Dennis DeYoung back in 1999. They found a more easygoing replacement in Lawrence Gowan and never had a reason to bring DeYoung back. (DeYoung, Styx manager Charlie Brusco said in a 2024 podcast, “likes to be in control of everything” and his domineering personality alienated him from other members of Styx.)
The band has been on the road ever since, touring almost nonstop with fervor matched only by the likes of the Dave Matthews Band or Journey.
This is Styx’s fourth appearance at Ameris in five years, with a stop at the Fox Theatre sandwiched in there in 2023. And for the first time, they played their 1977 hit LP “The Grand Illusion” from beginning to end. Generally considered their best album by critics, it focuses on the trappings of fame and fortune.
The live version of “Come Sail Away,” the biggest hit off the album, was bold and bombastic live, an undeniable gem led by Gowan, a singer who had his own solo following in his native Canada before joining Styx. Wearing a glitzy spangled jacket, he sang DeYoung’s lead vocals and played keyboards with unalloyed confidence and impish flair.
Credit: RODNEY HO
Credit: RODNEY HO
The band at certain points had five men with guitars working the stage at one time, three of whom are Styx members from the early days. Tommy Shaw, who at age 71 still has what appears to be the same hairstyle he donned in 1978, remains the anchor. His fellow OG James “JY” Young looked a bit stiff at times, but his persona didn’t affect the quality of his fretwork. And 76-year-old bassist Chuck Panozzo, who cofounded the band in 1961 with DeYoung, came on in a supporting role for a few songs.
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Credit: RODNEY HO/
After “The Grand Illusion,” the band featured eight more songs, including staples like “Lady,” “Blue Collar Man” and “Too Much Time on My Hands.” But the set list also reflected the well-documented tensions between Shaw’s desire to be a straightforward rock band and DeYoung’s tendencies toward maudlin theatrics and balladeering.
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Credit: RODNEY HO/
As a result, Styx avoids three notable songs, all penned and sung by DeYoung: “Babe,” the band’s only No. 1 hit, released in 1979; the 1983 top 10 breakup ballad “Don’t Let It End” and the band’s final top 10 hit, “Show Me the Way,” which became a popular anthem in 1990 during the brief Persian Gulf war.
But Styx recently brought back DeYoung’s 1981 top 3 hit “The Best of Times,” which sounded glorious in the warm summer air as Gowan channeled DeYoung’s vocal angst and Shaw blasted through his guitar solo.
Credit: RODNEY HO/r
Credit: RODNEY HO/r
And they gave the audience “Mr. Roboto,” easily Styx’s most polarizing song from 1983, widely mocked for its absurd grandiosity and the chanting line “Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.”
That song, from concept album “Kilroy Was Here,” focused on a dark future dominated by robots where rock is deemed illegal. Creative differences among band members precipitated Styx’s six-year breakup soon after the album’s release.
But much like Toto’s “Africa,” the song found new audiences over the decades and became a 1980s cultural touchstone.
In 2018, the band buried the hatchet with “Mr. Roboto” and began playing it live. It’s now part of the encore. As evidenced by Sunday night’s show, the live version is heavier than the radio edit, with more aggressive guitar. Gowan did not shy away from the drama as the audience sang along lustily while huge “Mr. Roboto” robots appeared on the big screen.
Credit: RODNEY HO
Credit: RODNEY HO
The future is indeed upon us, making the song‘s lyrics prescient: “The problem’s plain to see/Too much technology/Machines to save our lives/Machines dehumanize”
The band earlier introduced a new song, “Search and Destroy,” which fits in nicely with its 1970s/80s output but featured a distractingly creepy AI video of the band. No thank you.
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Credit: RODNEY HO/
P.S. Did I previously say Styx loves to tour? If you missed the band at Ameris, you can catch them in a mere 10 weeks, on Sept. 14 at the Fred in Peachtree City. Tickets go on sale July 11 starting at $80 at amphitheater.org.
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