Boston and Dennis DeYoung Christen Austin’s Skyline Theater With Classic Rock Hits (SHOW REVIEW)

The new Statesman Skyline Theater grand opening in Austin boasted an impressive bill on Saturday with Boston touring on their 40th anniversary tour and preceded by Dennis DeYoung performing the music Styx. Fans couldn’t have asked for a nicer night for Austin’s newest music venue’s inaugural concert. Situated right on the Colorado River, fans of Boston and Styx were treated to both a first-rate concert experience as well as an unmatched view of the Austin skyline. Sprawled along the hillside were fans with chairs and blankets creating a sort of festival atmosphere. However, unlike most park-stage setups, the stage was easily viewable from most places and the sound was excellent -both being important factors when you are ready to rock out to some of the best loved classic rock songs.

Starting promptly on time, Dennis DeYoung and his band took to the stage to begin a short set that was made up solely of Styx hits. As one of the founding members and lead singer of the pop-prog rock group, DeYoung put on an amazing performance. From the first note of “The Grand Illusion” the audience could tell that this would be even better than going to see Styx sans DeYoung. Belting out “Lady” and “Come Sail Away” showed that time has had virtually no effect on his vocals. Taking the place of Tommy Shaw was lead guitarist/singer August Zadra, whose vocal stylings were almost indiscernible from Shaw’s when taking point on songs like “Renegade” and “Blue Collar Man”. The short set time made for an incredible performance that left audience members wondering if Boston would be able to top it.

After a stage changeover that included mounting a massive gong behind the drums, Tom Scholz took the stage shattering any notion that they would be upstaged. Starting the set with a jammed out, hard rock version of “The Star Spangled Banner”, the band launched right into “Rock & Roll Band” and “Smokin’” from their massively successful debut album. Taking on the role of lead singer for the late co-founder Brad Delp was Tommy DeCarlo. As a one-time fan of the band, DeCarlo’s vocals were indistinguishable from Delp’s and his stage presence lent the songs an arena rock feel. Though long-time guitarist Gary Pihl teased fans by asking if they wanted to hear a song from the new album or something from the first one (the crowd response should be obvious,) the set list consisted almost exclusively of songs from their first three albums. The only exceptions being “Higher Power” from their Greatest Hits album and an extended jam that had Scholz amazing fans with his command of the strings. Being the original member of the band, Scholz recorded the whole first album by himself and had Delp add vocals later. This translated in a live setting as Scholz could be seen jumping from instrument to instrument throughout the course of the night. Where the beginning of the show saw “Feelin’ Satisfied” and “Peace of Mind”, the middle of the set was mired in songs from Third Stage and had many in crowd taking a seat. However, the crowd was brought back in towards the end with “More Than a Feeling” and “Foreplay/Long Time” closing the main set.

Both bands put on top notch performances that went off without a hitch. The cross-generational crowd got to see acts they’ve either loved for decades or recently discovered. The new venue saw a great turn out that will continue to happen over the summer months. Any doubts that anyone had about whether these two bands from four decades ago could still rock were shattered by the stellar performance. It would be doubtful that either sounded any better in their heyday.