Come Sail Away With Dennis DeYoung of Styx (Erie, PA 8-20-10)

Celebrate Erie, the late-summer festival formerly known as We Love Erie Days, is a pretty big deal in my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. In recent years, it has become even more popular, thanks in part to the inclusion of major musical acts performing for free on the main stage on Friday or Saturday night. The past five years have seen such bands as the Bacon Brothers, Three Dog Night and the Beach Boys, and last night, the headliner was Dennis DeYoung of Styx.

I’m a child of the 80s, but I spent my elementary school years listening to music from the 60s and early 70s, so Styx was only just barely on my radar. Most of my familiarity with the band comes from the short-lived series Freaks and Geeks, which makes clever use of several of the band’s songs. My favorite incorporation of music in the series is the scene in the first episode in which Come Sail Away, the only Styx song I previously knew, plays at a school dance. It’s such an epic-sounding song, I thought it would be fun to hear in concert, but I wasn’t sure if that one hit was reason enough to brave the crowds. However, we went downtown last night to meet up with my aunt and uncle, who were planning to stay for the concert, so we tagged along. I’m glad we did.

Dennis DeYoung is a spry 63-year-old who seems to have a boundless energy matched by the instrumentalists and vocalists backing him up. I didn’t catch their names last night, but his website lists them as percussionist Tom Sharpe, guitarist / vocalist August Zadra, guitarist / vocalist Jimmy Leahey, keyboardist John Blasucci and bassist / vocalist Craig Carter. As usual, a massive crowd showed up, and we were far enough from the stage that all we could see were the spotlights, but thanks to the jumbotrons, we had a clear view of what was happening, and the sound carried to the back very well.

I often had trouble understanding the lyrics, but that tends to be the case at large outdoor concerts when they’re singing songs I don’t already know. When DeYoung spoke, however, I understood him clearly, and he was pretty chatty. He came across as quite affable and seemed to be having a great time, and the crowd appreciated all of his local references, such as his discussion of his conversation with Mayor Joe Sinnott, who picked him up from the airport, and his comment that “I’m in the only place where I can say it’s a good thing to have an Erie feeling - and I’m feeling it tonight!”

Among the songs, some of the best-received were the heartfelt Show Me the Way, which he wrote for his son and dedicated to veterans and active members of the military; Babe, which he wrote for Suzanne, his wife of 40 years, who he introduced to the audience at that point in the concert; and Don’t Let It End, which, judging from his introduction and the slow-dancing that ensued, seems to have been a staple at proms in the early 80s. Desert Moon was the only song of the night from his solo career; everything else was from his tenure with Styx. Most songs included extended instrumental portions, with synthesizers and electric guitars in full effect. DeYoung himself spent quite a bit of time tearing up the keyboard, and he also showed off some smooth dance moves during Mr. Roboto.

Thanks to the overly earnest Nick on Freaks and Geeks, I am very familiar with the song Lady, though I hadn’t realized it was a Styx song until it started up last night. I enjoyed singing along with that one a bit and imagining the lovelorn pothead’s exaggerated expressions as he serenaded the nonplussed Lindsay. Later, my brother pointed out that Renegade, too, had turned up on the show, though it took me a moment to recognize that one. Our parents left the concert early, but we decided to stick around, especially since Come Sail Away was the part of the concert we were most excited about. As we suspected, DeYoung saved that one for last, following a first “encore,” before which he explained that he was just going to pretend that he had left the stage and come back after monstrous applause.

DeYoung introduced the song by thanking the audience and saying that we were all going to “sail away” together. After the lovely opening segment on the piano, he kept silent, gesturing to the audience to sing the first two lines without him. He chimed in from the third line on, but everyone out on the street kept singing, leading to a communal experience akin to American Pie at the free outdoor Don McLean concert I attended in Buffalo in 2002. On that occasion, people stuck their heads out of upper-story office buildings to sing along with the chorus; here, some very energetic young women on the balcony above a nearby bar let loose with some very flashy glow-in-the-dark hula hooping. During the lengthy, electrified instrumental portions, there was plenty of dancing in the streets, and it definitely ended the concert on a high note.

Styx is a little hard-rockin’ for my tastes, but I found that I really enjoyed the concert, thanks to the incredibly proficient instrumentalists and DeYoung’s terrific stage presence. If you get a chance to sail away with DeYoung in concert, it’s an invitation worth accepting.