By Andrew Bansal
July 14th 2016, Greek Theatre, Los Angeles CA: Seminal progressive classic hard rock group Boston have entered the 40th year of their career in 2016, and to celebrate the milestone, they embarked on their 40th anniversary North American headline tour, an extensive run of dates that began in late April and is slated to come to end with two back-to-back hometown shows in Boston, Massachusetts in mid-August. Former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung joined Boston on the summer portion of this tour, and the two arrived in the Los Angeles area for a gig at the Greek Theatre on Thursday July 14th 2016 to perform all the hits as well as some deep cuts for the diehards. The classic rock crowd paid good money to fill most of the seats in this lovely open-air venue located in Griffith Park, and expected a great show from both bands. Regardless of the quality of the performances, whether you’d actually be able to hear the show was an entirely different matter altogether, and unfortunately, purely depended on where you were in relation to the stage.
Doors opened at 6:30, and at 7, Dennis DeYoung took the stage with his backing band to served up a hearty portion of the most popular and loved Styx classics. Some ticket holders admitted to attending this show more for Dennis DeYoung than for Boston, and the 69-year old DeYoung vindicated fans’ faith with his exploits on vocals and keyboards, as he exuded a charismatic presence and did full justice to each song in the set. His band, which includes his wife Suzanne DeYoung on backing vocals, also played their role to perfection and got their chance to shine in the spotlight at various moments through the set. The venue was not completely occupied during DeYoung’s performance, but Boston fans that arrived early enough to catch all or most of the set were grateful to have done so, as it was a pleasant bonus offering in addition to the headline act. The one thing unmistakably notable from the writer’s vantage point i.e. section B row V (see image below) was the strange predicament of not being able to hear the show very clearly, as it simply didn’t sound loud enough in these seats, which were priced at $80 plus taxes and fees. And by Greek Theatre standards, these are considered ‘decent’ seats, as there are two whole sections of seats behind Section B, and only the Orchestra in front of it. Was it just a case of the opening act being dialed down in comparison to the headliner? Would the sound be more powerful during Boston’s set? One could only hope. Nonetheless, Dennis DeYoung and his group of musicians put on quite a fantastic show and come as highly recommended to all classic rock fans as a band worth experiencing live.
Dennis DeYoung set list (all Styx songs unless mentioned otherwise):
01. The Grand Illusion
02. Lady
03. Blue Collar Man
04. Mr. Roboto
05. Too Much Time on My Hands
06. Babe
07. Suite Madame Blue
08. The Best of Times
09. The End (Beatles cover)
Encore:
10. Renegade
11. Come Sail Away
At 8:30, the members of Boston took their positions on stage to deliver a spectacular 2-hour show filled to the brim with fan-favorites and more in a whopping 23-song career retrospective array of tunes, visually enhanced by the band’s typically colorful stage setup and usage of video and graphics on the giant screens behind and on either side of the stage. In keeping with the spirit of the American summer and the freshly elapsed 4th of July holiday, Boston opened with a rocking instrumental rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner, before delving into their own catalog. As expected, a large portions of the 1976 self-titled debut album and the ’78 album ‘Don’t Look Back’ were performed as part of the show, songs like ‘Rock & Roll Band’, ‘Smokin’ and ‘Feelin’ Satisfied’ standing out as some of the early highlights of the long set, and jams like ‘Foreplay’ keeping the sparks flying till the very end. For the most part, Boston let the music do the talking and there was hardly any interaction with the crowd between songs, which was most certainly a good thing and a refreshing departure from the norm, specially when it comes to old bands. The one time guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and mastermind Tom Scholz addressed the crowd, he referred to a facebook fan comment regarding his on-stage appearance on this tour, which according to that fan makes Scholz looks like he just got done mowing his lawn. Scholz humbly announced that he had no problem with that comment whatsoever, and that he doesn’t believe in or cater to the rockstar look. “You know, I wouldn’t wear my Batman shirt while mowing my lawn.”, said Scholz, gleefully pointing to his crumpled, worn-out tank top.
Boston have always portrayed space/sci-fi related themes in their artwork and stage setup, and to that effect, the Greek Theatre stage resembled the inside of a spaceship at certain moments during the set, through a masterful combination of lights, graphics and stage fog. Performance-wise, all members were at the peak of their powers, including lead vocalist Tommy DeCarlo, who has grown into the role over his eight-year tenure in the band so far. Replacing Brad Delp, DeCarlo had big shoes to fill, but he does a mighty fine job at it. Fans undoubtedly still miss Delp, but are welcoming and accepting towards DeCarlo. Besides, in all honesty, it always has been and will be the Tom Scholz show, as his is the brain and talent behind everything the band has done. Boston have often been lumped in with soft rock and glam/hair metal bands, but the truth is that there’s a strong progressive nature in their music, which is why it has stood and will stand the test of time. Of course, one of Boston’s signature elements is the guitar tone, thanks to Tom Scholz’ engineering background which pioneered a unique sonic texture and flavor using solid-state electronics, a kind of sound many have tried to replicate over the past four decades. This quality was strongly and at times overwhelmingly evident when this writer last saw the band, at the Forum in 2014. But sadly on this occasion, the Greek Theatre’s starkly inadequate sonic output was very far from doing any justice to the beauty and power of the exemplarily clean and rich Boston sound. This affected the crowd response as well, and Boston did not get the kind of ovation they really deserved.
Basically, unless you paid upwards of $150 to get a seat within the first 15 rows from the stage, you didn’t pay enough to be able to hear the show properly. And what’s more, if people around you are talkative, which is often the case at big shows, good luck hearing anything at all. The low volume in turn also resulted in diverting the average attendee’s already low attention span even further, and the volume of the talking was rising as that of the band stayed the same. The Greek Theatre has speakers only on either side of the stage, and nothing at all to relay the sound to people sitting in the back half of the theatre. Yes, there is probably a noise ordinance that they have to adhere to because of the neighborhood, and hence perhaps the low volume, but it doesn’t make for an enjoyable rock n’ roll experience for the seats the majority can afford. Attending such a show is merely an exercise in bragging, and for that, the price level for any and every seat behind the Orchestra section should be much lower than it usually is.
The Greek Theatre is a very pleasant and picturesque venue, but as this show proved, far from the ideal venue to see your favorite rock n’ roll band. If you live in the Los Angeles area and a band you really love is playing at the Greek Theatre anytime soon, you’re better off hoping and waiting for them to do a show somewhere else in town next time around. All in all, this was a night decorated with great performances by Boston and Dennis DeYoung that everyone in attendance saw but very few heard.
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Boston set list:
01. The Star-Spangled Banner
02. Rock & Roll Band
03. Smokin’
04. Feelin’ Satisfied
05. Peace of Mind
06. Long Time Segue
07. Cool The Engines
08. We’re Ready
09. Higher Power
10. I Think I Like It
11. Don’t Look Back
12. Something About You
13. Amanda
14. The Launch
15. More Than a Feeling
16. “E” Jam (instrumental)
17. The Journey
18. To Be a Man
19. Walk On
20. Walk On (Some More)
21. Foreplay / Long Time
Encore:
22. Used To Bad News
23. Party
Remaining Tour Dates:
7/23 – Walker, MN – Moondance Jam
7/30 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theater
7/31 – Grand Rapids, MI – Devos Hall
8/02 – Nashville, TN – Woods Amphitheatre at Fontanel
8/04 – Baton Rouge, LA – River Center Arena
8/05 – Biloxi, MS – Beau Rivage Theatre
8/06 – Alpharetta, GA – Amphitheatre at Encore Park
8/07 – Augusta, GA – Bell Auditorium
8/09 – Bethlehem, PA – Musikfest
8/10 – Brooklyn, NY – Coney Island Amphitheater
8/11 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
8/13 – Atlantic City, NJ – Mark G Etess Arena
8/14 – Boston, MA – Wang Theater
8/15 – Boston, MA – Wang Theater