My First Concert: Styx, 1983
Styx played at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. where my family was staying during the summer. I was 14 and still a disciple of Dennis DeYoung and Co., although having heard their first single, “Mr. Roboto,” I was beginning to feel a little embarrassed for them. But I cajoled my mother into going.
My memories of the concert are fleeting:
- The smell of pot rising from the seats below (I’m not sure how I knew it was pot smoke, not having smelled it before, but it smelled so weird that I knew it couldn’t be anything else).
- Tommy Shaw showing (painfully) that he had no acting skills. (You see, the concert was performed as a rock opera, with Shaw playing the role of Jonathan Chance, a young musician who … er, never mind.)
- James Young telling everyone that the devil had nothing to do with the writing of “this song” (“Snowblind” – which led me to wonder with trepidation which songs he did have something to do with – “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)”? “The Best of Times”? “Babe”??).
But overall my memory is of seeing my boyhood idols performing the songs I grew up with, and I sang every song with gusto. Yes, Styx’s music has been compared with a parking lot full of whale vomit. Yes, their synthesizers sound more dated than disco. But they are still a guilty pleasure, and I own their Greatest Hits CD.
Hey, it could be worse. I could like REO Speedwagon. That is worse, isn’t it?
I had the time of my life. Thank you, Peter.
I just remember that I was always envious of your Styx t-shirt.