• On March 18th, 2014; Dennis DeYoung, the legendary front man of Styx and author of five key songs that define that band’s career, returned to Los Angeles for the first time during his solo career to a sold out show at the El Rey Theater.
In just a few short hours of the show’s announcement, tickets sold out at an astounding fan appreciation price of just five dollars. With gratitude to fans that have supported DeYoung over the years, the show was truly a gift of thanks to long-time fans that haven’t seen him perform outside of Styx in Los Angeles, ever.
• With doors opening at 8:00 pm, fans lined the sidewalk starting in the 6 o’clock hour on Wilshire Boulevard with tickets in hand and the buzz was about what songs the band might perform. Photos and reviews of the previous show in Joliet, IL had revealed guitarist August Zadra taking the vocal lead on select songs and fans shared the amazing sound of the band being so close to the record it was guaranteed hit all the right chords with lifelong fans! Still, what patrons would get tonight was an absolute surprise.
• Opening the show with “The Grand Illusion,” the band performed for an hour and a half, and had DeYoung interacting with the crowd. On two occasions he was handed items that from the audience that he shared with fans. One was a copy of the Styx “Paradise Theater” album, on vinyl, and another was a fan-made sign requesting a personal song favorite – “Desert Moon.”