Both are mainstream rock bands that hail from Illinois. Both reached their commercial apex in the early 1980s. And both continue to perform more than 100 concerts a year.
So it makes some sense that Styx and REO Speedwagon decided to pair up for a co-headlining, recession-busting tour across North America during the current summer concert season. The tour (with ticket prices as low as $14.25) comes to the Shoreline Amphitheatre on Sunday — along with support acts .38 Special and the Greg Kihn Band, two other bands that came of age during the ’80s.
REO Speedwagon vocalist Kevin Cronin acknowledges that this tour is geared toward giving fans more bang for their buck during financially challenging times.
“We are going through some troubled times here,” Cronin says. “We’ve done what we can to keep ticket prices affordable while still presenting a five-star production. With .38 Special you’re really getting three headlining bands.”
The merging of Styx and REO Speedwagon for this tour is more than just sound business. Cronin says members of the two bands became good friends when they first toured together in 2000. They even recorded a single together — “Can’t Stop Rockin’ ” — that is being used to help promote this tour. During each concert, the two groups will converge on stage to perform this melodic rocker.
The video game Rock Band also is involved in promoting the tour and single. Fans can download “Can’t Stop Rockin’ ” as well as other Styx and REO Speedwagon songs for use in the popular game.
Styx keyboardist and vocalist Lawrence Gowan says music-oriented video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have played a key role in attracting increasingly younger fans to his band.
“It’s not just the loyal fans who are showing up to our shows,” Gowan says. “The age of our audience really keeps skewing younger and younger. There are many, if not more, people under 30 that are seeing the band than those over 30. I would attribute that to the resurgence of classic rock through things like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
“Also, Styx has been referenced in so many movies, from Adam Sandler’s ‘Big Daddy’ to ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘The Simpsons.’ People get curious and they want to check us out.”
The halcyon days of big hits may be in the past for both bands, but Cronin and Gowan say their respective groups are having more fun playing music today than they ever did.
Cronin says he is a better singer than he was 20 years ago. He also doesn’t take things for granted as he did in his youth, growing to appreciate every moment. He feels an increased responsibility to deliver his best performance every minute he’s on stage.
For Styx, its current sense of contentment stems partly from overcoming the internal strife that marked the band in the past. Even during its commercial heyday, there were serious artistic disagreements.
Former Styx keyboardist and vocalist Dennis DeYoung favored heavily theatrical concepts and a softer sound, while guitarist-vocalist James Young and guitarist-vocalist Tommy Shaw were unabashed rockers. After DeYoung left Styx in 1999, he sued the remaining members over the rights to the band name.
Styx released a studio album called “Cyclorama” in 2003, an album of ’60s covers called “Big Bang Theory” in 2005 and some scattered singles. But the new millennium mostly has been about touring and playing the old hits.
“The one problem the band has had is trying to find the time to make studio records,” says Gowan, who enjoyed a successful solo career in his native Canada before joining Styx. “There’s such an insatiable appetite for this band to play everywhere, and we’re enjoying that so much that we don’t feel all that much pressure to suddenly go and make a full studio album.”
Cronin, however, still relishes the idea of making albums even as digital singles have increased in popularity while CD sales have declined dramatically. REO Speedwagon released the album “Find Your Own Way Home” in 2007. Cronin is excited about the band’s next album, even though he is reluctant to talk about the details.
“It’s going to be a different kind of record,” he says. “If it turns out the way it should, it will be quite an accomplishment. But I don’t want to jinx it by talking about it too early.”
Styx and REO Speedwagon didn’t cross paths much when the two bands were star acts. But Cronin vividly remembers his late-’60s high school band in Chicago playing in a battle of the bands competition with a group called TW4. TW4 would later evolve into Styx.
“REO and Styx really didn’t have much contact until about 10 years ago when we toured together for the first time,” Cronin says. “Since then, we’ve really established a great relationship.”
Styx and
REO Speedwagon
With: .38 Special and the Greg Kihn Band
When: 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View
Tickets: $19.50-$79.50. Packages of lawn tickets are also available for $14.25 each. www.live
nation.com.