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by Doug Fox

photo by the Daily Herald

Styx's highly successful summer tour with Def Leppard may be winding down, but one thing that is not waning is bassist Ricky Phillips' unbridled enthusiasm for the stage.

"Last night's show, in Seattle -- we rocked the freakin' house!" said Phillips in a recent phone interview from Portland. "Not that we didn't always go out and attempt to, we're not trying to do anything different. We're just getting better, man. It's just getting ... the brew is just getting so bad, man. It's a bad-a-- brew right now, what's going on with this band."

The triple bill of Def Leppard, Styx and Tesla -- which hits USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City on Monday -- is entering the final week of a 46-date tour. Def Leppard is headlining all dates, putting Styx in the not-quite-so-familiar, full-time middle spot.

But Phillips believes that position on the bill has proven beneficial to the band.

Read more at heraldextra.com!