Residency Recap: Styx Delivers Knockout ‘Pieces of Eight’ Showcase
By Doug Fox
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – It was two and a half hours before show No. 4 of this year’s “Pieces of Eight” residency at The Venetian and Styx keyboardist/vocalist Lawrence Gowan was spitting out some uncanny foreshadowing.
We were in his dressing room discussing a multitude of topics when Gowan dispensed this gem while describing the band’s swagger in the minutes leading up to a show.
“Let me put it this way, we know how a show is going to unfold at the beginning and how the night is going to end,” he said. “But between Point A and Point B is anyone’s guess at that point because things could go sideways and we’re all aware of that.”
He could not quite have envisioned just how accurate that statement would prove to be that very night as his stage jacket and monitor pack conspired in a one-in-a-million wardrobe malfunction that momentarily mesmerized the band, crew members and fans alike.
It was just one entertaining moment during the band’s 11 days on site in Las Vegas. In addition to the five shows, band members were pulled in myriad directions involving many of the things Vegas offers, from other entertainment events, fine dining and shopping, to promotional appearances and for some, battling sudden sickness.
“The Stygian Chronicles” is here to share some additional insight into the band’s most recent reincarnation of “Pieces of Eight.” Let’s take a dive — boxing pun fully intended.
‘How Beautiful It Was Meant to Be’
The band originally dusted off “Pieces of Eight” in its entirety during a month-long run in 2010, and followed it up with back-to-back shows in Las Vegas in 2012. When I spoke to the band during this year’s residency, those who were around when the album was recorded acknowledged the thrill of revisiting the 1978 release while newer members embraced the challenge of perfecting the performance itself.
“It reminds me a lot of that time period,” said guitarist/vocalist James “JY” Young. “It tickles the nerves in my brain for that era — in this country’s life, in my life and all of the other stuff I saw back then.”
“It’s fun because we’ve had the time to pick at these songs and make them right,” said guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw. “All the instruments sound great, and everybody’s playing the right parts — except for me every once in a while. But it’s just so much fun to play.”
Drummer Todd Sucherman noted that playing the entire album for the first time in 14 years has given the band a fresh perspective on the 43-year-old, triple platinum recording.
“It’s good for us to take on projects that put our backs against the wall and we have to be on our toes mentally and musically,” said Sucherman, who was the first band member to appear onstage, situating himself behind the drum kit as the video board showed a young man dropping the needle on a “Pieces of Eight” album rotating on his bedroom stereo.
Audience reaction during the album portion of the shows was often more introspective than a typical Styx performance. They were more of an experience marked with building momentum than a continual release of emotional enthusiasm.
“I think the fans feel like they’re viewing a body of work rather than just a collection of random songs,” Sucherman surmised. “I think there’s a little bit more of a gravitas feeling from a listener’s perspective. They’re going with the ebb and flow of a record as opposed to ‘hit, bang, hit, bang, hit, bang.’ So, it has a nice, natural ebb and flow.”
In addition to the novelty of a full album show, the differences between “Pieces of Eight” and its immediate predecessor, “The Grand Illusion,” became more apparent, creating a different atmosphere throughout the course of this year’s residency, said guitarist/band leader Will Evankovich, a veteran now of five Styx residencies.
His perspective from a comparison standpoint was primed from performing “The Grand Illusion” in full throughout most of 2025.
“I wouldn’t normally have been inclined to say this, but the albums are so different that the atmosphere is also different,” Evankovich said of this year’s shows. “‘Pieces of Eight’ has a little bit of moodiness to it. So watching the reactions in the first hour this year versus last year, it’s a little different. Not better or worse, just kind of a different vibe altogether. And then we get right to the hits and everyone’s happy. Every year we do Vegas — I can’t describe it — but it’s always a different vibe.”
Mic-Drop for The Main Event
Styx fans are well-versed in how the “Pieces of Eight” album kicks off. But it wasn’t until the band’s final rehearsal prior to arriving in Las Vegas that an idea emerged — or, more accurately, re-emerged — that would give the presentation’s opening its knockout punch.
The boxing-themed “Great White Hope,” of course, kicks off “Pieces of Eight.” The band was working on the spoken introductory fanfare section before the lead vocals kick in when serendipity occurred.
Bassist Terry Gowan mentioned that it might punch up the opening if his brother delivered the lines from a mid-stage ribbon mic, patterned after real-life boxing matches. At that point, Lawrence remembered that crew tech Evan McElhinney, who handles the band’s monitors, had actually suggested that very thing before the month-long run of “Pieces of Eight” shows in 2010.
“It was just so obvious because of how the song starts and the fact that we were doing the album tour,” McElhinney said of his original brainstorm. “It just seemed like it was a no-brainer because I instantly thought about the ‘Rocky’ movies, and the guy who was talking like a boxing ring announcer. I thought that’d be super cool to do.”
McElhinney laughed at the memory, noting that it was his first tour with the band and he was undoubtedly perceived as this “young punk with dreadlocks” punching above his weight.
According to Lawrence Gowan, the main issue previously was accomplishing the mic-drop on different stages every night. Stage consistency throughout The Venetian residency, however, made it possible to resurrect the idea.
When the suggestion resurfaced at rehearsal, the Gowans approached Brian Wong, production manager, who immediately jumped on the phone with the onsite crew in Las Vegas to ascertain if it might be possible to rig the mic-drop effect.
“And within about 10 or 15 minutes, it felt like it was all put together,” said Terry Gowan, shaking his head at the efficiency of the collective effort in staging the memorable moment. “I was just, fingers crossed, ‘Is this going to happen?’ Because it really centers the moment of the opening of the show and it brings it to a Vegas type of setting. And I just thought, ‘We should be able to do that in Las Vegas.’ And, of course, we can, and we did and we do.”
“A few of the fans I’ve run into this week have all kind of gotten a kick out of it,” said McElhinney, “so it’s definitely been a worthwhile venture.”
The moment unfolded perfectly in all five shows — although there was a story circulating backstage that during the first on-site rehearsal the dropping microphone actually clocked Lawrence Gowan in the head.
Hey, when you’re staging a live rock ’n’ roll show, stuff inevitably happens. Speaking of which, what about that coat incident show No. 4?
‘They Say Do Your Best’
It was just a little over nine minutes into the fourth show when one of those pesky unexpected events unfolded in real time. In the middle of “I’m OK,” the second song of the evening, Lawrence Gowan typically finishes an extended organ solo with a flourish, pausing dramatically while slipping out of his sparkly coat and exaggeratingly tossing it to keyboard tech Jeff Heintz in the wings at stage right.
Only this time, however, the coat caught something and wouldn’t come completely off, hanging limply behind his waist. Gowan and the band were in a bit of a quandary, and faced an immediate decision of whether to start the song again on cue or wait until the issue could be resolved. After a longer-than-normal pause, Gowan opted for the former.
At this point, Heintz rushed to the stage and held up the coat from behind Gowan as he pivoted to face the audience on his rotating keyboard stand. The song pulsated forward as Heintz continued his efforts to try and extricate the coat from whatever it was snagged on. He motioned to McElhinney for a pair of scissors, did some quick wardrobe surgery and finally freed the sparkly accessory.
In spontaneous triumph, Heintz played the moment perfectly by pointedly holding the coat up with outstretched arms toward the audience, earning a well-deserved cheer as the band played on.
After the show, Heintz explained that Gowan’s monitor pack contained two antennas, each with a little nub on top. One of the antennas slipped inside a small loop inside of the jacket, and as Gowan attempted to remove it, the antenna nub caught and became inexorably twisted inside the loop. Not wanting to cut the trapped antenna, Heintz instead snipped off the loop itself.
The incident was just another reminder of all the moving pieces involved with putting on a live rock show.
“It would be easy to get complacent when things go so well most of the time,” Heintz said. “But you just don’t ever want to let your guard down. And we all watch out for each other.”
Gowan laughed following the show when reminded of his comment several hours prior about things potentially going sideways between Points A and B.
“It felt like an eternity up there,” he said, “but at least it proved we were live.”
Not in Kansas Anymore
Another reality of residency life is the added downtime between performances. No one wants to get caught with — ahem — too much time on their hands. Thankfully, Las Vegas always offers a plethora of off-the-concert-stage entertainment, shopping and dining opportunities and additional promotional obligations. This residency was no different.
Most of the band, for example, took in “The Wizard of Oz” at the Sphere and were emotionally — and a bit physically — blown away by the experience.
“The singing is just heartbreaking,” said Shaw. “And the characters leave you mesmerized.”
No one, it appeared, was more enthusiastic about the Sphere production than Terry Gowan. If everyone were loved the way Terry adores “The Wizard of Oz,” global divorce rates would plummet.
“The Wizard of Oz” was easily the best thing he experienced off-stage this year, Terry said, “And there shouldn’t even be a No. 2 after that. I suppose you could follow it up with something else, but it kept washing over me for the remainder of our time here.”
And don’t even get him started on Judy Garland’s performance as Dorothy unless you have a good five minutes to spare — which, thankfully, I did.
“Even with all the music and with all the sets and with all the other incredible characters and the story, and even in a setting like the Sphere, Judy Garland’s performance is still the heart and soul of that film,” he gushed. “Just her voice alone, her singing is unworldly. But also the way she as her character speaks, the way she delivers her dialogue. And the amazing thing about it is it still has the same emotional resonance to me that it did as a kid. … You believe her so much as being Dorothy. And I thought afterward, in the next couple of days, that it might be the greatest performance of the 20th century.”
In addition to visiting Oz, Lawrence Gowan also took a last-minute flyer on checking out one of Las Vegas’ longest-running performers: Donny Osmond. His biggest takeaway from the show wasn’t a musical one, per se, but more just an appreciation for a performer knowing exactly what his audience expects and delivering it to them.
“I could see that he’s an extremely polished performer. His presentation was polished … very Vegas,” he said. “He seems very authentic. It’s a bit contrived but in the best of ways. The whole thing was enjoyable.”
Sucherman kept up a busy off-stage schedule while in Las Vegas. In addition to also catching “The Wizard of Oz,” he enjoyed some great culinary experiences, hosted one of his masterclass drum clinics and met up with several friends — including his first drum hero, original Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine.
Shaw and the Gowan brothers also represented the band with an hour-long in-studio appearance on “Trunk Nation,” rock radio and media personality Eddie Trunk’s nationally syndicated show. Trunk was the host of the inaugural “Rockin in Paradise: Styx + Friends” event in Miramar Beach, Fla., in October. He has been invited back to host this year’s second iteration of the event, Oct. 8-10.
By his own admission, Evankovich enjoyed more of a laid-back approach to his time between shows this year.
“I am kind of boring because I don’t gamble,” he said. “I don’t necessarily go out and watch a lot of shows. I love fine dining, so I’ll treat myself to some of the great culinary delights that Vegas has to offer. I hopefully get outside once in a while because I am getting a terrible moon tan being in the casino for this long. But I just try to take it easy and enjoy the time off.”
Several members of the band and crew took ill early in the residency. The bass corps was especially hit hard. Chuck Panozzo missed one show, and Terry Gowan was severely ill one show but soldiered on undetected.
“I didn’t want anyone to know,” he said.
While the weather in Las Vegas was beautiful, severe storms across much of the country added another layer of distraction — especially for Shaw, Evankovich and their techs, who are all based in Nashville, where an ice storm knocked out power in several of their neighborhoods.
Even in the glow of the Strip, it was a reminder that life beyond the stage never quite pauses — it just waits in the wings.
‘Oh, Mama!’
A couple hours before the residency’s closing show, I walked into the hospitality room and found Shaw at a piano. Sensing the opportunity to satisfy a long-term curiosity, I asked if he could play the original slower version of “Renegade,” the way it first took shape. After a few stops and starts, his fingers settled into the chord progression that would not only evolve into a centerpiece of “Pieces of Eight,” but one of the band’s signature songs and enduring concert closers.
Shaw said he stumbled upon the song’s basic structure after listening to “Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Edgar Allan Poe)” by The Alan Parsons Project. He said he confessed as much to Parsons years later when they were working on a project together.
“‘That’s all right,’” Shaw quoted Parsons as saying. “‘Paul McCartney says I stole it from him.’”
Recognizing the end of another successful residency was in sight, the band was in high spirits throughout the final night. Band videographer/photographer Jason Powell shot Shaw and Lawrence Gowan cutting myriad humorous promo videos for this summer’s “Windy City Tour” with Chicago. The pair started on script, then ad-libbed several different variations. It will be interesting to see what makes the final cut.
The band reveled in performing deep tracks from the “Pieces of Eight” album, so don’t be surprised if a few of them show up in setlists throughout the year. The band will also have a little more leeway to perform material from last year’s new album release, “Circling From Above.”
Lawrence Gowan summed up the band’s annual Venetian migration.
“This has become one of our little mecca-type gigs, where it’s a gathering of the tribe, so to speak, from all disparate parts of the country,” he said. “Some people even come in from international places. It’s become one of my favorite things of the year.”
Arrivederci, Venetian. Until next year.
– All photos by Jason Powell/Styx
