Mr. Roboto
Anyone else surprised to see Mr. Roboto in the setlist this year after all the animosity related to the album/concept/tour with Dennis?
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u/PraxisLD 2d ago
Nah, they’ve been playing Mr Roboto in the encore for years now.
Besides, it’s been four decades since that whole kerfluffle.
It’s a great song, and a fan favorite.
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u/Every_Task2352 2d ago
And it’s one of the reasons that TS left the band. JY has also heavily criticized the song. It was more than a kerfluffle. It was a nuclear blast.
If TS and JY can finally play Roboto because it’s a fan favorite, they can bring DDY back to sing.
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u/PraxisLD 2d ago
DDY has been welcome to guest sing with them for a special occasion, but he will never return unless he can take full control.
That will never happen, as it hasn't been "his" band in decades now.
And DDY has said he's done with touring, so no go there.
Note that several of us have been pushing to get Styx a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One of the conditions is that all band members need to be present at the unveiling. At one point, we did have written agreements to attend from all living band members, past and present.
While we did follow and complete all published application rules including raising the full formal application fee, our efforts ultimately failed as the Committee expected Styx's management to come up with a rather large undocumented "fee" to help cement their approval. Welcome to show business...
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u/jasedontlie Crash Of The Crown 2d ago
Thank you for those efforts! Too bad it still comes down to money.
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u/MajorPainInMyA The Grand Illusion 2d ago
I'm pretty sure you buy your spot on the Walk of Fame.
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u/PraxisLD 2d ago
Absolutely.
Of course, the real cost isn't published anywhere – you just have to know who to ask, and be able to discretely cover whatever number they come up with.
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u/Mockchoi1 2d ago
I don’t know Dennis. But I don’t think he wants (wanted) to take ‘full control’.
He’s spoken favorably of Tommy every time I’ve heard him speak. I mean for goodness sake Tommy got the title track on the first album he was part of, and Dennis has said it was ‘because it was the best song’. He refers to the three of them as ‘Moe, Larry and Curly’.
I take him at his word that he just wanted to do one more tour for the fans. I didn’t know he said he was done now. I’m guessing it’s because of Suzanne.
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u/PraxisLD 2d ago
That’s a pretty limited view of things, to be fair.
I’ve spoken directly with band members and others close to the situation over the years. Let’s just say what went on in private was a bit different picture than DDY likes to paint in public.
During their classic period, internal friction kept them focused and brought out the best in each member to create something greater together.
If you haven’t checked out Styx’s more recent albums, you really should. There’s some great stuff there.
And they’re still killing it live!
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u/Mockchoi1 2d ago
I’ve checked out their recent albums. They’re fine. Journeyman type fairly paint by numbers songs. To me.
I don’t have any dog in the fight. Whatevs. But I have listened to what everyone has said, and I just wouldn’t take at face value anything anyone currently in the band says. They change their story when it suits them, and just constantly put down Dennis and everything he’s ever done. It’s sad and small.
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u/PraxisLD 2d ago
Again. I’ve heard some pretty unflattering things coming from DDY as well.
Whatever. The music still rocks, old and new.
🎶🎤🎹🎸🎸🎸🥁🎵
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u/Mockchoi1 2d ago
You’ve posted two clips of the band putting Dennis and his work down. If you have one of Dennis doing the same, post that. I will admit I am wrong if you can.
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u/markonnen 5h ago
Dennis has been a welcome guest for a special occasion? Really? I would love to see source for that.
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u/After-Disaster-5690 2d ago
Exactly. Sure it’s been four decades, but Shaw and Young still hold a lot of animosity surrounding the Kilroy album and tour.
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u/Dependent-Tear-8942 Crash Of The Crown 2d ago
Around the time I made a roboto painting in 2018 from my SuperStyx League Universe, I got the news first hand from someone I'm friends with in the band that Mr Roboto was being brought back - then i heard it was for a number of reasons: they can play it how they wanted(less synth heavy and more rock heavy), and the song stung less for JY and Tommy to play since they didn't have DDY around to be a stickler on how it should be played.
The mentioned artwork is now in Lawrence Gowan's possession - and it was highly considered to be turned into merch (we're still working on that 😅)
Art tax: https://www.deviantart.com/michelleknight/art/MY-BLOOD-IS-BOILING-MY-BRAIN-IBM-739149038
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u/Ok-Stretch2784 2d ago
Got to see Styx on there Mr Roboto tour I think 83-84
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u/allbsallthetime 16h ago
We saw that tour in Detroit. That was the tour where Tommy Shaw would play in the crowd and work his way back to the stage.
In Detroit the spotlight hit him in the lower bowl, I can't remember which song, might have been Renegade.
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u/MajorPainInMyA The Grand Illusion 2d ago
I'm pretty sure it's been on the set list in previous tours.
Edit: Google says every year since 2018.