8/28/00 - Pursuing perfection in the prairie...

Hello Styx Fans,

As I look out my window at the infamous Lincoln land mark tower which can be seen from miles around and has a rather randy nickname (ask anyone who lives near here what that is), I am still between the morning bus coffee and a real breakfast. Almost exactly 600 miles ago we left Duquoin, Illinois after another fine night outdoors with REO and a grandstand full of friends.

It continues to be a side splitting laugh fest back stage with these guys. Last night at the show, we shared the dressing room area, something we have done in several towns whose facilities are not set up for a dual headline show such as ours. Our crews are getting to be quite the comedians too. When we walked in last night, we followed the usual day-glow green tape which gets laid down with arrows pointing to the dressing rooms. When we got inside the door to the hospitality area, we found that there was an irregular green border drawn up in tape dividing the room down the middle, cutting across the couch in between the two main cushions, back down to the carpet, across the floor and up the wall by our smaller dressing rooms. Standing guard were Kevin, Dave, Neal, Brian and Bruce, with these looks on their faces that said. "Don't cross into our territory, Mr.!" They were very impressed that we stayed to the left and took the STYX path behind the couch to our appointed room. I know, if you sawed us in half and counted the rings, we would be dated as being old enough not to behave like this, but you would have to add in the musician factor which does the opposite of the "dog years" equation and has you divide by 7 rather than multiply to get our actual maturity quotient. Honestly, I prefer immaturity. It is much more fun.

After their set, Dave came by and casually said, "It isn't hot at all out there. You should be very comfortable." And Neal chimed in, "And there are no May flies either..." Anyone could tell they were full of it. And boy were they! Although it was a clear sky and a beautiful stage that butted right up against the grandstand, it was a steam room with a plentiful amount of large, flying bugs who kept us entertained as we tried our best not to inhale them as we stood at the mic taking in the needed breath to sing those choruses. But, this is what you do this time of year in humid places, and honestly, we have seen much worse, so it just became what we added to the challenge of the performance. When you tour, it is always something. And that is what keeps it fun and interesting.

So, here we are in Lincoln, and tonight is just a few hours away. We have played a lot of shows this year, somewhere around 80, but after playing last night in Duquoin, it is clear that we still have so much more performing to do. There are so many amazing fans out there who we want to get in front of. It has been way too long and we are going to be playing catch up for a while before we feel we have reacquainted ourselves. So, when you hear that we are still out here, just remember that this is an ENORMOUS country, even larger than you can really comprehend. SO many places to play before you make a dent in being seen and heard by a slight percentage of the masses. We are determined. Perhaps possessed, but who can tell any more? We are on this mission, and it isn't what you could really call work. It is who and what we are.

When a lot of bands start out, they play night after night in little places, often 3 or four hours a night. This concentration of playing time makes a good band with talent a great band with chops. Often when you get to the point of making records and touring, you get cut down to a relatively small amount of hours per year, and your chops and chemistry diminish as a result. Now we have the best of both those worlds. We are playing SO much that our chops are up, our instincts are razor sharp and we are looking at our songs on a microscopic level, in the quest for the perfect show. And we are doing it in front of thousands of fans every night. Do I need to say it again? Okay, here it comes--LIFE IS GOOD!

See you in Lincoln, and who knows, maybe THIS will be the perfect show...