Warm breezes crossed the stage, the subwoofers were thumping, and the area in front of the stage was packed. The guitars were loud, the vocals on pitch, and the rhythm section was in perfect time. Dennis DeYoung and his band rocked the Westchester Fest with perfection with no shortage of fans.  

The veteran rocker came out and wowed the crowd with his amazing ability performing the old hits of Styx and a couple from his solo career as well. Dennis had dueling guitars provided by Tom Dziallo and Jimmy Leahey and they were on the money all night long. They just kept ripping it up without breaking a sweat. Bass master, Hank Horton, held the time like a Swiss watch of funk keeping everyone with the beat.

The old classic songs were performed in such a smooth fashion, no Styx fan could’ve been disappointed. The show opened with “The Grand Illusion” and a young fan was at the front of the stage holding a vinyl copy of The Grand Illusion hoping for an autograph. Dennis reached down and held up the copy during the performance with pride showing off his past work of art. I’m sure later the young fan got his autograph.

The night was filled with one vintage ditty after another. “Lady,” “Rockin’ the Paradise,” and even “Mr. Roboto” were among the songs to be heard at that presentation. The gifts for your ears kept coming with the ballads and rock songs from DeYoung’s vast musical library.

Always a great piece to hear is “Suite Madame Blue.” Sounding mostly like the record, the rock anthem wailed across a sea of people who were delighted to witness the occasion. The place went crazy as the distorted guitars chugged through the musical bit during the vocal dramatic part as they chanted “America, America.” All that can be said is wow!!

Dennis obviously brought out new songs from his new album, 100 Years from Now. The title track and “Private Jones” were amongst his set list. These songs rocked the crowd! Leahey’s ending flashy guitar piece on “100 Years” is just amazing. Every guitar note was superb.

A forgotten hit, “Desert Moon” had an extended guitar solo at the end provided by Tom Dziallo. The original version featured him on guitar and he reproduced it well. The guitar solo made the love ballad about twice as long as the vinyl version from 1984. Long after the original would’ve faded out, Tom kept the crowd entertained with a melodic style.

Dennis was backed for this show by a 7-piece band of musical artists that never played   or sung a sour note and was never off beat. Perfection is an understatement. The amazing musicianship could not have been done by just anyone.