Here you will find the most up-to-date videos the band has to offer.
If you don't see something here that you remember from your last visit, check out our new
"VIDEO ARCHIVES" page by clicking on the button below!
Featuring clips from live performances of
GRAND ILLUSION over the last year.
In "Crystal Ball", GRAND ILLUSION gets to play the best of several worlds with it's melodic and melancholy first section of just lead vocals and 12-string acoustic guitar, building to a crescendo involving the entire band with solid rock back-beats mellowing into an extended electric guitar solo, making "Crystal Ball" not only a crowd favorite to experience, but a favorite of the members of GRAND ILLUSION to perform as well.
"Crystal Ball" is the title track and second single released from STYX'S 1976 "Crystal Ball" album. It was written by guitarist Tommy Shaw who had just recently joined the band.
“Fooling Yourself" is a song GRAND ILLUSION looks forward to performing on stage at every show, on several levels. Aside from being one of the band’s all-time favorites in its own right, “Fooling Yourself” to the trained ear is far more difficult to recreate accurately than the layman or passing fan might appreciate.
There are several intricate time-signature changes
which makes the song not only challenging, but exciting and just plain fun to perform live, if you can do it well and GRAND ILLUSION, as with all the songs they perform, pride themselves in being able to do just that.
It also features GRAND ILLUSION vocalist/guitarist SCOTT HELFRICH on lead vocals, allowing GRAND ILLUSION to flex their versatility.
The song was released on STYX’S 1977 album “The Grand Illusion” and was written by guitarist Tommy Shaw. It was originally based on Shaw's initial perception of STYX keyboardist Dennis DeYoung — an "angry young man" who viewed the group's successes with a wary eye and grew angry or depressed with every setback.
It was only in later years that Shaw began to see himself in the lyrics, and the song took on a more personal meaning to him.
GRAND ILLUSION has been performing “Rockin’ the Paradise” at every one of their shows for the past 30+ years. With it’s crowd-pleasing boogie-woogie ragtime vamp feel to it’s ripping rock guitar solo sections, it has always been and always will be a real “show stopper” whenever GRAND ILLUSION performs.
"A.D. 1928 / Rockin' the Paradise" is the fourth single release from STYX'S 1981 triple-platinum album Paradise Theatre.
The single went all the way to #8 on the Billboard Rock Chart. "A.D. 1928" is a short, piano-based song by Dennis DeYoung, set to the same melody as "The Best of Times", that segues into the song "Rockin' the Paradise".
The similarities between these two songs, "Rockin' the Paradise" and "The Best of Times" may be striking to say the least, but make no mistake, to GRAND ILLUSION and their fans alike, they are two very different and individual songs and GRAND ILLUSION'S fans are thrilled that they perform them both with equal enthusiasm and unparalleled talent that you should not miss!
Probably the most recognizable song in the STYX catalog, GRAND ILLUSION has been performing "Come Sail Away" since before there even was a GRAND ILLUSION!
With multiple vocal harmonies layered over expansive instrumentation, GRAND ILLUSION prides themselves with being able to perform the middle instrumental section completely live without the use of "tracking" or sequencing, while adding a few creative twists.
"Come Sail Away" was written and sung by the original STYX primary singer and songwriter Dennis DeYoung and featured on the band's seventh album "The Grand Illusion" (1977). Upon its release as the lead single from the album, "Come Sail Away" peaked at #8 in January 1978 on the Billboard Hot 100, and helped "The Grand Illusion" achieve multi-platinum sales in 1978.
The lyrics touch on nostalgia of "childhood friends," escapism, and a religious thematic symbolized by "a gathering of angels" singing "a song of hope." The ending lyrics explain a transformation from a sailing ship into a starship, by narrating that "they climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies" which also imply biblical verses from Ezekiel (1:1-28).
GRAND ILLUSION’S haunting recreation of the harmonies for this song has become one of the key examples of how the band has earned the reputation for sounding more “STYX” than STYX.
This song is off STYX’S fifth album “Equinox” which included hits “Light Up!” and “Lorelei” which GRAND ILLUSION performs as well.
“Suite Madame Blue” was originally written by STYX in honor of the 1976 bicentennial celebration of United States’ independence.
“Suite Madame Blue” was one of the rare instances when the vocals of STYX bassist, the late Chuck Panozzo, contributed to the lush harmonies during the “America…” refrain in the original studio version.
With it’s moody, brooding lyrics contrasting with its sweeping ¾ time signature, it’s easy to see how “Show Me the Way” strikes the emotional chords of so many fans when GRAND ILLUSION performs it live.
The song's emotional message resonates very personally with GRAND ILLUSION band members as much as it does with their fans, and you can feel it during any of their live performances.
The song “Show Me the Way” was released as a single in 1990, and appeared on STYX’S album “Edge of the Century”, released in 1991, earning the song #3 slot on the Billboard Chart’s top 10, their 8th single to do so.
Written by then STYX’S lead singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung as a hymn to inspire his son Matthew to brace against a “world so filled with hatred”.
The song was enthusiastically embraced by the troops returning home after the first Gulf War, becoming something of an anthem for members of the military and their families, longing to be reunited.
With the recent addition of two of Western New York's fines guitarists, JOHN DANIELS and SCOTT HELFRICH, to the GRAND ILLUSION lineup, it seemed only fitting to include Lawrence Gowan’s 1985 classic “A Criminal Mind” in their set, not only because STYX continues to perform it on tour, but also as a nod to Gowan for creating such an amazing award-winning song, and Gowan has been co-fronting the band since 2003.
The fact that Tommy Shaw performs it live with STYX on a mandolin as part of the song’s updated arrangement was not lost on GRAND ILLUSION’S lead guitarist JOHN DANIELS who also performs the song live with GRAND ILLUSION on his mandolin.
Solo progressive rock artist Lawrence Gowan toured with STYX in 1999 and joined the band as their permanent keyboardist/vocalist in 2003, replacing their lead singer and co-founder Dennis DeYoung.
Since then, Gowan's classic hit, "A Criminal Mind", is often played by STYX while on tour.
While the band is thrilled to be able to bring you video footage of their live performances,
GRAND ILLUSION always was and always will be a "performance" based band.
Recorded video/audio is inherently a rough representation of an actual performance to begin with, but in GRAND ILLUSION'S case they are a band that isn't merely viewed and heard,
but rather a concert event that must be "experienced"!
So let these videos whet your appetite for the real thing,
and come out and witness the GRAND ILLUSION experience LIVE at a venue near you!