Styx stopped being a legacy act on paper in 2017, when The Mission reminded the industry that they could still write a full record worth sitting with — not just cash the reunion check and play “Come Sail Away” one more time. Circling From Above, their 18th studio album, is the third proof of concept in eight years, and the Circling From Above Tour brings the record to Place Bell in Laval on Monday, October 26.
About the Show
The band traces its roots to 1961, when the Panozzo twins and a neighbor named Dennis DeYoung started playing together in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood. The longevity puts the ambition of Circling From Above in perspective. The official description calls it “a 41-minute, end-to-end listening experience that is both thought-provoking and exhilarating,” exploring “the complexities of the human experience through the intersecting lenses of technology and nature.” That is press-release language for an album that actually sounds like it means it. Ultimate Classic Rock reviewed it as “a fizzy, impossible-to-resist exploration of their influences,” finding fingerprints of Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Queen, and ELO woven through the band’s own sound. VintageRock.com landed on “a solid, full-circle effort.” Coverage has singled out the lead single “Build and Destroy,” the raucous “Everybody Raise Your Glass,” and the delicately gorgeous “Forgive.”
The current seven-member lineup has been in this configuration long enough to build real creative momentum: founding members James “JY” Young, Tommy Shaw, and Chuck Panozzo alongside Lawrence Gowan on keyboards and lead vocals, Todd Sucherman on drums, Will Evankovich on guitar, and Terry Gowan on bass. Gowan has been the band’s primary vocalist and frontman since Dennis DeYoung’s departure in 1999. Sucherman’s drumming drew Keith Moon comparisons from at least one serious reviewer this album cycle — not a throwaway claim when applied to someone still very much at work behind the kit.
Supporting the night is Sass Jordan, Birmingham-born and Montreal-raised, a soulful hard-rock vocalist whose reputation was built well before she was taking opening slots. Jordan won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist and was named Billboard’s Top Female Rock Artist in 1992. She has toured alongside Joe Cocker, Steve Miller, and The Rolling Stones, and draws her sound from a lineage that includes Paul Rodgers, Bonnie Raitt, and Tina Turner. Coming home to Quebec on this bill is more than a regional booking.
Venue & Logistics
Place Bell is in Laval (the island just north of Montreal), a venue in the north-country region that handles touring acts at this scale without trouble. Doors at 6:30 p.m.; show at 7:30 p.m. All ages.
Tickets
Tickets went on general sale February 13, 2026. Buy tickets