BY MIKE METTLER — MAY 27, 2014

“We’re all here for a common reason, which is the love of music.” That’s Jeff Pilson of Foreigner, succinctly assessing the manifesto of The Soundtrack of Summer tour, which features three powerhouse classic rock artists at the top of their respective games: Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles, opens each night with a trailblazing 50-minute set, while Foreigner and Styx swap the middle and headlining spots, with each band blazing through 75 powerful minutes apiece. (The tour runs through July 27; go to soundtrackofsummer.com for dates.)

And rest assured, everyone on the bill has come to play, and play hard. “The phrase ‘play music’ has a certain childhood innocence. It’s fun and exciting,” says Felder. “You’re at play, you’re not at work. Although this is a serious business, it has to be playful. And everyone here is very willing to get together and jam, play, and hang out; it’s just fun. It’s a great time.”

The Power and the Will: Tommy Shaw in action. Photo by Jason Powell.

That kind of all-in collaborative spirit is infectious — in a good way. “The net result for the audience will be a serious wow effect,” says Styx’s Tommy Shaw about each night’s three distinctive sets, from both the sonic and visual points of view. “When you have the opportunity to do a tour like this one on this kind of scale, you have to take it. And we’re taking it as far as we can.”

Part of the thrill is seeing three sets of well written, well recorded, and extremely well known songs played to their utmost best. “It’s interesting,” agrees Mick Jones, Foreigner’s co-founder and lead guitarist. “The young kids today are so familiar with our music because they’ve heard it in their households growing up since their parents played it, and they’re still playing it.”

I recently sat down with many of the members of all three acts during a pair of tour dates in the Lone Star State — call it a Texas two-stop, if you will — and got the scoop on the collective live chemistry, setlist and staging decisions, and how each artist takes it to the limit every night.

THE OPENER: R-E-S-P-E-C-T, FIND OUT WHAT IT MEANS TO ME

Already there: Styx in full jam mode. Photo by Jason Powell.

Mike Mettler: Why do you feel the planets aligned for this tour? From all accounts, it sounds like The Soundtrack of Summer was something special right out of the gate.

Tommy Shaw (guitarist/vocalist, Styx): I really think it’s because of mutual respect, for one thing. And the fact that we’d all been around each other before the tour. Going out to New York in the middle of winter together to do the live Fox & Friends thing — that was a great way of getting to know each other. And when we recorded a new version of “Hotel California” for The Soundtrack of Summer CD — all I knew was that I was just so proud to be allowed at the table. I just felt very fortunate to be involved because of my overwhelming respect for the people I’m working with. And I felt this genuine respect coming back from them. [The inside story of how Don Felder and members of Styx and Foreigner remade “Hotel California” is posted here in “The Soundtrack of Our Lives.”]

We’ve all wondered, “Am I going to regret doing this?” and the answer is no, because of that mutual respect. It works, even on the hardest day when everybody is tired from traveling. It’s not to be undervalued. We’re all insecure out here. As time goes by, you realize everybody is working hard. A lot things like this tour look good on paper, but you don’t know until you get out there and the trucks show up, you have three organizations pull up, and the crews are just thrown in together. Do we all work together or draw lines in the sand? One thing I know about this collective: We’re all in this together, and we sink or swim together. The better you are, the better you go over, and the better the experience is for the fans. The fact that we’re all healthy enough to have our wits about us to put it all together and present it like this is just pure gold.

Jukebox Hero: Foreigner’s Mick Jones.

Mick Jones (lead guitarist, co-founder of Foreigner): We had a day or two of press where we did some acoustic stuff together in New York, and that was fun getting to know each other in that way. It was an immediate “no problems, no attitudes” thing. Sometimes you find on tours where it’s over-competitive, but not here. Mutual respect — yeah, that would describe it well.

Don Felder: There’s no drama, there’s no egos, there’s no “shoulder,” as they say over in Europe. Everybody’s been doing this for a long time. I love getting out there to play, I love the Styx and Foreigner catalogs, and I love the guys personally. I love hanging out with them. Tommy and I were friends before we started playing together. So it’s a treat for me to be on the road with these 60-something people, between the bands and the crews and the bus drivers — everybody is really nice. There’s not a bad apple in the bunch. There’s no screaming, or yelling, or drama — nothing. We’re playing really great music, and having fun doing it. It’s a civilized way of living together. There is mutual respect — not just between the bands, but between the crews. There’s a great deal of respect with all who are involved with the show.

Ain’t Never Gonna Stop: Foreigner’s Jeff Pilson.

Jeff Pilson (bassist/vocalist, Foreigner): It feels great. It really, really feels like what I was thinking it would turn out to be — a real event. People are getting a lotta things for the buck, man. The quality of the songs, the quality of the bands, the musicianship between the three acts. This is the penultimate classic rock lineup. I’m really excited about it. It’s a genuinely good time. It’s just a great tour. I’m very, very grateful to be there, and we’re enjoying every minute of it. It’s a great bunch of guys. I think it was brilliant having us all work together before the tour. I think it all makes for a vibe, too. We have a vibe as an overall tour that I think gets across to the audience, and they have a great time partly as a result of that.

Todd Sucherman (drummer, Styx): Everybody is friendly, everybody respects each other, and you can’t help but feel that with the incredible juggernaut of songs that are played from the beginning of the night to the end of the night. It’s really quite extraordinary. I actually haven’t been this excited for a summer run in quite some time. From the first day, just greeting everybody in the hallway had an elevated feeling. That first show in Wichita [Kansas, at the Intrust Bank Arena, on May 14] was a very exciting thing — especially having a new production, which is quite stellar. Everyone in the crew is an all-star. You know how things go from the top down — there’s a great feeling of camaraderie, and that we’re all going for the same goal. And when other bands on the bill are that good, that’s good for us.

Mettler: What feels different about the set during this run?

James “JY” Young (guitarist/vocalist, co-founder of Styx): On so many different levels, we’ve all refocused ourselves on our instruments, our singing voices, and our live performance from a variety of different angles. There’s more nuance and subtlety to what we’re doing, and when we all need to step on the gas pedal, the big rock machine is there to overload all of your senses at once. That’s why we go to rock shows. (laughs)

Lawrence Gowan, singing away. Photo by Jason Powell.

Lawrence Gowan (keyboardist/vocalist, Styx): We’re often asked, “How can you keep playing these songs over and over and keep them interesting?” It’s not that difficult. What I love is the moment when they become more alive again because something happened in the production, or there’s some corner we decided to turn that sparks a new level. And I felt that right away in the first two shows of this tour.

Ricky Phillips (bassist/vocalist, Styx): It’s amazing what these five guys can do, the chemistry we have. I’ve been in other incarnations of rock bands with great and gifted players. But to have the chemistry where all the parts are in conjunction with one another, making all the parts stronger than when they’re on their own — I think that defines it. Having that chemistry intact, I really recognize when it’s not there. I may not have noticed it as much in the past, but when I go see bands now, I notice that, in an hour and a half, “Hey, that guy hasn’t even glanced in that direction at his bandmate over there. You’re playing great, but you’re not really there.” All three acts — we’re all there.

THE MIDDLE: WHAT A NICE SURPRISE

Never Leave: Felder and Shaw check into “Hotel.” Photo by Jason Powell.

Mettler: How special is it to put your personal stamp on “Hotel California” every night? You also have a special guest joining you onstage each time you do it, don’t you?

Felder: It feels really great. The first show in Wichita was just spectacular. We had a couple of hours of soundcheck to get everything dialed in, and we had a really great crowd. Just before we went onstage, Tommy Shaw pulled me aside and said, “Do you want me to come out and play ‘Hotel California’ with you?” So I said, “Yeah, come on up!”

Shaw: It’s a great experience. I’m going to do that every night of the tour. When you have the opportunity to do something like that, you have to take it, right? I mean, I’m getting to play “Hotel California” live with Don every night! Though I was one note from perfect the other night — dammit! (laughs) When I went up to sit in with Don the first time, everyone in Foreigner was on the side of the stage watching Don play, and that was really cool to see.

Felder: I used to start with “Hotel” at the beginning of a set, but being the first one onstage, there’s not a completely full house. So I moved “Hotel” to the end of the set, because by that time, the house is full. Then I introduce Tommy: “Ladies and gentlemen, I have a special surprise for you — my good friend Tommy Shaw is going to come out and play guitar with me.” He walks out and gets applause, we go into “Hotel California,” and the audience just explodes. It’s a really nice treat for them. We’re trying to work more of that collaborative sense into our sets. We’re just feeling our way through what we’re going to do. We did do a full rehearsal with everybody there in the same place at the same time. It’s coming together. We want to try to pull some of those freeform, multi-jams together for the show. [And so it begins: Sucherman joined Felder’s band onstage to play tambourine during “Hotel California” at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta, Georgia on May 25 — “I do love a nice tasty tambourine,” he noted.]

Light Up, Everybody: Young and Shaw. Photo by Jason Powell.

Young: We were playing in the middle slot in Oklahoma City [at Zoo Ampitheatre, on May 16], and it was still light out at 8 o’clock in the summertime. I think that’s the most magical thing — to take the stage in light during what’s called the magic hour in the filmmaking business, and play as it transitions to darkness. As that transition takes place, the show in turn becomes more and more magical, and for the last five songs we’re doing in our set — when we finally get to darkness, the majesty of “Come Sail Away” in all its glory is there, and it’s like, damn! This is the most impressive production we’ve ever mounted, I think by a longshot. The public will be the judge of that.

Sucherman: I just think it’s an obvious great night of music. From a personal perspective from being involved in it, everybody is nice and cool and getting along. It was immediately friendly from the very first night. Getting to know everybody, seeing some old friends – there’s a really upbeat spirit, and it inspires everybody to play at their peak level. Not that we wouldn’t anyway, but it’s always nice to feel an extra something and see some of the other musicians at the side of the stage during your set — that sparks everybody on to be the best.

THE CLOSER: COME ON IN AND SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING

Attracting time. Photo by Jason Powell.

Mettler: How do you decide what goes into your sets night after night? Do the other bands inspire you?

Shaw: Some of it is venue-driven, because you can’t do certain things the way the building is set up. And that’s exciting. If you go see multiple shows, you’ll find we’re this organic thing that’s morphing to fit the venue. We used to be one of those bands where it was like coming to see a play. And that’s a legitimate way of doing it, because you can just carve on it and carve on it. And if you’re tired one day, you can lean on it. But out of our own sense of survival and to keep enjoying it, we want it to be difficult every day. When you’re having to work on it, all your senses are upfront, and it’s all hands on deck in your brain. We like making it difficult for ourselves. We’re upfront and present.

Jones: It’s a very complementary bill. The show is remarkably good, from beginning to end, no matter who’s playing where. Just everything seems to be complementing itself. I just walked onstage the first night in Wichita and I was thinking, “My God, this is really, really good.” Don’s got a great band, and they deliver the songs really well. It’s sort of a throwback in a way, because each band is a performing band. Don has been an eye-opener for everybody, I think — he’s really got it together. He faithfully does those songs he used to do with the Eagles, some of which he co-wrote. And Styx — they’re so great onstage. Really great musicians.

Felder: It’s the music. The catalogs of all these great bands are so strong that no one is walking out. There are so many hit songs between all three bodies of work that we’ve created. Everybody knows every song in the set. A lot of people scream out for “Heavy Metal” when I don’t play it, so I know to put that in the set more often. It’s interesting to hear what people want to hear from me outside of the Eagles.

Pilson: Generally, I make my suggestions to Mick and Kelly [Hansen, Foreigner’s vocalist], and we decided jointly. For example, we’re doing “Starrider,” which we don’t do normally, and then we built the set around that. The set almost kind of writes itself, though 75 minutes is a short set for us. How many bands can leave out multiple Top 10 and Top 20 songs like we have to? (laughs) But “Starrider” is a highlight for me. I’m really, really glad we’re playing it.

Mettler: How do you feel about the new stage designs?

The view from behind the kit. Photo by Jason Powell.

Sucherman: Each band has its own look. And the crew tears it down and sets it up pretty quick. You see Foreigner’s set and then you see our set, and you wouldn’t even think those two were on the same stage — and they’re done changing them within 20 minutes. I don’t know how those guys do it each night, but that’s why each one of them is an all-star.

Young: Steve Jones, a feature film producer, would-be director and one of my dearest friends, has been responsible for our visual production for years, and everyone agrees Steve took our stuff to the next level. The visuals behind the band are very out-of-body and Floydian, and they resonate with the Sixties. The quality of the images have stepped up, and there are a lot more subtleties to the references to the lyrics. Sometimes there’s something visually that shows on the screen and I go, “Why is that there?” and then 30 seconds later, there’s a lyric that shows how the visual is leading up to the lyric, setting the table. It helps that Steve and members of his production team have been in bands, so they get the resonance between the music and the visual. They’ve gone beyond where they’ve ever been before. I listened to a playback of the live recordings our whole show was programmed to, and watched not only the visuals on the screen, but the lighting changes that would go with it and accent the music, and I was just blown away.

Phillips: I like the separation of the sets. What we’ve got going on right now is, the set looks completely struck — which it has been, and a new set has been erected for each band. It’s not the same stage. You get three completely different stages, starting with Don — which is a great place to start, because you’ve got the bare bones players in their element with live amps onstage and plexiglas around the drums to help. But it’s still very much live, with fantastic singing and playing.

Paradise rocks back. Photo by Jason Powell.

Gowan: The visuals that we’ve added, what you see on the screens behind us — to my mind, they look like what the music sounds like. They’ve incorporated themselves well into the personality we have as a collective. We looked at them before we played. It’s part of the personality of what’s going on. It’s effervescent activity going on there — that’s what the band feels like. And there’s this kinetic energy there, ready to burst out at any moment. That’s how I feel the stage complements that.

Sucherman: With three bands and three sets, we’re certainly squeezing a lot into the time that we’re all allotted. I think that general sense permeates the collective of what’s going on here. Everyone feels a little extra excitement to be involved in a touring show like this where the music is just undeniably great and undeniably recognizable. For me, being some years junior of some of the players out there, it’s not only The Soundtrack of Summer, it’s the soundtrack of me being a kid in the ’70s.