Event & Arena News

COLUMBUS, OHIO – “Can’t Stop Rockin’ Tour 2009,” featuring REO Speedwagon, STYX and the Outlaws, makes a Columbus stop at Nationwide Arena on Sunday, November 8 at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale Saturday, August 1 at 10 a.m. at the Nationwide Arena Ticket Office and through Ticketmaster.

To celebrate their upcoming trek together, STYX and REO Speedwagon teamed up to record a new single, “Can’t Stop Rockin’,” co-written by REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin and STYX’s Tommy Shaw.

Kevin Cronin, lead singer and principal songwriter, keyboard player and founding member Neal Doughty, bass player Bruce Hall, lead guitarist Dave Amato, and drummer Bryan Hitt are REO Speedwagon. Since the release of their first record in 1971, the band has produced 17 critically acclaimed albums including the monumental 10 million seller, Hi Infidelity. The band’s catalog boasts 13 Top 40 singles including Number One hits “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Keep On Loving You,” and “Time For Me To Fly,” along with timeless classics such as “Roll With The Changes,” “Ridin’ The Storm Out,” “Take It On The Run,” “Don’t Let Him Go,” and “Keep Pushin’.” Their latest album, Find Your Own Way Home, featured radio favorites “Needed to Fall” and “Smilin’ in the End.” REO Speedwagon has sold more than 40 million albums to date.

STYX - Tommy Shaw, James “JY” Young, Lawrence Gowan, Todd Sucherman and Ricky Phillips (along with the occasional surprise appearance by original bassist Chuck Panozzo) – has performed more live since 1999 than all of the previous years of its career combined. After two Super-Bowl appearances, Pollstar Box Office chart-topping tours with Def Leppard, Journey, REO Speedwagon and Bad Company (to name only a few), two more studio albums, STYX shows no signs of slowing down. Every STYX release throughout the late ‘70s earned at least platinum certification (1976’s Crystal Ball, 1977’s The Grand Illusion, 1978’s Pieces of Eight, and 1979’s Cornerstone), and spawned classic rock radio standards like “Renegade,” “Blue Collar Man” and “Fooling Yourself.” Paradise Theater, featuring the hit “Too Much Time On My Hands,” became Styx’s biggest album, selling over three million copies in a three-year period and marking the first time in history that a band released four consecutive triple platinum albums.

For more information, visit the bands’ Web sites: www.speedwagon.com and www.styxworld.com.

Tickets are $57 and $37.50. Tickets may be purchased at the Nationwide Arena Ticket Office, at all Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000. Tickets are also available at the FOX Sports Ohio Blue Line store at The Mall at Tuttle Crossing and ticket outlets at Chiller Dublin, Chiller Easton and Chiller North. Tickets are subject to service charges.

For further information about upcoming events at Nationwide Arena, visit www.NationwideArena.com or call (614) 246-2000. Nationwide Arena, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL), is an SMG-managed facility. SMG provides facility services to more than 210 venues controlling over 1.5 million entertainment seats worldwide.

###