Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Ted Nugent have announced the first 20 dates of their upcoming group tour. The trek -- once again dubbed "The Midwest Rock 'N' Roll Express -- will kick off on April 18th in Grand Forks, North Dakota and, as of now, wind down on May 19th in Burgettstown -- although more dates will be added soon. Styx guitarist James "J.Y." Young said in the press release announcing the tour: "Due to the overwhelming success of last year's tour, we are going to once again wind up the juggernaut of mega-tainment. Styx, REO, and the Motor City Madman: there aren't enough expletives in my vocabulary to explain how great this is . . . but I'll try. This is going to be . . . awesome!"

REO frontman Kevin Cronin went on to say: "Yo, wake up everybody! Winter is over, the snow is melting, the sun is coming out -- it's time for the second annual REO, Styx, Nugent springtime extravaganza . . . Time to strap on our six strings, pack up the trucks and tour buses, get together with our best rock buddies and go out to have some big fun. See y'all soon."

Ted Nugent added: "When you live the ultimate American guitar player's dream, with the ultimate grinding band, performing the most intense fun songs in the world to the most enthusiastic audiences alive, every tour and every concert is an indescribable celebration. Styx and REO deserve me. Here we come again baby, like dogs in heat!"

Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw told us that the Styx-REO connection stems from his personal friendship with Kevin Cronin: "Kevin and I ran into each other -- we've known each other since, like, 1975, and it's something we'd talked about. We ran into each other in 1998 at a MTV, at some kind of a game show that he and I were both on. And he wound up coming back over and I was doing 7 Deadly Zens at the time, and he said, 'Let me come over and be on your solo album.' So that was kind of the genesis of it, that 'Wouldn't it be cool if we did this?' But so many things had. . . the planets had to align. And they finally did, and once they did it was like a piece of cake."

JUST ANNOUNCED: Styx, REO Speedwagon, & Ted Nugent tour dates (subject to change):

April 18 - Grand Forks, ND - Ralph Engelstad Arena
April 19 - Minneapolis, MN -Target Center
April 20 - Moline, IL - Wireless Center
April 21 - Toledo, OH - The Huntington Center
April 23 - Springfield, MA - MassMutual Center
April 24 - Glens Falls, NY - Glens Falls Civic Center
April 26 - East Rutherford, NJ - IZOD Center
April 27 - Raleigh, NC - Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
April 28 - Roanoke, VA - Civic Center Auditorium
May 1 - Estero, FL - Germain Arena
May 3 - Saint Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheatre
May 5 - Alpharetta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre At Encore Park
May 8 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
May 10 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
May 11 - Lincoln, NE - Pinewood Bowl Theater
May 14 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena
May 15 - Evansville, IN - Ford Center
May 17 - Green Bay, WI - Resch Center
May 18 - Maryland Heights, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre St. Louis
May 19 - Burgettstown, PA - First Niagara Pavilion


REO Speedwagon tour dates (subject to change):

February 15 - Altoona, IA - Meadows Ballroom At Prairie Meadows Casino
February 16 - Milwaukee, WI - BMO Harris Bradley Center
February 21 - Midland, TX - Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center
February 22 - San Antonio, TX - San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo at AT&T Center
February 23 - Catoosa, OK - The Joint at Hard Rock Casino / Tulsa
April 6 - Tacoma, WA - Emerald Queen Casino
April 7 - Airway Heights, WA - Northern Quest Casino
June 28 - Joliet, IL - Taste Of Joliet at Joliet Memorial Stadium
July 20 - Larchwood, IA - Grand Falls Casino Resort

Styx tour dates (subject to change):

February 15 - Panama City, FL - Marina Civic Center
February 16 - North Myrtle Beach, SC - House Of Blues
February 17 - Orlando, FL - Bands, Brew & BBQ Concert Series and SeaWorld Orlando Adventure Park
March 2 - San Antonio, TX - Majestic Theatre
March 4 - Houston, TX - Houston Livestock Show And Rodeo at Reliant Stadium at Reliant Park
August 10 - Springfield, IL - Illinois State Fair Grandstand