It’s no easy task taking to the stage before a Journey show. Yet UK born singer/songwriter John Parr made a decent stab at stirring the crowd into life with a rousing “Naughty Naughty.” before running through a surprising number of familiar numbers including “Under A Raging Moon” which was penned by Parr for Roger Daltery as his tribute to Keith Moon and an acoustic version of “The Best A Man Can Get”, a song featured oddly enough, on an advert for razor blades in the UK.
An interesting cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh, Well”, featuring a medley of riffs including “Whole Lotta Love” and “Walk This Way”, preceded the tale of Rick Hansen, who rode around the world in a wheelchair and inspired Parr’s best known and set closing song, “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion).”
Although Parr’s gravel throated take on Melodic Rock went down well, the crowd were impatient to see San Francisco’s finest, Journey.
Having waited 27 years for Journey to play in the UK, we’ve now been treated to three tours in three consecutive years with three different singers. Steve Augeri, formerly of Tall Stories, replaced the legendary Steve Perry, widely considered as one of, if not the greatest vocalist in Melodic Rock. Augeri certainly had his work cut out but succeeded to a certain extent in winning over detractors who claimed that there could be no Journey without Perry. Augeri’s 8 year stint with the band, which spawned two albums, came to a halt when a throat problem prevented him from continuing his duties. The highly regarded Jeff Scott Soto stepped into what was his dream role and filled in for Augeri, later becoming a permanent replacement when it became clear that Augeri could no longer continue. After a hugely successfully UK tour, in which Soto’s dynamic and charismatic performances won many admirers and which seemed to take Journey in a new harder edged direction, Soto was unceremoniously ditched, seemingly without explanation.
Journey seemed to descend into chaos as the message boards raged with controversy. Things became so bad that the official website was suspended for some time and it appeared that the goodwill built up over the years was rapidly evaporating. It was clear that Journey needed to act decisively to repair their damaged name and to many, the return of Perry was the only way they could go.
The initial reports that they had selected a 40 year old Filipino after seeing him on You Tube did nothing to allay the fans worst fears. That was until his performances with his band The Zoo were seen by everyone and then it became clear that they might just have discovered someone rather special.
Arnel Pineda was officially unveiled as Journey’s new lead singer earlier this year, along with the announcement that they were to begin recording a new album which would include a bonus disc of rerecorded classics.
Reports began to filter through at the impressive performances from Pineda and these were duly confirmed by his stunning debut on the latest Journey release, Revelations, an album that has seen Journey arguably produce their finest work since Frontiers in 1983.
With a superb new album under their belt, the question now was whether they could cut it live and do justice to the glorious legacy that they had built up over their classic years.
Any doubts whatsoever were blown away almost immediately as Journey launched confidently into “Never Walk Away” from their new album, boldly proclaiming their belief in their new material before heading into altogether more familiar territory with an absolutely storming “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”; a song which never fails to stir the soul, “Only The Young” and “Stone in Love” where Jonathan Cain leaves his keyboards behind to add more bite in the guitar department.
All eyes were on Pineda as to whether he could meet the weighty standards demanded as lead vocalist in Journey. Even the hardest cynic could not fail to be impressed by his infectious enthusiasm and boundless energy as he raced from one side of the stage to the other, even doing the odd David Lee Roth-esq flying splits from drum riser. His showman ship was impeccable, made even more remarkable due to the fact that less than a year ago he was still plying his trade singing covers in small clubs. On stage with Journey, he looks as though he has a lifetime of experience on a huge stage.
What about the voice though?? The words “stunning”, “awesome” and “breathtaking” spring to mind. With a range to hit the highest of notes in the Journey repertoire and the passion and technique needed to squeeze every ounce of emotion from the songs, Pineda had it all.
Replacing Perry in Journey had to be one of the hardest jobs in the business. Augeri had a fine voice but maybe lacked in the onstage charisma whereas Soto had charisma in abundance but his vocal style was not in keeping with the Journey tradition. Pineda has the strengths of both and the weaknesses of neither. His performance on Rockers such as “Ask The Lonely” were spirited and on the ballads like “Who’s Crying Now” and “Open Arms” it was spine tingling stuff.
Journey, have more than one talented singer in their midst and drummer, Deen Castronova, with his rather large new hairstyle, had his chance to shine on the up-tempo “Keep on Runnin’” and the superlative “Mother Father” where he astounds as he thrashes away like a madman while delivering a vocal performance of sublime quality. How DOES he do it?
New material from Revelations slips so well into the set you’d think that they were long established classics. The ballad “After All These Years” is a sure-fire hit, hewn from the rich vein of ballads that have become Journey’s trademark over the years while the altogether harder hitting “Change For The Better” could have come straight from the classic Escape. Heady praise indeed, yet it is so well deserved.
Throughout the show Neal Schon demonstrates why he is considered AOR’s finest with some stirring solos. Just listen to the screaming “Edge of The Blade” or the heartfelt, soaring solo on “Faithfully” and “Who’s Crying Now” for ample proof of Schon’s talents.
No Journey show would be complete without the platinum coated classic “Don’t Stop Believin’”. The audience went nuts and the look on bass player Ross Valory’s face was one of sheer delight at the audience reaction.
As they closed the show with “Escape” and a rollicking “Anyway You Want It” Journey had made nothing short of a triumphant return to the UK. All the doubts and bad feeling that people had after the Soto debacle were answered in the best fashion possible, with a performance of true class and quality and as Journey returned to their rightful place at the top of the melodic Rock hierarchy.
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