On Friday night I saw an absolutley astounding concert at the Molson Amphitheater, Headlined by Journey who have recently been reconstituted by Arnel Pineda, the band's new leadman who delivered a performance that perhaps even rival that of original singer Steve Perry. Heart and Cheap Trick were also on the bill delivering solid performances as a sold out crowd of 16 thousand rocked to four hours of great tunes. I have to say I was positively amazed: What your ears hear doesn't quite connect to what your eyes see. How is it possible that this tireless Filipino spitfire with stringy black hair, who guitarist Neal Schon discovered last summer via YouTube clips of him singing covers in his former band the Zoo, could sound so eerily like Steve Perry, that rarely rivaled voice of every Journey smash? I couldn't believe how great he sounded, this show I'll remember for a long time. It's fitting that the band titled its 13th album (and first with Pineda) "Revelation," for not only does the term apply to the wonder vocalist, it speaks to the rebirth of the group itself. Pineda was hardly the only standout I also have to acknowledge how spectacular Cheap Trick and Heart sounded, both bands sound every bit as great now as they did back in the 80's. I was blown away by Heart's Ann Wilson characteristically robust form during the group's hour-long set, navigating the roaring passages of the Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" as adeptly as she did the dramatic pleas of "Magic Man" and "Alone," the latter smartly scaled back to just piano and guitar.Likewise, sister Nancy's spotlight, "These Dreams," was tempered by a mellower, mandolin arrangement. Note some of what I have written here was taken direct from Ben Weners article in Orange county news, he's alot better at writing this kinda shit than I am, thanks Ben...below I've included a few low quality shots I took at the show, when I get a chance I'll link the entire album, the quality should be better and I'll also try to post some video as well...
Cheap Trick Started the night at around 7:00 pm they played a fantastic set that lasted approximatly 45 minutes.
The second band to take the stage was Heart the set lasted just over an hour and it was an impressive performance to say the least. Journey certainly had their work cut out for them to compete with it...
Journey put on an amazing show, lasting about an hour and a half , the set included most of the classics and some of their new material as well. A great time was had by all, hopefully this won't be the last time these bands play Toronto.
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Here's a link to the entire albumn...
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1 comment:
An excellent show, I was there.
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