Sweden Rock Festival 2009: Journey - 6th June 2009
Setlist: Never Walk Away / Only the Young / Stone in Love / Ask the Lonely / Separate Ways / Keep on Running (Deen vocals) / Wildest Dream / Where Did I Lose Your Love / Lights / Change For the Better / Be Good to Yourself / Don't Stop Believin' / Wheel in the Sky / Faithfully / Anyway You Want It / Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin’
I never got to see Journey with Steve Perry. When they last toured with him in the UK I was into the NWOBHM and too blinkered to see what a great band that was. Then I met a girl called Pat who introduced me to ESC4P3 and I cursed myself for being an arse! I thought that I would never get to see any line-up of the band live. Then, in 2005, they came to the UK, promoting an awesome CD Arrival, with Steve Augieri on vocals and I saw them twice in three days, once at the Monsters of Rock bash at Milton Keynes Bowel, and then at the Apollo in Manchester. The latter is another one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to.
Then, suddenly, Augieri disappeared, for personal reasons, was replaced by Jeff Scott Soto, who, just as suddenly, left for undisclosed reasons. Would Journey ever be able to fill the vacuum left by Mr Perry, I wondered? They had tried two blokes who sounded a lot like him, but neither seemed to fit, for long. Then came the news that a young chap called Arnel Pineda was the latest Steve Perry replacement. A new CD, Revelations, was released which, I have to say, although good, did not fire me up like Arrival had done. For a variety of reasons, I couldn’t make any of the gigs that were announced and I thought I would have to wait another twenty-six years to see them again.
So, it was with a certain amount of glee that I found them playing Sweden Rock. The weather on that final day was scorchio and the Festival stage area was chocka as we waited for Journey to take the stage, which was all decked out in headliners Heaven and Hell’s huge gargoyles, lending a quite bizarre appearance to the proceedings in the mid-afternoon sunshine.
I think one thing that most Journey-haters don’t realise is how heavy this band actually is live. People have this idea of them being a lightweight AOR band, but that is not the case. This is a band comprising some of the best musicians in the business. Neal Schon always plays it hard and heavy and is a fantastic guitarist; Jonathon Cain plays piano/keyboards and second guitar, making some songs very heavy; Russ Valory’s bass is solid as a rock, and Deen Castronovo hits his drums like there’s no tomorrow, not to mention he sounds a lot like Steve Perry on the songs he takes lead vocals on. Together they really rock. Nevertheless, it is the voice that people gauge this band on, fairly, or unfairly, and for many, Journey without Steve Perry is not Journey.
So, Arnel Pineda? This young man (and I mean young – he looks about twelve) from the Philippines has to achieve two things to be successful in this role. Firstly, he has to sound right, otherwise nothing else matters. Secondly, he has to own the stage. Neal Schon may be the driving force behind Journey, but the focal point in a band is, give or take the guitar solos etc, invariably, the singer. Within a few seconds of launching into Never Walk Away, any doubts about the voice were dispelled. Pineda’s soaring vocals were every bit as strong as Perry’s and even on the older material he had no issues hitting notes with power, singing them like he’d always been doing it. In terms of owning the stage, oh yeah, he stalked the boards with purpose and authority and, in spite of resembling a hoodie-wearing boy-on-the-corner, he looked the part. Weirdly, his slight build even makes one think of Perry, who was not exactly a giant, physically-speaking. Moreover though, he fitted in and the band looked like they were having a good time, not merely going through the motions.
Still, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something is different. It sounds like Journey, but it also sounds like a different Journey. With Augieri, they sounded like they always did; with this new singer they have an ever-so-slightly different sound. A little deeper, harder, heavier, rougher sound, which is not at all displeasing. Maybe it’s the hoodie; maybe Journey is just a little more ‘street’. Whatever they are they took Sweden by the scruff of the neck and gave everyone a sound pounding. By the time they went of stage I was exhausted. Although this was a bit less than you would get if you saw them in their own right, they packed a hell of a lot of songs in there, from all periods past, and every one is a damn classic. Only the Young, Ask the Lonely, Lights, Wheel in the Sky, Separate Ways, the obligatory Don’t Stop Believing, who can argue with any of those tunes? I thought they played Escape too, but it wasn’t on the setlist, so maybe I was just hallucinating? It’s not impossible ;-)
Journey definitely gets the thumbs up, but then I’m biased. After having had honourable mentions in recent years in The OC and The Sopranos, perhaps it could actually be cool to like Journey amongst the young, not just amongst us old romantics. The USA has a President of colour, so anything is possible in the 21 Century, or so it would seem.
Then, suddenly, Augieri disappeared, for personal reasons, was replaced by Jeff Scott Soto, who, just as suddenly, left for undisclosed reasons. Would Journey ever be able to fill the vacuum left by Mr Perry, I wondered? They had tried two blokes who sounded a lot like him, but neither seemed to fit, for long. Then came the news that a young chap called Arnel Pineda was the latest Steve Perry replacement. A new CD, Revelations, was released which, I have to say, although good, did not fire me up like Arrival had done. For a variety of reasons, I couldn’t make any of the gigs that were announced and I thought I would have to wait another twenty-six years to see them again.
So, it was with a certain amount of glee that I found them playing Sweden Rock. The weather on that final day was scorchio and the Festival stage area was chocka as we waited for Journey to take the stage, which was all decked out in headliners Heaven and Hell’s huge gargoyles, lending a quite bizarre appearance to the proceedings in the mid-afternoon sunshine.
I think one thing that most Journey-haters don’t realise is how heavy this band actually is live. People have this idea of them being a lightweight AOR band, but that is not the case. This is a band comprising some of the best musicians in the business. Neal Schon always plays it hard and heavy and is a fantastic guitarist; Jonathon Cain plays piano/keyboards and second guitar, making some songs very heavy; Russ Valory’s bass is solid as a rock, and Deen Castronovo hits his drums like there’s no tomorrow, not to mention he sounds a lot like Steve Perry on the songs he takes lead vocals on. Together they really rock. Nevertheless, it is the voice that people gauge this band on, fairly, or unfairly, and for many, Journey without Steve Perry is not Journey.
So, Arnel Pineda? This young man (and I mean young – he looks about twelve) from the Philippines has to achieve two things to be successful in this role. Firstly, he has to sound right, otherwise nothing else matters. Secondly, he has to own the stage. Neal Schon may be the driving force behind Journey, but the focal point in a band is, give or take the guitar solos etc, invariably, the singer. Within a few seconds of launching into Never Walk Away, any doubts about the voice were dispelled. Pineda’s soaring vocals were every bit as strong as Perry’s and even on the older material he had no issues hitting notes with power, singing them like he’d always been doing it. In terms of owning the stage, oh yeah, he stalked the boards with purpose and authority and, in spite of resembling a hoodie-wearing boy-on-the-corner, he looked the part. Weirdly, his slight build even makes one think of Perry, who was not exactly a giant, physically-speaking. Moreover though, he fitted in and the band looked like they were having a good time, not merely going through the motions.
Still, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something is different. It sounds like Journey, but it also sounds like a different Journey. With Augieri, they sounded like they always did; with this new singer they have an ever-so-slightly different sound. A little deeper, harder, heavier, rougher sound, which is not at all displeasing. Maybe it’s the hoodie; maybe Journey is just a little more ‘street’. Whatever they are they took Sweden by the scruff of the neck and gave everyone a sound pounding. By the time they went of stage I was exhausted. Although this was a bit less than you would get if you saw them in their own right, they packed a hell of a lot of songs in there, from all periods past, and every one is a damn classic. Only the Young, Ask the Lonely, Lights, Wheel in the Sky, Separate Ways, the obligatory Don’t Stop Believing, who can argue with any of those tunes? I thought they played Escape too, but it wasn’t on the setlist, so maybe I was just hallucinating? It’s not impossible ;-)
Journey definitely gets the thumbs up, but then I’m biased. After having had honourable mentions in recent years in The OC and The Sopranos, perhaps it could actually be cool to like Journey amongst the young, not just amongst us old romantics. The USA has a President of colour, so anything is possible in the 21 Century, or so it would seem.