Just back from the London show......
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:44 am...and you've got to hand it to Journey...they went down a storm again here tonight. There was a real celebratory atmosphere at the Hammersmith Apollo and we even had dancing in tne aisles. The band looked much more comfortable and relaxed than they have done on previous tours. Jonathan Cain in particular is a changed man. In 20O6 he pretty much stayed behind The Whale looking like thunder...and last year he seemed a bit unsure of himself whilst JSS was larging it around the place.
This year though he was moving around the stage like a young gazelle....and it was pretty much rhythm guitar all the way. He barely played "the Faz" ( the replacement for the Whale) which was stage left...and I couldn't help wishing that he'd put the damn guitar away and treat us to some proper 80s synths like he does on the new album.
Arnel? Well his voice is even better than it is on the album and in terms of his stage performance he's come a long way since those formal shows in hotel lobbies we saw on You Tube last year. He's also incredibly likeable and is clearly the golden boy in the eyes of Schon and especially Cain. Arnel and Cain even left the stage at the end arm in arm...not in a gay way..more like father and son. The band love him and the crowd immediately accepted him. I really think Arnel is going to win a lot of people over on the American tour.
The set list? Change For The Better was the best received of the new songs...although they all went down well...and they played five or six of those. It was good to see Journey properly promoting a new album.
BUT....the downsides....well, partly because there were so many new songs the rest of the setlist was as safe as it could possibly be. Again - no-one seemed to mind and it was crowd-pleasers all the way - but to be honest I felt a bit bored at times. With such an incredible back catalogue I still dont get why they don't go a bit deeper and surprise us with a couple of forgotten gems.
This was the first thing I missed about the show in comparison with the utterly brilliant London concert with JSS last year. JSS tried to address this problem about the setlist and we got Opened The Door and I'll Be Alright Without You and Mystery Mountain on the UK tour. It's frustrating because UK fans will cheer at literally any Journey song.....
The second thing I missed was the heavy rock/prog edge that Journey had last year. JSS helped to give the band a real bite and you could see he was pushing all the old dogs in the band out of their comfort zone. Too much so...as it turned out.
With Arnel - for all his gifts - the band are very much feeling all cosy again - and I'd say that this is a much blander group that it was this time last year. It' seemed at times like a Broadway musical version of Journey...with none of the melancholy and angst Perry brought nor the darker edge JSS brought. A huge step up from Augeri on all fronts I have to say but still....like Revelation I enjoyed it without it ever really hitting the spot.
But although I personally didn't enjoy it as much at last year...I reckon this line-up are going to clean up in the States this year.
By the way...someone will post the setlist no doubt...but it was pretty much the same as the Madrid show I think...except they played Escape in the encore.
This year though he was moving around the stage like a young gazelle....and it was pretty much rhythm guitar all the way. He barely played "the Faz" ( the replacement for the Whale) which was stage left...and I couldn't help wishing that he'd put the damn guitar away and treat us to some proper 80s synths like he does on the new album.
Arnel? Well his voice is even better than it is on the album and in terms of his stage performance he's come a long way since those formal shows in hotel lobbies we saw on You Tube last year. He's also incredibly likeable and is clearly the golden boy in the eyes of Schon and especially Cain. Arnel and Cain even left the stage at the end arm in arm...not in a gay way..more like father and son. The band love him and the crowd immediately accepted him. I really think Arnel is going to win a lot of people over on the American tour.
The set list? Change For The Better was the best received of the new songs...although they all went down well...and they played five or six of those. It was good to see Journey properly promoting a new album.
BUT....the downsides....well, partly because there were so many new songs the rest of the setlist was as safe as it could possibly be. Again - no-one seemed to mind and it was crowd-pleasers all the way - but to be honest I felt a bit bored at times. With such an incredible back catalogue I still dont get why they don't go a bit deeper and surprise us with a couple of forgotten gems.
This was the first thing I missed about the show in comparison with the utterly brilliant London concert with JSS last year. JSS tried to address this problem about the setlist and we got Opened The Door and I'll Be Alright Without You and Mystery Mountain on the UK tour. It's frustrating because UK fans will cheer at literally any Journey song.....
The second thing I missed was the heavy rock/prog edge that Journey had last year. JSS helped to give the band a real bite and you could see he was pushing all the old dogs in the band out of their comfort zone. Too much so...as it turned out.
With Arnel - for all his gifts - the band are very much feeling all cosy again - and I'd say that this is a much blander group that it was this time last year. It' seemed at times like a Broadway musical version of Journey...with none of the melancholy and angst Perry brought nor the darker edge JSS brought. A huge step up from Augeri on all fronts I have to say but still....like Revelation I enjoyed it without it ever really hitting the spot.
But although I personally didn't enjoy it as much at last year...I reckon this line-up are going to clean up in the States this year.
By the way...someone will post the setlist no doubt...but it was pretty much the same as the Madrid show I think...except they played Escape in the encore.
