SECC, Glasgow, 20/06/08

[EME]

Typing this half asleep, but here goes!

Just a quick mention about merchandising...and a small bit of bother I had with the security.

Lots of stuff for the Ladies...including a Journey dress! There was a signed Revelation CD for £25.00, tshirts were £20,00, baseball shirts £25.00..warning the XXL isn't so XXL! Sadly no tour jackets or hoodies. I was hoping to augment this blurb with some video footage however the concert hall security had other ideas and asked me to leave my seat, stand outside and delete all footage in front of them...including the John Parr stuff. Seemingly the order came from, and I quote..."the band's production team..anything larger than a 25mm screen is a no no." I was using a Nokia N95..so my advice to anyone else who has this phone or similar is to 'box in ' the screen to make it look like a smaller camera.

Anyhow, the gig.

John Parr played a solo acoustic set which, bar a terrible dirge about well known Scottish historical figures, William Wallace and Robert The Bruce was simply magnificent. We got "The Best a Man Can Get"...yep, the Gillette razor add, "Naughty, Naughty", some old blues standard followed by a rather franetic acoustic solo, and the inevitable, "St.Elmo's Fire". Hopefully he'll record an acoustic album, as this was really something to behold.

As the intro tape faded Jouney took to the stage, launching into "Never Walk Away". The sound was a tad on the low side, however it soon cranked up as those Cain trademarked 'parping synths' lauched into "Separate Ways". It soon became clear Arnel wasn't prepared to stand stilll for any longer than three seconds and stated his intent to hit every note as per Perry. All in all this was an excellent performance. The band are tight...very tight and it's clear they're happy with how things are progressing.

There were a couple of low points though..and I think I know what Matthew meant about the London gig..the setlist was a tad disjointed at the expense of promoting a new album. For instance "Rubicon" fell on it's arse to be honest; but through no fault of Arnel's. I doubt he has any say in the setlist. A minor gripe. Big pluses in the shape of Dean Castranovo, who's rendition of "Mother, Father" was breathtaking..as was his entire performance. Cain jumped about like a man of lesser years, and olde Ross looked as if he'd be sampling the local industrial champagne, but one thing that was evident was the rasping bass sound that he made his own on "Escape"...it's sadly nowhere to be heard on the new album thats for sure. Neil put in a great shift too...definently the most under rated shredder I've seen. There was a rather nifty harmonica / mandolin jam, which I can see been used in the future...very Led Zep.

But it's Arnel who steals the show. This may not be what a lot of folk on here want to believe, but I can assure you he doesn't shirk a single task thats asked of him and carries the whole thing off with a smile. He. is a very, very, special talent. There were times when he made some of these songs his own; "Faithfully" in particular.

Off the top of my head this was pretty much the London setlist..although not in the same order, sans "Where Did I Lose Your Love", although I had to leave as they played their first encore, "Escape"....I think! Hopefully someone will set me right.

By the time they reach America, this band will be on fire.

You lucky bast*rds!

Regards,
EME

[Duncan]

Thanks for posting this. I didn't understand the comment about Ross' bass playing. Are you saying it sounded bad?

[Michigan Girl]

This sounds great, EME, Thanks!!!!

[EME]

Thanks for posting this. I didn't understand the comment about Ross' bass playing. Are you saying it sounded bad?

No, not at all Sir.

His sound is/was pretty unique (I say this as a bass player)..it's just that on the new album it's fairly low in the mix; live.... it's a veritable monster!

Regards,
EME

[wednesday's child]

Thanks for posting this. I didn't understand the comment about Ross' bass playing. Are you saying it sounded bad?

No, not at all Sir.

His sound is/was pretty unique (I say this as a bass player)..it's just that on the new album it's fairly low in the mix; live.... it's a veritable monster!

Regards,
EME

Thanks for the gig report!
Friends who attended the Madrid date commented that Ross' LIVE bass improved the new songs immensely.
I have no idea why they buried his bass in the mix, for the album.

wech

[Duncan]

Thanks for posting this. I didn't understand the comment about Ross' bass playing. Are you saying it sounded bad?

No, not at all Sir.

His sound is/was pretty unique (I say this as a bass player)..it's just that on the new album it's fairly low in the mix; live.... it's a veritable monster!

Regards,
EME

Sorry, got beer eyes! Read the sentence wrong.

[pineda1]

Thanks , nice review. Can't wait for them to be back.

[cdjssfan]

For anyone interested, the whole setlist for last night's gig in Glasgow was:

The Journey (Revelation)
Never Walk Away
Separate Ways
Only The Young
Neal Solo
Stone In Love
Keep On Runnin' (Deen vocals)
Ask The Lonely
Who's Crying Now
Change For The Better
Lights
After All These Years
Mother, Father (Deen vocals)
Cain Solo
Open Arms
Cain Harmonica/Neal Mandolin jam
Wheel In The Sky
Edge Of The Blade
Rubicon
Majestic
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'

Encore

Escape
Any Way You Want It

As for my thoughts on the gig, I could take or leave John Parr to be honest, didn't really like the material, although the guy does have a good voice, I enjoyed Danny Vaughn's support act last year much more.

Don't know what happened to the original poster re-Getting huckled by security for recording songs, loads of people were doing it, including me (videos to follow later on tonight ), just unlucky I guess.

Arnel did a great job, although a note to the production team, the vocals were a bit lost at the back of the stalls where I was at times due to how loud the rest of the band's instruments were.

New songs sounded really good live, Change For The Better especially, Arnel nailed most songs, and he must be absolutely knackered after every gig the way he throws himself about.

Look forward to hopefully seeing the band again for a 4th year in a row should they tour next year.

[brywool]

shhhh, don't gripe about the set list being disjointed cuz of the new songs until after Sept. 19. So help me God if they just play 1 new song at that gig and opt to be 'safe', I'll be pissed.

[Gordon from Edinburgh]

[quote="EME"]Typing this half asleep, but here goes!


John Parr played a solo acoustic set which, bar a terrible dirge about well known Scottish historical figures, William Wallace and Robert The Bruce was simply magnificent. We got "The Best a Man Can Get"...yep, the Gillette razor add, "Naughty, Naughty", some old blues standard followed by a rather franetic acoustic solo, and the inevitable, "St.Elmo's Fire". Hopefully he'll record an acoustic album, as this was really something to behold.


The old blues standard????????????????? Oh Well by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac!!!! And he was fantastic at it. Journey were excellent - crap light show and Schon was slightly too loud. They need to change the middle of the set as it flagged a little and also drop the fucking about with Cain on harmonica - would like to have heard Girl Cant Help It from ROR but thats just me. Arnel was truly excellent.