Journey hits high note at USANA

[tater1977]

Journey hits high note at USANA

Doug Fox - Daily Herald

http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainmen ... f887a.html

Journey

USANA Amphitheatre

Aug. 3, 2012


SETLISTS :

Majestic

Anyway You Want It

Never Walk Away

Ask the Lonely

Only the Young

Chain Reaction

Send Her My Love

Jonathan Cain Piano Solo

Open Arms

Star Spangled Banner (Neal Schon Guitar Solo)

Stone in Love

Lights

City of Hope

Wheel in the Sky

Faithfully

Escape

Be Good to Yourself

Don't Stop Believin'

Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

Encore

Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'

Performance time: 1 hour, 35 minutes



Pat Benatar with Neil Giraldo

All Fired Up

Invincible

Promises in the Dark

We Belong

You Better Run

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Love is a Battlefield

Encore

Let's Stay Together

Heartbreaker

Performance time: 50 minutes



Loverboy

Queen of the Broken Hearts

Lovin' Every Minute of It

The Kid is Hot Tonite

When It's Over

Hot Girls in Love

Turn Me Loose

Workin' for the Weekend

Performance time: 35 minutes



Journey guitarist Neal Schon might have been the only one in attendance at USANA Amphitheatre on Friday night who was not thoroughly impressed with the band's performance.

During a backstage meeting after the show, Schon, obviously a perfectionist, downplayed his own efforts -- even though he had kept more than 10,000 fans on their feet and cheering throughout the band's 1-hour, 35-minute concert with powerful riffs and melodic lead solos. Schon said he was battling a bad case of altitude sickness and found it a challenge to keep up with the beat and stay on his feet throughout the evening.

Not that anyone in the audience could tell, mind you. Schon's playing sounded near flawless in the crowd as Journey powered through 20 songs with hardly any break in the action. Keeping talking mostly to a bare minimum, Journey segued from one hit to the next with the type of focused precision that has allowed the band to remain one of the most consistent arena rock bands on the circuit.

The show, the eighth stop on the band's current U.S. tour, included a marked shuffling of the setlist from previous performances. After a stirring opening of the aptly named short instrumental "Majestic," the band surprisingly launched into "Any Way You Want It" -- a tune which had been opening the encore segment at previous tour stops. The song gave an immediate energetic jolt to the proceedings -- exactly what you want at the beginning of a concert.

When you have a solid gold catalog of hits like Journey does, it's almost impossible to go wrong with the setlist, no matter how much you change things up. There's always going to be a large percentage of immediately recognizable tunes, and if you make sure to include a couple new songs and a few album tracks then you are on target to please fans of every persuasion. And that's exactly what Journey did.

The hits came fast and furious as fans relived the musical soundtrack of the late 1970s and 80s as Journey rocked its way through radio classics like "Ask the Lonely," "Only the Young," "Send Her My Love," "Open Arms," "Wheel in the Sky," "Faithfully," "Escape," and "Be Good to Yourself" among others. The band touched on one song from each of its last two albums, upbeat rockers "Never Walk Away" from 2008's "Revelation" and "City of Hope" from last year's "Eclipse."

Those last pair of studio albums were the first to feature Arnel Pineda on lead vocals, and this was his third appearance in Utah with the band. Pineda, who was famously discovered on an obscure YouTube clip singing Journey songs with his covers band in the Philippines in 2007, continues to grow into his role as band frontman. Pineda is a complete blur of energy onstage. In constant movement, Pineda often punctuated vocals with an exaggerated fist pump, spins and and an array of calisthenics, including high jumps off the drum riser to end several songs. His constant movement served to keep the audience entertained and his vocals, of course, were a near-perfect match to those of long-departed frontman Steve Perry, who gave voice to nearly all the band's biggest hits.

Deen Castronovo also is one of the more intriguing drummers to watch during a show -- his powerful rhythm ever propelling the band forward. He also throws in a lot of showy techniques that are fun to watch if you get a chance. Bassist Ross Valory, as always, was content to casually hold down the bottom end and blend into the background, except for showing off his sense of humor with the occasional wry or sardonic expression directed at certain members of the audience. Jonathan Cain, meanwhile, was another focal point as he ably switched between keyboards and rhythm guitar much of the night, and even added a bit of harmonica during an extended version of "Wheel in the Sky."

Schon muscled through a guitar solo version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before launching into "Stone in Love" and other highlights were the main set-closing duo of "Don't Stop Believin' " and "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," and the encore of "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'." Altitude sickness aside, Schon and his bandmates definitely ended things on a high note.

Performances by Loverboy and Pat Benatar opened the evening in grand fashion. Loverboy kicked things off with a seven-song set that seemed way too short at 35 minutes. It would be nice if tour organizers could squeeze another 10 minutes or so of time for the Canadian rock band. Still, the band made the most of its allotted time by touching on its greatest hits, including "Lovin' Every Minute of It," "The Kid is Hot Tonite," "When It's Over," "Turn Me Loose" and "Workin' for the Weekend."

Singer Mike Reno, sporting a trademark red bandana, could still hit the high notes, but he clearly didn't have the sheer vocal power of his younger days. The band wasn't nearly as energetic on stage as it was in earlier times, either, but guitarist Paul Dean, keyboardist Doug Johnson and drummer Matt Frenette certainly kept things musically interesting.

Pat Benatar, however, was a revelation. Benatar ruled the stage right from the outset with her husband, guitarist Neil Giraldo. In a savvy move, the first verse of the opener, "All Fired Up," is somewhat subdued. But when Benatar hit the chorus with full-throated roar it had a huge impact and showed she still has the pipes to carry off her hard-rocking repertoire.

Highlights of Benatar's set included "Promises in the Dark," "We Belong," "You Better Run" -- which she noted was the very second video ever played on MTV, making Giraldo the first-ever guitarist to appear on the airwaves of the one-time music channel -- "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Love is a Battlefield." For encores, Benatar and Co. played a fantastic version of "Let's Stay Together" and followed it up with "Heartbreaker," which also included a mid-song breakdown of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire."

Even Journey drummer Castronovo was entertained by Benatar and Giraldo, as he appeared off the side of stage left for three songs late in the set, enthusiastically doing the "We're not worthy" bow toward the guitarist and warming up by drumming along on some side-stage equipment in a show of support for the support act. That's just the kind of evening it was, with over three hours of quality rock 'n' roll.

[Eric]

I'm a big fan of opening with Anyway You Want it.......

[Rick]

I'm a big fan of opening with Anyway You Want it.......

Me too. I was at the concert in Las Vegas when they filmed the first DVD with Arnel. I was, of course, expecting them to open with Separate Ways, and it was a big and pleasant surprise.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Back to just two new songs already? Pussies.

[Yoda]

That's a short set for Loverboy. When I go to see Journey, I hope Loverboy plays a few more songs like This Could Be The Night, Just Gettin' Started, Heaven In Your Eyes, etc...

[FamilyMan]

I'm a big fan of opening with Anyway You Want it.......

Me too. I was at the concert in Las Vegas when they filmed the first DVD with Arnel. I was, of course, expecting them to open with Separate Ways, and it was a big and pleasant surprise.

I was there too, Rick, shooting for our CBS piece. That was an exciting night -- the beginning of a new era for the band. Arnel was SUPER nervous. Couldn't believe they were going to film his first performance in the U.S. for a DVD, let alone let us shoot the show for a national TV hit. That just goes to show you how confident they were/are in his chops.

[steveo777]

I'm a big fan of opening with Anyway You Want it.......

Me too. I was at the concert in Las Vegas when they filmed the first DVD with Arnel. I was, of course, expecting them to open with Separate Ways, and it was a big and pleasant surprise.

I was there too, Rick, shooting for our CBS piece. That was an exciting night -- the beginning of a new era for the band. Arnel was SUPER nervous. Couldn't believe they were going to film his first performance in the U.S. for a DVD, let alone let us shoot the show for a national TV hit. That just goes to show you how confident they were/are in his chops.

The probably wanted to catch the band early in the tour before they downtune.

[FamilyMan]

I'm a big fan of opening with Anyway You Want it.......

Me too. I was at the concert in Las Vegas when they filmed the first DVD with Arnel. I was, of course, expecting them to open with Separate Ways, and it was a big and pleasant surprise.

I was there too, Rick, shooting for our CBS piece. That was an exciting night -- the beginning of a new era for the band. Arnel was SUPER nervous. Couldn't believe they were going to film his first performance in the U.S. for a DVD, let alone let us shoot the show for a national TV hit. That just goes to show you how confident they were/are in his chops.

The probably wanted to catch the band early in the tour before they downtune.

Man you've been cranky lately.

[Maui Tom]

I'm a big fan of opening with Anyway You Want it.......

Me too. I was at the concert in Las Vegas when they filmed the first DVD with Arnel. I was, of course, expecting them to open with Separate Ways, and it was a big and pleasant surprise.

I was there too, Rick, shooting for our CBS piece. That was an exciting night -- the beginning of a new era for the band. Arnel was SUPER nervous. Couldn't believe they were going to film his first performance in the U.S. for a DVD, let alone let us shoot the show for a national TV hit. That just goes to show you how confident they were/are in his chops.

They had a private gig the night before at MGM that a few of us were able to....err....attend....