Steve Miller Band tops, but Journey also delivers at Verizon

[tater1977]

Steve Miller Band tops, but Journey also delivers at Verizon

By Kevin C. Johnson kjohnson@post-dispatch.com

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/m ... b3621.html

Oldies rock tours this summer have been everything from top tier (Rod Stewart and Santana) to mega spectacles (Cher) to mixed bags (Foreigner and Styx).

And then there’s Journey.

The veteran rock band, sharing a bill with Steve Miller Band and Tower of Power, came to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Friday night for a Bay Area showcase of classic ’70s and ’80s-era music that played out in front of more than 19,000 fans during a balmy night.

The interesting thing about Journey in 2014 isn’t the fact that the band can still pack venues from front to back regardless of whether it has any new material out.

What’s continually interesting about Journey is its ability to succeed and maintain its standard with new era Filipino lead singer Arnel Pineda, a replacement the band found after watching him perform Journey songs on YouTube.

Since joining in 2007, Pineda continues to be not only accepted but embraced, tough things to pull off for a replacement of a well-known favorite lead singer. It’s to his credit he’s able to lead Journey fans through renditions of “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” “Any Way You Want It,” “Faithfully” and “Don’t Stop Believin’,” as he did at Verizon.

Pineda does so with a voice that’s quite reminiscent of Steve Perry’s; he’s not going out of his way to put his own spin on the songs, giving fans what’s familiar. In this instance, that’s the right choice.

Guitarist Neal Schon delivered a full-on, all-out rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” complete with the American flag projected on the video screen. It felt very Independence Day, making the song technically only a week off, though the song of course works any day of the year on different levels.

Drummer Dean Castronovo demonstrated the very special set of skills required to sing lead vocals and play drums at the same time during “Mother, Father.” Keyboardist Jonathan Cain performed a pretty and potent suite of Journey songs during his solo spotlight.

If there were any limp moments, they came not surprisingly with the band’s focus on material from its latest album “Eclipse” from 2011 — “She’s a Mystery” and “Ritual.”

Steve Miller Band was the real musical highlight of the night, giving more diverse sounds and textures on songs such as “Jungle Love,” “Take the Money and Run,” “Abracadabra” and “Space Cowboy” while also acknowledging the 40th anniversary of “The Joker.”

“This is the way we used to kick it back in 1973,” Miller said by way of introducing “Sugar Babe” from the album.

The set included an acoustic turn from Miller along with singer Sonny Charles on a cornball cover of “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” and a wrap-up that included “The Joker,” “Jet Airliner” and “Fly Like an Eagle,” the last of which soared all over the place, providing the evening’s best moment.

Tower of Power’s opening set felt as if it came way too early in the evening. A different showcase and placement would have suited the band even better. But there was no denying the power of Tower of Power’s funk-filled jams on songs such as “What is Hip?,” “Soul Vaccination,” “This Time It’s Real” and “So Very Hard to Go.”

[Journey_Elder]

Steve Miller Band was the real musical highlight of the night, giving more diverse sounds and textures on songs such as “Jungle Love,” “Take the Money and Run,” “Abracadabra” and “Space Cowboy” while also acknowledging the 40th anniversary of “The Joker.”


If I am not mistaken there is no song titled Space Cowboy, that's a lyric from The Joker ?

[WalrusOct9]

Steve Miller Band was the real musical highlight of the night, giving more diverse sounds and textures on songs such as “Jungle Love,” “Take the Money and Run,” “Abracadabra” and “Space Cowboy” while also acknowledging the 40th anniversary of “The Joker.”


If I am not mistaken there is no song titled Space Cowboy, that's a lyric from The Joker ?

http://youtu.be/cwoiy-Fwm0E