One perk to Florida is the outdoor amphitheater season is nearly year-round. Journey, in my mind, was always the kind of the ‘sheds.
All times I’ve seen Journey it is always as part of a top-notch package. Whether it was STYX or Foreigner or Steve Miller tonight, the opening acts steal the show – or so I always think. Each time, including this time, I wait for Journey to take the stage thinking “well the bar is set really high, not sure if they will deliver” and they deliver.
The polished stadium performance, the nearly spot-on Steve Perry-ish vocals, Neal Schon’s guitar riffs. It is all there. The stuck to the hits (well the big ones – they just don’t have enough time to play all of them) – one notable exception was “La Do Da” – a guitar heavy tune from their earlier days.
As big of a Neal Schon fan that I am (I think he one of the most underrated guitarist – he has a way to make even the casual fan remember his guitar solos – who can’t hum the Don’t Stop Believin’ ones?) he did two separate stand alone solos. Most of both were “how can fast I play to show up” and each took up 3/4mins which was completely lost on the crowd. With having to deal with a shorter setlist due to the multi-bill it would’ve been nice to get two more additional songs thrown in.
The band has progressed differently over the years. First time I saw them in 2003 they were casually dressed with Marshall amps lining the stage letting the music do the talking. The last few time the band has been progressing differently and it showed most with this show. Gone is the ’70s rock vibe and now it the polished show with backing tracks, rock star waredore, and the almost over the time stage energy of Arnel Pineda. It sounds crazy but it feels different. It’s a perfect move on their part – the polished full sounding show positions them more mainstream than classic rock nostalgia act. The crowd is there for “Anyway You Want It” and “Don’t Stop Believing” and songs like “Lights” and “La Do Da” were bathroom breaks for the crowd.
Steve Miller
With the familiar laser-synth sound and followed by a whistle the curtain dropped and Steve Miller and band launched into the one-two punch of “Junglelove” and “Take The Money and Run.” Noticeably absent was backup singer Sonny Charles (who, according to his Facebook page, left the band in February to work on his own show) – which might’ve proven a bigger lose than expected. While in previous years Miller sounded good, he sounded flat on songs – not due to lack of effort, but rather simply pitch wasn’t there. However, whether consciously of subconsciously, he made up for it with extended guitar solos on most songs – showing off great guitar skills that unfortunately aren’t on the records (which honestly surprised me first time I saw him – who knew Steve Miller was a great guitarist?).
He did a good job of mixing the hits with a fewer lesser known songs. And while most classic rock acts stick to a very similar setlist tour after tour he not only shakes up the order but added in a few deeper cuts.
