Do you recall the first time you listened to Journey? I was raised on Journey. My mother, father before me - they were both raised on Journey. I can listen to them anytime. So, naturally, when Journey announced that their 50th anniversary tour with special guest Toto was coming to Fresno in April, I had to go. My friend Angel had a last-minute conflict, but luckily, my friend Dominic was able to attend. The crowd definitely skewed older, but unlike when I saw Scorpions last October, there were a few young people. Maybe rock isn't dead after all. Toto came on stage at 7:25, which I thought was odd because the start time on the ticket was 7:30. They certainly take the cake for the most punctual band I've seen live. They had a tight, 10-song set. Guitarist and founding member Steve Lukather and current frontman Joseph Williams shared lead vocal duties. Interestingly, they opened with "Afraid to Love," which wasn't bad. But the next song was "Hold the Line," which everyone knows, and unlike Friends, they know we know. After that, they went through a few album tracks, including "Georgy Porgy," which is one of those songs that just sounds better live. Then, Lukather decided to drop a little music trivia on us. Did you know that Joseph Williams sang "Hakuna Matata"? Yeah, I bet you didn't. A side note for my Peacemaker fans: Doesn't Williams look like John Economos? Anyway, after Williams sang a snippet of "Hakuna Matata," Lukather gave us another surprise, in the form of a "special appearance" that "doesn't happen all that often." Enter founding member and keyboardist David Paich.
Paich joined the band for "Home of the Brave" and stayed onstage for the cover of "With a Little Help from My Friends," "Rosanna," and "Africa." This version of "Rosanna" was like an extended jam session. Lukather had an extended solo, but the one who stole the show was Warren Ham. Ham, who Lukather referred to as "Mr. Fabulous," had spent most of the night on auxiliary percussion, or what we percussionists call "percussion 2." Here, however, he took out a harmonica, and went crazy. "Rosanna" was also the first time that the two drunk guys in front of us would really get into the music. They would come into play later. Lukather and Williams are not nearly as energetic as Ryan Tedder or Arnel (more on that later, too), but they know how to work the crowd. There was a bit of audience participation on "Africa," which I was not expecting. That became a theme of the night: surprises. Once they left the stage, it took probably 20 minutes (it seemed like more) for the stages to change, during which we were treated to the greatest hits of Queen, The Outfield, and Thin Lizzy. I told Dominic, "The boys may be back in town, but they're not on stage yet." Then Journey came on stage. They played 22 songs, more than I was expecting, including 2 guitar solos for Neal Schon and 1 piano solo for Jonathan Cain. Having never been to a Journey show, and especially with this being an anniversary tour, I thought they might only play the hits. But any fears I had of this were quickly assuaged when they opened with "Only the Young." I mentioned Arnel Pineda earlier. I thought Eddie Vedder and Ryan Tedder were energetic; Arnel has them beat. He was jumping around, turning off the band with every song. He kept tossing the microphone like he was in a high school color guard. He even tossed the mic stand once. "Only the Young" was followed by Neal's first solo, which led into my personal favorite Journey song, "Stone in Love." The two drunk guys seemed to like this one quite a lot as well. Not as much, though, as they did the next song, "Don't Stop Believin'". The air guitar came out here. They would get progressively drunker as the night wore on. They were still relatively sober here. You know how I could tell? Later, one of them started clapping on "1" and "3." Any musician knows that you clap on "2" and "4." Journey has made the headlines lately for some infighting stemming from improper credit card use. After DSB, though, Neal made a point to thank "everyone who's ever been in the band," which I thought was very classy. Neal mentioned Steve Perry several times, the first of which was a song that he and Perry "wrote in 10 minutes at Gregg Rolie's house." As soon as he said "the city by the bay," the crowd erupted in raucous applause. I think. I was too busy clapping myself to gauge accurately. Arnel was working the crowd, too. He gave lots of high-fives, and did a split move on "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" that looked like it had the potential to go terribly wrong. After "Lights," he dedicated "Send Her My Love" to "all the beautiful ladies" in the audience. "Send Her My Love" was followed by "Ask the Lonely" and two album tracks. One of them ("Chain Reaction") has been a staple in their tours of late, and one ("Escape") has not. They used the screen behind them sparingly, but they did project the San Francisco skyline for "Lights" and a futuristic-looking car for "Escape." After "Chain Reaction," which was one of my favorite performances of the night, they played "Who's Crying Now," and I was struck by how good Arnel's vocals are. He really does sound like a young Steve Perry. After killing it on "Who's Crying Now," Arnel says something about "my man Deen Castronovo on drums" and walks off the stage. What? Deen takes lead vocals on "Mother, Father," and he sounds really good. The guy's already doing four different things with his limbs, and then to sing on top of that? He's crazy. Arnel comes back on stage after that, and in another surprise, introduces a song from the band's newest album: "Let It Rain." That was a theme of the night: surprises. It's not my favorite song from Freedom, but it doesn't sound bad by any means. Then comes "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin,'" which had some audience participation as well, and a stunt from Arnel that had me concerned for his personal safety. This is followed by Jonathan's solo, to scattered applause. Jonathan then plays the opening notes of "Open Arms," and the crowd goes wild. I am once again in awe of Arnel's Perry-ness. "Open Arms" was followed by "Faithfully," which Jonathan dedicated to the "men and women of the armed forces." Jonathan then said, "In 1987, we made a record called Raised on Radio." One problem: Raised on Radio came out in 1986. He's old. I guess, much like the girl, he can't help it. "Girl Can't Help It," with touring keyboardist Jason Derlatka on lead vocals, was followed by Neal's second solo, which got a good amount of applause and a few catcalls from the drunk guys. By this point, I was noticing a pattern, and began going through the songs they hadn't played yet to see what the solo would lead into. "Wheel in the Sky," "Separate Ways," etc. Sure enough, the solo led into "Wheel in the Sky." "Wheel" was followed by "Separate Ways," which was met with lots of applause. They closed out the show with two hits: "Be Good to Yourself" and "Any Way You Want It." Journey's been around for 50 years; Toto 46. But you wouldn't know it from watching them. They still sound great. And save for Jonathan's goof and once during DSB when Arnel's mic cut out, it was a very well-executed show. There's just something about being in an arena with 19,000 like-minded people who just want to hear some good music. Even with 32 songs, I found myself wondering, why can't this night go on forever? Setlists: Toto Journey
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorTyler has been reviewing movies for a long time. He enjoys watching movies with the three H's - humor, heart, and high stakes. |