I don't go to all that many concerts anymore, and didn't plan to go to this one because I'd seen both groups before, but then my niece had two tickets she wasn't going to use, so she gave them to me. My wife did not want to go, due to another thing she had going on, so I took my friend Steve. It was kind of a full circle thing for us -- he went with me to the very first concert we both attended, Santana in 1976.
I was more excited to see Toto, since I"m a big fan and hadn't seen them since the "Fergie Fredericksen" era, in 1985.
As it turned out, Toto was disappointing. They were as energetic as ever, but only played nine songs. Of course they roared through some of the essential hits: "Rosanna," "Africa," "99," "I'll Be Over You," and "Hold the Line." The rest of their set was album cuts plus one cover ("With a Little Help From My Friends"). They opened with "Girl Goodbye," a lengthy album cut from their debut record. I was especially hoping to hear "White Sister," one of my favorite songs from their second album, but it was a no-show. The oddest choice was "Dying on My Feet," from Falling In Between, an album that almost nobody bought. The high point of the deep tracks was "Home on the Brave," from the sadly-underrated The Seventh One album.
Not that there weren't highlights. All of the players did a terrific job. Lukather is clearly having the time of his life still being able to get in front of huge crowds and play. Singer Joseph Williams was in fine voice, and the rest of the band is hand-picked from the cream of session and "formerly-of" musicians around the L.A. area. I was sad not to see David Paich, who is retired from touring. I knew that going in but was hoping he'd make an appearance anyway. (But then I remembered I was in Billings Montana.)
I apparently wasn't the only one who didn't find their set all that amazing. The next day, social media was all buzzing about how amazing Journey was, but I didn't see one post about Toto.
Journey came out swinging and gave the fans exactly what they wanted, which was the hits and nothing but the hits. There were no album cuts, no gratutious solos, no muss, no fuss. Hit after hit after hit, and eventually I was thinking, "they've definitely played them all now....oh wait, I forgot about that one!" Every player was in fine form, and they nailed all of the arrangements right to the floor, although for those of us wanting a little "stretching" in our concert experience, that fact might have been a tad disappointing. I was really hoping to hear "Something to Hide," a great ballad from the Infinity album, but... it wasn't a hit, so out it goes!
The highlight of any Journey concert over the past 15 years or so has been their lead singer, Arnel Pineda. I don't know how they found this guy, but he is a dead ringer vocally for Steve Perry. But he does not look in the least like a "rockstar." He's about 5'5", has short salt-and-pepper hair and looks like he could be a barista at a Starbucks. Nonetheless, the songs sounded exactly like on record. He's got so much energy, bounding around like he's had about four dozen Red Bulls, working the crowd (even wandering along the sidelines giving high-fives at a couple of points), and seemingly never running out of breath. The rest of the band obviously feeds off of his energy.
The only "low spot" in Journey's set was the between-song talk from Pineda was so distorted and fuzzy that it was impossible to understand about 90% of his words. It was strange, because his in-song vocals sounded great, and when keyboardist Jonathan Cain did some talking, he came through clear as a bell. The between-song patter is usually one of my favorite parts of a concert so I was disappointed not being able to hear much of it.
On the way home we were talking about all the changes that have happened in the concert industry since we went to the Santana show nearly 50 years ago.
- Computer control of the lighting and effects
- LED lighting
- Wireless technology
- Video displays
- Reserved seating
- Gear hanging from the ceiling, as opposed to sitting on the stage
- Tickets on your phone (although, that also means no stub to keep for a souvenir)
I think if any of us could go back and see/hear an old concert again, we'd be stunned at the difference in how it would look and sound compared to today.
I was more excited to see Toto, since I"m a big fan and hadn't seen them since the "Fergie Fredericksen" era, in 1985.
As it turned out, Toto was disappointing. They were as energetic as ever, but only played nine songs. Of course they roared through some of the essential hits: "Rosanna," "Africa," "99," "I'll Be Over You," and "Hold the Line." The rest of their set was album cuts plus one cover ("With a Little Help From My Friends"). They opened with "Girl Goodbye," a lengthy album cut from their debut record. I was especially hoping to hear "White Sister," one of my favorite songs from their second album, but it was a no-show. The oddest choice was "Dying on My Feet," from Falling In Between, an album that almost nobody bought. The high point of the deep tracks was "Home on the Brave," from the sadly-underrated The Seventh One album.
Not that there weren't highlights. All of the players did a terrific job. Lukather is clearly having the time of his life still being able to get in front of huge crowds and play. Singer Joseph Williams was in fine voice, and the rest of the band is hand-picked from the cream of session and "formerly-of" musicians around the L.A. area. I was sad not to see David Paich, who is retired from touring. I knew that going in but was hoping he'd make an appearance anyway. (But then I remembered I was in Billings Montana.)
I apparently wasn't the only one who didn't find their set all that amazing. The next day, social media was all buzzing about how amazing Journey was, but I didn't see one post about Toto.
Journey came out swinging and gave the fans exactly what they wanted, which was the hits and nothing but the hits. There were no album cuts, no gratutious solos, no muss, no fuss. Hit after hit after hit, and eventually I was thinking, "they've definitely played them all now....oh wait, I forgot about that one!" Every player was in fine form, and they nailed all of the arrangements right to the floor, although for those of us wanting a little "stretching" in our concert experience, that fact might have been a tad disappointing. I was really hoping to hear "Something to Hide," a great ballad from the Infinity album, but... it wasn't a hit, so out it goes!
The highlight of any Journey concert over the past 15 years or so has been their lead singer, Arnel Pineda. I don't know how they found this guy, but he is a dead ringer vocally for Steve Perry. But he does not look in the least like a "rockstar." He's about 5'5", has short salt-and-pepper hair and looks like he could be a barista at a Starbucks. Nonetheless, the songs sounded exactly like on record. He's got so much energy, bounding around like he's had about four dozen Red Bulls, working the crowd (even wandering along the sidelines giving high-fives at a couple of points), and seemingly never running out of breath. The rest of the band obviously feeds off of his energy.
The only "low spot" in Journey's set was the between-song talk from Pineda was so distorted and fuzzy that it was impossible to understand about 90% of his words. It was strange, because his in-song vocals sounded great, and when keyboardist Jonathan Cain did some talking, he came through clear as a bell. The between-song patter is usually one of my favorite parts of a concert so I was disappointed not being able to hear much of it.
On the way home we were talking about all the changes that have happened in the concert industry since we went to the Santana show nearly 50 years ago.
- Computer control of the lighting and effects
- LED lighting
- Wireless technology
- Video displays
- Reserved seating
- Gear hanging from the ceiling, as opposed to sitting on the stage
- Tickets on your phone (although, that also means no stub to keep for a souvenir)
I think if any of us could go back and see/hear an old concert again, we'd be stunned at the difference in how it would look and sound compared to today.
