RockReport 2007
Report and Photos by Frank Bruyneel
If one thing, Journey's legendary gig at last year's Arrow Classic Rock Festival made it crystal clear to the band members that European audiences had been waiting for them for a very, very long time (some 30 odd years to be exact).
Fortunately, it didn’t take another 30 years for this legendary AOR band to draw up plans for a second visit to our shores. A tour covering almost all of Europe was put together and announced for this March. Almost all of Europe because Belgium wasn't included in the itinerary and that left me with no choice but to cross the border once more, this time all the way to Cologne.
On this cold winter evening, E-Werk-a former church which had successfully been transformed into a concert hall with a capacity of nearly 2.000- turned out to be too small to hold those in attendance. The place was packed with a big number of local fans but also many Belgian and Dutch Journey aficionados. The next gig at the Paradiso in Amsterdam sold out in just two days which left many with no other choice than to travel to Cologne to see Journey live.
Lennon Murphy, an unknown beauty from Tennessee, had the honour of warming things up. She claimed to be a rock artist but armed with only a keyboard and songs that fall within the singer-songwriter category, she was only able to hold our attention for a short while. Some disrespectful fans even began to sing Journey classics while others started to chat. Opening up for Journey isn’t easy and it was clear from the start that everybody was here for one band only.
And after a short break Neal Schon kicked thing into gear with a blistering solo followed by “Rubicon”.
For the past months there’s only been one big question in my mind: “How will Jeff Scott Soto handle those Journey classics?”.
Last year Perry replacement Steve Augeri had no other choice than to take a step back after acute vocal problems, and Soto (already together with Schon in SoulSirkus) filled in the vacant spot. In the past Soto has proven again and again to have an excellent voice with a wide range and after a couple of songs I honestly believe that Journey made the right decision by bringing him into the fold. Furthermore, he’s a great front man who really knows how to entertain a crowd.
That said, I still feel that no one can fully replace Steve Perry and that mister Augeri’s timbre fit the Journey oeuvre just a tad better.
But Soto is not the only singer in this band. Drummer Deen Castronovo already showed us his vocal abilities on the ‘Generations’ album and tonight he left us in awe during ‘“Who’s Crying Now”, “Still They Ride”, “Open Arms” and “Faithfully”. What we heard was pure magic and I wonder if Perry himself could top him nowadays. Furthermore he’s an excellent drummer as well.
As always Neal Shon’s guitar playing was perfect and very imminent while Ross Valory and Jonathan Cain added colour where needed.
The set list tonight was a solid mix of old and new with “Mystery Mountain” (where Jonathan Cain handled lead vocals), “La Do Da”, “Lights”, “Anyway You Want It”, “Line Of Fire”, “Edge Of The Blade” and “Remember Me” (dedicated to Steve Augeri). Of course the classics “Wheel In The Sky”, “Don’t Stop Believin” & “Seperate Ways” weren’t forgotten but unfortunately no songs from “Raised On Radio”, an in my opinion very underrated album.
It was obvious these guys have a blast every time they take the stage and although this was once again a memorable gig, they weren’t able to recreate that magical ambiance from last year’s Arrow gig. Still the talent and the energy were in place and so was the chemistry. Now all they have to do is take the time to put all these elements together to deliver a new masterpiece…and cross the Atlantic again next year.
RockReport - Journey article
