Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Arena Concierti Fiera Milano / Rho (Milan) / Italy
Concert date: 21.06.2011
Attendance: 3000
Ticket price: €52.00
Journey hardly need a special introduction. This is the band that fused the elements of Adult Oriented Rock into one cohesive, perfectly optimized whole, and through a plethora of unforgettable albums in the eighties set standards that other melodic rock and AOR bands could barely keep up with later. Journey were always famous not only for their exceptional musical layering, but also as the best arrangers around. Craft a radio-friendly hit? Nothing easier! Ask Journey how it’s done! Wizards of their era. An era that is, of course, archaic and long gone. Its relevance and its development are over. But that doesn’t mean AOR is dead. The new millennium is teeming with new-generation bands treading in the footsteps of pioneers like Journey, Boston, Foreigner, April Wine, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Triumph… Besides the new bands, who play utterly untrendy music today – it belongs to a true “underground”, available only to real connoisseurs – the AOR “dinosaurs” have also, thankfully, survived into the new millennium. And when it happens that such “dinosaurs” drop an album, it’s a veritable holiday for fans of this kind of music.
Given that AOR isn’t a trend in the new millennium, it makes sense to team up several bands for joint tours. Journey, who released a perfect new studio album, “Eclipse”, in early June 2011 and proved with it that the AOR old hands keep evolving in forging their own artistry, did a joint tour of the UK with Foreigner and Styx in the first half of June 2011. For the trip to the old continent, Styx were replaced by Kansas and Night Ranger. And yet Milan offered an exception (we’re in Italy, after all). Kansas didn’t make the Milan bill, and the revamped Thin Lizzy jumped in to take their place.
It’s six in the afternoon. The sun is shining happily, and this time we were forced to skip Thin Lizzy’s set, promising ourselves we’d absolutely not miss them at one of the joint shows with Judas Priest (and Whitesnake). That did happen later. You can read the RockLine report from 29.06.2011, when Thin Lizzy played before Judas Priest, HERE.
We caught Night Ranger. Fellow countrymen of Journey, also from San Francisco, they were wide awake. Brad Gillis, Kelly Keagy and Jack Blades are the original founding members in today’s lineup, which is rounded out by Joel Hoekstra (second guitar) in place of the “larger-than-life” John Watson, and keyboardist Eric Levy, who, by the look of him, bears a stunning resemblance to original Night Ranger keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald.
Night Ranger are excellent seasoned musicians who had their heyday in the eighties, mainly on the strength of hits from their first two albums. Those are exactly what earned them the status of classic AOR legends in the US. On top of that, they broke into the Asian market too, where they dug in with hits, especially enterprisingly in Japan. In Europe, of course, they’re known only to those who’ve followed AOR since forever, plus a few freshly baked enthusiasts, which is more the exception than the rule. The band officially released their new album “Somewhwere In California” on the very day of the Milan show. What an interesting situation!
The old tomcats brought tons of running around and dynamite in the legs. Jack Blades was practically bursting with positively bubbling enthusiasm. The little guy theatrically wore sunglasses with flip-up lenses, which he took off only during the new Growin’ Up In California. A surprise right at the start with Touch Of Madness, which never counted among the band’s hits, followed by Kelly Keagy taking over lead vocals in Sing Me Away with its famously seductive chorus that fires up the Italians in front of the stage. Then, of course, the obligatory When You Close Your Eyes, Don’t Tell Me You Love Me, Sister Christian and (You Can Still) Rock In America. In a good half hour Night Ranger delivered an extremely potent, tightly rehearsed and hugely fun set, so let’s hope this first visit to Europe since they last played the old continent in 1985 (opening for Foreigner!!!) isn’t their last, and that we won’t have to wait another 25 years for the next one. The guitar sound was a bit muddy, and Keagy’s vocals showed that the man has lost some power over the years. But that can be forgiven.
Foreigner are outstanding in 2011. Yes. That sounds really lofty for a band that has existed since 1976. Of the original members, only guitarist, occasional extra keyboardist and singer Mick Jones is left in the lineup today. But he’s surrounded by a guard of exceptional musicians. This Foreigner put together the brilliant album “Can’t SLow Down” in 2009, which, much like with the reborn Journey, confirms that Foreigner are enjoying a true renaissance. In today’s lineup it’s precisely Kelly Hansen’s vocals that justify the exceptionally high-quality platform of Foreigner’s music in the new millennium. That certainly goes for the stage too. Foreigner are a band that few can top on stage today when it comes to delivering a musical repertoire. A string of outstanding hits that etched them forever into the hearts of melodic rock fans in the eighties, when songs like Waiting For A Girl Like You, Juke Box Hero, I Wanna Know What Love Is and Urgent were climbing to the top of the charts, was reincarnated on Italian stages only for the second time (according to Mick Jones’ opening words, before Starrider)!
For the European leg, Journey shortened their set by half an hour, while Foreigner stretched theirs. The hot sextet literally exploded across the stage. That goes especially for bassist Jeff Pilson and Kelly Hansen. The former sweated hectoliters, and by the end of the show he was barely recognizable. It looked like Jeff had accidentally slipped and fallen into a pool. Kelly Hansen made full use of the huge stage structure. The show was “open air”. The stage was raised. Too raised for photographing. To get a good look at who was cheering Foreigner on in front of the stage, Kelly climbed to the top of the stage structure during one of the longer solos, doing his part to drive the Italians completely wild. Even more than that. Kelly staged a theatrical slip while coming down from the top and swung left and right on the structure, hanging from one of the steel poles built into it by his arms alone. On top of that, the singer pulled off downright impossible stunts on stage, including the “splits” and a jump into the crowd, where he sang one of the numbers.
In Italy the band decided to play Dirty White Boy instead of Waiting For A Girl Like You, which they do play on the German leg of the tour. A special moment of the Foreigner show is the performance of Urgent. A carefully built weave of an erogenous song, in which the bulk of the bravura is of course carried by Tommy Gimbel’s one-of-a-kind sax solo. Foreigner delivered their show with extraordinary vehemence. You can tell they’ve been playing regularly in Europe again since 2007. Journey had an extremely tough job waiting after Foreigner, because Foreigner stunned with a power of conviction that few rock bands can muster today. Foreigner also handled the huge stage without any trouble.
Journey are simply Journey. Like Foreigner before them, Journey also delivered flawless sound. Though Milan was certainly an exception. The stage was very high, and the speaker clusters were mounted well forward of the stage edge, so to enjoy properly balanced sound you had to watch the show from at least 15 m from the stage, if not further. The front rows were shortchanged on optimal sound. Throughout the show, Schon’s guitar wasn’t loud enough up front, nor were Cain’s keyboards. That’s also the only minus of the performance, and the band actually had no influence on it whatsoever.
Arnel Pineda confirmed his exceptional form. The man, who has grown into a truly relaxed and communicative frontman, has completely shaken off the shackles that tied him to the need to “ape Steve Perry”. Of course, in places he channels Perry like hell, but he’s adding more and more of his own stamp to his vocal approach, which means his Journey companions trust him completely. The magical get-together with the AOR giants peaked in the obligatory classics like the opening Separate Ways, then of course the ballads Faithfully and Open Arms, and further in Don’t Stop Believin’ and Wheel In The Sky, which, with Cain’s guitar backing Schon, sounds especially steely. Schon was devilish again! The man is hot and shows by his commitment that he has no intention of getting old, or of letting any of his younger guitar colleagues take his throne. With his guitar craft, Schon belongs to that narrow set of guitarists who can play everything. And he plays it with a special approach that nobody can copy. Neal’s “knotting” is a magical slalom through a shower of quickly trilled notes, and in the next moment the man unexpectedly and with a touch of spontaneity sways into delicately controlled pull-offs, which he carefully shapes with the tremolo arm. A masterful ride, a real little school in combining “letting go” and superior control.
Keep On Runnin’ went to Deen Castronovo on lead vocals, which the guy handled brilliantly. Not only did he pound the drums and sing at an outstanding level at the same time, but his “pitch” is tailor-made for Journey’s music, so a number like this gives the listener just the right dose of shock, which is also the very thing that keeps the dynamics and mood of the show from dropping while Arnel is off stage.
A concert celebrating sonic and performance perfection ended in a blizzard of confetti after Don’t Stop Believen’, followed, as expected, by Any Way You Want It. The band presented the album “Eclipse” through excellent versions of City Of Hope and Edge Of The Moment. But since Journey don’t have such hits in Europe as Foreigner do, and given the more modest stage dynamics and less incendiary communication with the crowd, Foreigner narrowly stole the show this time!
The evening of AOR music wrapped up a little after midnight. Interestingly, the Italians didn’t make much of a racket. Part of the reason was the odd decision by the organizers to put seating in front of the stage. The space between the barrier separating the photo pit from the floor was empty for the first few meters, then dotted with chairs all the way to the mixing desk. That surely led to less feedback from the audience, even though the crowd was far from asleep during the show. The seats were redundant. The audience watched the entire show standing.
The fact is that the Italian audience isn’t as fired up about AOR as, say, the crowds in the northern and central parts of the old continent. So the mood still held some reserve, while the experience of sonic perfection suggested that concerts by these bands must have an even bigger effect in “indoor” halls. That is, in front of a German crowd and in an enclosed space. We didn’t have to wait long for that, since the RockLine crew, after arriving in Ljubljana in the early morning hours of the next day, simply switched from one nine-passenger van to another just like it and continued on to Augsburg, Germany (you can read the RockLine report HERE), where a fresh joyful experience and a get-together with AOR greats awaited us!
photos: Helena Vertačnik (Foreigner, Journey), Tilen Sapač (Journey) & Aleš Podbrežnik (Night Ranger)
Setlist
JOURNEY:
1.Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
2.Ask the Lonely
3.City of Hope
4.Stone in Love
5.Keep on Runnin’
6.Edge of the Moment
7.Lights
8.Open Arms
9.Wheel in the Sky
10.Escape
11.Be Good to Yourself
12.Faithfully
13.Don’t Stop Believin’
—encore—
14.Any Way You Want It
FOREIGNER:
1.Double Vision
2.Head Games
3.Cold as Ice
4.Can’t Slow Down
5.That Was Yesterday
6.Dirty White Boy
7.Starrider
8.Feels Like the First Time
9.Urgent
10.I Want to Know What Love Is
11.Hot Blooded
12.Juke Box Hero
NIGHT RANGER:
1.Touch of Madness
2.Sing Me Away
3. Growing up in California
4.When You Close Your Eyes
5.Don’t Tell Me You Love Me
6.Sister Christian
7.(You Can Still) Rock in America
Photo Gallery
