So last night the Mrs. and I left the kiddoes at home and went up to Paso Robles to the Midstate Fair to see Heart open for Journey. The concert was really good, with a couple of minor flaws.
HEART
Let me just say, even pushing 60 yrs old, Ann Wilson can still bring it, and bring it with power. An all acoustic version of "Alone" brought the house down, and as Nancy Wilson said when introducing Ann to the crowd, she "needs no digital correction". They played a strong 50 minute set with most of their early tunes (the set was light on their hits from Heart and Brigade), opening with "Barracuda" and ending with "Magic Man". My only complaint was that I could have listened to them for another 45 minutes at least. I wish the show had been more of a co-headliiner show format.
JOURNEY
My biggest complaint about Journey is with their sound tech. The sound was muddy as hell, with way too much bass, the cymbals were not cutting through, and Cain's keys were difficult to hear. I love to hear Schon shred as much as anyone, and shred he did, but the music has always been their strength, and I wanted to hear that well as well. Also, they spent the first hour of their hour and 45 minute set doing either early or recent material, so much so that Cain was on rhythm guitar for nearly the entire first hour, which contributed to the general muddiness. Their latest singer, Arnel Pineda, did an amazing job, although when he talked to the audience I couldn't understand a thing he said. But the guy can flat out sing the songs at probably 95% of what Perry could do. However, I felt like sometimes he was trying to hard to put his own stamp on the "classics" like "Open Arms" and "Faithfully" and not staying true to the melody as much as he might have. But he, and the band, played with amazing energy, and except for a 3 song lull where they played stuff from their new album, the crowd was completely into the whole thing.
Great show!
