Summertime is nearly upon us and that can mean only one thing: The annual parade of rock and roll has-beens coming through our area.
What’s worse is that most of these bands are missing key members, so fans are paying big bucks to see what is, ultimately, a tribute band. This year, we’re talking a smörgåsbord of late '70s dreck--admittedly popular dreck, but dreck nonetheless.
Boston/Styx hits Nokia on June 24 and then it’s the unholy trio of Cheap Trick, Heart and Journey late in July. Besides the logistics of getting a crane to hoist Ann Wilson on stage, Journey fans are going to be disappointed that lead singer Steve Perry has been replaced by one Arnel Pineda, a Perry sound-alike from the Philippines.
(Supposedly, guitarist and Journey co-founder Neal Schon found Pineda via Youtube and figured fans wouldn’t notice the difference. Pineda is the third vocalist to take Perry’s spot since the original singer left in 1998.)
But, unlike a lot of these oldies tours, Journey actually has a new CD to promote. It’s called Revelations, and it’s a three-disc CD and DVD package coming out June 3. One disc will be 11 Journey “classics” (with Pineda singing instead of Perry), the second disc will be all-new material and the third disc is a DVD from a recently filmed concert.
Which, well, all seems like a lot of overkill. How much Journey can a person stomach? --Darryl Smyers
