Camden, NJ 8/13/11
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:33 amSo, I took the girlfriend to last night’s show in the “the hood” aka Camden, for an early birthday present. I wasn’t sure who else on MR may have gone, if any, so here’s my review of the show.
First, the GF is probably more of the typical fan. Enjoys the music and doesn’t really care who the singer du jour is. I am not a diehard, but have been around MR long enough to know most people’s opinions, and certainly am aware of the continuous Journey drama. Recently, we also had the opportunity to see Steve Augeri on one of his solo dates.
Night Ranger came out and did what I believe is the same set they have been doing every night. Not a huge NR fan, so I didn’t know much about them, and only knew the hits. It did end up being one of the evenings when Deen came out to play the drums on Sister Christian. They were loud, had a lot of energy, and I was pretty impressed with their performance.
Foreigner… Well, I honestly was most looking forward to their set because of the great responses and reviews they seem to be getting. They didn’t disappoint. Kelly Hansen was on his A game. Running all over the place, engaging the fans, and his vocals seemed to be pretty much spot on the entire night. The best moment of the show was when he told the people in the first few rows who were sitting down to..”Get up off your lazy asses, you paid a lot of money for these good seats, and you are just going to just sit there?” They had a lot of energy, a greatest hits set, and everyone seemed very into them.
Journey… Okay…reading MR everyday prepared me for the setlist, and the only difference maybe that from night to night they are possibly flipping SHML and WCN in/out in each others place depending on the night. Last night was SHML night. There were no other surprises. We were surrounded by a number Filipino folks who just went crazy when Arnel came out. Their ages ranged from probably 20’s to 70’s…seriously.
They may have gotten the sound fixed compared to some other shows, or maybe it is that we had tickets under the shell, but we were not that close to the stage, so it may sound better further back. You could hear the vocals equal to or better than the band.
I am going to preface this with, I like Arnel, I own Revelation and Eclipse, and like some moments on each. Compared to the radio streamed show the other night, he sounded better than that mess, unless they are cleaning him up somewhere in the process. He continues to try to make the songs his own at the expense of messing up some of the phrasing, and dragging things out. While not as bad as some versions I have heard, Faithfully still seems to be the song where he just can’t get it together, and frankly it’s a train wreck. I also found that he seems to scream and yell his way through the show. The only point when he seems to slow down and “sing” was Open Arms, and frankly he nailed that one. Arnel had a lot of energy and was all over the stage. He certainly doesn’t have the chaotic grace of Kelly Hansen or like him or not, a bit more of the smoothness that Augeri had. But, I will give him credit for trying.
Deen was going crazy as always, and at times it seemed that you could hear his backing vocals louder than Arnel’s lead vocals.
Neal was Neal. Sounded good, putting on a good show, but c’mon he better for being the guitar guy he is and that fact that he could play this set in his sleep. He took every opportunity to race off into some solo when it was appropriate.
Ross strolled around as usual, and the only thing I noticed is that it didn’t appear that he had stuck his finger in the electrical socket for tonight’s hairdo, compared to recent photos. It appeared to be the more slicked back look. He got his riotous applause during the opening chords to DSB.
Cain did his thing. Could have done without the harmonica solo during WITS, but he needs his time too, and it wasn’t that long, so it was acceptable. The way he was shuffling uncomfortably across the stage while playing the guitar, it looked like he must have been wearing jeans that were at least 2 sizes too small. That being said, he looked to be in a better mood than he sometimes does on stage.
Overall: From an effects perspective, Journey’s show was tops as you would expect, and it may be the only reason why Foreigner isn’t cleaning their clocks every night. There was something off during AYWI, and a couple others, and I am not sure what it was, but it just didn’t sound right, and a couple of seg-ways they used in between songs seemed off. The transitions just weren’t smooth. As for the new tracks…COH went over better than EOTM, but within 20 seconds of each song, everyone who was standing was in their seats, and EOTM was definitely the beer and pee break song, because people were just running out of the place.
As much as I like Journey, I felt Foreigner did a better show, and likely only because I enjoyed Kelly Hansen more than Arnel. As I mentioned before, Kelly sang the songs, Arnel screamed and yelled them, and it got old and annoying after a while, and frankly, made we wonder how long his voice is going to last singing that way, especially after we all know what happened to the two Steve's. In comparison, while he may or may not be at the level he was during his early and mid tenure with the band, both my GF and I walked out saying we had a lot more fun and enjoyed Steve Augeri’s solo show a couple months back more, and Journey was good, and what you would expect, but I walked away feeling a bit blah. That being said, it was an enjoyable night with a lot of great music.
First, the GF is probably more of the typical fan. Enjoys the music and doesn’t really care who the singer du jour is. I am not a diehard, but have been around MR long enough to know most people’s opinions, and certainly am aware of the continuous Journey drama. Recently, we also had the opportunity to see Steve Augeri on one of his solo dates.
Night Ranger came out and did what I believe is the same set they have been doing every night. Not a huge NR fan, so I didn’t know much about them, and only knew the hits. It did end up being one of the evenings when Deen came out to play the drums on Sister Christian. They were loud, had a lot of energy, and I was pretty impressed with their performance.
Foreigner… Well, I honestly was most looking forward to their set because of the great responses and reviews they seem to be getting. They didn’t disappoint. Kelly Hansen was on his A game. Running all over the place, engaging the fans, and his vocals seemed to be pretty much spot on the entire night. The best moment of the show was when he told the people in the first few rows who were sitting down to..”Get up off your lazy asses, you paid a lot of money for these good seats, and you are just going to just sit there?” They had a lot of energy, a greatest hits set, and everyone seemed very into them.
Journey… Okay…reading MR everyday prepared me for the setlist, and the only difference maybe that from night to night they are possibly flipping SHML and WCN in/out in each others place depending on the night. Last night was SHML night. There were no other surprises. We were surrounded by a number Filipino folks who just went crazy when Arnel came out. Their ages ranged from probably 20’s to 70’s…seriously.
They may have gotten the sound fixed compared to some other shows, or maybe it is that we had tickets under the shell, but we were not that close to the stage, so it may sound better further back. You could hear the vocals equal to or better than the band.
I am going to preface this with, I like Arnel, I own Revelation and Eclipse, and like some moments on each. Compared to the radio streamed show the other night, he sounded better than that mess, unless they are cleaning him up somewhere in the process. He continues to try to make the songs his own at the expense of messing up some of the phrasing, and dragging things out. While not as bad as some versions I have heard, Faithfully still seems to be the song where he just can’t get it together, and frankly it’s a train wreck. I also found that he seems to scream and yell his way through the show. The only point when he seems to slow down and “sing” was Open Arms, and frankly he nailed that one. Arnel had a lot of energy and was all over the stage. He certainly doesn’t have the chaotic grace of Kelly Hansen or like him or not, a bit more of the smoothness that Augeri had. But, I will give him credit for trying.
Deen was going crazy as always, and at times it seemed that you could hear his backing vocals louder than Arnel’s lead vocals.
Neal was Neal. Sounded good, putting on a good show, but c’mon he better for being the guitar guy he is and that fact that he could play this set in his sleep. He took every opportunity to race off into some solo when it was appropriate.
Ross strolled around as usual, and the only thing I noticed is that it didn’t appear that he had stuck his finger in the electrical socket for tonight’s hairdo, compared to recent photos. It appeared to be the more slicked back look. He got his riotous applause during the opening chords to DSB.
Cain did his thing. Could have done without the harmonica solo during WITS, but he needs his time too, and it wasn’t that long, so it was acceptable. The way he was shuffling uncomfortably across the stage while playing the guitar, it looked like he must have been wearing jeans that were at least 2 sizes too small. That being said, he looked to be in a better mood than he sometimes does on stage.
Overall: From an effects perspective, Journey’s show was tops as you would expect, and it may be the only reason why Foreigner isn’t cleaning their clocks every night. There was something off during AYWI, and a couple others, and I am not sure what it was, but it just didn’t sound right, and a couple of seg-ways they used in between songs seemed off. The transitions just weren’t smooth. As for the new tracks…COH went over better than EOTM, but within 20 seconds of each song, everyone who was standing was in their seats, and EOTM was definitely the beer and pee break song, because people were just running out of the place.
As much as I like Journey, I felt Foreigner did a better show, and likely only because I enjoyed Kelly Hansen more than Arnel. As I mentioned before, Kelly sang the songs, Arnel screamed and yelled them, and it got old and annoying after a while, and frankly, made we wonder how long his voice is going to last singing that way, especially after we all know what happened to the two Steve's. In comparison, while he may or may not be at the level he was during his early and mid tenure with the band, both my GF and I walked out saying we had a lot more fun and enjoyed Steve Augeri’s solo show a couple months back more, and Journey was good, and what you would expect, but I walked away feeling a bit blah. That being said, it was an enjoyable night with a lot of great music.
