Asia and Journey

Sorry for my silence yesterday, but I had a busy evening. First I went to Irish class, as usual, then Travalon picked me up and we went to the Colosseum to see Asia and Journey, two bands from my youth. Asia’s original lead singer had died in January, just before they started the tour, so they had a guy from YES (another arena rock band that was big in the 80’s) sing, and they dedicated the whole show to their late singer. It was crazy getting into the arena, so we missed a little of Asia’s set, which wasn’t even an hour long, but we did catch the songs I remember liking by them. Our seats had kind of an obscured view, and the place was pretty full, but we did manage to find two great seats that nobody ever claimed, so then we had a perfect view of the stage.

Journey was my favorite band back in my early teens for two simple reasons: 1) they played a lot more songs in minor keys than the average arena rock band; and 2) their lead singer was smokin’ hot. Apparently he is also a huge jerk, and he wants nothing more to do with the rest of the band, which is his loss because they are amazing musicians. Also, they found a Filipino street kid who could sing just like him, and so now they have a lead singer half the age of the other guys. He is totally ripped too – he looks like he works out every day! I guess when your job is running around on stage for two hours, you have a lot of other time to dedicate to pumping iron. They started their set with my very favorite Journey song, “Separate Ways,” which is not only minor key but also has a keyboard line based on Bach. A lot of people were out getting beer between bands, so they came running in when that song started. Honestly, the band was so good that even their lame slow songs sounded great live. Anyway, it was a fantastic show, and their replacement lead singer rocks. Who needs the original jerk?

Famous Hat