Concert Review: Stone In Love

Yesterday's review of Grand Illusion was for the opening band. The main attraction was Journey tribute band Stone in Love.

I like Journey better than Styx, part of which may be the different focus. I referred to Styx as highbrow. There is nothing inherently wrong with concept albums and getting philosophical, but it is possible for that to get in the way of good music, possibly losing something in passion.

I don't want to spend too much time on that; there are great songs that are also intellectual, and a lower concept song isn't automatically dumb. I do think that a lot of the strength of music is in its ability to touch emotion. In that way, Journey is a better band - and especially a better concert band - than Styx.

That may not matter if you have a difference in band quality, but Stone In Love was fantastic. If it takes some guitar prowess to master Styx songs, it is not an easy feat to cover Steve Perry's vocals. A lot of credit needs to go to vocalist Kevin Hahn.

Instruments were also on point. I especially noticed that for drums which filled out the sound well in a way I don't specifically remember for the original band, and keyboards.

My earliest memory of Journey is the "Separate Ways" video (generally not considered a good video, but for 1983 it was pretty appropriate), which was co-written by Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain. The synthesizer on it is unforgettable, along with the overall interplay of rhythm and melody. Stone In Love delivered on all songs, but I especially noticed it there.

I have included some extra photos (even though none of them are great), because I wanted to give some idea of the effect on the crowd. Yes, people enjoyed both acts, but the dance area kept filling up more and more the longer Stone In Love played. I thought we'd hit the height of romance when a couple in front of me started dancing with each other instead of next to each other on "Lights", but that was just the prelude. Many more bodies came together on "Open Arms".

Good show!

http://www.stoneinlove.com/

https://www.facebook.com/journeytribute 

*Note to long-time readers: Stone In Love is now my 600th band reviewed. Making that work is why I reviewed three bands last week. I like it when the milestone numbers can be live shows, local bands, or have emotional significance. This show was all of the above, with Stone In Love keyboardist Mike Johnson being a friend from high school. Look for some more live music reviews next week.