Photograph and Review by Ray Williams
TORONTO—With the Beginning of Summer just a few days away Tower of Power, the Steve Miller Band and Journey brought their summer tour to the Molson Amphitheatre Center stage for a night of funky soul power, quirky speeches and classic rock n’ roll.
With Toronto grid lock, Our “Gardener under construction” until, well who knows when? Most missed the Tower of Power. Tower of Power kicked off the night with a mix of jazz and soul, despite less than thirty present full. They played there songs Soul Vaccination,” “You Ought To Be Having Fun” and their ultimate hit “What Is Hip.”
The crowd filled in a bit more for the Steve Miller Band. At 70, Miller is still playing guitar and singing as if he were in his prime. Miller didn’t disappoint with hit after hit like “Jungle Love”,“ Space Cowboy”, and “Jet Airliner” The last few song the band release HUGH balloons. Who said balloons where for kids! If they are the Amphitheatre was filled with them last night. Miller pretty much stayed on Schedule despite wondering off with some of his stories.
One of the wonderful attributes of music is the ability of a song to evoke memories of a certain moment an individual’s life. If you’re a fan of the group Journey, there’s a great possibility that at least one of their songs will take you back to an unforgettable moment in time. I saw cheering screaming, crying, dancing, laughing when certain song where played.
The crowd at Thursday show seemed to know the words to nearly every song, “Any Way You Want It,” “Open Arms,” “Separate Ways “Faithfully” and “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’.” when Arnel stop singing and pointed the mic towards the crowd, the crowd took over and never missed a beat.
The band entertained us for almost two hours straight with only taking a short breaks when Neil Schon and Jonathan Cain did their own solo’s. That in turn gave Arnel Pineda a chance to change a shirt or two and rest. Arnal didn’t stop moving throughout the show, running from one end of the stage to the other, Giving high fives and at one point stepping down off the stage and interact with more of the fans.
The show ended with white confetti fired from canon with Arnal words “Don’t stop believing” The band left for a few minutes and returned to sing “Loven Touching”
