The 'Lokerse Feesten' is a 10-day festival in Lokeren-Belgium, which presents every summer a nice mixture of different music styles on one stage. And thanks to Luk De Roover of the organisation, a fan of AOR and melodic rock himself, there is every year one act of the aforementioned genre present. Vaughn, Talisman, The Sign (with special guest Danny Vaughn), Europe and Pride Of Lions were among the bands that appeared on the bill in the past. Acts that often came over from The States especially for this one single gig and in some cases had even never before played in Europe.
This time it was Jim Peterik's World Stage who got roped in for this year's festival, and in my opinion, this one topped them all! Jim Peterik's all-star band was namely this time expanded with lead vocalists Toby Hitchcock, Kevin Chalfant, Kip Winger, Jimi Jamison and Kelly Keagy, and where else could you see perform Pride Of Lions, The Storm, Winger, Survivor and Night Ranger all together on one stage!?
As often, also this year the act was lined up between two popular (local) acts on this Monday evening. Which had the advantage that by the time the band hit the stage at 21:45 pm, the field was still packed with thousands of people and most of them, besides the melodic rock fans of course, stayed in expectation of the local headliner, so that they could also perform in front of a public that otherwise would never have seen them. The back-up band of World Stage for the entire show consisted of the Pride Of Lions line-up, Jim Peterik (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Mike Aquino (guitar, backing vocals), Christian Cullen (keyboards), Klem Hayes (bass), Ed Breckenfeld (drums), completed by Thom Griffin (ex-Trillion) and Lisa McClowry on background vocals, and each vocalist came onstage to perform 3 songs in a row with the band.
As Toby Hitchcock was the first one to hit the stage, it was Pride Of Lions who set the whole show into motion, and they did it exactly as on their debut album with the opener “It's Criminal“ and its follow-up “Gone”. Jim Peterik introduced “Gone” and greeted the audience with the words “Thank you Belgium! We're World Stage. It's good to be back!”, clearly pleased being at the festival again. They closed their mini-set with the sing-along “Heaven On Earth” from their latest album “The Roaring Of Dreams”, with Toby sharing vocals with Jim. Though somehow the band wasn't playing as tight as they did two years ago, and that strangely enough during their own set. But as soon as Kevin Chalfant got on stage, they got it completely right. Immediately, someone in the crowd shouted “Faithfully!”. He didn't get it, but as soon as Chalfant belted out the first notes of “River Of Destiny”, it was again obvious why so many Journey fans would love to see him after the Journey mic. With the ballad “Show Me The Way“ and “I've Got A Lot To Learn About Love“ from The Storm following, the 'Journey feel' was all over the place! On top of that was Mike Aquino's great guitar playing of Josh Ramos' 'Shon-esque' solos and the beautiful harmony vocals of Thom Griffin. During “I've got…” Chalfant also hinted that he loved his time with the Journey boys and The Storm, singing in between at the intro “I miss you Gregg!”. Beautiful.
Kip Winger changed the musical vibe a little bit with the rougher edged sound of his former band Winger. Besides a couple of Winger songs, of which “Seventeen” to much delight of the audience, he also risked performing a lesser know song, “Kiss Of Life”, from his '97 debut solo album, with at the end a first guitar solo spot for Jim Peterik. A less melodic intermezzo, which was only to strengthen the melodies still to come…
Next up in particular was something special, as it was the first time in almost two decades that both ex-Survivor members Jimi Jamison and Jim Peterik would play together again on the same stage. They started it off with a rousing rendition of “Burning Heart”, during which Toby Hitchcock also jumped in, making it a vocal fest for the ears. Then Jimi Jamison continued putting fantastic vocal emotion into the set with “The Search Is Over”, and with another song from their Vital Signs heyday “I Can't Hold Back”. He proved to be back at his vocal best, making it definitely up for the show he did with Frankie Sullivan's Survivor 2 years ago at the Arrow Rock Festival in Holland, as many fans were disappointed back then.
Final performer was Night Ranger's drummer and lead vocalist Kelly Keagy, and what a performance it was! Opening with “I'm Alive” from his new 2nd solo album (imo one of the best songs in this genre since a long time), he already couldn't go wrong. But what he delivered, was even much more – with his short-cut-hair, white shirt and black jeans, enjoying himself immensely onstage, rocking his body back and forth while tapping his foot on the stage, he looked like a young schoolboy who got onstage for the first time in his life, exploding his emotions and moving his body awkwardly to the rhythm of the music. At times, you would almost have thought that he had forgotten that he didn't have a drum beneath him while moving his body. The dynamics, joy and energy that he radiated were simply amazing and infectious! Genuine spontaneity that is rarely seen these days! With Night Ranger's “Sister Christian”, carried again by Keagy's strong, distinctive vocals, the pace got slowed down a little bit. But followed by a smashing “Don't Tell Me You Love Me”, the show got already to its climax before it even ended. By that time, all the other singers, except for Jimi Jamison, had joined in on background vocals which resulted in an excellent rendition of the Night Ranger classic, with Mike Aquino delivering a simply brilliant guitar solo! The way he perfectly interpreted the guitar work and solos of Watson/Gillis, Beach, Sullivan etc. throughout the show was stunning.
The show, which for the loyal melodic rock fans was much more than only a trip down memory lane, got then to an end with the obvious “Eye Of The Tiger”. Jim Peterik introduced the staple with a guitar solo, showing that he's not only a great songwriter and keyboard player, but also a master on the guitar. Sliding into the well known 'Rocky-beat', it was obvious that the backing band during this last moment was again not playing as tight as they are capable of, but that didn't spoil the musical vibe at all, as Jamison and the others gave again their vocal best, bringing this whole melodic rock fest to a fantastic end.
After the show, the whole band continued having a good time. With only 2 acoustic guitars and some Belgian beers within arm's reach, they all got together, far away from the crowd, performing an acoustical jam for an hour and a half.
At the end of the night I talked with Kevin Chalfant, and as Journey are apparently looking for a Steve Perry sound-alike and so many Journey fans are wondering why he isn't in the band yet, I asked him for his reaction.
“In '93 we actually got together and I did one show with them. All I can tell you is that we all got along great. Then Steve Perry came out of retirement and ever since then it's like… I don't know…”
So you were already in the band for a short moment before their reformation and “Trial By Fire” album?
“Yeah, we started writing songs and everything. So I don't have a question other than… my comment really is that I would love to do it, it's not that I couldn't. But it's not up to me. If it was an election, I'm sure I would win. But that doesn't have anything to do with them being a private entity and they have the decisions to make on their own. You know what I mean? And they're my friends and I do love them, even though I don't understand… You know, even if it was an instrument 'till they found who they really want or whatever… Personally, my feelings are, whatever singer goes in that band, don't plan on it being a lifetime thing.”
Are they in your opinion like that?
“I don't think it's like 'they're like that', I think it's trying to fill the shoes of Steve Perry, who is probably the most stylistic rock singer of all time. I mean, the way he sang, it's not going to be an easy job for anybody. The first time I saw Steve Augeri, I was being so critical on him, because I had seen Perry so many times and I was like 'ahh, he's not doing it', but as time went on he got better and better. Whoever gets in there, that's what's going to happen. I haven't seen Jeff, but…euhm…I know that right now they're all sorting that right out while they're on vacation and they're glad to be home as they've been working like dogs on the road. Everybody asks me the same question and all I can say is that it's not my choice. I didn't make the record as some kind of an audition, like some people asked me. No, the bottom line is – if I look back over my career, thinking about who helped and influenced me the most, I mean I've been in bands with a lot of them, I would think it would have been a really easy transition. Probably the easiest. But there's something that I don't know, that they know, and I don't know what that is. So all I can say is, when they sort that out…” “You know what? They may just come out with the most new, young, incredible singer of all time and prove me totally wrong. But I just don't know how they're going to find a young guy who has that depth that Steve Perry had by the end of his career.”
Well, only time will tell.
Nick Muller
