BACK in the eighties long closed music venues such as the Lion on Bridge St and the Carlton Club on Sankey Street reverberated to the sounds of hard rock music.
Fool for your Loving by Whitesnake and Journey’s Don’t stop Believin’ were guaranteed floor fillers. Now some thirty years on a sizable contingent of Warrington rock veterans have battled through rush hour traffic to the Manchester Arena for a nostalgic trip down memory lane to witness the 21st century versions of these bands along with recently reformed 90’s rockers Thunder.
Thunder (pictured top) also enjoy a Warrington connection having played the Lion in an earlier incarnation as Terraplane. The London band set the tone for the evening with a greatest hits set which had the near sellout crowd up on their feet and singing along to tracks such as Dirty Love and the big power ballad, Loved walked In. Lead singer Danny Bowes was on fine form with his voice as strong as ever.
Next up were Whitesnake, the latest version of the band bears little resemblance to the band that Coverdale formed in 1978 after Deep Purple split. The young guns backing David Coverdale rip through the back catalogue with bombastic zeal. Coverdale is still a consummate performer and at 61 puts most front men half his age to shame. Time unfortunately has been less kind on his voice which lacks the range and soulfulness of yesteryear.
The excruciating and lengthy guitar dual between Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach falls flat and it isn’t until a surprise appearance of original guitarist Bernie Marsden for Fool for Your Loving and Here I go Again things pick up. The set finishes with a rousing version of Still of the Night.
Journey are enjoying a new lease of life thanks to the worldwide popularity of Don’t Stop Believin’ through shows such as Glee and the X Factor. The band are an unusual spectacle, four largely static middle aged men fronted by the diminutive vocalist Arnel Pineda (pictured right) who leaps about the stage with great enthusiasm. They kick things off with Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) followed in quick succession by Chain Reaction and Ask the Lonely. The musicianship is faultless and in Pineda Journey have found a vocalist capable of replicating the effortless vocal capacity of the long departed front man Steve Perry.
Unfortunately he lacks the charisma and stage presence of the former singer but with a back catalogue of soft rock classics such as Wheel on the Sky and Open Arms, Journey are triumphant. The evening closes with an unabashed air punching rendition of Don’t stop Believin’ and 15,000 smiling faces.
To hear more about the concert tune into the Radio Warrington on 87.8FM between 8am – 10am tomorrow, (Saturday) for two hours of classic rock. 
Coverdale is still a consummate performer
Pictures by Sakura – www.rockphotographer.net
