Journey works its magic at the Bowl

The OC Register
Original Article -- http://goo.gl/n1VYXt

The premise sounds like something drafted in the notebook of a daydreaming teenager, the kind of thing that starts with, "You know what would be totally radical?"

It's the stuff of fantasy; Journey is onstage at the Hollywood Bowl accompanied by a full orchestra. Guitarist Neal Schon is shredding on his custom green Paul Reed Smith, and just as he launches into the loudest part of "Anyway You Want It," with the entire crowd singing along, fireworks start to illuminate the sky. They're silent at first, but as they rise higher and creep over the crowd, thunderous booms accompany the white spirals, red flares and purple bursts that now spread to all four corners of the horizon.

Luckily, the notebook containing this rock fantasy belonged to the opening-night committee for the Hollywood Bowl, and on Saturday, Journey played with a full orchestra for the first time in a career that has spanned four decades.

Perhaps the group has never played with an orchestra before because every Journey song is an anthem already, and the five members of the band have had no difficulty filling arenas with their sound. Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conductor Tom Wilkins, a rock star himself in the eyes of Bowl regulars, understands that dynamic. That's what made the pairing work; his orchestra was there to complement, not upstage.

On massively popular tracks like "Wheel in the Sky" and "Who's Crying Now," Wilkins directed his players to let the band work its well-honed magic, only really stepping out of the shadows during guitar solos. The format made for a cohesive performance.

Aside from the monster singles, the band went for lesser-known tracks that could be reinterpreted with an orchestra without leaving the audience feeling defrauded. Singer Arnel Pineda won the crowd over with his passion for his Philippines homeland on the song "City of Hope." The band veered even further from the karaoke bar with the 1978 song "Winds of March." As the seven huge LCD screens behind emanated a sinister red, the song's harder prog-rock elements paired especially well with Wilkins' conducting.

As the crescent moon set over the tree line, leaving a very visible Jupiter and Venus on the horizon, those onstage, including the 20-member choir from the Youth Orchestra LA, may have had the best view of the night. When a gentle breeze picked up during the calm opening chords of "Patiently," it seemed as though Wilkins' baton had some authority over nature.

The few moments in the band's 2 1/2-hour set that lacked energy didn't last. By the end of the restrained "Mother, Father," the crowd was ready for fireworks. When the pyrotechnics began during "Anyway You Want It," they were incredible. As the explosions multiplied in size and volume, all eyes were turned skyward. Drummer Omar Hakim, filling in at the last minute for Deen Castronovo, leaned across his kit to catch a glimpse from under the Bowl's iconic arch.

The band left the stage after the fireworks and returned faster than you could say, "Yeah right, like they're not going to play 'Don't Stop Believing.'" The Bowl audience didn't need fireworks to get inspired this time, not for the best-selling song in the digital era. And they didn't need sheet music to sing along to an anthem so catchy that it was still being sung long after the orchestra's final bow.

Flag Day Kicks Off National Celebration

"Let the 21-gun salute begin!" With those words, Pyro Spectaculars by Souza has once again started the countdown to July 4 as we celebrated Flag Day, June 14, in all our operations across the country.

CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Jim Sousa, reported "We are thrilled to once again be celebrating the land of the free and the home of the brave, quite literally from 'sea to shining sea.'" In addition to continuing the now-iconic execution of Macy's July 4th Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular in New York (the nation's largest), the Souzas are well into the final steps of preparation at locations spanning from San Diego to Atlantic City to the Pacific Northwest. This promises to be another Pyro Spectacular year of Independence Day celebrations.

 Although not an official federal holiday, Flag Day is celebrated throughout the country with the display of our national banner, as well as parades, picnics, and pyrotechnics. It marks the unofficial opening of the Independence Day Celebration season for patriotic Americans nationwide.

It was on June 14, 1777 that the Second Continental Congress adopted the American Flag. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as "Flag Day." In the words of President Obama, "Over farmlands and town squares, atop skyscrapers and capitol buildings, the American flag soars. It reminds us of our history -- 13 colonies that rose up against an empire -- and celebrates the spirit of 50 proud States that form our Union today. On Flag Day and during National Flag Week, we pay tribute to the banner that weaves us together and waves above us all."