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Jeff Scott Soto
Little Fox Theater, Redwood City, CA
September 25, 2007
By Dan Wall
Set 1: Mysterious, Soul Divine, Color My XTC, 21st
Century, Drowning, New Position, Long Train Running, Hey, Stand Up and
Shout.
Set 2: If This is the End/Nobody Said It Was Easy/Purple
Rain/Goodbye/Send Her My Love, Broken Man, Crazy, Black Tiger*, Mean
Streak*, Summertime Girls*, I Want to Take You Higher, Separate Ways.
*with Dave Meniketti
Encore: I’ll Be Waiting, We Will Rock You/I Love Rock and Roll, Play
That Funky Music/Jungle Boogie/Brick House/Kung Fu Fighting/Macho
Man/Another One Bites the Dust/Stayin’ Alive. 2 hours.
After reviewing a Soul Sirkus show on this site a few years back, I
mentioned how happy I was that someone had finally given Jeff Scott Soto
a chance to show off his immense talents in this country. Already a big
name in Europe and other markets overseas, the one-time singer for
Yngwie Malmsteen, Axel Rudi Pell and Talisman had finally moved into the
big leagues here in America.
And not long after that, he was brought up to the majors when he took
the gig with Journey last summer. Now, everyone who likes classic rock
was finding out what his most ardent fans already knew-that Soto was a
force to be reckoned with, a great frontman with a voice that can
whisper and roar, and possessing a back catalog of songs that rivals
almost any other singer-even if you aren’t all that familiar with him.
So why am I writing a review of now ex-Journey singer Soto’s show in an
intimate club last week in Redwood City? Well, depending on whom you
talk to, he didn’t get along with Jonathan Cain, said the wrong thing to
the wrong people about the drummer Dean Castronovo, didn’t mesh with the
band’s other songwriters or wanted too much money to front the band.
Journey’s loss is certainly our gain, however, as Soto played his
first-ever solo show in the Bay Area in front of his most devoted
fans-and smoked the place.
The set list was almost like a wish list to those gathered, as most of
the crowd was hearing these songs live for the first time. Opening with
Talisman’s “Mysterious” got everyone’s attention right away, and he
followed that with more Talisman songs, solo highlights, a Soul Sirkus
tune, a few well-placed covers and a funky encore of just about every
great funk song ever written.
Soto has a great personality, tremendous pipes and is a smooth frontman.
His name is always mentioned when talk centers on the most underrated
frontmen of the last 20 years, but until last year, only the most
die-hard melodic rock fans knew who he was. He was always a great little
secret, a guy who made great music alone and with a number of acts that
barely sold any records at home, but made him a star elsewhere. That
opinion has changed, but not enough to get more than a few hundred fans
into a club on a Tuesday night.
That’s too bad for those who couldn’t make it, since this was a fun time
out. Soto sounded great, as always, and he brought along a tight,
well-rehearsed band that played rock, funk and ballads with equal
aplomb. Guitarist Howie Simon is a longtime Soto protégée that can play
a simple riff and a ripping Van Halen-like lead with ease. Bassist Gary
Schutt and drummer Dave Dzialak were rock solid all night, and everyone
sings, which really brings out the best in Soto’s melodic material.
The best song played was ‘Stand Up and Shout,” (you might remember it
from Rock Star; it was written by Sammy Hagar) with Soto’s unreal voice
hitting the intro and sending chills up and down my spine, but it wasn’t
the only one. To let everyone know just what the rest of the Journey
boys are missing, he aced both “Send Her My Love” and “Separate Ways,”
and “I’ll Be Waiting,” an oldie from the Talisman playbook, was superb
as well. Soto brought out Y& T guitarist Dave Meniketti for three of his
band’s songs, and that little stunt took things up to a whole-nother-level
(for the Mad TV fans in the house).
Whether Soto becomes a star on his own or gets another chance at the big
time is really up for debate right now, but if you like melodic rock
music, you could do much worse than to search out anything that has this
man’s name on it.
First five cd’s to search out by Jeff Scott Soto
Live at the Gods-solo
Lost in the Translation-solo
Talisman 1
Between the Walls-Axel Rudi Pell
Humanimal
And that’s just the start…….. |
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