All hail the return of The Fabulous Baker Boys (AOR division): Neal Scone and Bread Rolie, otherwise known as Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie, founding members of Journey way back in 1973.
This epic three-CD set immortalises a February 2018 benefit show that raised funds for the city’s North Bay area that had been ravaged by wildfires. Guitarist Schon assembled a one-off troupe of Journey alumni for the show (including keyboard player/vocalist Rolie, natch), and the results are both supremely musicianly and surprisingly rough-and-ready.
With Schon in full-on guitar-hero mode and an eclectic setlist (including Kohoutek, an instrumental throwback to Journey’s jazz-rock roots), this is about as glossy as a piece of scuffed carpet – and all the better for it.
No Jonathan Cain, who was down the cake shop at the time.
