Boston – Review of Rockfest ‘08 Show
Boston has had a lot of changes in their lineup, but one thing hasn’t changed. They still sound great! The only original member is Tom Scholz (guitar, organ and vocals). Newer members are Tommy DeCarlo, discovered on MySpace, (vocals), Michael Sweet formerly of Stryper (vocals, guitar) Gary Pihl formerly with Sammy Hagar, (guitar, vocals) Kimberly Dahme (bass, vocals) and Jeff Neal (drums).
According to the band, they wanted to call this their greatest hits tour to honor Brad Delp who took his own life last year. There is a lot of pressure on the new vocalists Michael Sweet and Tommy DeCarlo in taking over for Brad Delp and they delivered nicely! The stage set up looked like a spaceship resembling the artwork from one of Boston’s albums and very similar to the Boston website.
The band started out with a guitar rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” by Sweet which certainly got the crowds attention. Then the hits started rolling in respectively, “Party”, Rock and Roll Band”, “Piece of Mind”, “Cool the Engines”, “Don’t Look Back”, “It’s Easy”, “Amanda” and “More Than a Feeling“.
Next we had a guitar solo by Michael Sweet and the singing of “A Man I’ll Never Be” in dedication to Brad Delp. Michael did a great job on both of these and I told my wife that “once in awhile when Michael hits those high notes just right, it makes me think of all those rockin Stryper tunes back in the day.” What memories….
The song “Walk On” was next followed by a fantastic organ solo by Tom Scholz, the only original member and founder of the band. “Foreplay/Long Time” and “Smokin” were the last two songs played. The band also noted that “Smokin” was written by Brad Delp and Tom Scholz 30 years ago…wow!
Following a band like Poison, some people in the crowd were overheard saying this band was boring because they just stood there and played. Well I have news for them, it was a totally different kind of music and era. All of the songs sounded perfect and like the originals. I will say this, for only having one original member you would have never known it. A very solid performance.
If you are a fan of Boston music, this show will not disappoint you. Relax and let the music take you back.
Here are the rest of the tour dates.
| Sun. 07/27/08 | Elizabeth, IN | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
| Wed. 07/30/08 | Orillia, ON | Boston | Tickets |
| Sun. 08/03/08 | Mansfield, MA | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
| Wed. 08/06/08 | Uncasville, CT | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
| Sat. 08/09/08 | Salamanca, NY | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
| Sun. 08/10/08 | Holmdel, NJ | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
| Tue. 08/12/08 | Wantagh, NY | Boston REO Speedwagon |
Tickets |
| Wed. 08/13/08 | Baltimore, MD | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
| Fri. 08/15/08 | Atlantic City, NJ | Boston | Tickets |
| Sat. 08/16/08 | Roanoke Rapids, NC | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
| Sun. 08/17/08 | Alpharetta, GA | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
| Tue. 08/19/08 | Greenville, SC | Boston | Tickets |
| Thu. 08/21/08 | Hollywood, FL | Boston | Tickets |
| Fri. 08/22/08 | St. Augustine, FL | Boston | Tickets |
| Sat. 08/23/08 | Clearwater, FL | Boston | Tickets |
| Tue. 08/26/08 | Syracuse, NY | Boston Styx |
Tickets |
[tags]Boston, Rockfest 2008[/tags]
Greetings,
Just read the ~ Review of Rockfest ‘08 Show dtd July 24, 2008 and although Tommy Decarlo was mentioned in the intro, the review featured primarily Michael Sweet as the vocalist for most of the songs including what I believe to be Decarlo’s creation ~ “A Man I’ll Never Be.
The question ~ Was T. Decarlo there, and how is he doing as a replacement for the late, great, Brad?
Thanks,
Michael
Yes Tommy was there and he sounds remarkably like Brad Delp. He sang lead vocals on the majority of the songs and did a remarkable job. Michael Sweet definitely just has more stage presence than Tommy. He was all over the stage, full of energy. I believe that “A Man I’ll Never Be” was written by Tom Scholz and was on the 2nd Boston album Don’t Look Back which was released in 1978.
Here’s a link from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Back_%28Boston_album%29#Track_listing
If you’re a Boston fan, then you would really enjoy this lineup.