Live performance review with Honeymoon Suite by What's Goin' On Magazine
From Wednesday Nov 13 2002 edition.
Honeymoon Suite / Forever
By Wanda Earhart
November 14, 2002 – Savoy Theatre
Honeymoon Suite muddled through an evening of memories and new material at the Savoy on Thursday night.
That may sound a tad bit negative, but it appears a case of miscommunication spread throughout the building during intermission and continued ‘til the end of the almost faked encore at show’s end. I got the feeling that lead vocalist Johnny Dee was having a bit of a hard time relating to this crowd. With a puzzled look about his face, he continued to mock, with comments regarding the subdued attitude of people sitting in their seats enjoying the music. By mid-set, it was clear he decided to just get this gig over with.
I say the show was good, with all of the right songs in all of the right places, and a few slide guitar tricks thrown in for good measure, but when the band did come out for an encore, Dee scolded his audience with “Yeah, stand up now won’t ya’s,” and for punishment for their lack of enthusiasm throughout, no autograph session for these people.
But enough about the negative.
The real winners on this night was the opening band Forever. This won’t be the first time a warm up group gets my unofficial trooper prize, but for a band who have only been together a year and have only recently released their debut, Welcome to Forever, these guys had no problem capturing and keeping the attention of the crowd. With an obvious appreciation for their listeners, Forever put everything they had into delivering an exceptional set of both originals and covers.
Their shared pride in playing the Savoy for the first time as a group was celebrated with a first class performance on stage, winning a very positive response in shouts and applause, and I’m sure many new fans in the process.
I do like this band, and although sometimes it is impossible for a group to live up to a polished recording onstage, this was not a problem with Forever. In fact, I actually heard others whisper my thoughts, at how close to perfection Derek Johnson met the notes, especially those hard to reach ones, in recreating cuts from the CD. This was especially evident on their popular Top 5 hit “Here With Me”.
Mixing impressive covers by Creed, Journey, and Nickleback, it was a heavy helping of non-stop rock. This venue is much tougher for a group more accustomed to playing bars, as unlike the bar scene where a group has to work just to be heard, in a theatre, people are more focused, so a band really has to impress to keep the attention on the stage.
Due to the distance (from home in New Brunswick), and it being a week night, second keyboard player Graeme McCausland was unable to make the gig, but the remainder took up the slack including lead vocalist Derek Johnson, guitar man Bernie Eagles, Stan Johnson (keys), bassist Peter Christmas, (who by the way stole the show, the last time he performed at the Savoy, I can barely remember the lead vocalist at that show, but Christmas clearly stood out among that band), and powerhouse drummer Keith Dawson, who I actually heard people say captured their unwavering attention with his blistering percussive expression. Well Done!
Forever blazes a trail for local bands by
FOREVER BLAZES A TRAIL FOR LOCAL BANDS
Through working my way down the list of potential profiles, I have learned a lot about local bands that I may not have heard before, as well as new things about some that I am familiar with. This profile will focus on one band that I can certainly claim as one of my personal favorites on the go today. FOREVER were playing local bars for a short while before I actually had the opportunity to hear them live. And even though I had reviewed their debut CD, WELCOME TO FOREVER, and considered myself a supporter, as their sound was so professionally produced, I had to wonder how close to that perfection any band could deliver on stage.
All reservations were put to rest when I finally got to hear FOREVER as they opened up the show for 80’s icons HoneymoonSuite at the Savoy. Though the headliners quickly faded into a distant memory, FOREVER staked their claim as a force to be reckoned with on the local musical scene. It’s tough for any band, especially rock oriented, to capture and keep the attention of a soft seat audience, but FOREVER proved that assumption wrong from their first note played.
I would later hear the band on other occasions, including the Rock the Dock event in the summer of 2003, but it was the band’s JOURNEY tribute that certainly solidified their credentials in the minds of anyone present. Lead vocalist Dereck Johnson simply owns the stage, whether he is belting out an original FOREVER song or the tough talking Creed and Nickleback hits that have become staples of the FOREVER line-up of songs. For this band, the days of depending on covers are long past, but fans appreciate the variety that Johnson is capable of sharing with his audience, so he willingly obliges when requested. His voice, no matter the style of song, is flawless.
Guitarist Bernie Eagles, like his band-mates, brings an impressive resume to the band, and their shows are regularly attended by his students, past and present. Rounding out the group are Stan Johnson on keys, Peter Christmas on bass, and Keith Dawson, who definitely stepped to the forefront during their recent Savoy date with his blistering drum solo. FOREVER has it all, great sound, stage presence, and an obvious appreciation for their supporters. This is a great band!
And the news just keeps getting better. They have continued to be recognized by industry professionals as the band to watch on the east coast. FOREVER has been nominated in the Aboriginal Artist of the Year category at the East Coast Music Awards in St. Johns Newfoundland in February 2004. This, after having recently won the MIANS Music Award for Aboriginal Artist of the Year, as well, the guys were nominated for a North American Music Award in Albuquerque New Mexico, for their video, Without Your Love.
Their success thus far is based on their debut Welcome To Forever, which included three hit singles, and pushed the band to the status of being the most played Atlantic Canadian rock band on Atlantic Canadian radio between October 2002, and January 2003. The latest single Eternity, has just been released to Canadian radio.
The future has certainly only begun for this high powered local band, setting a fine example of how it is done for others who are paying attention.
FOREVER is in negotiations with a major Canadian label for national and international
releases. Stay tuned!
You can catch FOREVER as the Savoy celebrates ECMA 2004 nominees with a send off concert February 8th 8pm. Tickets $15.00
CD review Something to dream of 5 out of 5 by
Forever - Something To Dream Of
Multiple award winners Forever, are composed of five experienced musicians. Within the group one will find decades of combined experience, strong song writing capabilities, vast touring experience as well as great musicianship. For example, lead guitarist Bernie Eagles has played with Helix, Peter Criss, and Esther Young (Neil's sister). Drummer Keith Dawson and keyboard player Stan Johnson were both members of the ECMA and JUNO nominated band, "Eaglefeather". Lead singer Derek Johnson received an ECMA nomination in 2001 as a member of "The Relatives". Peter Christmas plays the bass and sings backup vocals and has received JUNO,ECMA,and North American Music Award nominations as well.
The new CD is entitled "Something To Dream Of" is a follow-up to the band's already popular 2002 debut album, "Welcome to Forever". "Something To Dream Of" contains eleven vocal tracks and three instrumental tracks giving it a nice even and balanced total of fourteen tracks.
You know the saying "It brings music to my ears". Well if you've ever heard that before, Forever's music would be the soundtrack playing in my head, as I utter those six words. Forever's musical style bares a strong resemblance to their musical backgrounds. Sporting a mix of modern rock, 80's rock, hard rock, progressive rock with touches of country and pop, the band creates music that can be appreciated by any listener. I also admire the fact the music doesn't sound rushed. The band seems very comfortable with each other's talents and sounds unstoppable when playing together as a solid unit. Derek's vocals are absolutely amazing and stay in the mid-rock range. They don't deviate high or low causing them to sound off-key and distorted. The rest of the instruments flow nicely together, giving the music a very smooth and polished sound. As I like to say in a lot of my reviews this album has a good variety. There are the slower, catchy, and pop-rockish sounds of 'Again', 'One More Time' and the album title track 'Something To Dream Of'. The upbeat and excellent driving song 'My Way', which has Creed sounding guitars. Pushing things to the extreme with the hard rock, heavy guitar and aggressively influenced 'Full Circle', 'Breathe' and 'Free'. The album also features the slower paced, sure-to-be hit love ballad, 'All of My Love'. This would definitely be an excellent choice for a wedding song. The album also features three instrumental tracks that pose as excellent interludes to break up the album. The nice sounding, harmonic, melodic guitars of 'Kris' to the catchy Spanish, Carlos Santana sounding 'Sloppy Taco', to the hard hitting, in-your-face guitar licks of 'Guitar Thang'. My personal favourite track on the album would have to be 'End of Time'. This song has all of the elements that make for an attractive song. Slow yet powerful piano blended with nice guitars and killer vocals, complete the recipe for a hit song.
As the recipients of numerous world-renowned awards, this band is not just another one hit wonder. They have what it takes to get down to business and have proven themselves both musically and successfully time and time again. I see absolutely nothing more Forever needs to add to their already stellar arsenal that's going to help make themselves more successful. They posses the right combination of musicianship, personality, creativity, and flair to succeed.
Rating: 5/5
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