Show Reviews

Reviewed By Pete Kalish

I saw John on the first night of his tour at The Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana 11/20.

It wasn't sold out but there had to be at least 300 people there or more. The average person looked to be about 37/38 yrs old.

I was surprised John opened up w/ the Glittering Prize. Odd song to start the show with. The next song was Change which got people moving. He did 7 songs off "When You Were Mine" which is my favorite record to date. Suicide Life & Valentine were very well received as was Downtown. Those are my favorite JW songs as well so I was VERY happy he sang those. I can't believe he played "Act of Love". It was never a hit & personally not that strong of a song in my opinion.

Midnight Rendezvous & Head First really had the crowd rocking. The 10th. song of the night was Missing You which I assumed he would save till the end.

John looked good in his black suit & had a cool stage presence to him. He moves freely onstage with no choreographed moves. His voice was in top form and he improvised on some of the melodies which as a singer myself I could really appreciate.

All of the band members were very pro especially Shane Fontayne. I can see why John works with this guy. Also, the drummer whom I've never heard of was very impressive.

The crowd was quite responsive & John seemed to be enjoying himself up there.

I've been a John Waite fan for 20 years and the only other time I've seen him perform was in September, 1989 at the Whiskey A Go Go w/ "Bad English". As I watched him onstage my thoughts were of an artist who has seen many ups as well as downs in his career yet he still endures with total professionalism & passion. He's a man of integrity and nothing less.

The Galaxy Theatre did basically NO advertising for the show which bothered me to be honest. I feel there would have been more people had the show been properly advertised well in advance. The tickets were steep $26.50, but at the end of the night I was "so" glad to have spent the money on seeing John perform.

There were several "industry" guys hanging out behind the soundboard. I was gonna go up & find out who the manager was to introduce myself but decided to sit back, enjoy my Merlot & the fine sounds of "classic" John Waite.

If John Waite pulls into your town anytime soon, by all means do yourself a favor and pay homage to this man of great talent. You won't regret it.

Pete Kalish