By JIM MARTY
The Progress
Another Saturday night and another sold-out show at the Casablanca Ballroom. This time it was Heart of the Journey, a Heart/Journey tribute band. Their format is to play about 10 Heart songs followed by a dozen or so Journey songs.
The band is made up of professional musicians who played with top recording artists. Lead singer Johanna Williams is well known in Las Vegas where she has her own Latin rumba band, Titico. She did a wonderful job belting out Anne Wilson’s lyrics, especially on big Heart numbers like “Crazy On You” and “Barracuda.” Williams is also the lead singer of the touring band, Starship.
The rest of the band is made up of Scott Van Zen on lead guitar, Gary Dilger on bass, Peter Kizzire on drums, and keyboardist Sam McCaslin.
Other credentials include band members playing with Brian Howe’s Bad Company and the Michael Shenker Group.
So once again, thanks to the crew at the Casablanca Hotel and Resort for bringing this top talent to our area!
One nice feature of Heart of the Journey is they have a different lead singer for the Journey set, Carol-Lyn Puffer. Thus, the band was able to launch right into the Journey set without a break or costume change.
Ms. Puffer has no trouble hitting high notes like Steve Perry of the original Journey.
The hits here included “Open Arms,” “The Girl Can’t Help it,” “Wheel in the Sky” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” for the encore.
The sold-out crowd gave Heart of the Journey a standing ovation to finish the night.
Upcoming shows at the Casablanca Ballroom are Motown & More on April 6, a country artist tribute on April 13 and a Neil Diamond tribute show with Rob Garrett, the King of Diamonds, on April 27.
If you plan to attend, get your tickets early as these shows tend to sell out.
1 thought on “THE EAR: Heart of the Journey comes to Mesquite”
Correction Ms. Williams is not the lead singer in Starship-The Ear