Neal Schon and Soul SirkUS Rock the Birchmere

Neal Schon's new supercharged group, Soul SirkUS, came to town with all pistons firing. Armed with the exceptional reach of Jeff Scott Soto's vocals and Neal's mercurial leads, the band had the crowd at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia waving, swaying and out of their seats with one antedeluvian soul saluting the band with his little Bic lighter.

After a fitful start with the unexpected departure of drummer Deen Castronovo back in January 2005, Soul SirkUS found the sensational Virgil Donati to cast his spell on a re-recording of the band's new album, World Play. Castronovo was simply exhausted and needed more family time and his work with Journey and Soul SirkUS proved too much to balance responsibly.

The Soul SirkUS line up begins with guitar hero Neal Schon whom we all know from his days with Journey, as well as his work with Santana, Bad English, and Hardline.

Singer Jeff Scott Soto's versatile voice has found expression alongside the likes of classic shredder Yngwie Malsteen on Yngwie's seminal Rising Force album and a long list of credits with other groups.

The Birchmere fans were pumped to see Neal, but were satiated when Soul SirkUS proved their worth as a musical force running out tracks from their new CD and the works of Journey, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone and an unlikely rock hero, Francis Scott Key.

Neal gave Jimi Hendrix a nod with his own version of "The Star Spangled Banner". His rendition had a rangy beautiful sonority, melodic and scorching, yet anchored with enough soulful dignity to lift the crowd to attention with hands over their hearts.

The group then shifted into "Soul Sacrifice" and Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" with abandon and never looked back.

Soto took charge with hair flailing and a dramatic swagger as he paced the stage like a predator hungry for more riffs from Neal's new black Signature Gibson Les Paul.

Marco Mendoza flashed some brilliant counterpoint bass with Neal's arpeggios and later gave his bandmates a break as he showed his strength with an upbeat syncopated scat attack. Later, Australian drummer Donati proved that drum solos don't need to be fillers, as he bore down on his black and chrome Pearl set with creative abandon.

After leaving the stage, the men returned with an extended hard driving encore of Sly Stone's "I Want to Take Your Higher". Everyone in the place was on their feet singing, flashing photos and hungry for more. Soul SirkUS gave their all and handed the crowd what they wanted - a taste of Journey and the fresh new sound of original Soul SirkUS arena-style rock.

Related Stories:

Interview with Neal Schon
Winter NAMM 2005: Brian Wilson, Neal Schon, and Other Highlights from Gibson

Related Links:
Soul SirkUS
Photographer Michael G. Stewart
The Birchmere