Review : Arean Alston's The Journey Continues: A Celebration Concert

Arean Alston is a multi talented musician, singer and songwriter.   Leader of The Double A Band, Arean (pronounced Irene) has performed all around Memphis and the surrounding area and has developed a reputation for both her phenomenal musicianship and performances as well as her positive spirit and message.

After deciding to take a leap of faith to pursue her dreams outside of Memphis, she hosted a farewell show at the Hard Rock Café to celebrate.  The show entitled “The Journey Continues” was held at the Hard Rock Café on Friday, March 14^th, 2014

If you have never seen Arean and The Double A Band, you have definitely missed out. Arean, to me embodies  Memphis music.  She puts everything she has into her performance and each and every time I have seen her, I’ve gotten something new and innovative.  I am never disappointed.

The band, as always, was more than amazing.  She did several cover songs, including an outstanding version of “We Are The Champions” as well has her own song, Believe.   I personally loved the rendition of “It Don’t Mean A Thing” and the always up beat song that I’m just going to name “I don’t know what you came to do”…  LOL cause that’s what I call it. 

Not only did she have a full band, Arean also brought out what I believe is an actual choir, dressed in full white robes.  In the middle of their set, the choir members burst out of their robes and the energy in the building skyrocketed.    Overall it was an extremely entertaining evening.  I was able to bring my daughter, which is rare, and we had a great time.

I give the show itself 5 out of 5.  Arean is not the best singer I’ve ever heard, but she puts together one of the most polished shows I’ve witnessed.  The way the songs feed into each other, the band direction, the musicianship, and choreography are always on point. She pays attention to all aspects of the performance.  Arean and her band make each show an experience and those are the things I enjoy most about seeing Arean.   If I can count on anything, its that when I see Arean Alston and the Double A band, I will see a remarkable show.  In addition to that, it was a family friendly show that I was able to enjoy with my daughter. 

    The venue is another story. 

I am not a fan of the Hard Rock Café as a promoter or customer. They never staff enough waiters for events and the service is always subpar.  It took us an hour to have a waitress even glance our way, and when she did, she looked away quickly and tried to avoid us.    Once we managed to get her attention it took another hour for her to take our order.  Our food arrived shortly before the end of the concert.  I will say that my smokehouse pulled chicken sandwich was pretty good, but a bit over priced at $12.00.  They also stopped entry at the door stating they were at capacity, however we were on the second level and there were several tables vacant. 

I will give the Hard Rock Café as a venue, a 2.0  and round up my total experience to a  4 out of 5 on the strength of  the show and the family friendly environment.

Arean is in L.A.  now but when she returns  I highly recommend checking her out; especially if she is performing with The Double A Band.