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It’s time once again for Retroblog.net’s Friday Free for All. For today’s edition, I thought we should explore the vast underworld of bootlegs a bit. thanks to the almighty internets, the sharing of rare and interesting boots exploded these last few years. here’s just a random sampling of some that I have on hand at the moment.

Enjoy the tracks. and feel free to post a list of some of your favorite boots.

please note the sound quality will vary here due to these being “bootlegs” obviously.

GTR – Away (No One is to Blame) from the unreleased NeroTrend album (1987). This features Max Bacon on lead vocals and Steve Howe on guitar. Steve Hackett left the group at this point and Robert Berry was his replacement.

Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello – So Like Candy demo from the Flowers In the Dirt Sessions boot (1988). This is a great version that features both McCartney and Costello singing lead.

Todd Rundgren – Slut from the Vancouver August 25, 2006 boot. a great audience recording. It’s a rough and loose rendition with Tony Levin on bass and Jerry Marotta on drums.

Lindsey Buckingham – Go Insane from the Coach House December 10, 1992 boot. an awesome solo performance of his early eighties hit. definitely an improvement over the original recording which sounds a bit dated now due to the heavy use of the Fairlight sampler.

Susanna Hoffs – Darling One from her unreleased columbia album (1994). This is from the album that Columbia Records rejected. Hoffs ended up re-recording this song (along with some others) for her 1996 album “Susanna Hoffs”. This particular version is more upbeat than the officially released one.

Yes – Cinema/City of Love from the June 19, 1994 Canandaigua, NY boot. There are a ton of boots from this tour since the band did a simulcast of each show via “ConcertSonics”. Even though the “Talk” album isn’t one of my favorites, I thought some of the performances on this tour were pretty strong. I definitely miss Trevor Rabin, though. It’s definitely way overdue for Rabin to get back on stage!!

Journey – Send Her My Love from the Detroit Raised On Radio simulcast in 1986. It’s not the greatest sounding live recording but the “Raised on Radio” tour is fascinating to me for a multitude of reasons – one of which is the presence of Randy Jackson (of American Idol) on bass for this tour. listening to these old live recordings of Journey make me miss Steve “the voice” Perry even more!

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Happy Friday, everyone!

Thanks to an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Journey’s newly released DVD, Live in Manila, went straight to #1 on Billboard’s Music DVD chart this week. Not only that but their 2008 album, Revelation, popped back in the Billboard Top 200 at #63.

I’m impressed that they were able to sell enough of those DVDs especially when I personally couldn’t find the title at my local Super Walmart last week. (most WalMarts SHOULD have them in-stock by now.)

Anyway, Congrats to Arnel Pineda and Journey. It’s too bad they just finished up their 2009 tour. I’m sure they would have seen a huge surge in ticket sales for their live shows due to the “Oprah Effect“.

One thing to look forward to is the upcoming documentary on Pineda by filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz titled Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey. I’m not sure exactly when the film will be released but check out the two-part sneak peek up on youtube:

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Now that the summer tour is over, Journey fans can re-live their concert experience with a brand new 2-DVD set titled Journey Live in Manila. It’s great to see an official live release featuring current frontman Arnel Pineda. It says to me that the band and their management are proud of the current lineup and aren’t planning on changing things anytime soon.

Check out the tracklist – they’ve included pretty much all the songs that they’ve been playing the last two years including some lesser performed numbers like “When You Love a Woman”, “Turn Down the World Tonight” and “Where Did I Lose Your Love”.

Another big plus about the DVD is the fact that Arnel sang the songs during the March 14th show in the original key. Like I mentioned in my concert review of the Greensboro show, hearing these classic songs tuned-down in pitch is a bit of a let-down in my book. So it’s nice to have a live document of the band playing these songs without any compromises.

You can purchase the new DVD set at your local WalMart beginning this friday, October 2nd. Journey will also be appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show on friday to promote the new release.
**UPDATE: 30Sep09** – Journey’s Oprah appearance has been pushed back to Monday, October 5th.

Here’s the tracklist:
Disc One
1. Never Walk Away
2. Only The Young
3. Ask The Lonely
4. Stone In Love
5. Keep On Running
6. After All These Years
7. Change For The Better
8. Wheel In The Sky
9. Lights/ Still They Ride
10. Open Arms
11. Mother Father
12. Wildest Dreams
13. When You Love A Woman
14. Separate Ways
15. What I Needed
Disc Two
16. Edge Of The Blade
17. Where Did I Lose Your Love
18. Escape
19. Faithfully
20. Don’t Stop Believin’
21. Anyway You Want It
22. Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’
23. Turn Down The World Tonight
24. Be Good To Yourself
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On their way down the east coast, Journey made a stop at the Greensboro Coliseum this past friday night. Honestly, I wasn’t that enthused about this show since I saw them last summer on a better bill (Cheap Trick & Heart). When they announced that Night Ranger was opening the show a couple months back, I was very disappointed. But with third row seats, my disappointment in the lineup quickly faded away as the music started to play friday evening. The two pronged lead guitar attack (Night Ranger’s Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra) made things fun to watch and Kelly Keagy’s vocals sounded strong throughout the set. Jack Blades on the other hand needs to just shut up and play. His between song ramblings brought the momentum to a screeching halt and not knowing where they were (“It’s great to be here in GreensBURGH, North DAKOTA”) didn’t help things either. But songs like “When You Close Your Eyes”, “Sister Christian” and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” went over quite well.

As for Journey, I simply had a blast being so close to the stage and having such a great view of the band. Friday night’s setlist was pretty similar to what they had played last summer but it was obvious that Arnel Pineda is now so much more comfortable on stage with the band. I enjoyed his energy, his jumps off the drum riser and his interaction with the audience.

They performed the usual crowd pleasers, with “Open Arms”, “Separate Ways” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” receiving the biggest reactions. I personally enjoyed hearing songs that weren’t played the last time around including “Send Her My Love”, “Keep On Runnin’” and “Still They Ride”. I was also hoping for “Be Good To Yourself” and “Why Can’t This Night Go On Forever” but I guess ya can’t having everything.

From what I saw, “Higher Place” didn’t go over well with the arena-sized crowd along with “Wildest Dream”. I honestly don’t know why they keep “Wildest Dream” on the setlist because it’s not strong melodically and there are better choices off of Revelation, in my opinion, including “Where Did I Lose Your Love” and “Turn Down the World Tonight”.

Another thing they should lose in the set is Jonathan Cain’s harmonica jam. It’s definitely a time waster in my book. Also the “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’” encore is just lame. A good chunk of the crowd headed for the parking lot during that song including yours truly.

But overall, I still enjoyed the show. Pineda is a joy to watch and Deen Castronovo is just a monster on drums. Oh and Castronovo sounded phenomenal singing “Still They Ride”. and of course I could just go on and on about Neal Schon. He’s simply amazing.

I do have to admit though that the band performing these songs a half-step lower is sort of jarring at times. I’m not sure if the general audience notices that they are performing these classic songs in a lower key but it’s definitely noticeable to me. Is this because I’m a musician and I can hear the original notes in my head or do fans also notice this too? I totally understand the need to lower the key to help preserve Pineda’s voice but some of the energy or spark gets lost when things get tuned down. maybe it’s just me?

Not sure if I’d see them again next summer. Will they have new material ready by next summer? and will they go out with a stronger “packaged” tour like they did last year? I’ll be interested in seeing what they decide. …but I can tell you this.. if the setlist stays the same, you can definitely count me out.

**UPDATE: 22Sep09**: According to Neal Schon’s blog – the band will be working on new material in 2010 and won’t be back on the road until 2011!! So, catch Journey live while you still can! There are only a few more dates left on the 2009 tour.
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Journey fans in and around New York City should head over to 59th and 5th Avenue on Friday, August 28th to see the band perform for the Early Show. The concert will be taped on that day and a select number of songs will be shown on the September 4th edition of the Early Show on CBS. The band will be playing an abbreviated set but as a treat for the live audience there, they’ll be playing more than what will be shown on air.

Here’s the lowdown:
Journey at the Early Show
when: Friday, August 28th 2009 at 11:30AM
where: 59th and 5th Avenue NEXT to the Apple Store, New York City
if you need more info, contact the Early Show at BRGuest @ cbsnews.com with the subject line: JOURNEY QUESTION

This is a great opportunity for the band to get some exposure so be sure to get on out there to show your support for the guys!

for more info on the current summer tour, see my previous post.

and while we’re on the subject of the band, here’s a recent youtube clip of Journey performing “Only the Young” in Memphis (08Aug09 – Mud Island Amphitheatre)

This just in – Journey cancelled their June 23rd concert in Berlin, Germany due to a medical emergency. Apparently, drummer Deen Castronovo experienced some health related issues and had to stay overnight at the hospital for observation. No word on what actually happened but hopefully it’s not too serious. Here’s the latest blog post from Neal Schon from Journey’s website:

Just received info that the doctors want to keep Deen over night again. He’s having some other issues…. but we have decided that we are going to sound check with Steve Toomie his drum tec. and put together a show for Hamburg tonight….
I am now told deen is to be back tomorrow…..
This is the last thing I’ve heard.
Neal, Wednesday, June 24, 2009 – 2:14 am

You may remember Castronovo stepping down from touring with Soul Sirkus (with Neal Schon and Jeff Scott Soto) due to health reasons back in 2005. not sure if the health issues are related.

We’ll see what happens with the Hamburg show.

Hopefully Deen will make a full recovery and will be well enough to continue touring with the band!!

Here’s a video from a couple days ago featuring Deen Castronovo singing “Mother, Father” at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam (17 June 2009)

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Looks like another grueling summer trek for Arnel Pineda. Last summer’s tour with Heart and Cheap Trick tested the limits of Pineda’s voice by requiring him to sing these difficult songs night after night. And looking over this year’s schedule, it appears to be more of the same type of “vocal cord torture” for the current lead singer of Journey. The summer tour begins with a run through Europe in June and doesn’t stop until they get to Oklahoma at the end of September. whew. good luck Arnel! and stay strong! I plan on catching a show sometime in September. Hopefully Pineda’s voice will still be intact at that point!

Here are the U.S. Summer Tour dates:
July 16, 2009 – Walker, MN – Moondance Jam
July 18, 2009 – Cadott, WI – Chippewa Valley Rock Festival
July 21, 2009 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheater
July 23, 2009 – Paso Robles, CA – California Mid-State Fair
July 25, 2009 – Reno, NV – Reno Events Center
July 26, 2009 – Boise, ID – Boise State University
July 29, 2009 – Pala, CA – Pala Casino
July 30, 2009 – Pala, CA – Pala Casino
August 01, 2009 – San Bernardino, CA – San Manual Amphitheatre
August 02, 2009 – Tucson, AZ – Anselmo Valencia Center
August 04, 2009 – Bossier City, LA – Centurytel Center
August 05, 2009 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
August 07, 2009 – Thackerville, OK – WinStar Casino
August 08, 2009 – Memphis, TN – Mud Island Amphitheatre
August 15, 2009 – Youngstown, OH – Chevrolet Centre
August 16, 2009 – Indianapolis, IN – Indiana State Fair
August 18, 2009 – Rockford, IL – Rockford Metro Centre
August 20, 2009 – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
August 21, 2009 – Louisville, KY – State Fair – Freedom Hall
August 23, 2009 – Des Moines, IA – State Fair – Grandstand
August 25, 2009 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
August 26, 2009 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
August 28, 2009 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
August 31, 2009 – Uniondale, NY – Nassau Veteran Memorial Coliseum
September 02, 2009 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
September 04, 2009 – Atlantic City, NJ – The Borgata
September 05, 2009 – Atlantic City, NJ – The Borgata
September 07, 2009 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
September 09, 2009 – Baltimore, MD – 1st Mariner Arena
September 10, 2009 – Reading, PA – Sovereign Center
September 12, 2009 – Manchester, NH – Verizon Wireless Arena
September 13, 2009 – Wallingford, CT – Chevrolet Theatre
September 15, 2009 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Coliseum
September 16, 2009 – Pikeville, KY – Southern Kentucky Expo Center
September 18, 2009 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum
September 19, 2009 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
September 21, 2009 – Pensacola, FL – Pensacola Civic Center
September 26, 2009 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Arena
September 27, 2009 – Beaumont, TX – Ford Pavilion
September 29, 2009 – Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center
September 30, 2009 – Oklahoma City, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre

Journey: Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory, Deen Castronovo and Arnel Pineda

Here’s Journey performing “Stone in Love” at Raley Field in Sacramento, CA May 23, 2009

Watching some of these clips on youtube, I’m noticing that the band has already lowered the key to most of the songs now. It’s disappointing since it’s just “not the same” hearing these classic songs in a lower key but I suppose it’s necessary in order to NOT shred Pineda’s vocal cords!!

There was a huge frenzy on the net for about a day and a half when word got out that reclusive former Journey frontman Steve Perry was scheduled to perform at the Pipeline Cafe in Hawaii on June 25th.

It all sounded a bit *off* to begin with. I mean, why would an artist like Perry agree to do a low-key gig at a nightclub anyway? After being away from the stage for 15 years, a live gig by Steve THE VOICE Perry would be a huge, monumental event!

And it turns out that it was too good to be true. Perry posted an official announcement on Fanasylum.com confirming that it was indeed a hoax.

here’s Perry’s statement:
I am posting this statement on fanasylum.com for it’s the only site I post my official statements.
Today I was made aware that there was an attempt to perpetrate a hoax on my most faithful fans. It has been brought to my attention that there was an announcement of a show that I was supposedly to perform at in Hawaii. This is absolutely a hoax and should be treated as such. It has also been brought to my attention that several news sites are reporting that my management had cancelled the supposed performance. There were never any plans for any such performance made by me or anyone authorized by me. This is the first we have heard of this. I’m only posting this out of concern for my faithful fans. I encourage all news sites to post this statement, with the hope it will clarify the confusion brought about by this hoax.
I simply wanted you to know the truth.
Sincerely,
Steve Perry

The Honolulu Advertiser managed to get a hold of the owner of the Pipeline Cafe, Greg Azus and he had this to say:

“This morning everything was all set, and then we got word from Perry’s management company that it’s not going to work out after all,” Azus said this afternoon. “Everything was confirmed and signed, but I guess one hand didn’t know what the other was doing, and it fell through…”

So it seems that Perry fans the world over will have to continue to hold on to the sliver of hope that one day the man will decide to finally step out of his comfy mansion and sing for his fans one more time. and the dream goes on forever…
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new Journey U.S. tour dates are trickling in. Nothing official has been announced but fans are anxious to see if the band will be making it around to their neck of the woods this summer. Arnel Pineda and company did a phenomenal job in bringing in the numbers last summer (along with Cheap Trick and Heart), so expectations are high for this summer’s tour. As for the tour package this time around, it’s anybody’s guess at this point but there’s some buzz that Bryan Adams might be one.

here are the U.S. dates so far:

May 23, 2009 – Sacramento, CA – Raleys Field
July 18 (?), 2009 – Cadott, Wi – RockFest
August 21, 2009 – Louisville, KY – State Fair – Freedom Hall
August 23, 2009 – Des Moines, IA – State Fair – Grandstand

more to come…

Andrew McNiece posted a great new interview with former Journey frontman Steve Augeri on melodicrock.com. You may remember Augeri losing his vocal abilities in the middle of Journey’s stint with Def Leppard back in the summer of 2006. Well, Augeri finally goes on the record about what all went down during his time with Journey as well as offer up some comments on new vocalist Arnel Pineda. I’ve always like Augeri and it’s good to see that he doesn’t sound bitter about the whole ordeal and owns up to some mistakes that he made during that time.

here are some excerpts from the interview.

looking back on his 8 years with Journey:
I would certainly say that there were probably a good many vocalists that could have done EASILY the job that I did. But it just so happened that I was the lucky one. I won the Journey lottery back in 1998. I was lucky that eventually the fans came around. You know, um… it was difficult at first. The fans didn’t want to know about it. But, you know, the band persisted – they had faith in me and we persisted. We went out year after year and we built. The audience started out in 1500 seat theaters in 1998 to the mega concerts that they are doing today. And so, yeah, I’m proud of the time that I spent with the band. I think they, I know that they are well aware that we did it together. And frankly, unfortunately for me, I couldn’t continue on. My health—I couldn’t make it. The whole journey.

on the grueling tour schedule that affected his singing abilities:
I’ll tell you what – the unfortunate thing is that it comes down to the individual. I can never point a finger; you can’t point a finger at anyone but yourself. So, if the schedule was grueling, then I didn’t have the backbone to say, “Stop. I’m getting off the train.” Do you know what I mean? That’s the bottom line. So, the only regret I have is that I didn’t have the courage to say stop. I may have…you know what.. frankly, to be honest with you, I did.. but the train kept going.
That’s.. we had built from 1998 to 2006, and God knows to the present, there was an absolute and gradual…it was if you had a locomotive just started up, just restarted, let’s face it, cause they were there. We started and there was no stopping it. The machine was going.

His regrets about being on the road for so long:
The first year, I had my bags packed a week before we left, before the plane left.
(laughing) And, by the end of my tenure with the band, my bags may not have even been packed until the day I left. The other thing was after 8 years, you start missing your wife more. You start missing the little creature comforts of home. I felt like I missed half of my son’s growing up. And that, I tell ya, is one of the biggest regrets I had was missing that. Those were the moments you can’t go back and retrieve.

On Arnel Pineda:
They were fortunate enough to find Arnel. And I can’t think of a better guy to fill the spot that he’s filled. I think his voice is absolutely spot on for the Journey sound. And when I say the Journey sound—the legacy that Steve made with them…
As a band member, not alone but as a unit, and I think Arnel does it so well. As I said, it’s remarkable when I listen to him. I’m looking at myself as an out of body experience, thinking about myself when I first joined them in ‘98 and thinking, you know what, this is This man’s big shot and his big chance and that was YOU. How great was it for you and so be happy for him. Quite frankly, that’s exactly how I feel.
I’m literally, I’m totally, totally all for the guy cuz I see myself several years ago doing what he’s doing and I’m thinking, boy, he’s having the ride of his life right now.

read the full interview at melodicrock.com.

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