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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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I didn’t expect last night’s super bowl game to be so close. With the Pittsburgh Steelers dominating the first half, I thought the second half was going to be a snooze-fest. Fortunately, I was wrong and the 4th quarter ended up being very exciting to watch. highlights included Santonio Holmes’ last minute catch in the endzone, Kurt Warner’s passes to mega-talented Larry Fitzgerald and of course the 100 yard interception by James Harrison that ended the first half. Now that’s what a super bowl should be! loved it!

as for the musical performances. Journey (with Arnel Pineda) performing Don’t Stop Believin’ during the pre-game show – was a bit underwhelming. Not sure if it was the setting, the crowd or the band, it just felt a bit off. Don’t get me wrong, I saw Pineda with Journey over the summer and they rocked but this performance was just “meh”.

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As for Bruce Springsteen – it’s too bad they only allotted 12 minutes for the Boss. Springsteen knows how to engage the crowd and I just love watching him perform. the band’s performance ranks right up there along with U2 and Prince for the best half-time shows ever.

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I’m not sure if I should criticize bands like Journey for milking their fanbase or commend them for their marketing savvy. I guess this new customized Mp3 player doesn’t really cross the line of bad taste since it’s still promoting their new music. Apparently the band teamed up with ZVUE to release a special 1GB mp3 player preloaded with the new Revelation album. It’s currently available at your local Walmart and Sam’s Club.

I guess I’ll refrain from getting on my high horse until Journey ends up in “Kiss” mechandising territory with Arnel Pineda action figures and Neil Schon pillow cases.

Cheap Trick, Heart and Journey
Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
Raleigh, NC 10 August 2008

People tend to be a bit wary of all the “packaged tours” that end up at the sheds each summer. And I totally understand it because typically they’re made up of has-been 80′s bands who are way past their prime. And I’m sure in some people’s minds, the Cheap Trick/Heart/Journey triple bill could be lumped with the rest of ‘em. Call it what you want – 80′s nostalgia, a blast from the past, whatever. But last night in Raleigh, the three bands truly rocked the lil’ ol’ amphitheater and the nearly sold out crowd (including me) enjoyed every minute of it.

Cheap Trick probably got the toughest job on the tour, playing to a half-filled house at 7pm each night. With the sun still blaring on their faces, the band blasted through their set just like they always do. Unfortunately their set was marred by a muddy sound mix. But Cheap Trick is a class act and they delighted their fans with stellar versions of “If You Want My Love”, “I Want You to Want Me”, “Surrender” and “Dream Police”. I always get a kick out of seeing Rick Neilsen’s unique collection of guitars. Felt a little sorry for his guitar tech though – tuning and maintaining all those guitars each and every night must be a bitch. Robin Zander’s vocals sounded strong for the most part but still has a tough time with “The Flame”. Even performing it tuned down a couple steps, Zander couldn’t cleanly hit that last high note in the song. It was spectacularly cringe-worthy. Other than that, CT’s set was pretty flawless. Oh, and Ross Valory (of Journey) came out in the middle of CT’s set to yell “these guys ROCK!” to an unsure crowd who were all probably wondering “who’s that old man?” heh.

Heart nailed their set last night. Definitely made them a HARD act to follow. By the time they got on stage, the place was pretty much full and raring to go. Ann and Nancy Wilson proved once again that they could rock just as good (or even better) as the rest of the boys on the bill. They played a nice mix of their 70′s and 80′s hits plus a Who and Led Zep cover. And yes, Ann Wilson is singing the songs in a lower key but it doesn’t really matter in this case because she belts these out like no one else can! If there were any wine glasses around that night, they would have been shattered by the time Ann hit that otherworldly vocal run in “Alone”. wow! She is amazing. Oh and Nancy got her time in the spotlight with a nice acoustic guitar solo before the start of “Crazy on You”. plus, she still does those high kicks that we all know and love.

And how do you follow that? It’d be tough for ANY band to keep that level of momentum going. Journey stumbles a bit at the beginning with singer Arnel Pineda not quite hitting the high notes on the set opener “Never Walk Away”. But the band quickly recovers and get things back up to fever pitch by the time they hit “Only the Young” and “Stone in Love”. I’m sure the band tries to keep things “fresh” for themselves by mixing up their setlist every night but at times the sequencing seems so random. There’s an art to building a setlist and last night’s set didn’t have that great of a flow. For example, they followed Separate Ways with Rubicon and then went straight into two new songs off of Revelation, “Change for the Better” and “Wildest Dreams”. Talk about a momentum killer. But odd sequencing choices aside, the band was phenomenal. Neal Schon, Ross Valory, Deen Castronovo and Jonathan Cain are spectacular players and all the musicians in the crowd were most likely slack-jawed in awe of their skill. Schon and Castronovo were especially amazing to watch.

Going into the show I was a bit worried that Pineda’s voice would show signs of the wear and tear of the road but Pineda was in fine form after the initial hiccup at the start of the set. Pineda was up and down the stage, dancing, jumping and shaking hands with those up in front. He was a bundle of energy and definitely brought new life into these old favorites. I’m not so sure performing “Escape” and “Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin” for the encore is the smartest choice in terms of keeping the interest of a huge crowd but all in all I had a blast seeing the newly reborn Journey with Pineda at the helm. It’s a strong show and definitely well worth seeing if it comes near your neck of the woods.
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