I went to my second Journey concert of the year this week -- and true to form, the band ROCKED! Thanks to my foot surgery in May, we got to drive by the tour buses to get to the parking lot for VIP's and handicap customers. I was really "psyched" about that, because I love seeing the tour buses and the anticipation of whether we will get to see a member of the band or not. Usually we don't get to see the buses when we go to this venue. Of course, we didn't see anyone when we drove into the parking lot, but we got to see some of the band members as we drove out -- perfect ending to a great show! We sat in the middle of the venue on the grass. Thanks to my trusty little Bushnell binoculars, I *almost* felt like I was in the front row (ha ha).
Cheap Trick was the opening band. I like many of their songs, but I wasn't really "feeling" their energy last night. Maybe it was the fact that both of my kids were acting like brats at the time -- one had to pee and the other was pouting because the concession stand that we went to was out of water so she had to have a Sprite instead. (My heck -- any other time she would have been in Heaven! She just needed something *else* to complain about, I guess.) I missed my favorite song -- The Flame -- because that was when the other kid absolutely HAD to go or he was going to pee his pants... I was happy to see Deen Castronovo on the right side of the stage during the Cheap Trick performance.
Heart was the second band. I have never been an avid fan of Heart -- too "Top 40" for my tastes at the time the majority of their songs were popular. I recognized most of the songs and I was extremely impressed by Nancy Wilson's voice - she is a beautiful singer! My husband was mad because he had to take that same kid to the potty again during two of his favorite Heart songs -- at about the same time all the drunks from the audience had to use the same restroom... It was fun to see Jonathan Cain from Journey at the back of the stage during Heart's performance.
Journey, by far, was last and best of all! Their concert absolutely rocked!!! This show, similar to the one in Vegas in March, had a harder rocking edge to it. I feel like I didn't get to fully appreciate it because I was too worried about whether my little kids were going to be pushed off the railing that they were perched on; or when the youngest one was going to complain about having to pee again. I had so *HOPED* that this would be a great family bonding experience, but once again, my hopes were dashed; I won't waste my money on tickets for the kids until they are older and more able to appreciate the great opportunity that they have been given...
Arnel Pineda is a great singer. He can sure belt the Journey tunes! Neal Schon found a "keeper" when he discovered Arnel. It is still a little strange to see him on stage -- I am used to seeing Steve Augeri or Steve Perry. Arnel has some pretty "big shoes to fill" (figuratively speaking), but I think he is doing an awesome job.
Neal Schon. I can't even think of the proper words to describe how much I admire his ability to play the guitar. He is the "Rock God" on guitar, in my opinion. I love to watch his face (with the binoculars, of course) when he plays. He exudes a certain passion that I don't see very often.
Deen Castronovo was too cool for w
ords -- he played the songs with energy and sang backups like the pro that he is. I was really disappointed that he didn't sing during this show. The first time I had ever heard him sing was a magical time. It was the first time we had seen Steve Augeri on stage; Steve left the stage and all of a sudden we heard what sounded like the pure intonation of Steve Perry -- when we discovered it was actually the DRUMMER, we were amazed!
Ross Valory can keep the beat on the bass guitar. He is such a ham -- always fun to watch on stage!
Jonathan Cain is certainly a talented piano player. I know that he retired the red "Whale" (piano) earlier this year or last and got a black one -- time goes by fast! My husband made the comment about half-way through the show, "The piano's not red." It was fun to see Jonathan & Neal "jam" on different instruments in the middle of the show. Jonathan was on the harmonica at the time... Frankly, I wasn't really paying attention to what Jonathan was doing -- I had my eye on Neal. ;)
The set list, as I remember it, consisted of:
Intro to Majestic
Never Walk Away
Only The Young
Guitar Segue into Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
After All These Years
Separate Ways
Change for the Better
Send Her My Love
Lights
Piano Segue into Open Arms
Don't Stop Believing
Edge of the Blade (which I was totally PSYCHED about hearing in concert!)
Wildest Dreams
Neal and Jon's duet "jam"
Wheel in the Sky
Be Good To Yourself
Anyway You Want It
And two encores:
Escape
Faithfully
The concert just seemed to fade away after the final song -- the final chords were still playing when the band walked off the stage, the stage lights dimmed (I think -- or maybe it is my memory that dimmed), and the venue lights came on. I felt a little "disappointed" that they didn't get together and bow on stage like they usually do.
Of course, this concert wasn't filmed for the DVD release and I was very grateful that we didn't have the recording equipment directly in front of us like we did at the Vegas show.
I didn't see too many REAL mullets at this venue -- but there were a few kids in front of us with mullet wigs. One girl even had on a big 80's hair wig -- with the claw and everything!
I am in Journey withdrawals already -- I know that I won't be able to go to any other shows this year to get my "fix", so I will just have to keep listening to their music on my iPod and watching the videos.
Rock on Journey! I wish the band the best with the rest of their shows...
Next show that I get to see this sumer: Steve Miller Band. I can't wait to write about that one!
Cheap Trick was the opening band. I like many of their songs, but I wasn't really "feeling" their energy last night. Maybe it was the fact that both of my kids were acting like brats at the time -- one had to pee and the other was pouting because the concession stand that we went to was out of water so she had to have a Sprite instead. (My heck -- any other time she would have been in Heaven! She just needed something *else* to complain about, I guess.) I missed my favorite song -- The Flame -- because that was when the other kid absolutely HAD to go or he was going to pee his pants... I was happy to see Deen Castronovo on the right side of the stage during the Cheap Trick performance.
Heart was the second band. I have never been an avid fan of Heart -- too "Top 40" for my tastes at the time the majority of their songs were popular. I recognized most of the songs and I was extremely impressed by Nancy Wilson's voice - she is a beautiful singer! My husband was mad because he had to take that same kid to the potty again during two of his favorite Heart songs -- at about the same time all the drunks from the audience had to use the same restroom... It was fun to see Jonathan Cain from Journey at the back of the stage during Heart's performance.
Journey, by far, was last and best of all! Their concert absolutely rocked!!! This show, similar to the one in Vegas in March, had a harder rocking edge to it. I feel like I didn't get to fully appreciate it because I was too worried about whether my little kids were going to be pushed off the railing that they were perched on; or when the youngest one was going to complain about having to pee again. I had so *HOPED* that this would be a great family bonding experience, but once again, my hopes were dashed; I won't waste my money on tickets for the kids until they are older and more able to appreciate the great opportunity that they have been given...
Arnel Pineda is a great singer. He can sure belt the Journey tunes! Neal Schon found a "keeper" when he discovered Arnel. It is still a little strange to see him on stage -- I am used to seeing Steve Augeri or Steve Perry. Arnel has some pretty "big shoes to fill" (figuratively speaking), but I think he is doing an awesome job.
Neal Schon. I can't even think of the proper words to describe how much I admire his ability to play the guitar. He is the "Rock God" on guitar, in my opinion. I love to watch his face (with the binoculars, of course) when he plays. He exudes a certain passion that I don't see very often.
Deen Castronovo was too cool for w
ords -- he played the songs with energy and sang backups like the pro that he is. I was really disappointed that he didn't sing during this show. The first time I had ever heard him sing was a magical time. It was the first time we had seen Steve Augeri on stage; Steve left the stage and all of a sudden we heard what sounded like the pure intonation of Steve Perry -- when we discovered it was actually the DRUMMER, we were amazed!Ross Valory can keep the beat on the bass guitar. He is such a ham -- always fun to watch on stage!
Jonathan Cain is certainly a talented piano player. I know that he retired the red "Whale" (piano) earlier this year or last and got a black one -- time goes by fast! My husband made the comment about half-way through the show, "The piano's not red." It was fun to see Jonathan & Neal "jam" on different instruments in the middle of the show. Jonathan was on the harmonica at the time... Frankly, I wasn't really paying attention to what Jonathan was doing -- I had my eye on Neal. ;)
The set list, as I remember it, consisted of:
Intro to Majestic
Never Walk Away
Only The Young
Guitar Segue into Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
After All These Years
Separate Ways
Change for the Better
Send Her My Love
Lights
Piano Segue into Open Arms
Don't Stop Believing
Edge of the Blade (which I was totally PSYCHED about hearing in concert!)
Wildest Dreams
Neal and Jon's duet "jam"
Wheel in the Sky
Be Good To Yourself
Anyway You Want It
And two encores:
Escape
Faithfully
The concert just seemed to fade away after the final song -- the final chords were still playing when the band walked off the stage, the stage lights dimmed (I think -- or maybe it is my memory that dimmed), and the venue lights came on. I felt a little "disappointed" that they didn't get together and bow on stage like they usually do.
Of course, this concert wasn't filmed for the DVD release and I was very grateful that we didn't have the recording equipment directly in front of us like we did at the Vegas show.
I didn't see too many REAL mullets at this venue -- but there were a few kids in front of us with mullet wigs. One girl even had on a big 80's hair wig -- with the claw and everything!
I am in Journey withdrawals already -- I know that I won't be able to go to any other shows this year to get my "fix", so I will just have to keep listening to their music on my iPod and watching the videos.
Rock on Journey! I wish the band the best with the rest of their shows...
Next show that I get to see this sumer: Steve Miller Band. I can't wait to write about that one!
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