June 11, 2001: Lessons Learned on the Road

Hi one and all -- I have returned home to my city by the bay and have never been so glad to be home in my life. I had a blast this past week, but I am wiped out. Lots of lessons learned including...

1. Cross-country truck drivers can't possibly be paid enough money.

2. Do not listen to "Faithfully" while driving I-10 east (or I-20 east for that matter.) It is incredibly depressing.

3. Texas was surprisingly greener than I expected.

4. Given the choice between 110 degrees and 10% humidity and 75 degrees and 85% humidity, I will take 65 degrees and 55% humidity with an ocean breeze thank you very much...

5. "Lights" will always make me homesick.

And most importantly...

6. Traveling 1,700 miles in 8 days by car (plus a few hundred more by air in 2 days) is a LONG way to go. It is an absolutely grueling experience getting from town to town by a specific date and time. I have a new found respect for the band and ESPECIALLY for the road crew. I honestly don't know how they take it. After a week I am so physically spent, with a cold from all the temperature extremes and air conditioning, that the idea of having to do that for THREE MONTHS has me shaking with fear. It takes a special breed of person to do that for a living. I'm glad I had this experience, but I will never do it again. (And you all have permission to slap me should I consider it!) So gang when you're out there at a show this summer, appreciate the major undertaking these guys are taking on our behalf, because it is incredible.

(Oh and PS to Dan -- that check wasn't in my mail when I picked it up today... it is still coming right??... Dan?... hello??... )

June 9, 2001: End of the Road Trip

San Antonio, TX
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

Well, it looks like my road trip has ended. Due to the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Allison, the show at The Woodlands (near Houston) has been cancelled, so I'm going to try to find my way home from here.

So, the highlights from this show. First, John Waite started a few minutes early so he added another song to his set. Since my brain has to turned glue, I have no idea what it was. Second, early in Peter Frampton's set, he noticed some folks in the audience having an argument over seats. So, naturally, he calls out to the audience and invites the 4 women to sit on stage. I've got to say, I was less than thrilled with the idea of having Peter Frampton on this tour, but he's been impressive. Yeah, there are only so many times you can hear "Baby I Love Your Way" or "Do You Feel Like I Do" before you go nuts, but he makes up for it by being so very enthusiastic. It's obvious he's having a blast.

Watching the set change is really an impressive display. I am truly amazed at how quickly and efficiently the road crew changed the stage from Frampton's set to Journey's.

The crowd for this show was fairly good, but it didn't appear to be sold out. I saw a section of reserved seating in the back on Neal's side of the stage that was empty all night. The place was huge though—I couldn't see the lawn at all from where I was sitting. No noticeable sound problems tonight, so I think they've worked out most of the glitches.
 
On to the set list, which had some treats...

Message of Love
-- Neal solo --
Stone In Love
Only the Young
Lights
Still They Ride
If He Should Break Your Heart
-- Jon solo --
When You Love A Woman
Higher Place
Feeling That Way
Anytime
All the Things
Don't Stop Believin'
Faithfully
World Gone Wild
Escape
-- Neal solo --
Wheel in the Sky
Separate Ways
Be Good to Yourself

Encore:
Any Way You Want It
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
We Will Meet Again

It was a treat to hear "All the Things"...very heavy sounding. The crowd didn't really get into it, but I loved it. Ditto for "World Gone Wild" and "We Will Meet Again." Oh well, the die-hards loved it!

Journeying back to the city by the bay...so you're on your own until Pittsburgh!

June 8, 2001: Conitnuing the Arrival Journey

Dallas, TX
Smirnoff Music Center

Before I get into this show, I thought I'd respond to some feedback I've gotten. First question: How long are the sets?

All the shows thus far have started at 6:30, and John Waite hits the stage on time (if not a couple minutes early) and plays for about 35 minutes. There's about a 15 minute intermission while the stage changes for Frampton, who hits the stage around 7:30 and plays for 60-70 minutes. (Oh, and take note, one of Frampton's roadies brings out incense before the show and it burns in the back ground for the entire set. If you’re upwind of it with a sore throat, it can be annoying!) Then it's set up for Journey, which takes about 15-20 minutes. Our boys hit the stage around 9:15 (give or take) and play for about 90 minutes. Thus far, all the shows have ended before 11:00.

Second question: What are the crowds like? Overall, pretty good. It's been a little hard for me to judge that due to having really good seats, but the crowds have been good. Albuquerque was definitely sold out and I'd say El Paso was too. This show looked to have some space available on the lawn, but it’s a fairly large amphitheater and it was pretty full. Thus far I'd say the crowd in Albuquerque was the most "into" the show. El Paso had a lot of people sitting down at various points, and I saw similar things here, but the folks who sat down weren't sitting down for long. And when I looked around at the crowd during some of the new songs, they seemed to be really getting into them even though the looks on their faces indicated this was the first time they've heard the songs.

So, on to the show. The band seemed to have worked out most of the sound glitches—I only noticed one occasion when Steve's mic seemed to be off or too low. Alas, it was at the opening to "To Be Alive Again," which is my favorite rocker off Arrival!

Before the guys hit the stage, I was chatting with a lady sitting behind me. I had overheard her say to her companions that Steve Perry was the lead singer. Well, naturally, I had to correct that assumption.

I told her no, there's a new singer named Steve Augeri. She said "Oh, when did he join the band? I just saw them in Las Vegas in December and Steve Perry was singing." Grooooaaaaaaaaaaan. It took some convincing, but I finally got her to believe that she didn’t see Steve Perry in December. (Fortunately I was wearing my '98 tour shirt with the band photo on the front so I was able to point at it and say "See, this is the lead singer. He's been with the band for 3 years now.") Once she adjusted to that fact, she said to me "I just thought Steve Perry had gotten a perm!" OY! I nearly fell over from laughing!

So, on to the set list. Again it's different from all the previous shows I've seen, and let me tell you, it's refreshing to NOT know exactly what song is coming next every time. (I do gotta say though, the longer I'm out here, the more I love hearing “Lights”...I think I'm getting a little homesick!)

Message of Love
-- Neal Solo --
Stone in Love
Only the Young
Lights
Still They Ride
I’ll Be Alright Without You
-- Jon Solo --
Open Arms
Higher Place
Just the Same Way
To Be Alive Again
Don't Stop Believin'
Faithfully
I Got a Reason
Escape
-- Neal Solo --
Wheel in the Sky
Separate Ways
Be Good to Yourself

Encore:
Anyway You Want It
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

On my never-ending Journey through the Southwest for Journeydigest.com...

June 6, 2001: Set List Surprises

El Paso, TX
Don Haskins Center

I'm gonna keep this one short and sweet. I was pleasantly surprised by the set list last night. Particularly when the guys launched into "Rubicon."  Alas, the crowd wasn't into it and there were several problems (Ross had something going on with his bass that required Allen to come racing out...I think his strap broke or something. Then Neal had some feedback.)

So, here it goes:

Message of Love
-- Neal solo --
Stone in Love
Rubicon
Higher Place
Send Her My Love
Lights
Still They Ride
Nothing Comes Close
Feeling That Way
Anytime
To Be Alive Again
Don't Stop Believin'
-- Neal solo --
Wheel in the Sky
I Got a Reason
Be Good to Yourself

Encore:
Separate Ways
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Faithfully

Still Journeying through the southwest for Journeydigest.com...

June 5, 2001: Arrival Opening Night

Albuquerque, NM
Journal Pavilion

Tonight the Arrival Tour kicked off for real. No huge festival lineup, just the line up that will be on the road for the next three months.

The show started on time with John Waite opening. He played for about 35 minutes, and had three new tunes in among familiar hits. Alas, he neglected to introduce any of the new songs other than saying "This is a new song." He mentioned he has an album coming out next month, but if he mentioned the title of the album, it's escaped me in the intervening hours. There was no Bad English reunion, though we did get a rendition of "When I See You Smile."

Frampton hit the stage about 7:30, while I was up at the snack bar getting something to drink. I returned to my seat about half way through his set when he started up with his classic "Baby I Love Your Way."

I was rather stunned by Frampton's appearance, which oddly reminded me of my grandfather! Not that he looked as old as my grandfather, but there was something about his manner that brought Grandpa to mind and made it very difficult for me to take Frampton seriously. All in all though, he put on a good show and it was fun to see Steve, Ross, and Deen peeking out from the side of the stage from time to time. (Both Steve and Deen looked like little kids with great big smiles on their faces!) Towards the end of his set, he played a song that he and Jon had co-written. Alas, bad fan that I am, I have no clue what it was called!

So, this brings me to the Journey set. As I was watching the crew set up the stage, it became apparent that the "stuff" behind Deen's drum kit and Jon's keyboards wasn't just protective padding, but an elevated level of the stage! Woo hoo!

The show opened with the same video sequence that was used at Mandalay Bay last December, which was as eye catching this time as it was the first time around. Jon, Deen, Ross, and Neal came out on stage, and took up their positions. I looked around for Steve only to have him appear, all in white, on the riser above Deen as the guys launched into "Message of Love." Throughout the show, all the guys (except Deen, of course) would take turns on the raised part of the stage.

The sound problems I encountered in Las Vegas weren't nearly as bad this time. The volume was fine, but there were a few spots in the show that had the vocals too low or a microphone cut out. That would be my only complaint on the technical side of the house.

I was thoroughly impressed by the video screen. They must have cameras in the lighting because some of the angles they showed were from above Deen and Jon, which was great. And I'm sure there were a few other cameras I couldn't see other than the two that were roaming in front of the stage, so for those folks who have seats further from the stage, you're going to see some cool stuff.

It was another energetic show with a crowd that seemed thrilled to be there. From my seat in the 5th row, it looked to me like the place was sold out. The lawn was packed and I didn’t see many empty seats (okay, the two behind me which were occupied for a short period by Neal's wife Amber and Deen's wife Julie were vacant after the first 20 minutes or so.) It was also nice to hear a slightly different set list from Vegas, which I am given to understand was also different from the set list in Phoenix. The set list follows:

Message of Love
-- Neal Solo --
Stone In Love
To Be Alive Again
Lights
All the Way
Higher Place
-- Neal Solo --
Wheel in the Sky
Don’t Stop Believin'
-- Jon Solo --
When You Love A Woman
Just the Same Way
Faithfully
Escape
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
I Got a Reason
Be Good to Yourself

Encore:
Separate Ways
Ask the Lonely

Journeying through the Southwest for Journeydigest.com...

June 2, 2001: Junefest

Las Vegas, NV
Silver Bowl Park

This was the first post to the old Journey Digest mailing list to be titled "Rockin' Road Report" and the beginning of my trek across the southwest for the opening of Journey's 2001 tour.

Hello one and all from the wonders of the southwest. The fear and dread over the possibility of spending 8 hours in the blazing desert heat of Las Vegas was abated by the 20+ mph winds that made the day cooler than expected and bearable. The amazing thing about die hard Journey fans is that even in a crowd of 30,000 people you can find each other! To all our gang from Sunset Station...it was a blast. I shall bypass the other bands at the show (except to say I was FLOORED by Styx and their new singer! Wow!) and get right to the meat of the matter.

It was not a perfect show. The volume was too loud which made for periods of distortion where you couldn't hear or understand Steve's singing. It also muffled Neal's guitar somewhat. In the moment, I thought it was perhaps due to the fact that I had been sitting outside listening to loud live music for about 6 hours before Journey ever hit the stage, but after the show and talking with a few other people, including two who didn't arrive until Styx was on the stage, we agreed it was the sound system and not our poor beaten ears.

The guys hit the stage about 8:30 and played a blazing, blistering set. They crammed 17 songs into 90 minutes, and it was absolutely incredible! They barely slowed down to take a breath at all, which was fantastic, particularly towards the end of the set—the last 5 songs were run together with barely a break. The stage lighting was very cool, particularly during "Lights," but since this wasn't an "official" Arrival Tour show and a show in a soccer field rather than an amphitheater, I'm wagering that there will be something slightly different come Tuesday night's show in Albuquerque. I also suspect that the reason for the blazing speed of the set was the rigid schedule the Junefest promoters had.

The energy and vibe of this show was much stronger than when I saw them in December at Mandalay Bay. While that show looks awesome on DirecTV, the show last night had MUCH more energy and connection. The crowd was really in to the show (both those who were inebriated in one way or another and those who weren't.) Of course, the best part was that we got a brand new set list and lots of new tunes. They mixed things up a lot and didn't do any of the "extended versions" that they’ve been doing the last couple of tours.

I believe the set list has been posted on the Journey forum already, but for those of you who haven't been it here's what we got to hear....

Message of Love
To Be Alive Again
-- Neal solo --
Stone in Love
Nothing Comes Close
Lights
All the Way
Higher Place
Don't Stop Believin'
Faithfully
I Got A Reason
-- Neal solo --
Wheel in the Sky
Escape
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Ask the Lonely
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Separate Ways
Be Good to Yourself

Journeying through the Southwest on assignment for Journeydigest.com...

P.S.—Dan, I am getting paid for this right...