August 26, 2006: Journey Hits the City by the Bay, Night 2

Mountain View, CA
Shoreline Amphitheater

WARNING!! Author is EXTREMELY TIRED. Typos likely.* Incoherence possible.

So for starters it sure as hell looked like Shoreline was SOLD OUT.... I swear I've only seen crowds that big for MAJOR shows... Better yet, much like last night's crowd, everyone was on their feet for nearly the entire nite! Woo hoo!

Jon and Ross joined the opener again tonite as did Phil Collen (who proved he DOES own a shirt) which makes the 15 minutes of sitting through an opening act that doesn't really have the right vibe for this particular tour worth it.

Stoll Vaughn hit the stage around 7:15 -- 15 minutes before the stated start time, so the crowd was a little late getting to their seats for Journey's set, but most people had arrived by the end of "Ask the Lonely" three songs in. I think overall, last night's show was better than tonight's for both acts. I generally prefer shows at Shoreline over Concord due to the differences in each amphitheater, but something was missing from tonight that was there yesterday.

Got a shock of the night when, during "Keep on Running," I looked across the bowl and saw a HUGE sign being held up by three or four people that said "WHERE'S STEVE PERRY?!" I was absolutely flabbergasted -- I haven't seen anything like that since 98/99! One of my partners in crime didn't notice the sign but did notice Neal's one finger salute...

Deen did another amazing job on "Who's Crying Now," "Open Arms," and "Faithfully." He always looks so sincere when he's singing those that I have to smile...

By the time the band got to "Chain Reaction," we noticed that the bass and drums were just rattling our bones. Earlier in the month Darla experienced the same thing at the Sammy Hagar show, so we think something has been done to the sound system at Shoreline because it's never been like that before. It was actually painful.

A few other bits and bobs -- someone threw a light stick on the stage during Jon's solo. It bounced and wound up between Deen's bass drums. Thank goodness no one was in the line of fire, but I gotta ask -- they allow those glow sticks but take the tops off the water bottles.. WTF?! During LTS, Kelly K. handed JSS a bouquet of roses caused him to say "I think these are for you Jon" instead of singing the last bit of one line.

Still not sure how I feel about JSS. He's definitely more rocking and a magnetic front man -- you can't help watching where he goes and what he does -- and with the more rocked up set list he is well suited for it. Vocally, he's not doing it for me when he's on the more mid-tempo songs. I'm not sure if it's because I'm really tired, but I had a hard time getting into the concert tonight. I know I've been this tired at shows before, and usually by the time the music kicks in, so does the adrenaline and I've got the energy to rock out. Not so much tonight.

Def Leppard's set was also more low-key tonight compared to last night -- they still put on a great show, but it was lacking in comparison to last night. They switched out "Promises" for "Rock Rock Til You Drop" tonight, but otherwise their set was the same as last night. Sav's bass solo did nearly kill me from the body rattling vibrations. I do think I need to listen to my DL CDs some more before Reno so I can get the lyrics down when I'm singing along -- I hate mumbling to my self...

Perhaps the highlight of the evening came at the end of the show as we were leaving -- in among the rows of now empty seats, there was a guy with his arms crossed, passed out in his seat. Unlike most people who pass out he wasn't completely slumped over, just had his arms crossed on his chest with his head down.

Finally, my sister-in-law and her sister and a friend were at the show with me tonight. They were having a GREAT ole time, but oddly enough I actually missed my brother who had originally said he was coming when the show was announced. Now, my brother and I have very different personalities and we NEVER do the same things for entertainment -- at least not together. But back in the day it was the fight over the stereo -- my Journey records versus his Def Leppard records, and it would have been a fun thing to have him at the show with me.

Until next weekend...

Set List:

Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
Wheel in the Sky
Keep on Runnin'
Edge of the Blade
Who's Crying Now
Chain Reaction
Lights
-- Jon solo --
Open Arms
Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'
Escape
Dead or Alive
Jon mini-solo
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Separate Ways

*One of the benefits of posting 8 year old stories, is you can correct all the typos, and boy were there a LOT of typos in this one!

August 25, 2006: ... I Wanna Get Back to My City by the Baa-aay......

Concord, CA
Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord

... I wanna get back to my city by the baa-aay ...
 
WOW! Hometown crowd -- SOLD OUT! Or at least darned close to it. When we arrived at the Concord Pavilion (or whatever the heck they call it these days) we heard security at the box office repeating "The lawn is sold out." From my seat, looked like all the reserved seats were too -- 12,000 people! Woo hoo! Can't wait to see the crowd tomorrow night at Shoreline since I know as of a few days ago only lawn seats were available (22,000 capacity!)

The opening act -- Stoll Vaughn -- did his 15 minute set as before and both Jon and Ross came out to join him on his final song -- Jon on harmonica and Ross on a stand up electric bass.

Unlike my Denver experience the crowd was more evenly divided between Journey fans and Def Leppard fans -- okay, so it helps to be in the band's hometown (or thereabouts.)

I was really impressed by Jeff Scott Soto tonight. He sounded MUCH better than he did in Denver -- I was really amazed. I still think he's better suited for the rockers than the mid-tempo songs, but tonight they sounded closer to what I expect from a Journey show. Deen once again took the ballads and I was thrilled with that -- he has really done a great job of it.

The show started out with a few interesting moments -- Jon stepped on Ross's cord during "Stone in Love" and while Ross did not come unplugged, he was stuck trying to walk across the stage. Typical Ross just made goofy faces and pretended to try and drag Jon along. JSS had problems with his mic during "Keep on Runnin'," but it was quickly fixed.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear "Dead or Alive" tonight -- that song is just so darned FAST and Neal's fingers were just FLYING! :eek: There was a great shot of Ross goofing off during "Faithfully" ("we all need clowns...") When the guys came back out for the encore, Neal was cordless and racing all along the stage! Guess the DL guys are rubbing off a little!

Def Leppard's set tonight was also improved from Denver -- I could actually hear the vocals! Still gotta learn all the words though -- I keep missing parts of the verses.

Set Lists:

Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
Wheel in the Sky
Keep on Runnin'
Edge of the Blade
Who's Crying Now -- Deen vox
Chain Reaction
Lights (WOO HOO! Great crowd!)
-- Jon solo --
Open Arms -- Deen vox
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Escape
Dead or Alive
Jon mini-solo
Faithfully -- Deen vox
Don't Stop Believin'
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Separate Ways

Def Leppard
(for those who haven't seen a show yet, though god knows it's late enough in the tour....)

Let's Get Rocked
Let it Rock
Promises
Bringing on the Heartbreak
Foolin'
Hysteria
--Happy Birthday to Vivian
20th Century Boy (new, cover)
bass solo
Rock On (new, cover)
Rocket
Photograph
Armageddon It
Animal
Rock of Ages

Encore:
Love Bites
Pour Some Sugar on Me

August 15, 2006: Red Rock Rocks!

Morrison, CO
Red Rocks Amphitheater

Okay, it's August. Journey's been on tour since June. Tonight was my first show of the season. Very weird for me! I mean, it's been TEN MONTHS since my last show... what the heck??!!!

I've been wanting to see a show at Red Rocks since... well... pretty much since seeing the U2 video way back in high school. So, when this show was announced I sent an email to my old high school friend Ana Gloria (my closet Journey fan friend) who's moved to Golden .... "So, how do ya feel about Def Leppard?" and invited myself for a visit. (Ain't old friends great!)

Red Rocks really is a gorgeous place to see a show, but damn, the elevation is BRUTAL. After nearly killing ourselves walking up to the amphitheater from the parking lot we had to walk all the way to the top of the amphitheater to find the rest rooms before walking back DOWN to our seats. I was thinking I would be totally exhausted BEFORE the show even started! Shew!

We took our seats in the 14th row and caught our breath during the opening act. (Alas, never quite caught his name.) He was pretty good and played for about 15 minutes with Jon joining him on harmonica at the end. He left the stage and a short while later, Neal comes out while the pre-show music is still playing and launched in to the Star Spangled Banner. The rest of the band came out and kicked in to "Stone in Love," and that's when I noticed something different -- Deen wasn't behind the kit! ACK! His tech was playing. My heart, still racing a bit from the hike up to the show, beat faster -- first no Steve, now no Deen?! Oh man, this was gonna take some getting through. After they finished Jon introduced Jim and said that Deen was sick. Of course, he then neglected to introduce Jeff! Oddly enough, no one seemed to notice.

Going in to the show, I wasn't really sure how I'd react to Jeff Scott Soto. I knew he was a great performer from having seen the Soul SirkUS show, so I wasn't worried at all about his stage presence. I WAS worried about what his voice would sound like. All in all... not bad. He's definitely more suited to the rockers like "Stone in Love," "Edge of the Blade," "Chain Reaction," and "Escape." The more mid-tempo tunes -- just didn't do it for me. They were generally too low and just didn't sound right, though the rest of the band was tight. Ultimately, someone named Steve needs to be singing them.

The show progressed and during "Keep on Runnin'" I saw Deen walk out behind the drum kit and start playing with his drumsticks behind Jim on the kit. When the song was over, Deen took his place on the drums! Woo HOO! The band launched into a fantastic version of "Edge of the Blade." JSS was great on this tune and he really added some energy to the band tonight.

EOTB was followed by "Who's Crying Now" with Deen taking the vocal. The start of the song sounded a bit off key all around, which even Ana Gloria noticed, but everyone righted themselves quickly and it brought tears to my eyes.

As always, "Lights" was a bit of home away from home and a special moment to share with a very dear friend that I've known for nearly 25 years. You can't beat friends who've known you that long and that well and getting time to spend with them when you live in different states is very precious.

JSS just oozed sexiness during "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" -- he's very well suited to the blues. Deen got to sing a couple more times, and by the time he got to "Faithfully" he was sounding a little scratchy -- whether it was being sick, the elevation (truly brutal on the voice -- my throat is raw from singing along) or a combination of both who knows, but he did a really good job even exhorting the crowd to sing along!

The sold-out crowd was incredible all night and on their feet for the entire Journey set (way to go Denver!) but even before Def Leppard took the stage, it was apparent that it was more of a Leppard crowd. When DL took the stage, they went nuts.

It's easy to see why a lot of people are saying Journey is the opener for Def Leppard -- though the show is billed as a co-headliner and both bands play the same amount of time, DL's stage production blew Journey's away. Add in the crowd, and yeah, it makes sense that few think of this as a co-headlining tour.

I've been excited about this tour since it was announced as I enjoy both bands, and DL put on a great show. Alas, Joe Elliott's voice was really low in the mix and I could barely hear him on most of the songs. And damn, I keep feeling old at concerts now. Last year it was Journey showing clips from Frontiers and Beyond reminding me how time has passed. This year it was DL using various video clips and photographs of the band in the Pyromania/Hysteria era to remind me just how much time has passed.

All in all, a fun show and it FINALLY feels like summer to me. A week off for me until the band gets back to the Bay Area.... See you all then!

Set List:

Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
Wheel in the Sky
Keep on Runnin'
Edge of the Blade
Who's Crying Now -- Deen vox
Chain Reaction
Lights
-- Jon solo --
Open Arms -- Deen vox
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Escape
Jon mini-solo
Faithfully -- Deen vox
Don't Stop Believin'
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Separate Ways