Evolution and Departure -- Looking Back at 2005 Through 2007

November 26, 2014

As has been the case from the minute I started copying these old tales from the bowels of my computer and putting them all together in this blog, I re-read all of the stories and events as they transpired more or less in chronological order (not to mention getting side tracked with old emails, news articles, and god knows what else.) Going from the highest of highs in January 2005 with Journey receiving their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, through the chaos that surrounded the band in 2006, and ultimately to 2007 which saw no Journey tour for the first time since 2000 and left the band with out a lead singer for the second time in a year. That was a complete roller coaster of events, and I've yet to get to all that transpired in 2008 (a year burned so vividly in my brain that I can't forget it no matter how much I wish I could.) It was odd to relive many of those emotions again in 2014.

The thing I remember most about 2006 is feeling burned out by Journey. Having helped organize 4 fan conventions of growing magnitude over the course of 5 years and planning yet another for that year was finally catching up with me. It seemed that all of my free time was being consumed by Journey and I was in need of a break. Journey started their tour in Europe that year, and when they started talking about the tour, I thought about flying half way around the world to catch them. As it turned out, the dates the tour started conflicted with some family commitments, but having started thinking about spending my summer vacation in the UK and Ireland, I decided I needed a vacation more than another Journey concert and arrived in London a week after Journey had come through.

Another objective of my three week vacation was to unplug from the Internet. Other than a couple of emails to my mother letting her know where I was heading and a few others to friends I was meeting on my travels, I pretty much avoided everything. Visiting with a few of my Journey buddies (though unfortunately not all) did get me some gossip and tales, but for the most part I was out of the loop when the US leg of the tour began and Steve Augeri had to drop out of the tour and all the chaos and craziness that surrounded that began. When I returned to the States, I caught up somewhat with what had happened while I was out of the country, but was so tired of the chronic bickering and battling that I eased out some what. I was beginning to understand what Steve Perry meant about re-entering the earth's atmosphere without heat shields. I was in Journey over load.

We pulled off another successful JPP, though a vastly lower threshold of excitement than we'd had in 2005. By the end of 2006, Steve Augeri was officially out and Jeff Scott Soto was named his replacement. I was less than thrilled and decided I was done with my road tripping around the country for Journey shows. It was an expensive hobby and after seeing four shows with Jeff on lead, it wasn't working for me and not worth the time and expense.

That Jeff was let go six months later -- announced literally the day after "Don't Stop Believin'" closed out the finale of The Sopranos, an event that gave Journey HUGE exposure -- added to the burn out. With no Journey tour that year and a reunited Police, I took my traveling to them and spent a lot of time on their message boards. The Police fans were so happy and excited that their band had reunited when everyone on the planet had expected hell to freeze over before that happened, I soaked up all their positive energy. While the Police weren't "my" band, I had been a fan for years and I totally understood the feeling those fans had. I know I talked about it with several of them, including likening it to the ill fated Journey reunion with Steve Perry in 1996. I loved that feeling.

So I spent 2007 mostly seeing bands I'd never seen before (or hadn't seen in over 20 years) and wrote up a few reports for friends along the way. My status as a Journey "super fan" started to fade then, and has continued to do so ever since. Oh, I'm still a fan of the band and will continue to see them when they play in a reasonable proximity to home, but the days of cross-country travel and fan conventions are long behind me now. I do miss getting to see the many friends I made between 1998 and 2006 and try to keep up with as many as I can and every once and a while I think "maybe I should try to put together a JPP Family Reunion one of these years." No big fancy get together, no recording studio tours, no receptions with the band, no group seating at the concert. Nothing like that, just a nice, simple family picnic. Bring your blanket and something to share and hang out and chat about old times and new.

Perhaps I'll do that one year (if I can get what's left of "the band" back together.) For now, I can look back at a really fun time of my life and think, yeah, it was totally worth it all.

October 25-26, 2007: The Magic of Springsteen

Oakland, CA
Oracle Arena

Had a great end of the week this week, taking in both of the shows Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band put on here in Oakland Thursday and Friday nights. For openers, I have this to say...

BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!!!

Anyone who's ever seen a Springsteen show knows that they are always high energy, great time, rock and roll shows. This past week was no different with two incredible nights. The Friday night show went on sale first and I got a ticket the minute the show went on sale and was a little disappointed that the best seat I could get was a seat to the side of the stage, so when the Thursday night show was added about 2 weeks ago I said "gotta try again!" Best I could do for THAT show was BEHIND the stage. Well, hell. Fortunately, what I thought would be a disappointment seat-wise, turned out to be anything but.

Thursday night I raced to BART from work, but even if traffic had been breezy smooth, work to the Millbrae BART station plus the ride to the Coliseum station is still a 2 hour trek! UGH, no time for dinner and please oh please oh please don't have a line for will call or I'm gonna be wiped out before the show even starts! Fortunately got through will call in record time so grabbed something to eat inside and went to take my seat. Lesson one -- Row 27 behind the stage is NOT a bad seat -- the rows start at about number 15. Turned out that my seat was dead center of the row right behind the stage AND was the last row in the section with wall behind me so I could stand and dance all I wanted with no one throwing things behind me! Woo hoo! (Of course, I had forgotten that Bruce really doesn't allow sitting at his shows and makes sure everyone is standing up!) So 7:30 comes and goes and of course the show doesn't start when the ticket said it would. 8:00 comes and goes and the two seats to my left and four seats to my right are still totally empty. Could it be that I've got a huge chunk of space all to my self at a near-sell out show?! Yep, it could be -- I had a ton of room to dance and bop around all night long.

8:15 Bruce and the band came out in total darkness and then kicked straight in to "Radio Nowhere" from his new CD Magic. If you've not heard it yet, it's just a kick ass rock song and great opener. The show rolled on from there and I had a great view of the band, the stage, and the CROWD. Kinda felt like a rock star myself looking out at what the guys on stage were seeing. Naturally, the crowd goes wild. If you've never been to a Springsteen concert, you really don't know what you're missing. I was up and dancing from the first note and barely sat all night long. There was a group of people a ways down the row from me and one of the guys kept coming over to dance and high five at different parts of the show. There's just that much energy going on.

Thursday night's set list was filled with new material -- 9 of the 12 songs on Magic were played, plus a song off Patti Scialfa's new CD. That made 10 of the 20+ songs totally new and reasonably unfamiliar to the audience and while the band played the hell out of them with enough energy to keep the crowd with them, the energy of the crowd wasn't the level of previous shows I'd seen. The album's only been out for three weeks (wasn't Bruce nice to give me a present for my birthday?) and I've played the hell out of it since I got it and I probably know about 75% of the words to 75% of the songs. Most other people in the crowd knew far less. That didn't stop him from having the crowd sing back on "Girls in Summer Clothes" during the encore. And ya know, I loved it. Too many established performers don't believe enough in their new material and/or their fans to really go out and sell it to them on stage, which considering that's how so many legendary acts got famous in the first place. If you've got it, play it, believe in it, work the crowd so they're into it.

The crowd Thursday night did get into the new material, though not like they did with the old familiar favorites where they would sing along and drown out Bruce at points. The show closed out with a rousing version of "Badlands" which had all 20,000 people singing along at the top of their lungs and, to my mind, has one of the greatest lines in rock history -- "For the ones who had a notion/A notion deep inside/That it ain't no sin/To be glad you're alive" and the crowd WAS so alive.

Of course, no Springsteen show is over until you hear "Born to Run" and that was the third song of the 5-song encore (following "Thunder Road" which the audience ALMOST took over on, but lost the lyric somewhere in the first verse). With full house lights on and everyone singing along I could watch that every night. He closed out the night with "Dancing in the Dark" (ironically with the full house lights still on) and an Irish jig of a tune he wrote as part of his Seeger Sessions work "American Land" which was just great fun. Headed back to BART for the hour ride home and got ready to do it all again on Friday night and had a nice bookend moment to my night as "Born to Run" was the last tune played on my iPod as I pulled into the Millbrae station.

I wasn't nearly as harried getting to the show on Friday as I had been the night before and when I got to my side-view seat, I was again pleasantly surprised. Close to the stage, on the aisle of a 3-seat row. I chatted with the couple sitting next to me before the show started and it was the wife's first time at a Springsteen show and she was so excited it was incredible. I told her that the show the night before had been fantastic and she'd really enjoy it but she'd have to calm down a little since the band wouldn't take the stage until 8:15.

Once again Bruce and band came out and kicked off with "Radio Nowhere" and followed it up with one of my all time favorite tunes "No Surrender" from the Born in the USA album. I love love love that song and my night was completely made by then. The set list on Friday was significantly different than Thursday night -- only 6 new songs and no Patti song. According to his official website, they debuted three songs on Friday night -- "Two Hearts", "Racing in the Street", and "Working on the Highway." Every one of them played to perfection. Making that change in the set put even more energy into the sell-out crowd and people were on their feet most of the night dancing and singing along.

The energy level on Friday night was definitely higher than Thursday, and the response to the new songs was stronger, especially for the moving rocker "Last to Die" and the catchy "Living in the Future". It's pretty incredible when you look down the set lists for this tour (which can be found here*) and you see the catalog of songs performed. Between the radio hits and the concert anthems, there's just not a weak point anywhere in this show, no songs where you think "okay, I'm a bit tired of this one, move along please."

I was talking to one of my co-workers before heading out to the shows this week and he was telling me how he doesn't particularly enjoy concerts as they seldom live up to his expectations. Having seen Springsteen about 6 times now -- both with and with out the E Street Band -- I can say I have never been disappointed, usually it's beyond my expectations. I also recognized that one thing I take away from most any concert I attend is that two hours (or more) of stress free, live in the moment, let the music wash over you joy. Makes it worth every penny of the over priced concert tickets (though I will say at $93 before fees, Springsteen is pretty reasonable considering what he could charge) and hassles of transportation.

Finally, if you've never seen Springsteen, what the hell are you waiting for? Go. Now. I promise you will have a great time.

*The original link went to Bruce's official website which will post set lists for the shows, but it appears they've pulled anything before 2009, so that goes to the fan-zine Backstreets which pulls reports from fans.

September 18, 2007: An Unplanned Review

Concord, CA
Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord

Normally, I probably wouldn't bother with a RRR for this show, but there were sufficient things happening last night in Concord I thought I'd shoot out a quick report.

A Tuesday night show in Concord is not the greatest plan to have as it's a 50+ mile drive through the worst traffic in the Bay Area and ends with an 8-mile stretch of road that is always seriously congested before a concert. Miraculously, it only took me a little over two hours to get there -- including stopping for gas and to grab a sandwich! Gobbled down my dinner and met Leslie, Darla and Emerson at the show and headed on in.

I had expected Foreigner to open and they were really why I had decided to pick up a ticket for this show since this year I had planned to only see groups I'd never seen before (or haven't seen in 20 years), so I was quite surprised to see Styx take the stage shortly before the 7:00 start time! Just as they were taking the stage, Leslie tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out Mary Valory entering the show. Styx kicked it in gear and I looked around at the sparse crowd -- I'm betting a lot of people were expecting Foreigner to open -- and who should I see strolling down the aisle one section over from me, but Jonathan Cain! My turn to nudge Leslie and point. Guess he headed over after his little performance in San Ramon!

Styx blazed through their set which was a condensed version of every other show I've seen of theirs in the past 5-6 years. It was pretty good, though I think I've seen them better. Of course I was distracted quite a bit between people watching, checking in with friends via text messages, and getting interrupted by a call from work, so my inability to really get into the set may have been entirely my fault.

Between Styx and Foreigner, Darla and Leslie decided to go say hi to Jon, so I made a mad dash after them and tallied another "god I'm a geek" moment. Didn't really get to chat at all -- it was just a quick "hi, good to see ya" kind of thing. Was cool to see him in his seat through all three sets though!

I was really curious about the new Foreigner line up and was completely blown away when they took the stage. They kicked some serious ass! Truly incredible performance. Their new singer (whose name I've forgotten) was unreal and, in a truly surreal moment, looks like a young Steven Tyler including having a very compelling stage presence. They blazed through their hits and gave Jason Bonham some "rehearsal" time when they played a bit of Led Zep in the middle of "Jukebox Hero", once again confirming for me that so long as Robert Plant isn't singing, I like Led Zep. (I know, rock god, hero to millions, yadda yadda yadda... he sounds like a cat screeching while clawing a chalkboard to me.)

Def Leppard took the stage around 9:30 and, much to my relief, played a somewhat different set than they played last year. It was nice to hear some different tunes and the two-song acoustic set they had was fantastic. I'd heard they had a catwalk this tour and was wondering if they'd be able to use it at Concord -- forgetting that the seats in the pit are removable. They're about the fourth or fifth act I've seen use a catwalk in the last couple of years and I've gotta say, it really does add to the show. It's nice having the performers out in the crowd somewhat. Bolted from my seat as the last note of "Rock of Ages" played and miraculously was in my car and out of the parking lot in 20 minutes! (Last time I was there it took me well over an hour.)

Didn't bother to track set lists since I wasn't planning on making a report, but there wasn't anything too obscure performed. Did have a chuckle when Joe Eliot was introducing something from "High N Dry" by way of introducing Vivian Campbell and saying "he wasn't in the band then but he can play the fuck out of it" as I thought "Well, Phil Collen wasn't in the band then either...."

June 13 2007: Bring on the NIght

Oakland, CA
McAfee Coliseum

My friends and I took BART over after catching an early dinner, so we missed all of Fiction Plane and most of the Fratellis. Wish I'd missed all of the Fratellis... ugh sonic noise for which I had to use my ear plugs.

Now, going in I knew it would be a completely different experience than the fan club show since, duh, 4th row seat with 4,000 people is totally different than a 40th row seat with 60,000 people! It's been a while since I've had a "video screen only" seat for a show, but okay, I can deal. I'm just happy I'm in the building... It was kind of funny -- my seat was almost in the exact same site line as the Fan Club show, just WAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY further back. Had the best view of Stewart all night since he was on the riser, but with proper angling I could see Sting. Andy, alas, was just sound and projection ... Or possibly he was in Idaho, not too sure about that.

Anyway, while waiting for the show to start I was talking with some of the folks around me and it was really fun once again seeing all the excitement. When "Get Up Stand Up" started, everyone was instantly on their feet and cheering. Stadium lights go off, stage lights come on, and here comes Stewart and the gong. CRASH! And away we go....

The video screens were dark for "Message in a Bottle" which meant all I could really see was a brightly lit stage. It's actually a cool entrance -- just the band on stage playing for one whole song before the cameras kick on -- but when you're short and 40 rows back (or more for the poor folks in the upper decks!) it just stinks that you can't see what's going on!

The upside of being further back though was getting to see the production of the show, which was really impressive. The sheer genius of having cameras BEHIND Stewart was one of my favorite highlights. It was seriously cool being able to see what he was doing, especially when he was on his percussion set. Just wow. The camera work was really impressive all night (though I think the guy behind Stewart fell over a couple of times -- there were some weird shots popping up once and a while) and watching the guys rotate from screen to screen was quite helpful.

The set list was reasonably unchanged from the Fan Club show with the exception of "Murder by Numbers" which was dropped. The pacing of the show was much more dynamic than the FC show, which I had expected would be the case. It's apparent they're still working on some of the arrangements as some things sounded a bit different to me than they did in Vancouver.

A few personal highlights... "Invisible Sun" was amazing with that video. I was nearly moved to tears. Really excellent use of imagery to reinforce the lyrics. "Walking in Your Footsteps" just sounds incredible (though I liked the ghostly images from Vancouver better than the digital images superimposed on the band on the video screen, but hey, whatcha gonna do?) I turned 12 years old again with "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" and I really liked how they closed out "Every Breath You Take" during the 2nd encore.

My complaints are relatively minor -- once or twice the lighting at the back of the stage was in position in front of the video screens making them somewhat useless and the crowd, while definitely having a blast in the seats around me, was kind of weak on the audience participation points. Really, 60,000 people should make more noise than that!

One of my favorite part of concerts is watching band interaction, but since that wasn't possible for me last night I got to just focus on the music and they sounded wonderful last night. It's still an early tour vibe, so I can imagine how much tighter things will get as the tour progresses, and it's in pretty good condition now.

I can't believe that this show I was so eagerly anticipating is now in the past! Guess I'll just have to keep reading reviews and keep waiting for the later fall dates to fill in so I can figure out when my next show is!

No pictures this time, since, well, 40th row....

Set List:

Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Don't Stand So Close to Me
Voices Inside My Head
When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around
Spirits in the Material World
Driven to Tears
Walking on the Moon
Truth Hits Everybody
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
The Bed's Too Big Without You
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking in Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
Roxanne

Encore 1:King
of Pain
So Lonely

Encore 2:
Every Breath You Take

Encore 3:
Next to You

May 2007: Fourth Row Photos

As promised, here are some more pictures from the Police Fan Club Show.

 

One of the few blurry shots I kept as Sting is looking
right at me! Figures!

May 27, 2007: Police Fan Club Show

Vancouver, BC
GM Place

The first review I posted about this show was the one I sent to my Journey buddies and other friends. It wasn't until I returned home from Vancouver that I shared my full thoughts with the folks on the Police fan club message boards. Managed to dig it up too.

So we're now a good 3 days since the show and I think I can finally add my perspective. Like many here, I just missed being able to see the Police back in their hey day -- I was 15 when the last tour ended, not quite old enough to be allowed to go to shows. I've seen Sting three or four times at least -- pretty much whenever he's come through the Bay Area. Like many, I figured the odds of ever seeing the Police live and in person were beyond zero and that was just one of those things that happen in life. So the news of the reunion and tour came as a huge surprise and thrill.

For me, the trek to Vancouver was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of events that I just couldn't miss, but if the tickets had cost $225 instead of $50, I probably would have stayed home and thought "darn, that would have been cool." But things all work in the way they need to I suppose, and I got to take in a rare show.

Now, as I mentioned to a few people at Ceili's Sunday night I'm not "that way" about the Police. I've always enjoyed their music but don't have that deep emotional connection. I totally get that feeling, it's just a different group for me. Thus one of the things I really enjoyed Sunday night was watching all the other fans with various looks of excitement, shock, anticipation, awe, and all around joy as show time approached. Their excitement increased my own.

When I got to the arena and found my seat, I was just thrilled though with the location. Fourth row, Sting's side of center stage. My concern about having to see over the too-tall Muse and her husband was abated when we discovered they had seats 23 and 24 to my seat 22. Even better, there was NO ONE in seat 22 in front of me. Holy cow a totally clear view of the stage ALL NIGHT. I'm 5' 2" -- I never get a clear view! Woo hoo! Okay, so my excitement built rapidly from there. Especially since cameras were rampantly available and usable -- I pulled mine out of my purse before the show started and shot off about 250 pictures by the time the show ended.

Unfortunately, I was totally unprepared for the guys coming out on stage BEFORE the show started to say "hi." Ah well, can't anticipate everything. The show started and wow... I was just amazed. Many comments have been made already about the different arrangements, but to my ear most songs sounded more or less as I expected them too -- or at least nothing was changed so much that I couldn't identify it within a few notes (something I will admit I was worried about so spent time cramming with Message in a Box.)

My best description of the show was it was very loose and the pace more moderated than I expected -- kind of like they were feeling out the reaction. The thing that truly amazed me though, was just what astounding musicians these guys are. As I said, I've always liked their music, but I've never really paid deep serious attention to it. Don't get me wrong, I knew these guys had the chops, but seeing them live and in person put a WHOLE different perspective on their talents for me. I was beyond impressed.

The set list covered pretty much everything I expected and/or hoped it would, and I couldn't help remembering being 12 and hearing "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" for the first time when that popped up. Between shooting off the camera I danced and sung along and had a great ole time. The show was over much too fast, but two days driving home gave me plenty of time to reflect on the evening. I'm so glad I went and what a way to get to see the Police for the first time.

I've spent the better part of today putting the pictures I took together. I've got to say, I really impressed myself this time and got a lot of really good shots. (Usually, I figure I'm lucky if 25% of the shots are quality -- this time only about 25% were total crap!) There's always the microphones, cymbals, heads, and arms that get in the way, but I think I got a pretty good collection this time.

May 27, 2007: Special Police Edition: Fan Club Members Only!

Vancouver, BC
GM Place

Well I'm back from the show tonight. Totally sucked. I mean really, I had to sit in the FOURTH row... what's up with that?? Aren't I supposed to be in the FIRST row?? I mean I have standards!

I can not believe the show I just saw. I can not believe the seat I had. I can not WAIT for Oakland (though it's gonna be hard being so far away from the stage after tonight. Maybe I'll win the front row seats from the fan club...)


Where to begin.... Got in early this afternoon, cleaned up and went and picked up my ticket at will call before heading over to meet up with the group of Police fans that had organized a little get together at a near by restaurant. It was fun watching all these seriously die-hard Police fans just being giddy with looks on their faces between "when does the show start" and "I can't believe this is happening!" Headed over to the venue about 6, doors opened at 6:30 and I got in pretty quickly. Everyone's concerns about cameras being confiscated was totally moot -- no one even did a search and when I walked in the door one of the vendors was taking a picture of a couple of fans. Picked up some swag and headed to my seat. About died from shock when I saw how close I was to the stage. Totally unreal. Even better, the seat in front of me was vacant as was one of the seats next to me, so lots of room to move and a great view of the stage! The arena was set up for most of the floor (I'd say about 25-30 rows) and about the first three sections of the lower bowl, and that was it. Maybe 4,000 people in an arena that probably holds 4 times that many. 

Sat and people watched for a while and it was great watching all these fans coming up to the stage and taking their picture with the mics and drum kit in the background. Saw my favorite t-shirt of the night that said "Pinch me I must be dreaming." Chatted some with the folks sitting around me, saw one woman in tears. This was a seriously big deal, and I totally got that and started getting goosebumps myself.
 

Show time was 7:30, which came and went with no show -- big surprise. About 7:40 with no warning Sting, Stewart, and Andy all walked out on stage and welcomed everyone to "the final dress rehearsal." About 5 minutes later this giant gong rises from behind the drum kit and the band takes the stage and kicked off with "Message in a Bottle." You know the saying "And the crowd goes wild"??? Well, let me tell you I've never heard such a roar and I swear every voice must have been singing the chorus at the top of their lungs -- if I didn't know better I would have said there were 16,000 people in the place! Kicked in to "Synchronicity II" next and the show rolled on from there. I don't have the set list since I was busily taking pictures* (and a little video sssshhhhh) but a couple of the people I was sitting with did so I'm sure it will be posted somewhere soon. They played everything you would expect them to and a couple of slightly more obscure songs, but nothing I had a problem recognizing after a few notes (or lines). Of course, it may have helped that I was listening to Message in a Box the last couple of weeks to remind myself of a few tunes, but really most of the stuff they played is stuff that's been on the radio since forever and I still hear on the radio today.

They changed a couple of songs around, mostly slowing the tempo on a couple of the faster ones ("Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" comes to mind off the top of my head) and a couple of tunes were a little "Stingified," but all in all the songs sounded like I expected them to and satisfied that little nagging thought I always get when I've seen Sting perform some of these tunes solo -- "That was great, but wish I could have heard the Police version."

Yeah, my seat didn't suck.

The show was a little loosey goosey with a fairly moderated pace and I suspect things will be a bit tighter for tomorrow's official opener and the rest of the tour, but the cool thing was that they all really looked like they were having fun. Stewart is definitely a drummer -- at one point he tossed one of his sticks and it nearly hit Andy and then later in the set he stood up and raced around the stage for no other reason than "I have to sit behind the kit all the time." Total goofball. He made a few other random comments through out the night, but I had a hard time hearing him (that darned fourth row!) Amazing drummer though -- wow. I was seriously impressed. Actually I was seriously impressed with the overall musicianship. I mean, it was just these three guys on stage -- no extra musicians, no back up singers -- and it was a HUGE sound. It was really spectacular. I knew these guys were good, but not THIS good.

I'm sure there are die hard fans who are going to nit pick on little things here and there, but for this casual observer you'd never know it's been 23 years since they last toured.

Can't really report much about the staging since, being in the fourth row (did I mention that?) the only "effects" I got to see was the lighting. Real simple stage though. There was no drape behind the stage so I don't know if that means there isn't going to be one at all and thus there is seating behind the stage for arena shows. The show in Oakland in a couple of weeks is going to be a totally different beast -- a huge stadium set up, so I'll be interested to compare the look and sound.

All in all I am so glad I decided to ditch my "no traveling this year" policy for this show. It was definitely an opportunity I couldn't miss. I'm sorely tempted to delay my return tomorrow and try to score a ticket to the opener, but this treat is already more than I should have given myself so I'll hit the road back home tomorrow morning and be thrilled with having had such a cool opportunity.

I think I'm gonna like this year of concerts of acts I've never seen before!

Set List:

Intro
Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Don't Stand So Close to Me
Voices Inside My Head/When the World Is Running Down
Spirits in the Material World
Driven to Tears
Walking on the Moon
Truth Hits Everybody
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
The Bed's Too Big Without You
Murder By Numbers
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking in Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
Roxanne

Encore 1:
King of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take

Encore 2:
Next to You

*As you can see from the few pictures included here, I had a GREAT view and got a TON of fantastic photos. Most of the time when I take concert shots 1 out of 4 are decent. This time 3 of 4 were beyond decent. Will post some in a separate entry. Contrary to accusations I got on the Police message boards, I was not concentrating solely on Sting (I actually had more pictures of Andy and Stewart) but I was seated right in front of Sting so the pictures of him came out the best. Andy was furthest away and had to be shot through heads, so didn't turn out as well.

January 13, 2007: Return to the Fox

Redwood City, CA
Fox Theater

So, two weeks, two benefits, two reports! The Nor Cal gang came to MY part of the bay and took in another great show by Gregg and his band at the Fox Theater in Redwood City. Now, unfortunately, it wasn't like the LAST time Gregg played a Voices of Latin Rock Benefit at the Fox -- where he was joined by Neal and several fellow former Santana members. Okay, so now I'm REALLY bummed I didn't grab a ticket to the show at Bimbo's on Thursday. Siiighh... Oh well, maybe next time! The show opened with a band called La Ventana that most of us missed as we were hanging out in the lobby of the theater yammering away as we always do at one of these gigs. When Malo took the stage we decided to go inside where it was MUCH warmer than the lobby which had an icy wind blowing through. (And while I know most folks live in places where it routinely snows during this time of year, we NorCals are NOT used to temps in the 30s and 40s as it has been lately and was again last night -- BRRRRR!)

Malo put on a good show which had people dancing all around. And despite only knowing one song myself (their big hit "Suavacito") I found myself dancing along as well. There's just something to those Latin rhythms that make you just want to move!

Gregg hit the stage about 9:45 or so and by that time we'd all worked our way down front. Anyone who's seen Gregg's band play knows just how good they are and how much fun they always seem to have on stage. The set list wasn't all that much different than any other time I've seen him over the last 6 years or so. More Santana stuff this time than Roots stuff, plus one new tune that he really needs to get recorded.

While they were playing I had the same thought cross my mind that I often have when I see Gregg -- all of those songs are nearly as old as I am. Gregg's time in Santana began before I was born (sorry Gregg!) and lasted until I was about 3 years old, but all those songs still sound completely fresh and exciting. Sure, I have literally been hearing them all my life, but there is a LOT of music I've been hearing all my life that hasn't held up over time.

The only downer of the show was it was general admission which means invasion of your personal space and all the general stupidity that comes along. Even with a more mature crowd, it's still annoying.

After Gregg's show was done, a couple of folks hopped next door to the Little Fox to catch the last bit of Evolution's show. I wasn't one, but did catch the end of "Faithfully" through the windows as I headed back to my car. The folks who caught that show will have to fill us all in.*

*I should have stuck around outside to listen from the street. Gregg joined Evolution for a few songs later in their set, including "Just the Same Way." My excuse -- it was below 30 degrees out! Way cold for the Bay Area!

January 5, 2007: ARF (Arf.. Arf...)

Walnut Creek, CA
Dean Lesher Center for the Arts
Benefit for the Animal Rescue Foundation

November 2014: I attended this benefit show for the Animal Rescue Foundation that was to feature "Neal Schon and Friends" as part of a multi act bill a few weeks after the formal announcement that Steve Augeri would no longer be the lead singer for Journey and he would be replaced by Jeff Scott Soto who had "filled in" during the 2006 tour. As with all things lead-singer-related in Journeyland, there was lots of hubbub and arguments, debates, and general uproar among the Journey fans, especially after a lot of the rumors, innuendo and general upheaval surrounding the 2006 tour. Personally, I was not thrilled with the choice and that influenced some of the comments that follow. Jeff was to be one of the "friends" at this show, so I went with some trepidation.

Well here we are with the first Rockin' Road Report for 2007 and I'm finding it difficult to put into words exactly what to say about last night's show. I mean, there's the general detail about the show, but there's also all the other stuff swirling around it. What should I say? What shouldn't I say? How does it all fit? I've been keeping fairly quiet these past few weeks, other than a few posts on the Journey Digest, I've not said much publicly about all that's transpired.

As with anything, it's probably best to look at the whole picture, so we'll start with recognizing that I've been a bit burnt out on Journey since even before this summer and all the drama and this past year only made things toastier. So, when I heard about this show in late November/early December I wasn't entirely sure I really wanted to go, but when I factored in the friends that were coming to see the show I figured that, at worst, I'd have a pleasant evening spent in the company of people I truly like and had missed seeing in 2006. What the hell, get me a ticket. Leslie made the trip over to Walnut Creek and scored 8 second row seats -- all right not bad at all.

And then The News, and here we go again. Now, I'm even less enthusiastic about going to the show than I was before and really don't know how I am going to respond to the show. But after having a wide variety of imaginary scenarios of how I could publicly express my disappointment in everything, I again focused on just going and having a good time with my friends.

So, last night I ducked out of work early and drove out to Walnut Creek to meet up with everyone for dinner before the show. Surprisingly while a lot of the conversation was about everyone's take on the current state of Journey and how we all feel about it, it was not ALL we talked about. That, more than anything, reassured me that I had made the right decision to come to the show.

Over to the show at the Dean Lescher Center, a small local theater. I'd been there once before when Jon performed solo at a previous ARF benefit, and I expected last night's show to be similar to the one I had seen then -- several acts before intermission and then Neal, Jon and Jeff in whatever combination they were going to do. That was mostly the case as the evening started off with the "All Star Band" headed up by Marc Russo and featuring Stef Burns on the guitar. They played a variety of tunes including a good cover of the Beatles "I Want You" and an odd cover of Santana's "Soul Sacrifice" which had me commenting to Cheryl "Well, at least we'll hear this played right next weekend at Gregg's show!"

They were followed by a comedian named Dennis Blair who started doing a bit on old rock bands that had all of us laughing, but when he went off on a riff about bands that are changing members and touring with out key members (e.g. the Doors) well, we all looked at each other and laughed about 10 times as hard. I mean, it was just too easy to start applying the jokes to what we'd all been talking about at dinner.

He was followed by Marty Casey and the Lovehammers. Since I do not watch any reality television if I can possibly avoid it, I didn't know until we got to the show that Marty Casey was the runner up for Rock Star: INXS. He and his band came out on stage and suddenly the area between the front row and stage is filled with little girls -- if any of them were over 16 I'd be shocked -- jumping up and down and dancing and just having the time of their lives. I stayed sitting in my 2nd row seat and enjoyed their enthusiasm, and when Marty pulled one little girl up on stage to dance with him well, I thought how cool that had to be for her and flashed on what I would have thought at that age to get pulled up on stage. The Lovehammers were pretty good despite not being a style I generally listen to. It did take me about half of the song to recognize their cover of "I Walk the Line," but only took about a verse of "Paint It Black" for me to recognize that cover.

Time for intermission and next up "Neal Schon and Friends" (as it was billed in the program.) Most of the crew I was sitting with (Cheryl, Leslie and her husband Todd, Darryl and Jenny, Barb, Jenn, Matt, and Kim) headed out to the lobby to get drinks and such, but I decided to stay in the theater. I'm glad I did as I ran into more of the local Journey crowd that I forgot (or didn't realize) would also be at the show and got to visit with them all a bit. Yes, this is what Journey and related events has really come to be about -- the many many friends I've made over the past 8 years. That's too valuable to give up for anything.

Intermission ended and we all made sure we were up at the stage to watch the show up close. After showing highlights from the 2006 World Series up on the screen, Tony LaRussa came out to make a small award presentation and then announce Neal and Friends. Out walk Neal, Jon, Marco Mendoza and a drummer I don't recognize. Hmmm... interesting. I'd seen Ross in the balcony earlier and the production schedule I happened to grab to write my notes on clearly said "9:40 pm Journey." I could see Jeff standing on the side of the stage, so we'll see what happens.

The guys kick off with an instrumental tune that I recognized as one of Neal's solo tunes but for the life of me couldn't identify. Thankfully, Neal back-announced it so I can report it was "Boulevard of Dreams" from Beyond the Thunder. Jeff came out after being introduced as "our new lead singer" and the guys launched into a string of cover tunes. It was amusing watching Jeff fiddle with his laptop that was sitting at his feet as he was using it as a TelePrompter for the lyrics to "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" and a handful of tunes by Sly & the Family Stone for the medley they did of those songs. I had to laugh at just how technology has changed things as Jeff used his cordless mouse to scroll down the lines.

Since the guys were doing covers, I was really able to relax and enjoy the show. The sound wasn't that great, as it was a really low budget production (it is a fundraiser after all) but I enjoyed hearing the tunes. It reminded me of the Soul SirkUs gig a couple of years ago and how I enjoyed that. When "Purple Rain" morphed into the end of "Faithfully" though, I had to forcibly focus on the show and not my feeling that Jeff's the wrong fit. It did at least allow me to finally connect a comment I remember Jon making in some interview about Prince telling him "oh man I totally ripped you off" (or something like that) about a song of his. I could never figure out what song he was referring to -- either the Journey tune or the Prince tune -- and hearing the transition was such a "d'oh" moment that I'm shocked I didn't realize ages ago.

After closing the covers out with a tribute to James Brown with "I Feel Good", Jeff introduced the drummer as David something from his solo band and welcomed Ross to the stage. Marco headed off stage and 4/5ths of what is now Journey launched into "Don't Stop Believin'," and then things went seriously down hill. Ironically, I'm not saying this out of any displeasure, but out of actual disaster. Jeff couldn't hear and kept pointing off stage to turn on/up his monitors. Jon's rig went haywire about halfway through. From where I was standing (in front of Jon) it sounded like Jon's mic went goofy as his backing vocal was far too loud and didn't even sound right. There was all kinds of flurry as Jim and a couple of other techs tried to fix things. When the guys launched into "Separate Ways" the keyboards were completely out and Banana Alan came down from his seat in the balcony to try to help. That resulted in a loud pop that had me jumping back and Jon putting his hands on his ears. All in all, not so good. They struggled through it and then took their final bow.

After the show, it was more time to visit with friends and discuss all that went on. That was when more of the Journey talk that I had anticipated at dinner took place, but even then it eventually morphed into other subjects.

After all is said and done, while the music may not be connecting to me as it once did, the personal connections I've made are still there and will hopefully remain for a long time. Over the years, Journey's music has given me a lot, but the friends that it has given me trumps it all.

Shew... this is longer than I had expected and took me longer to write than I would have thought, but there's been a lot in my head of late and trying to express it properly is complex. Hope I didn't bore you too much.

Happy New Year!

Set List:

Boulevard of Dreams
Papa Was a Rolling Stone
Sly Stone medley ("I Want to take You Higher," "Dance to the Music," and one other I can't remember)
Purple Rain
I Feel Good
Don't Stop Believin'
Separate Ways