August 14-15, 1999: No Place Like Home

Concord and Sacramento, CA
Concord Pavilion and Hornet Field

There's no place like home.... 

Took the day off to recover (rejoice, reflect) from back to back to back shows this weekend. Friday night a friend and I went to see REM, and I never thought I'd see the day when REM had more lights on stage than Journey. Making a mental note for future tours, don't schedule a non-Journey show the same week as a Journey show... it just pales in comparison.

So on to the true reason for this post... Journey was home in the Bay Area once again. What a marvelous weekend. For starters, I want to publicly thank fellow-Joureyfester Leslie and her husband Todd for hosting a mini-fest BBQ in her back yard! She took me on my word that the various and sundry Journey-ers that I've met over the past year or so would not trash her home and welcomed the seven or eight of us with open arms. And it was so nice to see that the RawkDawg was housebroken.

After our lovely BBQ, we made the quick drive over to the Concord Pavilion for the evening's festivities.  This was a hometown crowd for sure -- we were told it was a sell out shortly before the show started (woo hoo!) When Foreigner hit the stage maybe 5% of the crowd was on it's feet dancin' and singing along. A "yo-yo" crowd if I ever saw one up/down/up/down.  They sounded better than when I heard them in Chicago, and Lou looks to have lost a few pounds in the intervening two months.

Then our boys hit the stage and the whole place was on it's feet screamin' and cheering. This was actually one of the older crowds I've ever seen at a Journey show. Or at least where I was sitting -- I felt like a babe in the woods compared to most of the folks sitting around me! Anyway, everyone was having a grand ole time, and stayed on their feet most of the night (sitting only for the intro to and part of "Open Arms" -- don't ask me why.)

As with all shows, there was the good, the bad, and the ugly. In reverse order:

The ugly: The Nazi ushers who were checking tickets every ten feet, which made it difficult to go visit with friends in other sections. Relax people, we're here to have a good time not live in a police state!

The bad: Jon had guitar problems early on and they continued off and on through out the show.

The good: Just about everything else. I knew Neal would be playing "Amazing Grace" beforehand, but was still knocked out when I heard it -- it brought tears to my eyes. That new verse to "Don't Stop Believin'" is great. We all know Steve's been singing "in your city" during "Lights" at every show, but damn it's so much MORE when it's the Bay Area show... Deen was amazing, and showed no signs that he'd hurt himself just 2 weeks ago. The banner for the Ross Valory Fan Club that was unfurled in one of the 2nd tier seats. Steve rubbing Neal's head as he walked by. Ross and his lighter for "Faithfully."

Sacramento was the next night and, I will have to admit, the Sac crowd for the SECOND time in a row was an even better crowd than the SF (area -- Concord's about 40 miles out) show. I like to think that's because all the folks who were born and raised in the SF Bay Area have moved to the less expensive Sacramento area. (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.)

Sac was as enjoyable as Concord, with much the same good, bad and ugly as above. This time Jon had a problem with one of his keyboards and spent half the night fiddling with it when Neal was doing solos. The organizers of this event should be shot for poor planning for parking and gate entry. And more Nazi ushers... sheesh...

One of the highlights of both nights was Steve's intro to "Faithfully." He made a comment about how there are obstacles and changes of direction in every journey and that change isn't always easy and thanked the fans for welcoming him. That was classy, and I applaud him for that.

Over the last year or so, I've met so many nice folks from our virtual world.  From the gaggle of people I met at the convention last summer, to the various concerts, to e-pals from all around. And seeing that all those die hard fans were in the first 10 rows in Sacramento last night, well that was just awesome!

Now, just a few more shows before the guys get in the studio and get out that new CD!