As I transferred the last few Rockin' Road Reports from my Facebook account to this blog, I realized I hadn't written a whole lot after 2010. One post each for 2011 and 2012 and none at all for 2013! What the heck happened?
Well, as should be apparent by the change from strictly Journey concerts with a few others tossed in to having more tales of other bands, I seriously cut back on my Journey shows. That was one factor. Another, larger factor, was the shift in how people interact online in 2014 (as I write this) and how people interacted online in the past. The Rockin' Road Report started on the Journey Digest mailing list and eventually would also appear on Back Talk, the message board for the official Journey website. Back Talk was shut down around 2008 and the Journey Digest, while technically still in existence, is rarely used these days. Now, keeping up with fellow Journey fans entails mostly communicating on Facebook. When I first joined Facebook in late 2008, one of the key features for interaction, was the "Notes" section. Over time, that section became less featured as new functions were added.
With the change in communication styles, I wrote fewer tales from the various concerts I attended. I know there were several I had planned to write up, but as I spend more time online via my iPad than my computer, I never got around to it. I also have been attending fewer concerts. I know 2013 was particularly quiet, and as I write this in February 2014, I have no concert tickets purchased as yet. There is a Journey show coming up in June (I think) that I plan to attend, but have had to wait to purchase as the ticket prices have gotten quite exorbitant since those early shows in 1998.
Taking a look at my calendar, here are all the shows I've been to since that last report from July, 2012.
October 2, 2012 -- Peter Gabriel (from the 4th row!)
November 30, 2012 -- Bruce Springsteen (epic as always, but a bit emotional for me as one of my favorite uncles had passed away earlier that day.)
April 25, 2013 -- Bon Jovi (with out Richie Sambora)
July 20, 2013 -- Goo Goo Dolls/Matchbox 20 (in Irvine)
July 21, 2013 -- Wallflowers/Counting Crows (also in Irvine -- girls weekend!)
September 16, 2013 -- Journey w/ Tower of Power (even wrote down a set list for an unwritten RRR!)
September 21, 2013 -- Gregg Rolie (from the 2nd row!)
October 26, 2013 -- Rick Springfield (woo hoo! girls night out!)
Most of those 2013 shows got iPhone pix uploaded to Facebook, but no real write ups. I'm hoping that I'll write more in 2014 and beyond now that I've got this alternate outlet for them. We'll see how I do. Might help if I buy tickets for that show in June...
