Reno, NV
City Center Pavilion
City Center Pavilion
I learned there ARE advantages to
getting stuck in the snow for 4 hours and turning a 4 hour drive into a 9 hour
drive.
I arrived safe and sound in Reno about 9:00 last night, and once settled in, Toni, Cheryl, Ana Marie and I went to scrounge up some dinner. We headed over to the Silver Legacy and ran into Mary Ann, and while we were saying hello, who should happen to walk by, but Jonathan Cain!
We managed to corner him for a few minutes and got the scoop on the set list, which would include some new songs and “La Raza Del Sol” (BIG TREAT HERE. Apparently it got a good reaction in Central America so they added it to the set.)
We told Jon that getting stuck in the snow let us listen to Arrival for 9 hours and when he asked “How’d you get it, that Napster thing?” we said no, we’ve got the CD. We gave our two cents worth about what our favorite songs were (which, since there were 5 of us, was pretty much everything!) and then he volunteered some interesting information!
Seems like they just got out of the studio, where they recorded 2 NEW tracks to put on the US version of the CD... we’re gonna get 15 tracks total!!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!! And, yes, at least ONE of the songs was co-written by Jack Blades.*
After we let Mary Ann go check in, Toni, Cheryl, Ana Marie and I found a restaurant for dinner. Ana Marie and Toni went back to Circus Circus to look for Kate, who should have arrived by this time, and Cheryl and I waited for the table. While we were waiting,who should we see dashing past the restaurant but Ross Valory. Alas, by the time we noticed him, he was well down the hallway and out of chatting range.
*I got in trouble for this post after the concert. The new songs for "Arrival" were supposed to be a secret. While checking out of the hotel, some friends and I ran in to Rindell Ivers, Journey's then road manager, and Mike, Journey's then webmaster. Mike was a fan who had gotten "promoted" to official status, so was also a member of the Journey Digest where I had posted this. We were talking about the show and various comments when Rindell said "Yeah, somebody's already posted about the new songs on the Internet. Someone's in trouble." We chatted about why that was for a moment when Mike suddenly looked at me and burst out "It was YOU!" I claimed innocence -- Jon had told us about the new songs and hadn't said anything about it being a secret! (The rumor about the recording had already been out for a while at this point any how.) Relieved that the leak was due to a member of the band talking to fans, Rindell and Mike chatted with us on other topics for a bit before heading out with the band. Only later did I learn that my post on the Journey Digest had been picked up by a couple of other sites where I was referred to as an "unconfirmed source." A claim to fame!
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I’m
still on an adrenaline high from last night. What a GREAT GREAT show. It’s been
exactly a year since I saw the boys last and I really needed this show!
We had about 30 or so people gather before the show for dinner and what a great time that was!! Lots of excited chatter among Journey fans (including a few at their first Journey show ever) and speculation on which new songs they would be playing. After dinner, the whole group of us traveled en masse across the street to the venue, posed for a picture in front of the marquee and dashed inside out of the 20 degree temps (brrrrrrr!!!)
The various fans scattered off to their seats around the hall, but about 20 of us had wound up in the same two rows, so it was a rowdy bunch in section C rows 13 and 14–rows 1-12 were filled with comped tickets, so when the band hit the stage and we lept to our feet, no one in front of us was standing.
One of the early songs was “Higher Place.” Man this song is just terrific. And since many of us have copies of the CD and have had at least a few hours to learn the lyrics, we were singing it as loud as we could and cheering like crazy. I was told later that the guys were amazed at the crowd singing along.
About 15-20 minutes into the set the security guards down in front waved their arms and away we went—charged up to the barricade. So we were up close and personal with the band and got a good look at poor Neal in his cast and boot—he apparently fell on some stairs on Monday and tore some ligaments in his ankle, but he was all over that stage when he REALLY should have just sat on a stool.
The band was obviously very excited to be playing and the reaction of the audience was great. Even the folks who had no clue about the new songs were cheering loudly for them.
The set list wasn’t HUGELY different from most of the shows they’ve done the last couple of years, but you'll find it listed below for your enjoyment.
I’m not gonna spoil it for other people who will be going to a show soon, but I will say what they did to end the show was VERY cool.
The guys were very appreciative to all the fans who had done a LOT of traveling to get to the show. Steve mentioned specifically the folks who had flown in from overseas, which I think was VERY classy. And I’m pretty sure most of those folks got after show passes.
Okay, now this is a little more for the ladies, but I’ve got to give a hair and fashion report. There’s some interesting new looks goin’ on.
Neal—I
can’t even describe it accurately, but it was generally agreed that he was
looking like Bruce Springsteen—circa 1974! His sideburns are down to his jaw
line, his hair is grown out longer and shaggy, and he’s got some kind of weird
beard on his chin. It’s a look that actually works in a weird way, and makes
him look younger. Looks like he’s lost a little weight too. He was absolutely
having a blast last night.
Jon
and Steve came out in leather pants (looks to me like the exact same ones from
the promo picture on their website) which was quite nice. Jon’s got an Escape-ish ‘do and Steve’s hair
keeps getting longer and longer. And Steve has finally lost those two-tone
shoes!
Ross has added some highlights to his hair, which makes him look younger. Alas, Deen is hard to see behind his drum kit, so I don’t remember noticing anything there.
See y’all in VEGAS!!! Woo hoo!
Set List:
Separate Ways
Ask the Lonely
Stone in Love
Only the Young
Higher Place
Send her My Love
Lights
Who’s Crying Now
Open Arms
Fillmore Boogie
Just the Same Way
All The Way (the look on the guys faces when we were singing this one said it all!)
Escape
La Raza del Sol
Wheel in the Sky
Be Good To Yourself
Anyway You Want It
First encore:
Remember Me
Don’t Stop Believin'
Second encore:
Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’
Faithfully
I arrived safe and sound in Reno about 9:00 last night, and once settled in, Toni, Cheryl, Ana Marie and I went to scrounge up some dinner. We headed over to the Silver Legacy and ran into Mary Ann, and while we were saying hello, who should happen to walk by, but Jonathan Cain!
We managed to corner him for a few minutes and got the scoop on the set list, which would include some new songs and “La Raza Del Sol” (BIG TREAT HERE. Apparently it got a good reaction in Central America so they added it to the set.)
We told Jon that getting stuck in the snow let us listen to Arrival for 9 hours and when he asked “How’d you get it, that Napster thing?” we said no, we’ve got the CD. We gave our two cents worth about what our favorite songs were (which, since there were 5 of us, was pretty much everything!) and then he volunteered some interesting information!
Seems like they just got out of the studio, where they recorded 2 NEW tracks to put on the US version of the CD... we’re gonna get 15 tracks total!!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!! And, yes, at least ONE of the songs was co-written by Jack Blades.*
After we let Mary Ann go check in, Toni, Cheryl, Ana Marie and I found a restaurant for dinner. Ana Marie and Toni went back to Circus Circus to look for Kate, who should have arrived by this time, and Cheryl and I waited for the table. While we were waiting,who should we see dashing past the restaurant but Ross Valory. Alas, by the time we noticed him, he was well down the hallway and out of chatting range.
*I got in trouble for this post after the concert. The new songs for "Arrival" were supposed to be a secret. While checking out of the hotel, some friends and I ran in to Rindell Ivers, Journey's then road manager, and Mike, Journey's then webmaster. Mike was a fan who had gotten "promoted" to official status, so was also a member of the Journey Digest where I had posted this. We were talking about the show and various comments when Rindell said "Yeah, somebody's already posted about the new songs on the Internet. Someone's in trouble." We chatted about why that was for a moment when Mike suddenly looked at me and burst out "It was YOU!" I claimed innocence -- Jon had told us about the new songs and hadn't said anything about it being a secret! (The rumor about the recording had already been out for a while at this point any how.) Relieved that the leak was due to a member of the band talking to fans, Rindell and Mike chatted with us on other topics for a bit before heading out with the band. Only later did I learn that my post on the Journey Digest had been picked up by a couple of other sites where I was referred to as an "unconfirmed source." A claim to fame!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We had about 30 or so people gather before the show for dinner and what a great time that was!! Lots of excited chatter among Journey fans (including a few at their first Journey show ever) and speculation on which new songs they would be playing. After dinner, the whole group of us traveled en masse across the street to the venue, posed for a picture in front of the marquee and dashed inside out of the 20 degree temps (brrrrrrr!!!)
The various fans scattered off to their seats around the hall, but about 20 of us had wound up in the same two rows, so it was a rowdy bunch in section C rows 13 and 14–rows 1-12 were filled with comped tickets, so when the band hit the stage and we lept to our feet, no one in front of us was standing.
One of the early songs was “Higher Place.” Man this song is just terrific. And since many of us have copies of the CD and have had at least a few hours to learn the lyrics, we were singing it as loud as we could and cheering like crazy. I was told later that the guys were amazed at the crowd singing along.
About 15-20 minutes into the set the security guards down in front waved their arms and away we went—charged up to the barricade. So we were up close and personal with the band and got a good look at poor Neal in his cast and boot—he apparently fell on some stairs on Monday and tore some ligaments in his ankle, but he was all over that stage when he REALLY should have just sat on a stool.
The band was obviously very excited to be playing and the reaction of the audience was great. Even the folks who had no clue about the new songs were cheering loudly for them.
The set list wasn’t HUGELY different from most of the shows they’ve done the last couple of years, but you'll find it listed below for your enjoyment.
I’m not gonna spoil it for other people who will be going to a show soon, but I will say what they did to end the show was VERY cool.
The guys were very appreciative to all the fans who had done a LOT of traveling to get to the show. Steve mentioned specifically the folks who had flown in from overseas, which I think was VERY classy. And I’m pretty sure most of those folks got after show passes.
Okay, now this is a little more for the ladies, but I’ve got to give a hair and fashion report. There’s some interesting new looks goin’ on.
Neal—I
can’t even describe it accurately, but it was generally agreed that he was
looking like Bruce Springsteen—circa 1974! His sideburns are down to his jaw
line, his hair is grown out longer and shaggy, and he’s got some kind of weird
beard on his chin. It’s a look that actually works in a weird way, and makes
him look younger. Looks like he’s lost a little weight too. He was absolutely
having a blast last night.
Ross has added some highlights to his hair, which makes him look younger. Alas, Deen is hard to see behind his drum kit, so I don’t remember noticing anything there.
See y’all in VEGAS!!! Woo hoo!
Set List:
Separate Ways
Ask the Lonely
Stone in Love
Only the Young
Higher Place
Send her My Love
Lights
Who’s Crying Now
Open Arms
Fillmore Boogie
Just the Same Way
All The Way (the look on the guys faces when we were singing this one said it all!)
Escape
La Raza del Sol
Wheel in the Sky
Be Good To Yourself
Anyway You Want It
First encore:
Remember Me
Don’t Stop Believin'
Second encore:
Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’
Faithfully
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