April 20, 2002: Friends and Family

Santa Rosa, CA
Luther Burbank Center

It's CONCERT SEASON AGAIN!!!!!!!!

Last night's show in Santa Rosa was great. I really needed a Journey concert, and they delivered! I'm going to break with my past tradition, and post the set list FIRST since we got a few treats!

Set List:

State of Grace (new)
Separate Ways
Ask the Lonely
Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Only the Young
Send Her My Love
Lights
-- Jon solo --
Open Arms
Feeling That Way
Anytime
Trial by Fire
Liberty
Higher Place
The Time (new)
Don't Stop Believin'
La Raza del Sol
Faithfully
Escape
-- Neal solo --
Wheel in the Sky
Be Good to Yourself

Encore:

Any Way You Want It
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

As you can see from the list above, the guys played two NEW songs. Both are serious rockers, and a little different from the Journey tradition. "State of Grace" suffered from being in the opening slot, in my opinion. No one knew it, obviously, so the crowd wasn't pulled in immediately. Even the die hards were a bit puzzled, but very enthusiastic. Personally, it took me a minute to figure out what was going on -- "do I know this? Why don't I know this?" I'll really need to hear it again to form an opinion of it. The second new song "The Time" is a heavy blues number that isn't like anything I've heard Journey do before. The closest I could come to comparison is "All the Things" from Arrival. Unfortunately, the EP isn't ready yet (and won't be until July) so no opportunity to pick it up and listen to the new tunes.

"Trial By Fire" and "Liberty" were done acoustically, much like they had done at the Volunteers for America shows last October. I had thought after seeing them do the acoustic set last fall that it would be the only time I'd get to hear those songs. When the road crew brought out four stools and a couple of acoustic guitars, I knew what was coming and was THRILLED.

The rest of the set list was very familiar, especially since I had spent my morning "prepping" for the show by watching the DVD. Neal's performance of "The Star Spangled Banner" was amazing and the new lighting tech got the lights just right -- Neal in a white spot light, the rest of the stage in red and blue.

The crowd wasn't quite as "into" the show as I had expected, but overall they were pretty good (despite sitting down WAY too much.)

Back on the road again for JourneyDigest.com.