September 30, 2005: Three Days, Three Shows -- Day 1

Marysville, CA
Sleep Train Amphitheater

So, have you ever had one of those days at work where you spend all your time putting out one fire while two more erupt behind you?? Well, I've had two straight weeks of that. The only things that kept me sane were popping Escape in the CD player, a bottle of wine, and repeating to myself "Just a few more days until your Journey weekend" over and over and over.

When I finally cut out of work around noon yesterday it felt like the last day of school -- woo hoo! I'm FREE! Off to have FUN! Now tell me, how many people think driving 150 miles in an afternoon (and then 150 miles BACK a few hours later) is fun??

But fun it was. After a rest stop at Roxanne's for an early supper, it was off to Marysville and show one of three in a row. For those of you who've never been to Marysville, it's about 40 miles and a million years away from Sacramento -- talk about the middle of no where! One two lane road leads to the amphitheater and you're quite sure you're lost by the time you actually find the place.

As I said, I REALLY needed a Journey show last night, and wow, did I ever get one. I think this was the best show I've seen so far. (Though Irvine still wins for best set list!) Leslie and I were sitting up in the first section behind the pit on Neal's side. Fairly decent seats overall, but we're both used to being spoiled with great seats. The nice thing about it was we really were able to take in the whole production -- staging, performing, etc. You miss some of that when you're up close and personal.

Of course, the down side of being further away from the stage is that you wind up in the (cue music) No Standing Zone.... Other than a few die-hard folks (me, Leslie, Roxanne and her gang, Hope...) not a whole lot of people were standing out by us. At least no one made us sit down either, so that was cool. The crowd was, as always, a bit confused by the first set, but I've really grown to love those tunes. Last night in particular, just letting the sounds of "Kohoutek" and "Nickel & Dime" wash over me was just the antidote I needed for all my stress.

They've changed the first set up a bit since I've seen them last in early August, and included two Generations tunes in the set. "The Place in Your Heart" (so great to hear that again live!) and "In Self-Defense" (much better live IMO) made for a nice change with the early years. Ross took on "Walks Like a Lady" in the first set, and when I looked around there were 3 teen-aged boys who were just going completely nuts over it. Don't know if they were going nuts just to go nuts, or if they were really into the song, but they sure looked like they were having a blast!

After dashing back to my seat from intermission, I found the crowd much more responsive to the second set. Again as expected. Still, the folks around me only stood for about half the set. While I would normally say WTF to that, having the two 6 foot plus guys in front of me sitting down was quite helpful! The guys were absolutely solid for this set. Everything sounded just spot on. There was no one particular highlight for me as everything went extremely well. The only disappointment being Deen not taking a lead vocal.

When they came out for the encore, Steve's intro to "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" was just incredibly sexy. Leslie and I just looked at each other and said "Wow." The show ended about 3 hours after it began and it was off to do battle with the parking lot and to make the long haul back home and try to get enough rest for today's show. (Didn't quite happen, I could use about another 2 hours of sleep, but must leave for Novato in about an hour...)

One show down, two to go...

Set List:

People & Places intro
Kohoutek
Of a Lifetime (Jon vox)
I'm Gonna Leave You (Jon vox)
Nickel and Dime
Mystery Mountain (Jon vox)
Walks Like a Lady (Ross vox)
In Self Defense (Neal vox)
Just the Same Way (Jon/Steve)
Feeling That Way (Jon/Steve)
Anytime (Jon/Steve)
The Place in Your Heart
Any Way You Want It

--Intermission--

Intro
Be Good to Yourself
Ask the Lonely
Only the Young
Faith in the Heartland
Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Wheel in the Sky
Chain Reaction
Higher Place
Lights
Every Generation
-- Jon solo --
Open Arms
Escape
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
Separate Ways


Encore:
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'