October 4, 2009: Journey in the Sonoma Valley

Glen Ellen, CA
BR Cohn Winery

Kind of strange for me to be reporting on a Journey show at the very end of the tour -- a full year after my previous show. But things change over time...

Anyhoo... I was looking forward to my 3rd concert of my very delayed concert season and getting to spend yet another birthday weekend at a Journey show is always something to look forward to. We had an absolutely GORGEOUS Northern California autumn day. Winds Saturday night had blown everything out of the air, so when I picked Cheryl up for the drive to Sonoma County everything was looking fresh and crisp and as I said to Cheryl, the kind of day that makes soooo many people want to move to the Bay Area. Cool crisp autumn air, bright sun, bay as smooth as glass, gorgeous scenery for miles and miles.

The drive was surprisingly quick, even with our little wrong turn that took us to the Napa County line (darn you Google maps!) and we got to the winery about 12:30. When we got out of the car Cheryl realized she had forgotten her ticket -- to a sold out show! Fortunately the wonders of modern technology allowed her to call up her purchase records at Ticketmaster to show to the lady at the ticket table and she got in.

The place was absolutely mobbed and it was general admission seating. Not the greatest of combinations. Cheryl and I made our way in and did get to see Adriana, Sandi, and Bonnie who had arrived early and found a spot right up in front. Of course, it was also at the bottom of a steep slope, so yikes! Cheryl and I made our way up the incline and found a very small patch that was still free and settled ourselves in.

We arrived just in time for the third act -- Lara Johnston, daughter of Doobie Brother Tom Johnston. WOW this girl can SING! She's an itty bitty thing with a great big voice and performed mostly blues and R&B covers, but wow. I was singularly impressed. Helped that a few of her dad's friends provided the band, but she's got the voice and stage presence to go places. Very impressive.

She was followed by blues legend Taj Mahal, who I just saw a couple of weeks ago with Bonnie Raitt. Unfortunately, his set was basically ignored by the crowd, which is too bad because he's a huge talent. He played a smaller, shorter, quieter set yesterday than he did with Bonnie, but it was quite good -- too bad most people missed it.

Taj was followed by Pablo Cruise. I didn't even know they were still around! Heck, I think the last memory I have of Pablo Cruise was seeing one of their albums at my cousins' house circa 1978. It belonged to one of my older cousins (Mark? Sheila?) and I just remember thinking their logo was cool. Hey, I was 10. In any case, they played for about 45 minutes and did their 2.5 hits ("Find Your Place in the Sun", "Love Will Find a Way", and "Whatcha Gonna Do") and got the crowd on their feet.

Then it was time for Journey. And the crowd, who'd enjoyed the winery's product in copious amounts, began to move. My view of the stage had been great all day, but when the set turned over all of these people came pouring in to fill up between me and the stage. The upside of the venue -- it was very small and so even with the crowd filling in I was still pretty close to the stage. The downside of the venue -- general admission seating on a slope. ugh. I hate general admission. With the increased crowd in front of me, seeing anything on the stage was a bit of a challenge. I basically gave up trying to see Arnel -- he's just too short. Couldn't see Neal all that well either. But had a clear view of Deen and Jon most of the night so can't complain too much.

I was kind of worried how I'd handle this show. Last year's was too emotional to be truly enjoyed. This year that hurdle was passed, but I knew the excitement of the past decade (yikes!) had also burned itself out. No problems. The music started and I had a smile on my face. It was a pretty short set -- about an hour and 10 minutes or so -- and covered mostly the greatest hits with a few Revelation tunes thrown in. Can you believe I forgot a pen and paper for the set list? Think, "dirty dozen" minus "Open Arms" and you should be good. I DID love the bluesy harmonica/guitar bit Jon and Neal did (which Cheryl tells me has been part of the show all tour) That was a highlight. Despite the crowd, I was able to get some pretty decent shots with my camera (alas the connecting cable is at my office so can't upload tonight, will have them soon.) Memories of the JPP adventures hit hard when they played "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," and couldn't help but tear up a little. Still missing my dear friend and know Journey shows will never be the same with out Darla whooping it up along side.

For the last show of the year, they sounded pretty good. Cheryl and I made several concert calls so got to share the joy with our Journey buddies who couldn't be there with us. Overall, I walked away feeling pretty good about the show and may consider expanding my traveling radius for the next tour. A lot of that amazed joy has gone away, but the love of the music hasn't and it was a good show full of good tunes.

Because of the remote parking and the narrow country roads back to the highway, Cheryl and I took off during the encore so we didn't get a chance to say good bye to everyone. Really wish we could have visited more you guys!

Now, to go back to work tomorrow and explain to the new guy in my department this whole "Journey thing."