February 9, 2018: Neal Schon's Journey Through Time Featuring Deen Castronovo!

San Francisco, CA
The Independent

Next month will mark the twentieth anniversary of the first time I ever saw Neal Schon play live. That was the first thought that hit me last night at The Independent. The show was about two or three songs into the first set and I was standing a couple people away from Neal's side of center stage when I looked up and had an instant flashback to that night in 1998. Then, it was a slightly bigger club featuring a night of reggae music. Now, it was Neal and Gregg Rolie pulling out the whole Journey catalog with Deen Castronovo doing double duty as drummer and lead vocalist for the Perry-era tracks. Marco Mendoza took the role of Ross Valory with John Varn handling some of the keyboard parts that Gregg's Hammond B3 couldn't quite manage.

When this show was first announced, I wasn't sure I could make it. Tickets were $100 and went on sale right before Christmas when the budget's always a little tight, but I knew this wasn't a show to miss, so I dove in and got myself a ticket. That the funds are going to fire relief in the Napa/Sonoma area was definitely a push too. Show day rolled around pretty quickly, and it was up to the city to meet Leslie, Cheryl, Jenn, and Teresa for a pre-show visit and quick bite to eat. After some adventures in parking, we finally arrived at the Independent about 5:00 and found Hope and Sandi at the front of the line. Teresa and Leslie joined them while Cheryl, Jenn, and I went to grab a bite to eat. On our way to the cafe, Deen popped out of the club. He was dashing to his car, so we didn't get to chat, but he did go over and say hi to Teresa and the others after we'd left.

Cheryl and I took our time after dinner since neither of us was all that excited by the prospect of standing in line until 8:30 when the doors would open and headed over to the club about 7:00. When we arrived, it was time to do the "meet and greet" -- I walked down the line and ran into friends about every 5 feet, both those I knew would be there and a few I didn't. That is the one advantage to a general admission show -- you have to line up well in advance, so you get a chance to see people you weren't expecting to see. There was a pretty good crowd of the old Journey gang and lots of visiting while we waited to get in.

Once we finally got inside, everyone kind of clustered in different areas. There was a group of us pretty close to center stage. A few off to the side. And a few others lost among the crowd. Before the show, I figured the set list would include some pre-Perry era Journey, some Santana tunes, some pre-Escape tunes, and maybe some covers. That's not at all what we got. It was a show full of Journey tunes from all eras. There were songs I've never heard live before. There were songs I thought I'd never hear again. It was surreal. And the star of the show was Deen on vocals. He was just amazing. He's always been the closest to sounding like Steve Perry among all the guys who've sung lead for Journey in the post-Perry era, and the way he sang last night was just more evidence of the fact.

The show opened with three songs from the pre-Perry era which, fortunately, I was able to identify pretty quickly. I like those albums, but listen to them so seldom that it always takes a while for me to remember which song is which. Then we got the first stunner of the night when they launched into "Daydream" out of "Kohoutek." Daydream! It took me a second to actually recognize it because I was so stunned. It was just amazing to hear live with that otherworldly sound it has. It's a totally underrated gem in the Journey catalog. That was followed by "La Do Da" and "Line of Fire" which have appeared in recent Journey sets since Steve Smith returned to the drums. Then came the next highlight -- Deen doing his best at copying Steve Perry's Captured introduction of Neal and Gregg going in to "Walks Like a Lady" (it was pretty close, but not quite.)

By this point in the show, I figured, OK, it's going to be pre-Perry through Captured era Journey, so you can imagine my surprise when a few songs later Deen launched in to "Still They Ride" out of "Lights!" (As always, "Lights" got a great hometown reception.) I was amazed. Escape is my favorite Journey album, and "Still They Ride" has always been near the top of my list of favorite Journey songs. I had thought they were going to play "Stay Awhile" out of "Lights" because Deen had mentioned rehearsing it when he chatted with Teresa before the show, so "Still They Ride" was a pleasant surprise.

The guys had been playing for about an hour and a half when they wrapped up the set with "Wheel in the Sky." I was hot, thirsty, and my knee was beginning to ache, so thought "great show, I need to get some water before I drive home." Then Neal said "stick around, we'll be back in a little bit for our second set." Second set?!! Oh my god! I'm gonna die! I had to get some water, so I said goodbye to the gang at the front of the stage and worked my way back to the bar to buy some. I found Emerson and Nicole and chatted with them for a little while before going back and buying a second bottle of water, having guzzled the first in less than five minutes. (The place was HOT! Not quite House of Blues Hollywood hot, but pretty close. No one fainted this time at least!) Prior to the show, Teresa had arranged for a couple of seats due to her recent surgery. Cheryl was in one, but Teresa stuck at the front of the stage all night, so I was able to join Cheryl at the second seat for the second set. Thank goodness! It was cooler there and I could sit and rest my knee. (As I said to Darryl on Facebook the morning of the show, we may be young at heart, but we're old in the knees!)

The second set started about 11:00 and just blew my mind. Deen and Neal came out first and Deen stepped up to the front of the stage and did an AMAZING medley of "Patiently", "Trial by Fire", and "Stay Awhile!" My jaw just dropped when "Patiently" turned in to "Trial by Fire." Deen was clearly emotional after that one too, and after all the crap he's been through over the past few years, I'm so glad he seems to have gotten everything turned around. He clearly appreciated what he was doing last night and "Trial by Fire" really cemented it.

The rest of the guys came out after that and on to more pre-Escape Journey. "Lovin' You Is Easy" was a big surprise, but then they went in to "Lady Luck" and it was just unreal. Seriously, it was so amazing to get a chance to hear these songs that I've never heard performed live before. Cheryl and I were just gobsmacked by it all. There was a fellow behind us equally gobsmacked and we all just said "wow!" Then came a stretch of pre-Perry songs that I had to guess at (thanks to setlist.fm for confirming/correcting my guesses) with Marco taking the lead vocal on "Hustler."

Then came "Mother, Father." ACK! My all time always and forever favorite Journey song! I was so happy to hear this one again, and only minimally weepy. Deen does such a great job on this, so it was great to be able to hear him sing it again. The set wound down with "Any Way You Want It" and "Don't Stop Believin'." Gregg had an amusing look on his face as it started and kind of waved his hands around like a conductor at the opening notes which were played by John Varn on keyboards since, obviously, a Hammond B3 sounds completely different than a piano!

The guys went off after that, but the house lights didn't come back on, so we knew they were coming back out. I turned to Cheryl and said "What do you think they'll do? This isn't a normal show where you can say 'well, they haven't played X' yet." The fellow behind us suggested it might be "On a Saturday Nite" on the theory that it was the only Gregg vocal that hadn't been done, but we didn't think so. You don't follow "Don't Stop Believin'" with pre-Perry Journey. One of us commented that we were surprised we hadn't heard any Santana and our new friend said "yeah, but I wouldn't expect it." Well, guess what? Santana set encore!

That truly closed out the night in amazing fashion. This was a show that you just don't get to see, and totally worth everything it took to get there. After the show was over, everyone hung around for a bit for a long farewell and I managed to spot Lora Beard and Cyndy Poon from Fan Asylum and went over to say hello/goodbye. A few last minute group photos, and we were all headed back to our cars for the ride back home (or hotel as the case may be for a few.)

A few final shout outs: Special thanks to Leslie and Linda for your thoughtfulness. The execution may have been bumbled, but the thought was there and I appreciate it. And special thoughts to CJ, you and Mark were with us last night too. I love my Journey family!

Set List:

Set 1:

I'm Gonna Leave You
Look Into the Future
Kohoutek
Daydream
La Do Da
Line of Fire
Walks Like a Lady
Feeling That Way
Anytime
Lights
Still They Ride
Separate Ways
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Wheel in the Sky

Set 2:

Patiently/Trial By Fire/Stay Awhile
Mystery Mountain
Of a Lifetime
Just the Same Way
Where Were You
Lovin' You Is Easy
Lady Luck
You're On Your Own
Hustler (Marco vocal)
Nickel and Dime
People
Mother, Father
Any Way You Want It
Don't Stop Believin'

Encore:

Black Magic Woman
Gypsy Queen
Oye Como Va