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."

April 1, 2009: Springsteen Opening Night (delayed due to flu)

San Jose, CA
HP Pavilion

So Bruce Springsteen opened his tour in San Jose last Wednesday night and of course I was there. Alas, due to going to the show with a sore throat (always the first symptom of illness for me) it's taken until today to get around to writing about it! So without further ado....

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!

Now, it hasn't exactly been ages since I last saw Bruce and the boys in San Jose. In fact, it was almost exactly a year ago. Last April, I hit the show after some serious family insanity that had me this close to missing the show. When I woke up Wednesday with a sore throat I thought "uh-oh... Well, I'll just drink lots of water and suck on cough drops, I'll be fine. At least nothing crazy is going on today." Famous last words. I got in to work and have a message from the fire department that they need to come in for an inspection. Today. And a major piece of lab equipment has gone down. AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I survive the day, and head out to meet Cheryl and Emerson for dinner. Cheryl is supposed to join me for the show and we're meeting Emerson for a belated birthday dinner. I arrive early and head straight for the bar and a glass of wine. Cheryl had given me a heads up that she too wasn't feeling well and might not go to the show, but maybe Emerson will use her ticket. Well no luck. We have a very pleasant dinner and after failing to convince Emerson to join me, I head up to the arena by myself.

In line before the show I'm standing behind a fellow who has a t-shirt with images of the ticket stubs of all the Springsteen shows he's seen. Very cool. I chat with him and the couple behind me and we span the spectrum of Springsteen fans. The fellow with the t-shirt had been going to shows since the mid-70s, the couple behind me were at their 3rd show. And here I was attending about my 8th or 9th show since the early 90s (I tried to get tickets before then but was woefully unsuccessful!)

The ticket time said the show was at 7:30, but I knew it wouldn't start then. I was in my seat at 8, but it was another half hour before the lights went down and the band came out. I spent that time chatting with a couple of guys next to me who'd flown in from out of state -- one attending his first Springsteen show ever.

I mention these brief conversations with strangers who share a common passion because I've found over the years that finding common ground with perfect strangers makes the world a much smaller and friendlier place.

So, on to the show. Like most tour openers, there were some awkward moments, but they were few and far between. The show kicked off with "Badlands" which just got the crowd roaring. Going in to two new songs -- "Outlaw Pete" and "My Lucky Day" -- the show sagged a little. Not because Bruce and the boys weren't giving their all on these new songs, because of anyone I've ever seen Springsteen sells the new stuff with huge conviction, but in the end they are new songs and in my opinion they aren't as strong as some of his other material.

I was quickly appeased, however, when they launched into one of my favorite tunes from Born in the USA -- "No Surrender". I LOVE LOVE LOVE that song and it was my first personal highlight. Many people have commented that Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band are made for times like these, and that was shown when they performed what I have dubbed the "economically appropriate" tunes of "Seeds", "Johnny 99", and a totally rocked up version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" back to back to back. It was a perfect commentary for the current state of our economy and didn't require any lecturing.

Another personal highlight for me came about 2/3 of the way through the show when Bruce pulled signs out of the audience and one read "Growin' Up," the other (from the brief glance I got) said something about an 18th birthday. Bruce and the boys launched into that classic -- another big favorite of mine.

As always, the show closed out with a rousing version of "Born to Run" with the crowd roaring along. The 6-song encore, however, was phenomenal and included "Dancing in the Dark." The part of Courtney Cox was played this night by a girl who looked to be about 14. Pulled out of the crowd to dance along and then picked up and handed back into the crowd by Bruce. Lucky kid.

The band this time has been complimented by 2 back up singers that I believe were part of the Sessions band. I was sitting on Clarence's side of the stage (and by the way, I will always recommend the side and behind stage seats -- next best thing to being in the front row!) and was stunned at how fragile the Big Man seems. I know he's had a hip replacement (both?) but he looked much more mobile last year than he did last week. He stayed mostly in his spot all night and when the rest of the band went off before the encore, took to his seat on stage rather than walk off and back. In counter to Clarence's aging -- Bruce seemed ageless. I swear if I didn't know he was 59 I'd say he was at least 20 years younger than that. He is in amazing shape and has an energy that is unmatched.

The show ended much too soon, and I headed back to my car -- now sneezing to go along with the even MORE sore throat -- but the crowd walking out of the arena were all commenting about songs they loved and ones they wish had been played. Isn't that always the way??

All in all though, not a bad way to start my 2009 concert season! (Even if I did wind up spending Thursday afternoon through Saturday pretty much flat on my back sick!)

Set List (thanks to brucespringsteen.net):

Badlands
Outlaw Pete
My Lucky Day
No Surrender
Out in the Street
Working on a Dream
Seeds (first since 1996!)
Johnny 99
Ghost of Tom Joad
Good Eye
Good Rockin' Tonight (1947 jump blues)
Darlington County
Growin' Up
Waiting on a Sunny Day
Promised Land
The Wrestler
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
Born To Run

Encore:
Hard Times
Thunder Road
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land

September 27, 2008: The Hardest Show Ever

Mountain View, CA
Shoreline Amphitheater

Hi all. It's been a long time since I posted my last Rockin' Road Report. I'm just back from my first Journey show in over 2 years. That seems so weird to say. And so much has happened since I was last at a Journey show, it's really hard to know where to begin.

I guess I need to go back a few months in time first. When the show was first announced, I looked at the date and thought "oh cool, the weekend before my birthday." I expected a fun filled night with my Journey buddies from near and far which would lead into a kick ass week that concluded with the big 4-0. That's what I got, but just not the way I had expected -- not by a long shot.

Hard as it is to believe, but it's been nearly 4 months since the world turned upside down and I lost my dear friend Darla. In a cruel twist of fate, the tickets for tonight's show went on sale on her birthday -- the day before her funeral -- and I got assigned to pick up 12 tickets for her family and close friends. With that many tickets to buy, we wound up with seats in the back section and I had to laugh -- no way would those seats have been acceptable in the past, but being with friends was more important.

After I bought the tickets, I pretty much put the show out of my mind. It was a day in the future that I would deal with when it came. Thinking about it took me to a place I didn't want to go, so I didn't. When we finally reached September, I couldn't block it out any more and the numbness of the summer faded and I began missing my friend more and more. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. This past week has been especially emotional for me. Co-workers asked me if I was going to the show, and I told them I was, but I fully expected it to be a weird experience.

Which brings us to tonight. Got ready for the show as I normally do, but got more phone calls and text messages than normal as we tried to get the logistics worked out who had which tickets and so on. Met up with Cheryl, Charles, and Emerson and headed over to the pre-show party. Thanks for organizing it Frank -- sorry I'll miss your party tomorrow. It was nice to see some old familiar faces among the quite a few unfamiliar ones.

Headed over to the amphitheater in plenty of time, which was good since getting to the parking lot took forever. The band had left after-show passes for Emerson and Telysa (Darla's daughter) so we headed over to will call to pick them up. We were expecting two passes, but when Emerson came back not only did he have four passes, but four tickets! So a HUGE thank you to the guys for that. Cheryl, Charles, and I joined Emerson at the new seats. Unfortunately it mean that two of our friends were sitting alone in our original seats.

So, we headed in and I spent all of Cheap Trick's set visiting with friends. I'm not a huge CT fan and the last time I saw them I didn't enjoy their performance, so preferred to sit it out. Could hear it from where we were and I will say they sounded better than they did the previous time.

I did, however, REALLY want to see Heart. So headed over in plenty of time to get to my seat. As I was heading in, I noticed there was a line for a Meet and Greet for Journey. Uh-oh... what time were our passes for? Emerson had them and he was waiting to meet up with Telysa. Lots of text messaging and calling trying to make sure everything was OK. (Yes, our passes were for after the show.) Unfortunately, this meant I missed the first couple of songs of Heart's set. BIG BUMMER! In any case, in my next life I want to be Nancy Wilson. They were absolutely fantastic. Ann Wilson has one of the greatest voices in rock and roll EVER and she sounded fabulous.

The weird thing about Heart's set, however, was that I started getting choked up at different points. Okay, the brain has definitely gone somewhere else tonight. "These Dreams" nearly had me in tears. So did "Alone," though I suspect that one was more about remembering where and when I was when that song came out. Definitely a sentimental favorite of mine. And once again proving that I like Led Zeppelin songs as long as Robert Plant isn't singing (yes, I know, but ugh his voice grates) I absolutely loved their cover of "Going to California."

Their set ended and now it's time for Journey to take the stage. Lots of thoughts crossed my mind -- not the least of which was that there would be a handful of songs I really wouldn't know the lyrics to. Try as I might, I haven't been able to listen to Revelation much since I got it. Unfortunately right now it's a victim of seriously AWFUL timing and has absolutely nothing to do with the CD itself.

I knew the warm up song was "Back in Black," so when it started I took a deep breath and said to myself "here we go." The guys took the stage and I was on my feet, but oddly weak kneed. Deep breath. They kick into "Never Walk Away" and I'm singing along -- it's the only song I know all the words to due to an insane amount of airplay on KFOG (which is seriously weird!!) But, uh-oh... there's a lump in my throat and I think "Darla would be laughing so hard at me right now." Into "Only the Young" and the tears start welling up. Sigh. That song and "Still They Ride" are ones that have been reminding me of Darla a lot this past summer. Breathe and tell myself to pay attention -- this is the first time you're seeing Arnel and you need to form an opinion not have an emotional breakdown. Still, I wonder if I'll make it all the way through the show.

Thank god for the "Star Spangled Banner." No emotional connection to that beyond the basic patriotic vibe. Have they been playing that all tour? I'm so out of the loop I don't have a clue, but laugh to myself and think "Neal saw the Chronicle yesterday that listed his as one of the best versions of our national anthem!"

I'm able to focus on the show now, and I have to say I was very impressed by Arnel. He's got a fantastic stage presence (though I do wish he'd taken off the hoody way sooner than he did -- he looked like he was rehearsing or a roadie.) The hometown crowd ate up the show and were on their feet through out -- even for some of the new ones. Wow.

I enjoyed the show, though I will admit I wasn't as into it as I have been in the past. Part of that I know is adjusting to another change in the band (they GOTTA paint Jon's piano... black is just WRONG!), but a bigger part is where my head was at through out the show. I couldn't not think of Darla through out and missed being able to lean over and say "he hit that note" or "hey, they're playing 'When You Love a Woman'!" I will say a personal highlight for me was hearing Deen on "Keep on Runnin'." Couldn't believe it when he held the high note! (Though, really, he needs to change the hair!) "Lights" as always got a great reaction and the glow of cell phones waving lit up the night. Laughed to myself at the reaction to "Open Arms." As personally tired as I am of that particular tune, you can't deny the enthusiasm of the crowd. Couple of cool video moments for me included the Sopranos style Journey after DSB and the video they played on the screen during "Wheel in the Sky" was really fascinating.

The after-show was a bit weird as we got shuffled from one place to another and basically it was "here ya go, mix and mingle and see if you find anyone you know." We did get to see Ross and Neal and chatted a bit with Les, Barb, and Miles before being told it was time to leave. Did wish I'd had the opportunity to tell one of them thank you. Escape has been in heavy and frequent rotation in my car these past four months. It's always been that candle in the darkness for me and has now proven it's bullet-proof and can withstand any dark time for me. There aren't enough words to express how important that is. Amazing that 27 years on it still provides that emotional lift I need when I need it. I will forever love this band for that, regardless of any thing else that may happen over time.

On the drive home I thought a lot about the past 10 years. Almost 10 years ago to the day I flew off to Michigan to see Journey live for the first time. Then as now I was seeing a new singer. Then as now I got an opportunity to go backstage and meet the band. A lot has happened in between though, and I have so many incredible memories that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I just wish Darla had been here to share this one.

July 15, 2008: Here Come the Police!

Mountain View, CA
Shoreline Amphitheater

Spending the morning recovering from last night's Police gig at Shoreline. What a fun night!

When this final leg of the tour was announced, I shot an email off to my Police-obsessed cousin in LA to see if she wanted to come up here or me to head down there to catch the show as we'd chatted about catching them together should they come back to California. We decided to do the Bay Area gig, and I picked up a pair of tickets through the Fan Club. Wound up with pretty good seats -- about 15 rows back on the far aisle (stage left). When we got to our seats my cousin was totally thrilled. I done good!

So my cousin arrived yesterday afternoon and we hung out and visited until it was time to head down to Shoreline for the show. We timed everything perfectly, arriving in our seats a few minutes before Elvis Costello took the stage. He actually came out a few minutes before the 7:30 start time and played for about an hour alternating between familiar hits that I knew and other tunes I wasn't familiar with. When he started up, we were nearly blasted out of our seats. Shoreline did something to their sound system about two years ago and now the low end of the sound is just physically assaulting. You can feel the bass and drums in your spine. I'd hoped they'd fixed it since I was last there, alas they hadn't so it was a bit of challenge to sit through. He put on a pretty good show and I was impressed with his guitar playing, though there were a few points when the sound system just made it hard to listen to. When he got to "Allison" there was a sudden rumbling in the crowd and I looked up and out walks Sting to sing along. Took a moment to recognize him as he'd grown a beard since I'd last seen them. Uh... not a good choice!

We ducked out after that for a break between sets and to meet up with a good friend of my cousin's. We stood around chatting for a bit thinking we had a while before the Police took the stage, so we were caught by surprise when at 8:45 we could hear the opening of "Message in a Bottle," and it was a mad dash back to our seats to make sure we didn't miss anything else.

After seeing the Police reunite last summer and catching two of their earliest gigs, I was really curious to see how the show had changed in the intervening 13 months. Add in that the two shows I saw last year were extremes in size (about 4,000 people at the fan club show and about 60,000 people at the Oakland Coliseum) having a more "normal" size of 20,000 people was something I was looking forward to. The crowd vibe was average, and at least everyone was on their feet throughout the show. The guys, however, wow... could really see the difference a year's worth of touring had made. While both the shows I'd seen at the start of the tour were excellent, there was still a little bit of that "well, it's been 25 years since we last played together so let's see what we're doing" vibe. There was a lot more conscious interaction. This gig... it just flowed from one thing to the next.

As with the previous two shows, I was completely blown away by the sheer musicianship and that such an incredible sound can come from just three guys. Amazing. The set list was slightly different from the ones I saw last year, but I think only "Demolition Man" was added. There were a few missing, but I'd have to look at the set lists from last year to remember what the differences really were. Trying to pick a highlight of the evening is tough because, honestly, there wasn't a bad song among them. It was a real treat to get to see this band again and worth every penny of the ticket price I paid (and ouch what a ticket price!)

The show ended much too quickly -- about 10:15 or so -- and it was time to head back out, tired and stone deaf. Totally worth it! I brought my camera in hoping that 15 rows back would allow for some decent pictures. Eh, they've turned out so-so (and no where NEAR as good as the ones I took at the Fan Club show last year.)