First review so I'm not sure if this is in the right section but here goes.
Journey ROCKED last night. Rather than playing a completely Greatest Hits show liked they did in 1998-2000, they actually played a few rarities from their Departure album and even a couple of songs from their Arrival album. The whole band still has their energy.
As far as shredding goes, Neal Schon is up there with the best of them. He played and sang his rendition of Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child and I gotta tell you, Hendrix would be proud. His solos and guitarwork fit nicely with Journey's melodic music. His guitar solo was ON FIRE. I'd sure love to be that good someday. If I remember correctly, he busted out with two Stratocasters, one being the popular black body/white pickguard design and the other one completely white. Also played a PRS a couple of times in the show, but the axe he had out the most was a black
Gibson Les Paul, not sure of the exact model but it looked swee-eet. P.S look at my avatar [img]images/smilies/icon16.gif[/img]
And yes, if you didn't know, they are without Steve Perry. They have had Steve Augeri sing lead vocals since 1998 and believe me, he has the vocal cords to sing Journey. He has an awesome stage presence and singing style. He is not a clone of Steve Perry like many people seem to classify him as. He looks nothing like Steve Perry (although he could if he tried really hard. He has the nose), and his voice has a "sharper" sound, as opposed to Steve Perry's smooth sounding voice. And although he isn't a complete Perry clone, this is a good thing because it brings the band a refreshing feel. After all, Steve Perry can't sing as high-pitched as he used to at this point.
The rest of the band rocked. Lots of people mistake
Jonathan Cain for a ballad-bard, but doubling on rythm guitar, he is an awesome player on both ballads and rock songs. He sand lead vocals for "Anytime" in place of Greg Rollie (keyboard player for Journey from 1974-1981.) Ross Valory's basswork and stage antics were also very entertaining. If my memory is telling me the truth, he tuned his bass differently so that in a certain key he can play an open string note with one hand and make funny gestures with his other hand, in addition to singing lead vocals on a Journey classic, "Walks Like a Lady." His voice was MADE for blues! And last but not least, Deen Castronovo, the MAN! Not only did he hit those drums like a maniac, he also sang lead vocals on a few PERRY Journey songs such as "Mother, Father" and "Suzanne". This guy can sing, he can hit every high-pitched note that Perry ever did. It's amazing to sing like Perry, it's another thing to do that while keeping up to Steve Smith's beats.
All in all, was an awesome night. As far as the seating went the staff was a little more lenient later into the show and let us walk up about 4-5 feet away from the stage, and right next to the ground speakers. I have never met the guys (yet) but I hear they are great people to chat with and are very humble. If Journey comes to your town or neat it, don't miss the chance trust me you won't regret it.
-GuitarsAndTacos
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