Buffalo show - 3/16

[Eric]

Strong show… but not as good as the two I attended last year.

No Freedom songs, as Let it Rain was dropped for Ask the Lonely. I’m bummed as it appears I won’t ever get to hear “Together They Run”.

Cain was more engaged than he had been since 1999. He has been wearing the city’s hockey jersey recently and continued that last night wearing a #23 Cain Sabres jersey.

In addition to the extended “Send Her My Love” they also did some new stuff with Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’ with the band stopping as Cain jammed and then restarting. Arnel also did a sing-along. He sang Lovin’ and the crowd sang it back… and so on.

I didn’t notice any sound issues.

I can’t believe anyone would be upset that DeenO is back instead of Smith. Just so much energy and the vocal ability he brings adds so much to the show. He’s the longest tenured drummer in the band’s history and I genuinely missed him while he was gone. Also no Smith drum solo is a plus.

Near sold out (about 19k) with just some small pockets in the nosebleeds appearing empty.

The low point in fan energy was Escape and Girl Can’t Help it. The high point was Faithfully and Any way you want it.

Arnel - as usual - had the fans eating out of his hands. He did a jog around the arena high fiving during Be Good to Yourself. He and Schon interacted all night, including fist bumps. Schon went over to Cain’s side once.

Set list could use a little more change ability from night to night, especially for a 50th anniversary:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/journey/ ... bbbf1.html

The Labatt Blue House had a pre and post party playing all Journey and I mean ALL… like With Your Love came on.

[danielb]

Impressive turnout. I wonder what could explain the difference in Journey's profile around 1998 with the band playing theaters and today where they are packing out major arenas? I doubt the casual fan is invested enough to be drawn in by Arnel. More likely it's the resurgence of DSB through TV and streaming.

There's a big difference between Smith 1980 and today. I agree Deen is the right guy for Journey today. By far. Drumming and energy wise and as you point out, vocally.

[ebake02]

Loved the show myself, I was very pleasantly surprised at how good Arnel sounded last night. My one point of criticism is Neal’s solo before Wheel in the Sky, he dragged that out for way too long.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Impressive turnout. I wonder what could explain the difference in Journey's profile around 1998 with the band playing theaters and today where they are packing out major arenas?

I don't think it's fair to compare 1998 to today. If anything, we should be comparing the Arnel-era to when he first entered, which was JSS. And by that time, the band had already been going back into arenas as a co-headliner. They are now back as a headliner because they switched to AEG instead of Live Nation. It's entirely possible they could have at least semi - filled these venues previously. It's hard to know because so many cogs of the PR machine were working against the band when they reformed. Publications like Entertainment Weekly flatout said "stop believing" because Perry wasn't there. Jonathan mentions in his book that radio blacklisted them, Augeri received death threats, and they needed a friend to put up their own money just to be able to do the 98 theater tour.

In 1998, it wasn't commonplace to replace a band's most recognizable member with an unknown and also the band had been off the road for nearly a decade. They had to completely rebuild. I'm seeing a lot of revisionist history that Arnel saved the band - as if Journey was playing roadside bars before him. But that's simply not true.

Their profile has been significantly raised by a confluence of factors. It should be a time of celebration instead of infighting and endless legal bullshit.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Strong show… but not as good as the two I attended last year.

No Freedom songs, as Let it Rain was dropped for Ask the Lonely. I’m bummed as it appears I won’t ever get to hear “Together They Run”.

Cain was more engaged than he had been since 1999. He has been wearing the city’s hockey jersey recently and continued that last night wearing a #23 Cain Sabres jersey.

In addition to the extended “Send Her My Love” they also did some new stuff with Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’ with the band stopping as Cain jammed and then restarting. Arnel also did a sing-along. He sang Lovin’ and the crowd sang it back… and so on.

I didn’t notice any sound issues.

I can’t believe anyone would be upset that DeenO is back instead of Smith. Just so much energy and the vocal ability he brings adds so much to the show. He’s the longest tenured drummer in the band’s history and I genuinely missed him while he was gone. Also no Smith drum solo is a plus.

Near sold out (about 19k) with just some small pockets in the nosebleeds appearing empty.

The low point in fan energy was Escape and Girl Can’t Help it. The high point was Faithfully and Any way you want it.

Arnel - as usual - had the fans eating out of his hands. He did a jog around the arena high fiving during Be Good to Yourself. He and Schon interacted all night, including fist bumps. Schon went over to Cain’s side once.

Set list could use a little more change ability from night to night, especially for a 50th anniversary:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/journey/ ... bbbf1.html

The Labatt Blue House had a pre and post party playing all Journey and I mean ALL… like With Your Love came on.

Thanks for the review.

Regarding Smitty.....

This is a legacy band at this point. The vast majority of fans will always prefer to see the legacy members.

Of the four times I've seen them recently, the Narada show was actually the most interesting from a drumming perspective. Deen is a pounder.