Journey - LG Arena, Birmingham UK 06-05-2011

[WykkedSensation]

Setlist was exactly the same (i believe) as Wembley the previous night..........


Separate Ways
Only The Young
Edge Of The Moment
Ask The Lonely
Send Her My Love
Resonate
Stone In Love
City Of Hope
Lights
Mother, Father (Deen)
Open Arms
Chain Of Love
Wheel In The Sky
Be Good To Yourself
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
Any Way You Want It
--Encore--
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'


Styx played an awesome show and i was disappointed they only had 45mins, thats the problem with these 3 band shows though, everything seems rushed.
Foreigner were pretty amazing as always, playing an hour long set consisting of all the big hitters, except for Dirty white boy which didn't feature. The crowd loved them, as did i, and i seriously believed that Journey would have a difficult time following them. I was wrong.

Starting obviously with Separate ways Journey absolutely blew the roof off.
It was a very different Journey compared to the Last time they played Birmingham in 2007 with JSS at the helm. The 2007 show just seemed to never get going, certainly the audience didn't, but this time round was a totally different entity. They were incredible.
The sound was pretty good throughout apart from a glitch halfway throught he set when it seemed they had a poweroutage for half a second or so. Strange.

4 new songs played, the best or my fave being 'Resonate'. There's just something about that song that i really like, and its even better live than on Eclipse. Chain of love and City of hope were also pretty cool, but Edge of the moment fell flat for me, as i knew it would. Sorry guys but that song just goes nowhere for me, and this was the only lowpoint of an otherwise excellent set.

Wheel in the sky was superb and nice to see they have kept the extended and rockier version from a couple of years back. Don't stop believing of course was probably the highlight for many of the audience, not me but you know what i mean

Arnel has certainly improved considerably with his diction and his stage presence, and is now pretty much the real deal (live anyway).


All in all it was another great show put on by Journey, with Styx and Foreigner being possibly the best possible support. It was a truly wonderful evening of amazing bands playing amazing music. You are ALL gonna love the show!!

[Real rock fan]

A great show, Styx were the highlight for me, superb performance but they still have so much more to offer than a 45 minute set.
Gowan was excellent vocally and a great musician.

Foreigner were pretty good as always, Hansen is a great frontman.

Journey were great too, very loud, Chain Of Love was one of the stand outs for me, really heavy.
The sound at times IMO was a bit poor, distorted, out of tune, Arnels vocals were very good at times but irritating at others.
The encore of Lovin` , Touchin`, Squeezin is IMO a very poor choice, drop the song, so many great songs, do people genuinely want to keep hearing this?

[DrFU]

Resonate courtesy of Jebber :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwlMrfL1Eg

[Ritchie]

Resonate courtesy of Jebber :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwlMrfL1Eg

Hey,Jon Cain on the drum Riser..that must be half a century ago that this happened.
Can someone tell him that this is Arnel`s spot.

[Toph]

A great show, Styx were the highlight for me, superb performance but they still have so much more to offer than a 45 minute set.
Gowan was excellent vocally and a great musician.

Foreigner were pretty good as always, Hansen is a great frontman.

Journey were great too, very loud, Chain Of Love was one of the stand outs for me, really heavy.
The sound at times IMO was a bit poor, distorted, out of tune, Arnels vocals were very good at times but irritating at others.
The encore of Lovin` , Touchin`, Squeezin is IMO a very poor choice, drop the song, so many great songs, do people genuinely want to keep hearing this?

New Styx (and Gowan) suck....

I've seen them a couple of times and Gowan can't carry DeYoung's jock.

[brywool]

The encore of Lovin` , Touchin`, Squeezin is IMO a very poor choice, drop the song, so many great songs, do people genuinely want to keep hearing this?

NO KIDDING. Seriously- WHY play that one? Same with Any Way You Want it. lame songs both.
Anyway/Feeling That Way would be cool in the set, then move something else down for the encore. Line of Fire, Where Were You, Edge of the Blade, After the Fall, Chain Reaction, all good choices to go into the set- not to mention some of the Revelation cuts. Sorry, but LTS and AWYWI are just such boring tunes.

[Michigan Girl]

The encore of Lovin` , Touchin`, Squeezin is IMO a very poor choice, drop the song, so many great songs, do people genuinely want to keep hearing this?

We were just discussing this in another thread, but Listen to GH~LTS and maybe
check out some old you~tubies ...see how Perry & Schon and the boys used to do it ...it was
like foreplay leading to a great orgasm ... it's really just a blah nothing anymore, meaningless!!

[koberry]

Wow, Edge of the Moment sounds amazing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcSLGlLvVk8

[Saint John]

Chain Of Love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMekReVnb78

[brywool]

I just talked to a friend who went to this show. He said it was a great show, but that STYX actually really put on a killer show that was super tight and really stole the show. In his words, "Journey was almost complacent". I know that Neal and Arnel do quite a bit of movement, but Styx is pretty fun to watch as well as listen to. They're all over the place and have tons of energy. They have a lot going on in their shows visually. He said "vocally, they were all brilliant" but he really dug the Foreigner guy. Didn't have the range of Pineda, but still a great singer.
Man, sounds like a great show all around.

[brywool]

Wow, Edge of the Moment sounds amazing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcSLGlLvVk8

sounds very cool!

[Don]

Sound, sound, sound.
The majority of the reviews from the first two shows mention issues with the sound, with many saying Arnel is getting drowned out by Neal..

[Saint John]

Sound, sound, sound.
The majority of the reviews from the first two shows mention issues with the sound, with many saying Arnel is getting drowned out by Neal..

Yup. Even the good reviews comment on how poor the sound was. They better have this shit fixed by the Omaha gig!

[Maui Tom]

Sound, sound, sound.
The majority of the reviews from the first two shows mention issues with the sound, with many saying Arnel is getting drowned out by Neal..

Yup. Even the good reviews comment on how poor the sound was. They better have this shit fixed by the Omaha gig!

Yes Omaha is the ONE show they gotta nail.....

[Saint John]

Sound, sound, sound.
The majority of the reviews from the first two shows mention issues with the sound, with many saying Arnel is getting drowned out by Neal..

Yup. Even the good reviews comment on how poor the sound was. They better have this shit fixed by the Omaha gig!

Yes Omaha is the ONE show they gotta nail.....

One of two ... I'm going to KC, too.

[WykkedSensation]

Sound, sound, sound.
The majority of the reviews from the first two shows mention issues with the sound, with many saying Arnel is getting drowned out by Neal..

Don, it depends on where you are in the audience. I was in the first few rows and the sound was spot on to be honest. Very loud but pretty darned good.

[Don]

Sound, sound, sound.
The majority of the reviews from the first two shows mention issues with the sound, with many saying Arnel is getting drowned out by Neal..

Don, it depends on where you are in the audience. I was in the first few rows and the sound was spot on to be honest. Very loud but pretty darned good.

Yes, people are mentioning that it was different depending on where you were seated. Two reviews mentioned a bit of apathy with the audience at times. Did you notice any of that? I don't know how people can judge that unless they are back and above everyone else.

[Gideon]

The Youtube of 'Resonate' is bad. Arnel's fucking up the lyrics and there are moments where the band seems out of sync and a little sluggish.

[Rick]

The Youtube of 'Resonate' is bad. Arnel's fucking up the lyrics and there are moments where the band seems out of sync and a little sluggish.

I thought he goofed the lyrics. Something didn't sound right. I guess it's to be expected, early on.

[Don]

The Youtube of 'Resonate' is bad. Arnel's fucking up the lyrics and there are moments where the band seems out of sync and a little sluggish.

There is so much going on with every song on this album, is Journey going to have to start adlibbing parts of it live?

Their schedule is so tight in Europe, they might not be able to sort some of these gaffs until their break in July.

[Gideon]

I thought he goofed the lyrics. Something didn't sound right. I guess it's to be expected, early on.

Yeah, but he was singing it fine in the South American tour.

There is so much going on with every song on this album, is Journey going to have to start adlibbing parts of it live?

Adlibbing?
The Youtubes of the South America tour sounded fantastic, IMHO, and that includes 'Resonate'. This might be the product of their their new equipment.

[Don]

I thought he goofed the lyrics. Something didn't sound right. I guess it's to be expected, early on.

Yeah, but he was singing it fine in the South American tour.

There is so much going on with every song on this album, is Journey going to have to start adlibbing parts of it live?

Adlibbing?
The Youtubes of the South America tour sounded fantastic, IMHO, and that includes 'Resonate'. This might be the product of their their new equipment.

Wrong solos and lyrics sounds like too much Guinness, not equipment malfunctions.

[Gideon]

I thought he goofed the lyrics. Something didn't sound right. I guess it's to be expected, early on.

Yeah, but he was singing it fine in the South American tour.

There is so much going on with every song on this album, is Journey going to have to start adlibbing parts of it live?

Adlibbing?
The Youtubes of the South America tour sounded fantastic, IMHO, and that includes 'Resonate'. This might be the product of their their new equipment.

Wrong solos and lyrics sounds like too much Guinness, not equipment malfunctions.

No, I meant with the overall quality of the sound.

[WykkedSensation]

I thought he goofed the lyrics. Something didn't sound right. I guess it's to be expected, early on.

Yeah, but he was singing it fine in the South American tour.

There is so much going on with every song on this album, is Journey going to have to start adlibbing parts of it live?

Adlibbing?
The Youtubes of the South America tour sounded fantastic, IMHO, and that includes 'Resonate'. This might be the product of their their new equipment.

Wrong solos and lyrics sounds like too much Guinness, not equipment malfunctions.

Not sure bout Guinness mate, but we all certainly smelt a great big whoff of whacky backi drifting in from maybe back stage on a few occasions.

[Don]

I thought he goofed the lyrics. Something didn't sound right. I guess it's to be expected, early on.

Yeah, but he was singing it fine in the South American tour.

There is so much going on with every song on this album, is Journey going to have to start adlibbing parts of it live?

Adlibbing?
The Youtubes of the South America tour sounded fantastic, IMHO, and that includes 'Resonate'. This might be the product of their their new equipment.

Wrong solos and lyrics sounds like too much Guinness, not equipment malfunctions.

No, I meant with the overall quality of the sound.

That clip you linked yesterday had moments where the mic dropped out, and some words repeated (not echoed but flat out repeated). Definitely sounds like there are things amiss in the sound tech area. And of course, this is all being brought to us through a tiny mic on a video cam.

[Don]

Reading comments on Facebook and lots of mentions of people walking out during Journey's set because the sound was so bad. Not the performance itself, just the sound.

[pf1965]

On City of Hope Neal should play the rhythm guitar parts through the verses to help carry the tune instead of playing notes with the wammy bar.It seems to be a distraction.IMO!

[Real rock fan]

A great show, Styx were the highlight for me, superb performance but they still have so much more to offer than a 45 minute set.
Gowan was excellent vocally and a great musician.

Foreigner were pretty good as always, Hansen is a great frontman.

Journey were great too, very loud, Chain Of Love was one of the stand outs for me, really heavy.
The sound at times IMO was a bit poor, distorted, out of tune, Arnels vocals were very good at times but irritating at others.
The encore of Lovin` , Touchin`, Squeezin is IMO a very poor choice, drop the song, so many great songs, do people genuinely want to keep hearing this?

New Styx (and Gowan) suck....

I've seen them a couple of times and Gowan can't carry DeYoung's jock.

Well he was great on this occasion

[Real rock fan]

The encore of Lovin` , Touchin`, Squeezin is IMO a very poor choice, drop the song, so many great songs, do people genuinely want to keep hearing this?

NO KIDDING. Seriously- WHY play that one? Same with Any Way You Want it. lame songs both.
Anyway/Feeling That Way would be cool in the set, then move something else down for the encore. Line of Fire, Where Were You, Edge of the Blade, After the Fall, Chain Reaction, all good choices to go into the set- not to mention some of the Revelation cuts. Sorry, but LTS and AWYWI are just such boring tunes.

Agreed on LTS and AWYWI, I personally feel Journey should cater for the real fans (not the plastics as we call them) by changing the set around, getting rid of the dirty dozen by playing better songs from their back catalogue. Just my opinion.

[Real rock fan]

Chain Of Love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMekReVnb78

Good post, I recorded this song but this is so much better than my attempt.

This was a great version, heavy guitar, one of if not the best song of the night!