Hope or Denial?

[Citygirl]

If this had just happened out of the blue we'd have had no reason to think otherwise. But in light of all the negativity, debates etc that went on here for weeks before this went on. Not to mention hints that were dropped by certain people here and in other places, that's what makes it suspicious.

Also the fact that they made no comments and all of a sudden Steve has a throat infection and is replaced supposedly just for the tour. Aye right... the keeping schtum was just a way of playing for time.

[Rock Fn]

wanted to see who thinks this is the real Journey now, and who thinks Augeri will be back.

I firmly believe that SOTO is in and Augeri is out.


.[/quote]

I think Journey will finish the tour with JSS. I doubt Augeri will ever return. Neal has wanted to get rid of him for awhile now. I heard Neal was super pissed off the last night Augeri was there. Who knows what the future hold for Journey. My guess is the they will hire a new lead singer. Maybe someone younger.

[Abitaman]

Two shows and no cd, way to early to tell-ERIC

[EightyRock]

Soto is in. Augeri is out. Soto stays in till the tour ends, they break for winter, they get together and write in the spring and they tour again next summer...maybe in Europe.
Isn't Soto supposed to be doing something in the studio with Steve Lukather in the fall?

[larryfromnextdoor]

the band treated him like shit and killed his voice. They shouldn't get out of their mistake by making him look like the incompetent one.

Kiss treated Eric Carr like shit right up until he died and no one cared. This isn't the first or the last time a "hired gun" has been abused and tossed aside.

In fact the whole lipping plan was probably the band trying to keep him around if at all possible. An awful decision, but they were NOT going to stop touring, so my guess is that's why it came about.

hey man !!! ur 100% on this ,, kiss,, boy they messed everything up ,, but how do we really know steve a. was just a sararied guy, with a contract,, actually i thought this about all bands changing memebers until i saw metallica some kinda monster , when they , supposedly made rob trujillo an equal member,, maybe journey is more classy than we think ,,

[Lula]

Hmmmmm. I imagine people hope Steve Augeri will recover, but the word chronic suggests something lasting and recurring which is a terrible place to be as a lead singer of a touring machine. I hope Steve recovers fully, whatever he needs to do to make it happen, my best wishes. The folks that do not believe there was a problem prior to last week are in denial. It seems impossible for a vocalist to have a chronic throat infection to be singing in top form, such as reported in Europe and the first few U.S. dates and then whammy- no more. I am sorry that so much has happened, but ultimately the truth, imo, has prevailed.

[jrnyman28]

I heard Neal was super pissed off the last night Augeri was there.

Why would nEal be pissed off if they all already knew that was Steve's last show?

[The_Noble_Cause]

Why would nEal be pissed off if they all already knew that was Steve's last show?

First show, last show, or a show somewhere in between, NO ARTIST likes to be humiliated in front of thousands of people. When your frontman can't "bring it" it reflects badly on the band and the concert experience as a whole.

[whocares]

Speculation would say that IF everyone knew it was the last show, and they were made to look like damned fools, he'd be pissed. Even if JSS was waiting in the wings.


ok, I hate to say it, but Noble said it better than me.

[jrnyman28]

Why would nEal be pissed off if they all already knew that was Steve's last show?

First show, last show, or a show somewhere in between, NO ARTIST likes to be humiliated in front of thousands of people. When your frontman can't "bring it" it reflects badly on the band and the concert experience as a whole.

Then I guess they should have done something about it before the tour...

I hear what you are saying, but IMO it seems silly to get all pissed off when you know you have already taken care of "it" and are just biding your time.

[whocares]

you're right j28, it should have, but it wasn't so it's left to talk about ad nauseum that they didn't.

Neal et al helped themselves to look like damned fools that night. ya know?

[conversationpc]

I hear what you are saying, but IMO it seems silly to get all pissed off when you know you have already taken care of "it" and are just biding your time.

That's what I was thinking. It's not like the guy was just up there going through the motions. He was busting his gut to at least TRY to sing. Gotta give him credit for that. He just couldn't do it.

[Milos]

In September of 81 they performed 10 shows in 11 nights. That IS brutal.

That is brutal, but they were much, much younger then.

Exactly! Which is why Journey shouldn't have been touring so rigorously over the past couple of years. They should have been more sensitive to Augeri's health and recovery time. Steve A. could have probably handled the Def Leppard tour if he hadn't runied his voice from brutal touring over the last two years.

I love Neal, but sometimes I think he pushes his bandmates too far. He's a workaholic. Playing guitar isn't the same stress as singing every other night. He should have realized that touring so rigorously would eventually be counterproductive and destructive to Augeri's voice (not to mention Deen's joints). Neal needs to wise up and play one night and rest three or four. This playing every other night crap is fine when you're in your twenties and thirties, but this band is in their late forties and fifties for goodness sake. He didn't let the guys in the band pace themselves and look what happened.

[Marabelle]

well think neal knew steve a was going it was just a matter of time; certainly he likes to keep making music but i'm sure he didn't want a singer that could not sing. not only is it humilating to the singer but to the band as well. i suppose in all actuality most of you have done him a favor. got rid of steve a and put in a singer that is younger, way cool and sexy.

[A Fire Inside]

Kiss treated Eric Carr like shit right up until he died and no one cared. This isn't the first or the last time a "hired gun" has been abused and tossed aside.

That doesn't mean the tradition should continue with Augeri...

[JrnySuxBalls]

Neal needs to wise up and play one night and rest three or four.

Azoff's accountants wouldn't allow that to happen.

[FormerJrnyFan]

Neal needs to wise up and play one night and rest three or four.

Azoff's accountants wouldn't allow that to happen.

[Citygirl]

Neal has wanted to get rid of him for awhile now

Do you actually know this or are you just guessing?

got rid of steve a and put in a singer that is younger, way cool and sexy.

[EightyRock]

How could he have NOT wanted him gone? Do you think Neal Schon wants to be humiliated by ANYone in the band that can't bring it like he can when the band is on stage? Back in the Perry days, do you think he would have let the reigns go and let him take over Journey if he didn't feel that he was his equal in talent? No way. No way Schon is gonna step onstage with another singer that needs tapes to sing. I don't see him ever taking a chance of getting himself in that position again. What really surprises me is that he allowed it to happen with Augeri n the FIRST place. Dude took a huge credibility hit from this. Hopefully this move will get them back on track.

[Citygirl]

This is mean but...

It would be funny if they were all sitting in their wee tour bus singing Ding Dong Stevie's Out... Wizard Of Oz style.

[McNeil]

Why would nEal be pissed off if they all already knew that was Steve's last show?

First show, last show, or a show somewhere in between, NO ARTIST likes to be humiliated in front of thousands of people. When your frontman can't "bring it" it reflects badly on the band and the concert experience as a whole.

Exactly.. but it reflects on the rest of the Journey team... not particularly Augeri.. he is the guy who has lost out here..."voice and position"..Jeez...it takes the gloss off his Tall Stories release,,,due soon... maybe that will now be pulled!! there will be no chance of him even supporting that release now.

Augeri is the patsy here.... used, abused... and ditched when the going got tough... I sure hope the rest of the organisation has trouble sleeping at night..although Im sure they wont... as long as the coffers keep coming in! and the band wagon keeps rollin along

[McNeil]

How could he have NOT wanted him gone? Do you think Neal Schon wants to be humiliated by ANYone in the band that can't bring it like he can when the band is on stage? Back in the Perry days, do you think he would have let the reigns go and let him take over Journey if he didn't feel that he was his equal in talent? No way. No way Schon is gonna step onstage with another singer that needs tapes to sing. I don't see him ever taking a chance of getting himself in that position again. What really surprises me is that he allowed it to happen with Augeri n the FIRST place. Dude took a huge credibility hit from this. Hopefully this move will get them back on track.

Jeez.... playing guitar doesnt take anywhere near as much energy as singing these tunes... Neal isnt a god.. he's floored and fallible like everyone else... he messed up big time in making Augeri continue to f**k up his voice ... that isnt a "pro" thing to do ... I just dont know what they were all thinking of to make Steve A go thru all that..... dont believe Steve A had any kinda choice here... he was contracted..and a hired hand... Schon and management say "jump" ..he say "How high"

He will have had a "gag" order placed on him... not allowed to comment etc etc etc ..it must be hell for him reading some of the stuff on here... knowing he cant answer back..... his words wld destroy Jrny once and for all.... and that wont be allowed !!

[Citygirl]

He will have had a "gag" order placed on him

That'll be why there's not been anything straight from the horse's mouth so to speak... I bet we never hear anything from him. He probably HAS to keep quiet. But what the guys forget is, other people don't.

Someone will know the real story, and no doubt it'll come out sometime.

[WORLD CHANGER]

I for one just hope someone in the Journey camp is filming some of these shows with JSS.

[knox]

I for one just hope someone in the Journey camp is filming some of these shows with JSS.

Now that they have someone who can sing, we should be able to have a DVD of the tour - with Perry's permission of course.

I understand now why there was no Warfield dvd, and why there will be no Dallas DVD, regardless of them bringing in the "hot young things" for the front row LOL...

[heardonthestreet]

I heard Neal was super pissed off the last night Augeri was there.

Why would nEal be pissed off if they all already knew that was Steve's last show?

.....................................
My guess is that he was acting.

Augeri's humiliation was necessary to vindicate their getting Soto aboard. And the people bought it.

[Citygirl]

My guess is that he was acting.

Augeri's humiliation was necessary to vindicate their getting Soto aboard. And the people bought it.

Quote of the week!

[Liz22562]

Lots of speculation going around.

[EightyRock]

It all seems to come back to them maybe thinking that because of their lighter touring schedule (compared to what they used to do) that Augeri could pull it off. When he couldn't, it was like, holy shit, what do we do now? We've got all this stuff in place to go on with Augeri and now what are we gonna do? Cue escape-to-tape. Augeri may have been a hired hand without a contract or not, nobody knows that as fact, as far as I've seen. Bottom line is he stepped on that stage every show regardless of his vocal condition. He had a choice and he had a medical excuse. Nobody can force you to do that. If he was thinking about any of the possible scenerios...damaging Journey's reputation, damaging his own voice, damaging his own reputation, then he would not have signed on to the DL tour.....unless they had ALL planned to roll tape and not get caught. They all need to take some responsibilty for what happened. I bet if they thought they could have rolled Perry out in a wheel chair or on a stretcher to tour, they would have done that, too. The difference is that Perry wouldn't consider hitting the stage with Journey unless he could have given the band, himself and the fans 100%. Schon wants to tour endlessly and no singer can hold up to that, not even Soto, although I think his stronger pipes might fare better. Perry was the closest thing they'll ever have to super human and that is over for them. The whole band is in the twilight of their careers and trying to hold on to whatever is left, via the greatest hits tours. They at least have to go out with some dignity and not with tape rolling, so Soto has to be their man. Hopefully, Augeri will recover and get back to a Tall Stories reunion or something else that fits his vocal capacity.

[knox]

In the strictest sense of the word, I don't think Augeri has a "Medical Issue". Not being able to sing, or even talk without scratchiness, is not threatening to your health.

Yes, he has a "Physical" issue, but I don't believe in the whole "infection" story. I just think the guy can't sing any longer.





Just throwing that out. It has been bugging me every time I read about his "health" and him "getting medical attention"...