This is the second best Journey show I have ever seen, the first being the House of Blues Show, because the day was so special..with the Great Steve Perry showing up and all smiles all around.. and that night, Steve Smith and Ansley showing up.....right now "Faith in the heartland" is jamming in my speakers..I am telling you, this may be the best, or second best Journey CD ever...Escape was damned good, it's hard to beat that dude...
Journey listens to it's fans.. They really do. The Arizona show was so fucking hot, and I am referring to the weather first... I wish I had Perryfaithful on one arm, and HOTS on the other, and Pro Perry with me too, because it was totally awesome...Deen would have made their boy proud!! Hey I love Steve Perry! And the early stuff the band still does is such a tribute to him..I also wish Perry were with us too...that bastard has got to get on stage again! Too much talent to be silent, and Journey today is too classy to hold grudges against the former great front man....Steve P. needs to come out and salute the greatest fans in history again..we all love Steve fucking Perry!!! anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, a tribute to Perry's early days, done so well by maybe the best drummer in the business, Mr. Deen Castranova(sorry Neil Peart), but this guy is so classy...I talked to him briefly after the show, and he is so respectful of Perry and what he did for the band. Ok, I am going off on a tangent, but like many sports stars and rock stars, if you get people hating you, it's because you were that good...There are alot of people who "can't stand "F-ing Journey!" Want to know why? They were/are that good!! No band sucks who sells 75 million units!! getting back to current Journey-- O My God!! They all fired last night!
Daydream, Where Were You, Feeling that Way-Anytime was brilliant...I just know Mr. Perry would be so gratifide if he were in our party in Tucson...I just know that a classy guy like Perry would stand up and cheer for Deen...it was beautiful.. I swear to all of you here, that I could hear that beautiful voice that ONLY Perry possesses, onstage in Tucson that night. It was magical.. I am willing to bet Perryfaithful, HOTS, Lori and I could all have fun together..
However, like Perry said, with so much class at the Walk of Fame show in Hollywood on January 21st, "Magic Fingers", Neal f-ing Scon was very present early, middle and current..this boy can flatout play..I play a little guitar, and am astonished on how a 45+ year old dude keeps on improving! I was left jawdropped.
A 20 minute beer/potty break was upon us( a sold out to the gills show), and I got myself about 4 beers...it was humid as Hell.....Faith in the Heartland starts playing, and the crowd LOVES it..so does "The Place in your Heart", and of course comes all the dirty dozen PLUS all the other ones too...The crowd literally drowned the Band out on Don't Stop Believin", Faithfully, and the chorus to Seperate Ways was earthshaking.."Someday, Love will find you" I couldn't hear Steve, Deen or Neal!!! They wrapped up with the tried and true Lovin' touchin' Squeezin'......Very nice.. On exit, no one was unhappy..there were 12 yr olds, 13 yr olds, 17, 19, and 23 yr olds..also 45, and 55 yr olds! It was pure magic!
I had earlier typed that I "was running through the parking lot searching for a taxicab for the Amtrak station" but after a phone call to Amtrak produced news of a 3 hour late westbound "Sunset limited" I returned for some crafty fence hopping for meet and greet and/or interview for myself and my freinds at Melodic Rock.com... Well, I did hop a fence, apparently better than OJ was able to do in 1998, and got back "in there' and talked to important peeps...I felt like king shit, but I knew i was an imposter..One guy(arena dude), asked me what I was doing, and I lied better than "W" regarding the Iraq war, and told him I was with "Pacific rock news" and he let me go!! Deen and Steve talked to me. Steve does suffer from Asthma, and the bug is definately biting him, HOWEVER, he did sound good that night..very good..The first half, he does indeed seem lost, but, he isn't involved and that is just one of those things that needs to be understood.. What another classy gentleman...(I should take a clue for my behaviour on MR's boards..lol)..I swear, if I wasn't a 100% Journey fan, I would have been after this episode in my life.. Jonathan Cain..Jesus..what a talent..he even said, "How's it going" walking by. I didn't want to get busted so I kept it down when I saw JC....I wanted so bad to see the second coming of God himself, Mr. Neal Schon.. I swear, and I'm a guy, I would have wet my pants if I were to have met him!! I did see him, and he was talking to someone(probably press), so I just watched the grace and sincerity he showed, and it was all genuine...not some acting bullshit.....It was at this time, I sat alone for a moment or 20....thinking how a band like this could be only on the 4th page with a small write up..this was once a behemoth of a band and had the world in its' hands, but really hasn't declined, but got better over the years...(No, this is not a shot at Perry.. He was the best), but it just seems they have 5 cylinders that all work in unison now, versus the 2 earlier..Perry/Schon...No better, no worse, just different dynamics...Steve Augeri walks by again, and says, "Have a good and safe trip buddy." Again, the sincerity was there and THAT guy.. I would go to War with him anyday.....He is battling obvious throat/voice problems, filling rocks' greatest voices' shoes and is so humbling of a man.. The only guy I didn't come face to face was Ross.. I was going to tell him I liked his site where the donkey farts when you click on him.. Rossvalory.com
So my Journey freinds, and Styx, and maybe VH and Def leppard too...This is a band that will turn your head and make you watch the talent..because it exudes it at every turn....
I know some of you are going to a show near you..Be ready for the show of your life. Do I dare say this band can bring a catalog like NO-ONE else, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Aerosmith included... 35 songs, and done with pure geniuos musianship..nothing faked or half-assed..all true, all live, all awesome.
Have a good and safe July 4th..
Dean
I wrote this in the #4 room of the sleeper on the westbound Sunset Limited.. between Yuma and Indio at 540AM.. I EXPECT Yak, Nealisgod, jrny28man, and that fucker the Noble Cause to respond..Homework guys!
I spent 20 hours on the rails....respond!
