MR

http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-journeyrev.artaug23,0,3562464.story?coll=hc-headlines-life

Follow the link for a clueless review about the tour. (I figured PF would post this here anyway...)

But there is one part that I wanted to specifically comment on:

The audience spent considerable portions of the show's 2 1/2 hours sitting on its hands, but all was forgiven when the band played hits such as "Lights" and "Open Arms." The synergy of Cain's piano and Schon's electric guitar in "Don't Stop Believing" delivered the 1981 tune's still-potent hook, and Cain's synthesizer line dressed up the thundering closer, "Separate Ways."

My question is WHAT'S WRONG with this? The band gives the audience the things they KNOW the audience wants, but they also get to play the things THE BAND wants to. So the audience hears unfamiliar tunes, they sit for a while. But they still get to their feet and dance when the "hits" come on...great!

jrnyman28 wrote:http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-journeyrev.artaug23,0,3562464.story?coll=hc-headlines-life

Follow the link for a clueless review about the tour. (I figured PF would post this here anyway...)

But there is one part that I wanted to specifically comment on:

The audience spent considerable portions of the show's 2 1/2 hours sitting on its hands, but all was forgiven when the band played hits such as "Lights" and "Open Arms." The synergy of Cain's piano and Schon's electric guitar in "Don't Stop Believing" delivered the 1981 tune's still-potent hook, and Cain's synthesizer line dressed up the thundering closer, "Separate Ways."

My question is WHAT'S WRONG with this? The band gives the audience the things they KNOW the audience wants, but they also get to play the things THE BAND wants to. So the audience hears unfamiliar tunes, they sit for a while. But they still get to their feet and dance when the "hits" come on...great!

Gee Dave.....had not seen this. THANKS for bringing it to my attention.

"His presence condemns the group to toil as the world's greatest Journey tribute band for as long as he fronts it"

HEAVY -

perryfaithful wrote:Gee Dave.....had not seen this. THANKS for bringing it to my attention.

"His presence condemns the group to toil as the world's greatest Journey tribute band for as long as he fronts it"

HEAVY -

Yeah, I knew would like that part!
But, do you think you could comment on my question?

What a dick, "Journey is nowadays strictly a nostalgia play". Tell that to my 18 year old. Just as Smitty told us (that) he had a (musical) career before, during and after Journey. There was a Journey before Perry. Ignorance of Journey's past does not warrant negative comments.

perryfaithful wrote:
Gee Dave.....had not seen this. THANKS for bringing it to my attention.

"His presence condemns the group to toil as the world's greatest Journey tribute band for as long as he fronts it"

HEAVY -

Clueless--like the title of the thread.

jrnyman28 wrote:http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-journeyrev.artaug23,0,3562464.story?coll=hc-headlines-life

Follow the link for a clueless review about the tour. (I figured PF would post this here anyway...)

But there is one part that I wanted to specifically comment on:

The audience spent considerable portions of the show's 2 1/2 hours sitting on its hands, but all was forgiven when the band played hits such as "Lights" and "Open Arms." The synergy of Cain's piano and Schon's electric guitar in "Don't Stop Believing" delivered the 1981 tune's still-potent hook, and Cain's synthesizer line dressed up the thundering closer, "Separate Ways."

My question is WHAT'S WRONG with this? The band gives the audience the things they KNOW the audience wants, but they also get to play the things THE BAND wants to. So the audience hears unfamiliar tunes, they sit for a while. But they still get to their feet and dance when the "hits" come on...great!

OOF-TAH!!

YIKES!!

Well, leave it to a Connecticut reporter to be so blunt

sngrchk04 wrote:
OOF-TAH!!

Nora.....are you Norwegian??

Seems to me Journey has played this Casino the last few years. I am curious, HAve you been to any of the shows??

perryfaithful wrote:

sngrchk04 wrote:
OOF-TAH!!

Nora.....are you Norwegian??

HAH?? Uh.....no. I just say that sometimes....IS it Norwegian? I had no idea!

Seems to me Journey has played this Casino the last few years. I am curious, HAve you been to any of the shows??

Nope.

perryfaithful wrote:[
"His presence condemns the group to toil as the world's greatest Journey tribute band for as long as he fronts it"

HEAVY -

Yeah, figured she would find this..did you get all *** this morning !! woohoo, Journey is a joke with Augeri! woohoo! Made my day! I am Perryfaithful! Completely wacked out of my skull with no life!! Crank up the Street Talk..woohoo.."

You are sick, dude.

sngrchk04 wrote:

perryfaithful wrote:

sngrchk04 wrote:
OOF-TAH!!

Nora.....are you Norwegian??

HAH?? Uh.....no. I just say that sometimes....IS it Norwegian? I had no idea!

Seems to me Journey has played this Casino the last few years. I am curious, HAve you been to any of the shows??

Nope.

yah....spelled "uffda" it is!

Jrnyman28, here's my take on it. The writer, and perhaps several others within his range of vision, sat for 2 1/2 hours. The writer sees only the crowd reacting to Journey's 'hits', 'dirty dozen', however you'd like it termed. So, to the writer, the hits are what got the audience interested, not the unknowns. It obviously got him reacting as well, as he's familiar with these items, and probably not the newer items or the pre-Perry tunes.

Biased? sure... but probably not 'that' uncommon either.

Journey did not have radio hits pre-Perry, that we know. They had a cult following, but were not breaking waves on the radio, getting the airplay. So, no matter how good the older tunes are, to hear nothing recognizable for 45 minutes is a helluva long time for the average concert going fan. If I went to a Nine-Inch Nails concert, I'd get all squirmy until I heard something that I recognized. Pretty much the same thing here. I've seen quite a few reviews where they take the first part of the concert and play the non-radio known items. Yes, it's billed that way, short of tattooing it on the foreheads of the audience members as they hand over their tickets. There's still a sizable fan base that doesn't know the older songs at all. Just me, ok, so don't flambe me again, that's a LONG time to hold an audience captured, kinda shoving it down their throats. "You WILL listen to the new material and Pre-Perry before you hear the hits". Might help to intermix the tunes a bit more, I dunno. The guy who has heard 4-5 songs in a row that he doesn't recognize starts eyeing the exits and wondering how long the beer lines are. Absolutely, they should be playing the old and new material.. without a doubt, but they gotta mix it up to keep the audience listening. After a while, they can lose their audience with too long of a period without something recognizable. The writer obviously LIKED what he heard, when he could relate to it (aka... the hits). JMTC.

Balance... they need balance.

Playitloudforme wrote:Balance... they need balance.

I think they have some balance, but man, they could play some "mid charting hits too," like I'll Be Alright Without You, If He Should Break Your Heart, Still They Ride, After the Fall and so on... Journey might be one of a handful of bands who can actually play 3 hours of songs where every on of them is identifiable..... But I do think the Band has earned the right to play anything they desire..I think 30 yrs of success does give them the power to do that.

Also, I think a lot of different music gets different reactions..I went and saw Kenny Wayne Sheperd and BB King, and they were awesome, yet it is not the type of music where everyone jumps up and claps and sings in unison either...much like the first 35 mins of this tour.

I like watching Neal play a slow, articulate guitar on Patiently, and I sit there..I don't have to be up "dancing" like the yenta's over at BT....(don't get me started)...

I also, always favor the Dirty Dozen..You wanna know why? I love the unity..I love when you look back and see a sea of people having an awesome time, knowing the songs by heart, and hearing them sing.. At paso Robles, I intentionally left the concert area for a song or two, and went into the Carnival area to hear the Band...There were people standing in line singing along with the show..it was incredible..You know how many "I wish we bought tickets!" I heard? Quite a few... Heck, Open Arms, I won't listen on the radio, but live, I love it..the drums are crisp, and again, the crowd vocal is amazing!! It seems a little harder edged live versus studio..

Rock'ndeano wrote:

Playitloudforme wrote:Balance... they need balance.

I think they have some balance, but man, they could play some "mid charting hits too," like I'll Be Alright Without You, If He Should Break Your Heart, Still They Ride, After the Fall and so on... Journey might be one of a handful of bands who can actually play 3 hours of songs where every on of them is identifiable..... But I do think the Band has earned the right to play anything they desire..I think 30 yrs of success does give them the power to do that.

I agree they have a wide variety of songs that could easily be played, and they do merit being able to play what they want. But to keep the audiences' attention, they need to intersperse the known songs a bit more into the mix. Otherwise, why do a concert? The concerts are supposed to please the audience, because when they don't, the ticket buyer is less likely to purchase again. JMO, but if they are playing the old stuff to please the band, rather than the audience, it can backfire on them. I don't think that's the case here, except for the reaaaaaallllllllly long guitar solos that Neal will do. Yes, he's brilliant and talented, but this is where I think the balance might need to be looked at. Give the audience plenty of songs they can sing to, and then indulge in the artistry a tad. I just see it as a win-win if they play with the balance, rather than all artistry up front, and then all hits in the end of the concert. But hey... just my two cents, they definitely get to do what they want to do.

1) It is fair for a reviewer to write that only the hits got a response (no shit sherlock), but the negative reviews often have the same hypocrisy to them. They'll call Journey a Nostalgia act...then criticize them for playing new material. HUH?

2) I am rather impressed that Journey is selling a lot of tickets in big barns with this show by themselves. They are doing what they want AND selling tix....Kudos is due.

Playitloudforme wrote:JMO, but if they are playing the old stuff to please the band, rather than the audience, it can backfire on them. I don't think that's the case here, except for the reaaaaaallllllllly long guitar solos that Neal will do. Yes, he's brilliant and talented, but this is where I think the balance might need to be looked at.

I'd go to a Neal only concert JUST to hear Neal play. I love listening to him. He's one of the best guitarists in the world today.


It sounds like maybe the guys ought to mix up the set list a bit from what I've read here, but I'll have a better perspective when I see them for myself. This concert was billed as "An Evening with Journey," so how can the guys help it if some ticket buyers don't get what that means?

I'm going in the hopes of hearing the new stuff, as well as the old. I get that people like the identifiable stuff, but the band is making strides in moving on, so why not let them? How many times can you listen to the oldies? Maybe it's a strain on the brains of some to stretch themselves out, and allow for something new and different?

Also, if fans are looking for Perry only, they wouldn't be coming to concerts to hear the oldies sung by Steve Augeri. Maybe it's just the songs they like, not necessarily who sang them?

Ah.. and I go to the concerts for the whole package, not just one individual. Different strokes for different folks. Which is why, some reviewers love it, and others dont'. All depends on their expectations of what they think they'll get.

Playitloudforme wrote:Ah.. and I go to the concerts for the whole package, not just one individual. Different strokes for different folks. Which is why, some reviewers love it, and others dont'. All depends on their expectations of what they think they'll get.

Please don't take my words out of context!

I said I would go to a Neal ONLY concert also, because I love the man's work...it's outstanding! I was referring to what you said.....

yak wrote:This concert was billed as "An Evening with Journey," so how can the guys help it if some ticket buyers don't get what that means?

They could help with better promotion. Give more specific details in the interviews. And have those interviews a week or two before a show, not the night before a show. And the print ads and radio spots could mention that there are two sets and the first set will take all the way back to the beginning.

yak wrote:but the band is making strides in moving on, so why not let them?

I certainly hope Journey keeps this up with following tours. They need to keep playing the newer material and weed out some of the older songs. They should have started that 4 years ago, after the Arrival Tour.

jrnyman28,

yak wrote:but the band is making strides in moving on, so why not let them?

I certainly hope Journey keeps this up with following tours. They need to keep playing the newer material and weed out some of the older songs. They should have started that 4 years ago, after the Arrival Tour.[/quote]

Aint that the truth! What was the point of the "Under the Radar" tour again.....oh yeah...lets tarnish our rep and start playing a steady diet of 3rd rate shitty venues. And lets only play 2 songs off a 4 song EP...and occasionally play 1 song off Arrival. YIKES....I still dislike the tour!

Eric wrote:What was the point of the "Under the Radar" tour again.....oh yeah...lets tarnish our rep and start playing a steady diet of 3rd rate shitty venues. And lets only play 2 songs off a 4 song EP...and occasionally play 1 song off Arrival. YIKES....I still dislike the tour!

Well, I agree that the setlist could have been better, but the show was fantastic. Until this year it was the best show I had seen. Steve grew into his own and he owned it during the UTR Tour!

yak wrote:

Playitloudforme wrote:Ah.. and I go to the concerts for the whole package, not just one individual. Different strokes for different folks. Which is why, some reviewers love it, and others dont'. All depends on their expectations of what they think they'll get.

Please don't take my words out of context!

I said I would go to a Neal ONLY concert also, because I love the man's work...it's outstanding! I was referring to what you said.....

Ok... chill... LOL. Noted logged.