Very nice review

[sadie65]

http://www.huntingtonnews.net/entertain ... urney.html

WOOLUM ON MUSIC: Rock Legend Journey Wows Huge BSSA Crowd

By Brandon Woolum
Huntington News Network Writer

Huntington, WV (HNN) --- Tri-State music fans went on a journey through over 30 years of rock music hits Friday night, Nov. 18, 2005 at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. From their start in 1975 – to their break out years in the 1980’s – to the brand new disc that is in stores right now, legendary rockers, Journey is determined not to disappear just yet.

In front of the biggest crowd the Big Sandy Superstore Arena has hosted this year, the guys of Journey proved that even without original vocalist Steve Perry they can still hold their ground. Perry had to quit the band in 1997 due to medical problems.

Stepping up to fill the void was Brooklyn, New York native Steve Augeri. Augeri has been the permanent vocalist for Journey ever since Perry’s departure. However, Friday night as the band performed hits that were originally recorded with Steve Perry, it was tough to recognize the change at the vocal position. If you closed your eyes and only listened it was almost as if Perry were on stage singing the classic hits.

By Brandon Woolum
Huntington News Network Writer


In a powerful 2 ½ hour set without any intermissions, Journey quickly started playing a few of the fan favorite hits, but after the third song began to mix in some of the new songs from their latest disc, “Generations,” which hit shelves last month. On the new album all five members of the band sing in the lead position on at least one song.

It’s a rarity to see a band perform that cannot even fit every song that was a single in their set. Even with over 2 hours of Journey music, only about half of the over 45 singles the band had was played.

Along with Steve Perry, the songwriting skills of Jonathan Cain and the guitar work of Neil Schon were credited as pushing Journey to the top of FM radio throughout the 1980’s. Schon’s guitar skills were definitely evident Friday evening as he showcased several solos in nearly every song in the set.

Jonathan Cain stepped away from his numerous keyboards and large piano throughout the evening to play rhythm guitar on several of the songs. Cain also provided vocals for many of the new songs that were played off the “Generations” disc.

Drummer Deen Castronovo had one of the toughest jobs of the night. Without any breaks he had to continue to keep the beat on a very large drum kit without wearing down in the long set. Casteonovo didn’t show his age one bit and pounded at the kit better than a lot of the young drummers of today. Along with providing back-up vocals on many of the tracks, he sang “Still They Ride" in its entirety.

The only member of the 5-piece band who is beginning to show his age is bassist, Ross Valory. However, the grey hair did not stop Valory from appearing to have more fun being back on stage than the rest of the group. Attached to Valory’s microphone stand was a small device that squirted water when he stepped on a button that was attached to his pedal board. While randomly squirting the water onto the crowd, he also made some interesting faces to amuse the crowd throughout the entire duration of the set.

After just over 2 hours of entertaining the crowd with a mix of some of the classic hits such as “Don’t Stop Believing,” “Faithfully,” “Any Way You Want It” and “Open Arms, the band said their goodbyes and left the stage.

Cheers soon after filled the Big Sandy Superstore Arena until the rock legends made their way back onto the stage. As they came back out it was evident that Augeri had changed shirts. As the stage lights came up, Augeri was sporting a number four Marshall football jersey. Following a few Marshall plugs, Journey performed “Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin,'” exchanged hand shakes with the front row crowd and wrapped up their first ever Huntington appearance.

[Jeremey]

Great review, sounds about like the N Myrtle Beach show we saw. It's funny they mention Ross showing his age...After seeing his grizzly mug in those Escape DVD interviews, I'd say he looks better now than he ever has!

I love the name of that place, too....Big Sandy Arena. We passed by there on the way to Ohio this past summer and it's one of those kind of names that sticks in your head. Anyone watch "American Dad?" Everytime I think of "Big Sandy" I think of Roger the Alien in his best Paul Lynde voice saying "I'm going down to Big Sandy to pick up a bag of Pecans...anybody want anything from the Big Sandy?"

Wow. I'm stuck in the office today. Boredom has officially set in.

[NealIsGod]

Great review, sounds about like the N Myrtle Beach show we saw. It's funny they mention Ross showing his age...After seeing his grizzly mug in those Escape DVD interviews, I'd say he looks better now than he ever has!

I love the name of that place, too....Big Sandy Arena. We passed by there on the way to Ohio this past summer and it's one of those kind of names that sticks in your head. Anyone watch "American Dad?" Everytime I think of "Big Sandy" I think of Roger the Alien in his best Paul Lynde voice saying "I'm going down to Big Sandy to pick up a bag of Pecans...anybody want anything from the Big Sandy?"

Wow. I'm stuck in the office today. Boredom has officially set in.

I love the alien. He cracks me up more than anyone else on that show. I like the one when he installed a dimmer switch and was turning it off and on. The family looked at him and he said, "What? Too FABulous for you?"