Here is the Red Rocks Review (LONG)
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:38 amOK, here goes:
It is really difficult to know where to begin with this review. There were a lot of things influencing my mood about this show. The biggest became finding out that there were only 9 rows of GA seats all the way at the top of the Rocks. I was in row 61! I have never been that far up for a show at Red Rocks. When talking to people around us, I found that many were as upset as I was because right up until yesterday the internet was still reporting that there was GA down front and at the top…which is the usual case at Red Rocks. I happened to find out about a week ago that it was likely to be different but was not prepared for this. As it turns out, my seating played a crucial part in my enjoyment of the show.
But let’s move on and come back to that in a minute. I was going to meet a friend at the show as well and he invited me to the Meet & Greet before the show so I headed down to the right side of the stage only to find JSS hanging out talking to fans. He is a very nice guy, approachable, polite and friendly. I hung back while waiting for my friend to show up and I overheard JSS mention that the altitude was affecting him as he got up for his 9:00 am run and it quickly became a 10:00 am run. As they set up for the Meet & Greet my friend had not arrived yet. Jon, Ross and Jeff were set up at a table and the M&G went very fast. Apparently the M&G’s have been kept pretty short and strict this year. Even the band members do not like the changes but they did what they could. My friend arrived just after it ended but no bother, he had Journey GUEST passes which meant we could still head backstage. Meanwhile Jeff had headed back out to continue talking to the fans and taking pictures. I also heard him mention that singing Journey was “a whole different animal” than Soul SirkUS. Finally one of the band assistants had to gather JSS and get him backstage.
After I got back up to my seat (and quit feeling dizzy) I spent a while answering questions from the Def Leppard fans around me. It was definitely a Def Leppard audience but they were interested in Journey too. The funniest thing I heard was a rumor that Phil Collins was singing for Journey! I imagine that came from a combination of “the drummer” singing for Journey and Def Leppard having a guitarist named Phil Collen. When Jon came out to play Harmonica with the “opening act” (a single guy with an acoustic guitar played for about 15 minutes) I mentioned that Jon had only been playing harmonica for about 4 years and the response I got was “How do you KNOW these things?!?!”
When Neal hit the stage for the SSB I still managed to get a few chills. Everyone stood up and everyone cheered. Neal seems to “lose the plot” once in a while during the SSB but he pulls it back in and it is good! I think it is a great way to open the show and it keeps the show from losing momentum later when he used to play it.
Once the rest of the band took the stage I could see immediately (even at my elevated position) that Deen was not the man behind the drums. This was disturbing. I certainly enjoyed Steve in Journey and it has been saddening to me that he is not capable of singing with the band. But to have Deen ALSO missing from the band made me feel a little like it felt for the ROR days. Only 3 members of the band that I love! Jon finally announced that Deen was pretty sick and that Jim Handy was sitting in on drums. Now I must give Jim his props. Even though I have talked to Jim once or twice and I am aware he is a pretty good drummer, I was expected a simple drum fill-in. Just time-keeping and a cymbal once in a while. But Jim really “brought it”. I was very impressed with him as he totally blew away my expectations. Of course the background vocals were also affected by Deen’s absence and I had to wonder what Journey was going to sound like with JSS on “Open Arms” and Faithfully”. However, much to my pleasure, Deen came out just after the 4th song and took over on the kit for Edge Of The Blade!
There is definitely a different energy and edge to the band now with JSS singing. I noticed that Jon spent more time on guitar than he did behind the piano for the first 5-6 songs. I realized that it took Neal until he was in his late 50’s to FINALLY get the “Journey” that he wants. This Journey has some teeth.
Being prepared for JSS and a ‘different sound’ from Journey, I did not go through any “shock”. In fact, It didn’t appear that too many people did. The audience was very receptive and sang along with every one of the dirty dozen. This solidified my feelings that Journey is definitely about the SONGS now, not the SINGER. Perry certainly may have “sold” those songs with his voice. But they stand the test of time regardless of who is singing. The band is tight and JSS definitely works the entire stage. I don’t think he ever really stood still (or stationary). JSS was all over the place, playing off all the band members. And he (for lack of a better word) sucks up well to Neal onstage. “Paying respect” probably fits a little better. And at one point there was Neal, JSS, Ross and Jon all standing in a “V” on stage jammin’ out. Something I have never seen before: all four guys standing together like that.
Highlights of the setlist for me were “Keep On Running”,” Edge Of The Blade”, “Chain Reaction”, “Escape” and “Separate Ways”. All sung VERY well by JSS. He definitely fits that style of song, the slightly harder edge. Plus, I LOVED the opportunity to hear KOR and EOTB live!! Unfortunately those two songs did see much of the audience sit down…remember, it was a Def Leppard audience so anything but the Dirty Dozen saw a smaller reaction. Deen was obviously struggling a little with his vocals but he still gave a very good performance.
Like I said at the beginning, my seats were an issue. Because of the weather, and the distance from the stage, the sound was not good. It really did JSS no favors at all. He sounded muffled much of the time. The wind was cutting through the amphitheater across the stage causing a muffling effect. Sometimes Neal’s guitar would come out REALLY loud, but you could hear all the instruments well. It unfortunately caused a lot of problems for me to hear JSS’ vocals. When I could hear him he sounded good. But that seemed pretty rare between the weather and the awesome crowd response. What surprised me more was that Def Leppard’s sounded even worse. All that really came through from them was their Bass and Drums. Everything else seemed muffled or virtually non-existent.
So for Def Leppard’s set, the sound was terrible. But their stage and their presentation were much better. Where Journey looked like it was using an old version of Windows Media Player for their graphics, Def Leppard had amazing visuals. Def Leppard used graphics representative of the song, album or era, pictures of the band from the early 80’s, lights. It was a very good presentation. And the set list surprised me. After hearing all the accounts of “Make Love Like A Man” it was a surprise that they did not play it. They included “Foolin’”, “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak”, “Let It Rock” and even “Promises” from Euphoria. “Love Bites” was saved to be a part of the Encore with “Pour Some Sugar On Me” so we left before the show was completely over. We made our “Escape” before the major traffic!
I may be biased, but I would have to say that Journey was a better show overall. Journey had a stronger setlist for the ‘general public’, better sound from where I was sitting, tighter musicianship and no Bass solo. Joe’s voice was pretty bad and there doesn’t seem to be as much “chemistry” on stage. Joe did a good job with the audience, acknowledged that he was getting winded in the altitude, and asked for a round of applause for Deen and Journey. Def Leppard “won” on the things that don’t matter so much: the visuals. I was also hoping for more than two songs from “YEAH!”. Def Leppard still stuck with “No Matter What” and “Rock On”. I kept waiting for “Waterloo Sunset” because Phil has mentioned they want to add that.
Now for one final opinion, courtesy of my wife. Steve won here over in 2001 and while she does not follow everything closely and is not a blind supporter, she does like Steve a lot and knows what has gone on. She thinks JSS is UGLY and she doesn’t care for his voice much either (sorry). She really missed Steve, especially on Open Arms. She thought Deen was good, but obviously struggling. She still thinks Neal is an arrogant, egocentric jerk. But she also enjoyed Journey more than Def Leppard.
It is really difficult to know where to begin with this review. There were a lot of things influencing my mood about this show. The biggest became finding out that there were only 9 rows of GA seats all the way at the top of the Rocks. I was in row 61! I have never been that far up for a show at Red Rocks. When talking to people around us, I found that many were as upset as I was because right up until yesterday the internet was still reporting that there was GA down front and at the top…which is the usual case at Red Rocks. I happened to find out about a week ago that it was likely to be different but was not prepared for this. As it turns out, my seating played a crucial part in my enjoyment of the show.
But let’s move on and come back to that in a minute. I was going to meet a friend at the show as well and he invited me to the Meet & Greet before the show so I headed down to the right side of the stage only to find JSS hanging out talking to fans. He is a very nice guy, approachable, polite and friendly. I hung back while waiting for my friend to show up and I overheard JSS mention that the altitude was affecting him as he got up for his 9:00 am run and it quickly became a 10:00 am run. As they set up for the Meet & Greet my friend had not arrived yet. Jon, Ross and Jeff were set up at a table and the M&G went very fast. Apparently the M&G’s have been kept pretty short and strict this year. Even the band members do not like the changes but they did what they could. My friend arrived just after it ended but no bother, he had Journey GUEST passes which meant we could still head backstage. Meanwhile Jeff had headed back out to continue talking to the fans and taking pictures. I also heard him mention that singing Journey was “a whole different animal” than Soul SirkUS. Finally one of the band assistants had to gather JSS and get him backstage.
After I got back up to my seat (and quit feeling dizzy) I spent a while answering questions from the Def Leppard fans around me. It was definitely a Def Leppard audience but they were interested in Journey too. The funniest thing I heard was a rumor that Phil Collins was singing for Journey! I imagine that came from a combination of “the drummer” singing for Journey and Def Leppard having a guitarist named Phil Collen. When Jon came out to play Harmonica with the “opening act” (a single guy with an acoustic guitar played for about 15 minutes) I mentioned that Jon had only been playing harmonica for about 4 years and the response I got was “How do you KNOW these things?!?!”
When Neal hit the stage for the SSB I still managed to get a few chills. Everyone stood up and everyone cheered. Neal seems to “lose the plot” once in a while during the SSB but he pulls it back in and it is good! I think it is a great way to open the show and it keeps the show from losing momentum later when he used to play it.
Once the rest of the band took the stage I could see immediately (even at my elevated position) that Deen was not the man behind the drums. This was disturbing. I certainly enjoyed Steve in Journey and it has been saddening to me that he is not capable of singing with the band. But to have Deen ALSO missing from the band made me feel a little like it felt for the ROR days. Only 3 members of the band that I love! Jon finally announced that Deen was pretty sick and that Jim Handy was sitting in on drums. Now I must give Jim his props. Even though I have talked to Jim once or twice and I am aware he is a pretty good drummer, I was expected a simple drum fill-in. Just time-keeping and a cymbal once in a while. But Jim really “brought it”. I was very impressed with him as he totally blew away my expectations. Of course the background vocals were also affected by Deen’s absence and I had to wonder what Journey was going to sound like with JSS on “Open Arms” and Faithfully”. However, much to my pleasure, Deen came out just after the 4th song and took over on the kit for Edge Of The Blade!
There is definitely a different energy and edge to the band now with JSS singing. I noticed that Jon spent more time on guitar than he did behind the piano for the first 5-6 songs. I realized that it took Neal until he was in his late 50’s to FINALLY get the “Journey” that he wants. This Journey has some teeth.
Being prepared for JSS and a ‘different sound’ from Journey, I did not go through any “shock”. In fact, It didn’t appear that too many people did. The audience was very receptive and sang along with every one of the dirty dozen. This solidified my feelings that Journey is definitely about the SONGS now, not the SINGER. Perry certainly may have “sold” those songs with his voice. But they stand the test of time regardless of who is singing. The band is tight and JSS definitely works the entire stage. I don’t think he ever really stood still (or stationary). JSS was all over the place, playing off all the band members. And he (for lack of a better word) sucks up well to Neal onstage. “Paying respect” probably fits a little better. And at one point there was Neal, JSS, Ross and Jon all standing in a “V” on stage jammin’ out. Something I have never seen before: all four guys standing together like that.
Highlights of the setlist for me were “Keep On Running”,” Edge Of The Blade”, “Chain Reaction”, “Escape” and “Separate Ways”. All sung VERY well by JSS. He definitely fits that style of song, the slightly harder edge. Plus, I LOVED the opportunity to hear KOR and EOTB live!! Unfortunately those two songs did see much of the audience sit down…remember, it was a Def Leppard audience so anything but the Dirty Dozen saw a smaller reaction. Deen was obviously struggling a little with his vocals but he still gave a very good performance.
Like I said at the beginning, my seats were an issue. Because of the weather, and the distance from the stage, the sound was not good. It really did JSS no favors at all. He sounded muffled much of the time. The wind was cutting through the amphitheater across the stage causing a muffling effect. Sometimes Neal’s guitar would come out REALLY loud, but you could hear all the instruments well. It unfortunately caused a lot of problems for me to hear JSS’ vocals. When I could hear him he sounded good. But that seemed pretty rare between the weather and the awesome crowd response. What surprised me more was that Def Leppard’s sounded even worse. All that really came through from them was their Bass and Drums. Everything else seemed muffled or virtually non-existent.
So for Def Leppard’s set, the sound was terrible. But their stage and their presentation were much better. Where Journey looked like it was using an old version of Windows Media Player for their graphics, Def Leppard had amazing visuals. Def Leppard used graphics representative of the song, album or era, pictures of the band from the early 80’s, lights. It was a very good presentation. And the set list surprised me. After hearing all the accounts of “Make Love Like A Man” it was a surprise that they did not play it. They included “Foolin’”, “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak”, “Let It Rock” and even “Promises” from Euphoria. “Love Bites” was saved to be a part of the Encore with “Pour Some Sugar On Me” so we left before the show was completely over. We made our “Escape” before the major traffic!
I may be biased, but I would have to say that Journey was a better show overall. Journey had a stronger setlist for the ‘general public’, better sound from where I was sitting, tighter musicianship and no Bass solo. Joe’s voice was pretty bad and there doesn’t seem to be as much “chemistry” on stage. Joe did a good job with the audience, acknowledged that he was getting winded in the altitude, and asked for a round of applause for Deen and Journey. Def Leppard “won” on the things that don’t matter so much: the visuals. I was also hoping for more than two songs from “YEAH!”. Def Leppard still stuck with “No Matter What” and “Rock On”. I kept waiting for “Waterloo Sunset” because Phil has mentioned they want to add that.
Now for one final opinion, courtesy of my wife. Steve won here over in 2001 and while she does not follow everything closely and is not a blind supporter, she does like Steve a lot and knows what has gone on. She thinks JSS is UGLY and she doesn’t care for his voice much either (sorry). She really missed Steve, especially on Open Arms. She thought Deen was good, but obviously struggling. She still thinks Neal is an arrogant, egocentric jerk. But she also enjoyed Journey more than Def Leppard.
I get to see them this weekend in Vegas. I'll post my opinion next week. I hope that I feel more like you did after it, than your wife does. We all have our opinions and none of them really matter. As someone said, It's their band and they will do as they choose. 
Thanks for the review!
And they are hot <hot> hot <hot> sticky sweet, from their head <head> head to their feet, yeah!