Concord / review / picture link

[blondn6ft]

{{ cut and pasted from the Journey forums}}

OK … well I have gotten some sleep and now figure it is time to give my account of last night.

First … thank you to my “dates” Cheryl and Emerson. A wonderful time was had and sharing it with the two of you and “our angel” overhead was amazing.

ILAA … well no meet and greet, but we knew this in advance. Was I bummed … sure … but since I have had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with the guys before (just not Arnel) I wasn’t that disappointed. I did feel a bit sorry for those who were clearly there to meet Arnel. The food was … well, nothing to write home about. Classify it as finger food at best. The bar was free to us until 7pm (beer, wine, soda & water) anything “hard” you had to buy. Jeff from ILAA is a fun and great host. They gave away lots of great SWAG … bonus for me … I won an autographed drum head! I splurged this time and went 5*. I have always done 4* in the past. The gift bag is better than years past in my opinion. The beach towel is VERY COOL along with the water bottle and tote … NICE. Then came time to hand out the seats. Cheryl opened our envelope … ROW AA !! Front row! Now we had to figure out just where our seats were in that front row. We headed up top … followed our usher … OH MY GOSH !!!
FRONT ROW CENTER !!! Never before in all my years or following the band have I had FRONT ROW CENTER !

Cheap Trick came out to a pretty small and not so vocal crowd. I knew their music but had never seen them perform live. Great sound … didn’t miss a beat. Had a blast having Robin Zander sing to me ! We had little treat when Jon came out and played keyboards for “Surrender” and then a BIGGER bonus when Jon stayed on keyboards and Deen came out and sang backup on “Dream Police”. What a treat ! The guitar pick war was pretty funny too … they threw more at each other than at the fans !

Moving onto Heart … WOW ! Again a band I grew up listening to but have never seen live. Not only are these women both more beautiful in person than on video but their voices and guitar playing is AMAZING. Emerson was in his glory with Nancy playing do close to him!

OK … now for what you all are really here to read about. AC/DC’s “Back in Black” starts up and the big screen goes back stage as you view the guys in a pre-show pow-wow of sorts. Deen was in rare form … hamming it up to the camera almost in Ross fashion. This is a great added item … it really shows you the guys getting pumped up right before hitting the stage. I won’t go into the set list as others have so graciously posted it! (Thank you … I am horrible at remembering). However … having Deen sing “Keep on Running” had me dancing like a fool. I did a cheerleading routine to this in Jr High! Hahaha
Hearing “Escape” was a treat that I have missed over the last few years. This song always gets me pumped up. Having never seen Arnel … I was unsure of how I would react. I was lost in the music as always … transported to some other place and time. Arnel is a showman and a half ! If I could bottle his energy and sell it Red Bull and Monster energy drinks would go out of business ! The boys really seemed to be having a great time with one another. Neal and Jon had a little push and shove match … Ross never to be outdone, made more faces that I have seen in a long time and Deen … well my friend, the new hair and eye liner … the full sleeves on the arms … you have a renewed drumming monster that is coming through. You killed it … I personally want to hear you sing more, but was happy for the one song.
I am glad I spent the big bucks … I wasn’t going to go this year … but am happy I change my mind.

My heart still soars listening to the music … THANK YOU JOURNEY.

I have photos posted on my page of all 3 bands ... www.robinsbirdseyeview.com
Head to the "Rock On" section ... you find a separate sectipon just for the Journey pictures from that night and then
galleries for CT and H there also.

Enjoy and always let me know what you think!

[RocknRoll]

Fantasitc Pictures

Love the review as well.

[Saint John]

Thank you. Awesome pics.

[MartyMoffatt]

We've already discussed these via PM, but I'd just like to go on record and say great pics Robin. Even better considering they were taken without the advantage o the photo pit.

Marty

[Deb]

Awesome pics Robin! Thanks for the review.