MR

This trip is freaking EPIC...

Here is a shot I took last night.

DAMMIT Rip, do you rob banks for a living or what??? Do you need a sidekick?

G.I.Jim wrote:DAMMIT Rip, do you rob banks for a living or what??? Do you need a sidekick?

I believe lovely Susan is rokken the sidekick position for this one ...

Great front row shot, Rip! Hope you all are having a complete blast.

Yeah, I've always wondered how these people go see 10+ shows a year....and far away places, too. I must be in the wrong business....

Got any vids of anything other than the dozen? Seems those are on YT, but not the new tunes.

Wow, this place has some hardcore Arnel supporters. How can you afford going to South America to follow them around?

Journey was on the same plane as I on the way down. Said hi to them as we went back to our seat. I got to look at the back of Deen's and Ross's heads all night, haha! Shook Neal's hand and said, "Hey -- count two American's in for Santiago." This trip is the best.

I've posted a lot more pics on the APR site -- here is the thread link:

http://arnelpinedarocks.com/forum/index ... =23&t=2498

Some videos there, and I know one of our group took some excellent vids from the front row with us. The new songs are among them. Running short on time, and haven't seen what all is out there. Facebook has been 100% NUTS for a few days. I will post more later when I can.

Yes, Mrs. R is having a blast! Here's a shot of her with some of our local friends:

Those are three good looking women!

Thanks, Rip!

Seems like it was a real blast, and from the clips I've seen it looks like the crowd was terrific. That may not be Perry up there, but it sure looks and sounds like a Journey show to me. I can't wait to take in a show. Did they play any of the new ones?

Did you look up Carla from MR while you were there?

Anyone heard of the attendance numbers? Sellout?

jrny84 wrote:Anyone heard of the attendance numbers? Sellout?

Heard it was sold-out and seats were added, so somewhere around 12,000. It looks packed from the pictures and everyone including the balcony is on their feet.

jrny10 wrote:Wow, this place has some hardcore Arnel supporters. How can you afford going to South America to follow them around?

I think you meant to say Journey supporters. You don't have to be just an Arnel supporter to still be a Journey fan, although the little fella is doing just fine. It's the first show of a major world tour, I know I would have loved to go.

jrny84 wrote:Anyone heard of the attendance numbers? Sellout?

It was a sellout.

Majestic wrote:Thanks, Rip!

Seems like it was a real blast, and from the clips I've seen it looks like the crowd was terrific. That may not be Perry up there, but it sure looks and sounds like a Journey show to me. I can't wait to take in a show. Did they play any of the new ones?

They played the five new ones they played in Las Vegas: Human Feel (Rise Up), Resonate, Chain of Love, Edge of the Moment, City of Hope.

Rip Rokken wrote:Journey was on the same plane as I on the way down. Said hi to them as we went back to our seat. I got to look at the back of Deen's and Ross's heads all night, haha! Shook Neal's hand and said, "Hey -- count two American's in for Santiago." This trip is the best.

I've posted a lot more pics on the APR site -- here is the thread link:

http://arnelpinedarocks.com/forum/index ... =23&t=2498

Some videos there, and I know one of our group took some excellent vids from the front row with us. The new songs are among them. Running short on time, and haven't seen what all is out there. Facebook has been 100% NUTS for a few days. I will post more later when I can.

Yes, Mrs. R is having a blast! Here's a shot of her with some of our local friends:

The translations on his site crack me up...

"and after so many years, and the impressive catalog of hits like" Do not Stop Believin ', Pretty funny.

S2M wrote:Yeah, I've always wondered how these people go see 10+ shows a year....and far away places, too. I must be in the wrong business....

I'll be happy to share that secret, lol... This year, it's all about frequent flyer miles, and having saved since last year from not taking trips after MR Fest II. I started 2011 with a nest egg, and had also earned some free flights from reward cards and my ticket to Santiago only cost me $250 ($50 for the service charge, and $200 for the extra miles needed to purchase that ticket. Got my front row tickets for face value, which were the equivalent of $135 each.

Now, all that was well and good until we both decided to go. The Mrs.' plane ticket was full value, then we upped the hotel to 5-star and rented a car (and car rental seems close to twice as high here as in the States.) On top of that we were surprised by a $140 per person entry fee at the airport in Santiago. Chile is not in the least bit cheap -- nothing like Mexico or many other South American countries, and by the time I get home I'll probably have expended the last of my savings and will have to start over again. Maybe not, but it could be close. Plus, I bought 5-star ILAA for Dallas this year.

Peartree12249 wrote:Did you look up Carla from MR while you were there?

So far, I've met every single person I've known from Chile, including friends of friends I've chatted with on Facebook, with the exception of Carla. She's not in Santiago and couldn't make it down for the show, unfortunately. I definitely missed meeting her, and hope there will be another time.

RocknRoll wrote:

jrny84 wrote:Anyone heard of the attendance numbers? Sellout?

Heard it was sold-out and seats were added, so somewhere around 12,000. It looks packed from the pictures and everyone including the balcony is on their feet.

I also heard it was a sellout, and right before Journey started there was an eruption of applause up in the stands. Turns out apparently it was Bono from U2. Journey and crew had gone to see U2 play the night before their show, and some of the boys from U2 returned the favor the next evening. I understand that Bono is still here for a few days -- they said he really wants to know more about Santiago. Maybe I'll run into him.

BTW, the opening band Sweet was awesome! I'd really forgotten about these guys, and this was Steve Priest's version (the only original member on bass), but they put on a hell of a show!

Rip Rokken wrote:

RocknRoll wrote:

jrny84 wrote:Anyone heard of the attendance numbers? Sellout?

Heard it was sold-out and seats were added, so somewhere around 12,000. It looks packed from the pictures and everyone including the balcony is on their feet.

I also heard it was a sellout, and right before Journey started there was an eruption of applause up in the stands. Turns out apparently it was Bono from U2. Journey and crew had gone to see U2 play the night before their show, and some of the boys from U2 returned the favor the next evening. I understand that Bono is still here for a few days -- they said he really wants to know more about Santiago. Maybe I'll run into him.

BTW, the opening band Sweet was awesome! I'd really forgotten about these guys, and they put on a hell of a show!

Tell us how the new songs sounded and your favorites upon hearing them a second time live.

Rip Rokken wrote:

RocknRoll wrote:

jrny84 wrote:Anyone heard of the attendance numbers? Sellout?

Heard it was sold-out and seats were added, so somewhere around 12,000. It looks packed from the pictures and everyone including the balcony is on their feet.

I also heard it was a sellout, and right before Journey started there was an eruption of applause up in the stands. Turns out apparently it was Bono from U2. Journey and crew had gone to see U2 play the night before their show, and some of the boys from U2 returned the favor the next evening. I understand that Bono is still here for a few days -- they said he really wants to know more about Santiago. Maybe I'll run into him.

BTW, the opening band Sweet was awesome! I'd really forgotten about these guys, and they put on a hell of a show!

Unrelated to any of this, I'm not the U2 hater I used to be. They have earned my respect of late. I just needed more education.

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself Rip. Sounds like a great time.

Rip, tell us how the new songs were received by the audience.

Rick wrote:

Rip Rokken wrote:

RocknRoll wrote:

jrny84 wrote:Anyone heard of the attendance numbers? Sellout?

Heard it was sold-out and seats were added, so somewhere around 12,000. It looks packed from the pictures and everyone including the balcony is on their feet.

I also heard it was a sellout, and right before Journey started there was an eruption of applause up in the stands. Turns out apparently it was Bono from U2. Journey and crew had gone to see U2 play the night before their show, and some of the boys from U2 returned the favor the next evening. I understand that Bono is still here for a few days -- they said he really wants to know more about Santiago. Maybe I'll run into him.

BTW, the opening band Sweet was awesome! I'd really forgotten about these guys, and they put on a hell of a show!

Unrelated to any of this, I'm not the U2 hater I used to be. They have earned my respect of late. I just needed more education.

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself Rip. Sounds like a great time.

Aw. Nice to hear. So many of their songs that are amazing are the songs the casual fan doesn't know. Like Kite, which he wrote about losing his father. For anyone who has lost someone, it's so meaningful.

U2 live Slane Castle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uXitB-FfOQ

Rip Rokken wrote:

Peartree12249 wrote:Did you look up Carla from MR while you were there?

So far, I've met every single person I've known from Chile, including friends of friends I've chatted with on Facebook, with the exception of Carla. She's not in Santiago and couldn't make it down for the show, unfortunately. I definitely missed meeting her, and hope there will be another time.

To bad she missed the show. I hope she's doing well.

S2M wrote:Yeah, I've always wondered how these people go see 10+ shows a year....and far away places, too. I must be in the wrong business....

Or maybe the wrong state? Arkansas, in the middle of nowhere west, east, or south & a bit higher than most on income tax, is a fairly inexpensive place to live. Most of the state is raw, natural beauty - mountains & clear water central to the west, wide open farm land to the east, timber & oil to the south. And, crime is relatively low all over. Most of the economic woes of America have never really hit us hard here. We've always been in kind of a bubble, where life has pretty much remained stable, financially, and 'small town', socially. Yellow-dog Democrats & a growing Republican vote, all lead to a moderately conservative population. We have a balanced State budget, and we're all good 'ole southern chivalrous people. Life here is good, very good. Not too darned bad...for a secondary concert market.

I applaud Rip for taking advantage of his rock-n-roll travel dreams. Sharing the pics and stories allow us all a bit of vicariousness.


later~

I think she's doing fine. Just so busy with work and life. Maybe she'll drop in sometime to say hello.

The new songs were very well received, and I knew most of the words from our YouTube vids before. Someone told me they saw me singing along and I was the only fan who knew the words, lol! Works for me...

I love them all, but "Resonate" is still my top fave. For "Human Feel", they were joined this time by two Chilean artists playing bongos and percussion -- it was killer!

Rip Rokken wrote:I think she's doing fine. Just so busy with work and life. Maybe she'll drop in sometime to say hello.

The new songs were very well received, and I knew most of the words from our YouTube vids before. Someone told me they saw me singing along and I was the only fan who knew the words, lol! Works for me...

I love them all, but "Resonate" is still my top fave. For "Human Feel", they were joined this time by two Chilean artists playing bongos and percussion -- it was killer!

Now that would definitely be a video I would want to see!!

I saw Sweet a couple years ago, still really fun to watch. Actually surprised I knew the music

Well, no clips so far of the new songs, but a clip of Faithfully. It's been so long since I've listened to that song, and two years since I heard it live. It really has everything, beautiful melody, great guitar, piano, lyrics. Arnel always does it justice imo. It's really my favorite song of all time.

Santiago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl1egaptmA8

Sound not that great.

Resonate - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnO1znoR ... r_embedded

The videos will be coming -- one of my friends took some excellent vids of these songs from the front row, and we were all listening to them at her house later.

I found this clip from the local news media on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRzZzLUNm7c It helps if you know Spanish, but even if you don't there is a segment showing some of the performance of Edge of the Moment at the 55 sec mark. Seems like it was a big event there, and the people loved it!