MR

So, it looks like they cut Who's Crying Now, Escape and Chain Of Love from the St. Louis set last night. That's about 15-20 minutes missing. I wonder why? They would have only played for about 75 minutes last night.

Maybe curfew/time restrictions at that venue. Who knows.

Could have been the heat. Good show. Not great. Enjoyed Foreigner best.

My opinion is probably clouded though simply because I saw U2 last week, and that is going to make it hard to ever enjoy a live show again given how remarkable it was. From a production and performance standpoint, it was truly unbelievable.

Sigh.

Same set in St. Paul.

5 performances in 5 days. they are worried about Arnel...plus the heat index in St. Louis was like 112!

Crazy4Ross wrote:5 performances in 5 days. they are worried about Arnel...plus the heat index in St. Louis was like 112!

They'd better be.

Has Deen lost his voice this tour?

Don wrote:Has Deen lost his voice this tour?

He'd better find it quick.

Gideon wrote:

Don wrote:Has Deen lost his voice this tour?

He'd better find it quick.

These guys are good enough now that they should be able to pull off some big venue gigs and play less dates. With proper rest and breaks Arnel should be
able to sing in original key. Money or longevity, that is the question. Neal, what do you say? You guys have 5 years if you don't toast your singer.
You have one more, if you do. Become a better business man, do the math. AP will be fine either way, in the end, but will Journey, slipping back
into obscurity?

steveo777 wrote:

Gideon wrote:

Don wrote:Has Deen lost his voice this tour?

He'd better find it quick.

These guys are good enough now that they should be able to pull off some big venue gigs and play less dates. With proper rest and breaks Arnel should be
able to sing in original key. Money or longevity, that is the question. Neal, what do you say? You guys have 5 years if you don't toast your singer.
You have one more, if you do. Become a better business man, do the math. AP will be fine either way, in the end, but will Journey, slipping back
into obscurity?

Bigger venues aren't what's really needed. When you do less dates, the places you play have to pay for the difference. Why do you think Muse or Taylor Swift get accolades for selling out a 17k arena like Staples or Madison Square Garden? Because those places pay bucketloads more than what bands make playing bigger size venues like San Manuel or the New York State Fair. Azoff has these guys roped into playing venues that he owns, not the ones that can net the band the most money for themselves.

Don wrote:

steveo777 wrote:

Gideon wrote:

Don wrote:Has Deen lost his voice this tour?

He'd better find it quick.

These guys are good enough now that they should be able to pull off some big venue gigs and play less dates. With proper rest and breaks Arnel should be
able to sing in original key. Money or longevity, that is the question. Neal, what do you say? You guys have 5 years if you don't toast your singer.
You have one more, if you do. Become a better business man, do the math. AP will be fine either way, in the end, but will Journey, slipping back
into obscurity?

Bigger venues aren't what's really needed. When you do less dates, the places you play have to pay for the difference. Why do you think Muse or Taylor Swift get accolades for selling out a 17k arena like Staples or Madison Square Garden? Because those places pay bucketloads more than what bands making playing bigger size venues like San Manuel or the New York State Fair. Azoff has these guys roped into playing venues that he owns, not the ones that can net the band the most money for themselves.

I knew someone like you would find me the answer I was looking for. These guys have got to get off the burn out schedule, but they can't disappear for years at a time either.

I also think they could groom and polish Arnel on the down time, as well as rehearse better.

Heat doesn't deter fans from rocking with Journey in St Louis

http://www.examiner.com/concert-photogr ... uis-review


Sean Derrick
St. Louis Concert Photography Examiner
July 29, 2011

If you ever doubted that the rock group Journey was as popular now in the post-Steve Perry era, all you have to do is to check out the group at a live show, and that in itself should make you rethink that prior opinion.

Fans in St. Louis got just that opportunity this past Wednesday at a very hot and steamy Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Opening for Journey were veteran rockers Night Ranger and Foreigner. With each band in a different state each proved resilient to their respective stage of their careers.

In Night Ranger the original core members of Jack Blades, Kelly Keagy, and Brad Gillis remain and looked as youthful as ever. They rocked through a 30 minute set that started early with their latest single “Growing up in California” off their first charted CD in 23 years in “Somewhere in California”. The rest of their set was an intense and solid greatest hits rundown (with a Damn Yankees cover of “Coming of Age”) that helped set the stage for the rest of the night.

The quote of the night came from Blades who joked about the heat “We are supposed to be out here to warm you guys up. Are you warm yet?”

Foreigner didn’t have such luck. Lead singer Kelly Hansen experienced several technical issues when it seemed he could not find a working microphone. Though he didn’t let that deter him, when he finally did find a working mic he, along with Bassist Jeff Pilson, worked the crowd extremely well in the heat. The set was tight after the first song and provided a strong set up for Journey. The only original member of the band, Mick Jones, produced stellar guitar licks while keeping the band “classic”.

Journey didn’t waste any time setting the stage for how their set would be by storming out to “Separate Ways (Worlds apart)” and “Ask the Lonely” before showcasing their newest single “City of Hope” off their latest CD “Eclipse”.

While the aforementioned Perry was not the band’s first singer (he was actually their 3rd) he was their most popular, leading the band through their heyday in the late 1970’s – late 1980’s. However, the band’s “newest” (since 2007) lead singer, Arnel Pineda has endeared himself to Journey’s faithful, and even helped bring in new fans with his energetic style and dynamic vocal ability. Plowing through such classic Journey hits as “Stone in Love”, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, and “Any Way You Want it” Pineda displayed showed off his incredible pipes. He showcased his versatility by crooning effortlessly through ballads like “Faithfully”, “Lights”, and “Send Her My Love”, much to the delight of the over 17,000 in attendance.

The stage setup was simple, yet bright, with a few lasers for effect. But make no mistake, fancy lasers and elaborate stage setups are not the focus on Journey’s shows. It is most certainly the showcasing of their extremely talented lineup. Besides, just watching Pineda jumping around with boundless energy, coupled with his amazing vocals, was enough to light up the stage.

The rest of the band (Original members Guitarist Neal Schon and Bassist Ross Valory, along with Longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain, and drummer Deen Castronovo) produced a sound that was not only tight and loud but filled with a ton of emotion, most certainly not a band just going through the motions.

In fact there were few issues with any band on the bill as all showed why they have sustained careers that have lasted 30 + years in an industry that can be brutal to some who can’t keep up. With good sounding new CD’s from Night Ranger and Journey, as well as Foreigner’s most recent – 2009’s “Can’t Slow Down” which was their highest charting CD in 22 years, one thing is apparent: none of these groups are going away anytime soon.

Cool. Down to 2 Eclipse tunes. Maybe they'll drop it to 1 by tomorrow night when we see them.