Camden, NJ 8/13/11

[marco17]

So, I took the girlfriend to last night’s show in the “the hood” aka Camden, for an early birthday present. I wasn’t sure who else on MR may have gone, if any, so here’s my review of the show.
First, the GF is probably more of the typical fan. Enjoys the music and doesn’t really care who the singer du jour is. I am not a diehard, but have been around MR long enough to know most people’s opinions, and certainly am aware of the continuous Journey drama. Recently, we also had the opportunity to see Steve Augeri on one of his solo dates.

Night Ranger came out and did what I believe is the same set they have been doing every night. Not a huge NR fan, so I didn’t know much about them, and only knew the hits. It did end up being one of the evenings when Deen came out to play the drums on Sister Christian. They were loud, had a lot of energy, and I was pretty impressed with their performance.

Foreigner… Well, I honestly was most looking forward to their set because of the great responses and reviews they seem to be getting. They didn’t disappoint. Kelly Hansen was on his A game. Running all over the place, engaging the fans, and his vocals seemed to be pretty much spot on the entire night. The best moment of the show was when he told the people in the first few rows who were sitting down to..”Get up off your lazy asses, you paid a lot of money for these good seats, and you are just going to just sit there?” They had a lot of energy, a greatest hits set, and everyone seemed very into them.

Journey… Okay…reading MR everyday prepared me for the setlist, and the only difference maybe that from night to night they are possibly flipping SHML and WCN in/out in each others place depending on the night. Last night was SHML night. There were no other surprises. We were surrounded by a number Filipino folks who just went crazy when Arnel came out. Their ages ranged from probably 20’s to 70’s…seriously.

They may have gotten the sound fixed compared to some other shows, or maybe it is that we had tickets under the shell, but we were not that close to the stage, so it may sound better further back. You could hear the vocals equal to or better than the band.

I am going to preface this with, I like Arnel, I own Revelation and Eclipse, and like some moments on each. Compared to the radio streamed show the other night, he sounded better than that mess, unless they are cleaning him up somewhere in the process. He continues to try to make the songs his own at the expense of messing up some of the phrasing, and dragging things out. While not as bad as some versions I have heard, Faithfully still seems to be the song where he just can’t get it together, and frankly it’s a train wreck. I also found that he seems to scream and yell his way through the show. The only point when he seems to slow down and “sing” was Open Arms, and frankly he nailed that one. Arnel had a lot of energy and was all over the stage. He certainly doesn’t have the chaotic grace of Kelly Hansen or like him or not, a bit more of the smoothness that Augeri had. But, I will give him credit for trying.

Deen was going crazy as always, and at times it seemed that you could hear his backing vocals louder than Arnel’s lead vocals.

Neal was Neal. Sounded good, putting on a good show, but c’mon he better for being the guitar guy he is and that fact that he could play this set in his sleep. He took every opportunity to race off into some solo when it was appropriate.

Ross strolled around as usual, and the only thing I noticed is that it didn’t appear that he had stuck his finger in the electrical socket for tonight’s hairdo, compared to recent photos. It appeared to be the more slicked back look. He got his riotous applause during the opening chords to DSB.

Cain did his thing. Could have done without the harmonica solo during WITS, but he needs his time too, and it wasn’t that long, so it was acceptable. The way he was shuffling uncomfortably across the stage while playing the guitar, it looked like he must have been wearing jeans that were at least 2 sizes too small. That being said, he looked to be in a better mood than he sometimes does on stage.

Overall: From an effects perspective, Journey’s show was tops as you would expect, and it may be the only reason why Foreigner isn’t cleaning their clocks every night. There was something off during AYWI, and a couple others, and I am not sure what it was, but it just didn’t sound right, and a couple of seg-ways they used in between songs seemed off. The transitions just weren’t smooth. As for the new tracks…COH went over better than EOTM, but within 20 seconds of each song, everyone who was standing was in their seats, and EOTM was definitely the beer and pee break song, because people were just running out of the place.

As much as I like Journey, I felt Foreigner did a better show, and likely only because I enjoyed Kelly Hansen more than Arnel. As I mentioned before, Kelly sang the songs, Arnel screamed and yelled them, and it got old and annoying after a while, and frankly, made we wonder how long his voice is going to last singing that way, especially after we all know what happened to the two Steve's. In comparison, while he may or may not be at the level he was during his early and mid tenure with the band, both my GF and I walked out saying we had a lot more fun and enjoyed Steve Augeri’s solo show a couple months back more, and Journey was good, and what you would expect, but I walked away feeling a bit blah. That being said, it was an enjoyable night with a lot of great music.

[Red13JoePa]

I think the Eclipse material is REALLY rounding into form now. COH was terrific, and Edge Of The Moment really smoked. Not surprised with COH as that one has had a lot of workout but this Edge Of The Moment owned earlier ones. Maybe a little more schizo than the Eclipse version too.
Very impressed with the boys.

[AR]

I think the Eclipse material is REALLY rounding into form now. COH was terrific, and Edge Of The Moment really smoked. Not surprised with COH as that one has had a lot of workout but this Edge Of The Moment owned earlier ones. Maybe a little more schizo than the Eclipse version too.
Very impressed with the boys.

Glad you had fun bro. Still not sure if my guy recorded it or not.

[MCC620]

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-deta ... ?id=369486

someone recorded it....

[AR]

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=369486

someone recorded it....

That's cool. Not something I'm interested in, but my guy recorded the best JSS Journey recording so I know why JoePA was asking.

[Red13JoePa]

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=369486

someone recorded it....

That's cool. Not something I'm interested in, but my guy recorded the best JSS Journey recording so I know why JoePA was asking.

Yea, I was wondering about you getting this one and the Borgata Labor Day Weekend as whoever does your taping is phenomenal....I would imagine we'd get more Eclipse at the Borgata show since it's "an evening with."
I rolled right after the second Eclipse song gambling that there would not be another (had my 6 year old).

[AR]

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=369486

someone recorded it....

That's cool. Not something I'm interested in, but my guy recorded the best JSS Journey recording so I know why JoePA was asking.

Yea, I was wondering about you getting this one and the Borgata Labor Day Weekend as whoever does your taping is phenomenal....I would imagine we'd get more Eclipse at the Borgata show since it's "an evening with."
I rolled right after the second Eclipse song gambling that there would not be another (had my 6 year old).

He's a big fan of Arnel. I will ask him if he recorded anything this summer or has plans to do any shows.

[marco17]

I think the Eclipse material is REALLY rounding into form now. COH was terrific, and Edge Of The Moment really smoked. Not surprised with COH as that one has had a lot of workout but this Edge Of The Moment owned earlier ones. Maybe a little more schizo than the Eclipse version too.
Very impressed with the boys.

Agreed, they sounded pretty good on these, they were the beer breaks for most, especially EOTM.

[steveo777]

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=369486

someone recorded it....

Any easier way to get this?

[Starrider]

I think the Eclipse material is REALLY rounding into form now. COH was terrific, and Edge Of The Moment really smoked. Not surprised with COH as that one has had a lot of workout but this Edge Of The Moment owned earlier ones. Maybe a little more schizo than the Eclipse version too.
Very impressed with the boys.

Agreed, they sounded pretty good on these, they were the beer breaks for most, especially EOTM.

I was pretty close to the stage - 15th row or so, in front of Neal. No one near me or forward sat down during City of Hope. I think the stage videos helped. EOTM was a different story. Just about everyone grabbed a seat then.

The biggest buzzkill of the night was Arnel's sorry-ass attempt before WITS to get the crowd to sing along with him. Everyone had these "WTF is he doing?" looks on their faces.

I thought they sounded a lot better last night in Camden than on the Cincinnati webcast.

One thing that hurts Journey is they don't have anyone who has the personality to interact with the crowd like Jack Blades or Kelly Hansen do.

They should have ended the show instead of playing LTS, or played something else. That song manages to simultaneously suck and blow.

[marco17]

I think the Eclipse material is REALLY rounding into form now. COH was terrific, and Edge Of The Moment really smoked. Not surprised with COH as that one has had a lot of workout but this Edge Of The Moment owned earlier ones. Maybe a little more schizo than the Eclipse version too.
Very impressed with the boys.

Agreed, they sounded pretty good on these, they were the beer breaks for most, especially EOTM.

I was pretty close to the stage - 15th row or so, in front of Neal. No one near me or forward sat down during City of Hope. I think the stage videos helped. EOTM was a different story. Just about everyone grabbed a seat then.

The biggest buzzkill of the night was Arnel's sorry-ass attempt before WITS to get the crowd to sing along with him. Everyone had these "WTF is he doing?" looks on their faces.

I thought they sounded a lot better last night in Camden than on the Cincinnati webcast.

One thing that hurts Journey is they don't have anyone who has the personality to interact with the crowd like Jack Blades or Kelly Hansen do.

They should have ended the show instead of playing LTS, or played something else. That song manages to simultaneously suck and blow.

You are right, I forgot the mention the beginning of WITS when Arnel was trying to get everyone to repeat what he was saying, but you couldn't understand what he was saying, so nobody was responding, and giving the WTF is he saying look? You were much closer than I was, and yes, COH was better, but from the back a lot of people sat down for both new tracks. Agreed though that COH was not the bomb that EOTM was.

[Saint John]

Probably the single most disappointing aspect of the live Journey performance has been Arnel's inability to master 10-15 phrases while on stage. Some possible phrases that he should be able to recite clearly, and with proper cadence, include:

Good evening, _____! Welcome to our show!

This is a song off of our new album Eclipse. It's called ____.

How is everyone in the back doing tonight?!? Let me hear you!

We need some audience participation during this song. We need everyone standing and singing!

Steve Perry might have bad hips, but what's your fucking excuse?!? Stand up and sing!

If you want to hear more music make some noise!

These are just a few, but his inability to converse with the crowd is troubling, especially after almost 4 years. The vast majority of the time he is either inaudible or sounds very foreign, often speaking far too fast. Management needs to have him master 10-15 phrases, and have him work the crowd with those phrases. Or simply have someone else do it. But that would seem ridiculous. But, then again, so does the current dialog. This needs to be fixed.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Or simply have someone else do it. But that would seem ridiculous.

I dunno. Jon and Neal used to talk to the crowd during the SA years. SA still did the bulk of the interaction.

[marco17]

Spot on Dan. He was more talkative than I expected, but you could hardly understand a thing, especially that instance before WITS. I was surprised that neither Cain nor Schon talked much at all. Cain is usually more of the talker.

[fightingilliniJRNY]

Or simply have someone else do it. But that would seem ridiculous.

I dunno. Jon and Neal used to talk to the crowd during the SA years. SA still did the bulk of the interaction.

To use management's excuse for not having Deen sing - maybe having anyone else address the crowd would be confusing for the fans.

[slucero]

Probably the single most disappointing aspect of the live Journey performance has been Arnel's inability to master 10-15 phrases while on stage. Some possible phrases that he should be able to recite clearly, and with proper cadence, include:

Good evening, _____! Welcome to our show!

This is a song off of our new album Eclipse. It's called ____.

How is everyone in the back doing tonight?!? Let me hear you!

We need some audience participation during this song. We need everyone standing and singing!

Steve Perry might have bad hips, but what's your fucking excuse?!? Stand up and sing!

If you want to hear more music make some noise!



These are just a few, but his inability to converse with the crowd is troubling, especially after almost 4 years. The vast majority of the time he is either inaudible or sounds very foreign, often speaking far too fast. Management needs to have him master 10-15 phrases, and have him work the crowd with those phrases. Or simply have someone else do it. But that would seem ridiculous. But, then again, so does the current dialog. This needs to be fixed.

[Red13JoePa]

I liked him addressing us as Philly ("Feely") even if it was Camden and the Phillies jersey was a smart touch.

[Saint John]

the Phillies jersey was a smart touch.

Hopefully, it was a Howard, Halladay, Carlton, Schmidt or Utley jersey ... and not Morandini.

[Red13JoePa]

the Phillies jersey was a smart touch.

Hopefully, it was a Howard, Halladay, Carlotn, Schmidt or Utley jersey ... and not Morandini.

You love that Morandini joke!

[marco17]

the Phillies jersey was a smart touch.

Hopefully, it was a Howard, Halladay, Carlotn, Schmidt or Utley jersey ... and not Morandini.

It was a Phillies t-shirt with Journey and the # 1 on it.

[Saint John]

the Phillies jersey was a smart touch.

Hopefully, it was a Howard, Halladay, Carlton, Schmidt or Utley jersey ... and not Morandini.

It was a Phillies t-shirt with Journey and the # 1 on it.

Boy, management really knows how to open up the pocketbook.

[Maui Tom]

the Phillies jersey was a smart touch.

Hopefully, it was a Howard, Halladay, Carlton, Schmidt or Utley jersey ... and not Morandini.

It was a Phillies t-shirt with Journey and the # 1 on it.

Boy, management really knows how to open up the pocketbook.

Nobody in the Journey camp has heard of Greg Luzinski....so they went generic....

[Saint John]

the Phillies jersey was a smart touch.

Hopefully, it was a Howard, Halladay, Carlton, Schmidt or Utley jersey ... and not Morandini.

It was a Phillies t-shirt with Journey and the # 1 on it.

Boy, management really knows how to open up the pocketbook.

Nobody in the Journey camp has heard of Greg Luzinski....so they went generic....

The Bull!

[WykkedSensation]

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=369486

someone recorded it....

Any easier way to get this?

You still need the Camden, NJ show bud?

[Glenn]

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=369486

someone recorded it....

Any easier way to get this?

You still need the Camden, NJ show bud?

How's the quality ?

[steveo777]

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=369486

someone recorded it....

Any easier way to get this?

You still need the Camden, NJ show bud?

Yes.