Kansas City Review
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 2:30 amKansas City, MO 9-28-11
Pre-show ILAA
Man, what an absolutely fantastic package. It started at 4:30 and my girlfriend, Crazy Deb and I ventured in. There's a quick stop at the merch table for anyone that wants to buy swag and then we ventured into the food and game area. You're treated to fresh fruit and vegetables, chips and dips, sandwiches, cookies and drinks. They have a free raffle for everyone involved and give away all sorts of shirts and a few signed drum heads. I was lucky enough to win 2 shirts. Next, and probably the coolest part of the night, was Jonathan Cain allowing 2 fans to play against him and his roadie in a game of "bean bags" for charity. It's simple ... if you win you get free Journey stuff, but if lose each person donates $50 to The Make-A-Wish foundation in the name of TJ Martell. Jon also mentioned that he's a board member for Make-A-Wish. Great time and he was highly animated and talkative. He and his roadie won, received a little ovation, thanked us all and headed out.
Next was a full tour of the backstage and tour bus area. Man, it was very inclusive. We got to see all of the rigging, all of the drums, but, unfortunately, Neal's guitar case was closed. Night Ranger and Foreigner had theirs open, though. The computer setup backstage is mesmerizing. The techs were cool and answered questions as they worked. Walking out on the stage was cool, too.
Back to the dining area for some more food and drinks. Soon after, the band, minus Neal, came out and took a photo with everyone. Neal was taking a pretty good beating from some disgruntled fans that were (quietly) sharing their dismay with his absence. When I mentioned that this has been the protocol for a few weeks the fans colorfully told me what they thought of that!
Neal, get out there, dude. Your street cred with the fans is quickly waning. Your band, your album, your tour ... you should be out there thanking people and shaking hands. Anyway, this ends and we're taken to our front row seats.
Night Ranger
Night Ranger just lit the place up. After playing Lay It On Me, they unleashed powerhouse renditions of their hits and Jack worked the crowd relentlessly. He did acknowledge that his/their job was to warm the crowd up, and, boy, did they! Song after song was delivered like they were playing in front of 80,000 and the crowd loved it. Hoekstra and Gillis slayed, and they fed off of each other the entire time. NO ONE interacts like Night Ranger. Every single one of them was into the show, and these guys embody what a HEADLINER should be. Great show. 98/100
Foreigner
Foreigner wasted no time unleashing the hits on the fans. From Double Vision to start all the way to Juke Box Hero at the end, these guys pounded out sing-along-song after sing-along-song. Kelly Hansen was his usual animated self, but his vocals were a bit low up front. I wasn't blown away like I was for Night Ranger. They didn't seem to have any power up front. I can't say what it was like in the back, but Night Ranger was MUCH louder than Foreigner. That said, Kelly was his usual self, running through the crowd, singing one row behind us, taking a lap around virtually the entire venue and singing his heart out. This guy is polished, works hard and brings it every night. The rest of Foreigner, including Pilsen and Bruce Watson (subbing again for Mick) really worked hard, too. However, a little something was missing tonight. Great show, nonetheless. 94/100
Journey
Right before Journey took the stage I was lucky enough to meet up with KCJourneyfan and Hoagipete! 2 great guys! We shared a few stories, talked a bit (thanks for the birthday beer, Pete!) and went back to our seats to see Journey take the stage. Journey came out rocking hard with Separate Ways, but they unleashed those God Damned beach balls again!
I must've got hit in the head about 8 times with those fuckers! 
Anyway, the set list is pretty known by now so I won't get into that aspect of the show, but I will say this ... Neal's noodling has been reigned in. Thank you! The show was much more focused and everyone seemed to be on their A game. This was the best they've sounded of the 3 shows I've seen this year. Neal gave away another guitar, Ross and Jon were VERY animated, Arnel worked his ass off and Deen looked like he was running a wood chipper back behind the kit ... splinters flying everywhere. I swear, during one of the piano solos, I think I heard Deen's drums crying! Kelly looked at him when he guested on Sister Christian like "Dude, you're killing my fucking drums!" Deen was on fire all night. He sat side stage and drummed along to almost every song for Night Ranger and Foreigner. He looked like a caged anaimal. A guy that truly loves what he does! Many thanks for lookin at me, mouthing "Happy birthday, brother" and tossing me a drum stick after the show.
Highlights, song wise, were Stone In Love and Be Good To Yourself. Arnel really nailed those two. Faithfully remains one of the tougher renditions, but it came across well because of the crowd support. Open Arms was another one that he nailed and the crowd ate it up. I thought it would have been a PERFECT time to play the beefed up version. It would have gone over very well. Anyway, the show concluded with the DSB confetti parade, LTS played and the crowd seemed very content, very hoarse and pretty exhausted. It was a terrific show and Journey handled the headlining slot great last night. 96/100
PS Many thanks to Crazy Deb, Hoagiepete, KCJourneyfan (and his great kids), Val, Rhonda and everyone else that made the night extra special.
Pre-show ILAA
Man, what an absolutely fantastic package. It started at 4:30 and my girlfriend, Crazy Deb and I ventured in. There's a quick stop at the merch table for anyone that wants to buy swag and then we ventured into the food and game area. You're treated to fresh fruit and vegetables, chips and dips, sandwiches, cookies and drinks. They have a free raffle for everyone involved and give away all sorts of shirts and a few signed drum heads. I was lucky enough to win 2 shirts. Next, and probably the coolest part of the night, was Jonathan Cain allowing 2 fans to play against him and his roadie in a game of "bean bags" for charity. It's simple ... if you win you get free Journey stuff, but if lose each person donates $50 to The Make-A-Wish foundation in the name of TJ Martell. Jon also mentioned that he's a board member for Make-A-Wish. Great time and he was highly animated and talkative. He and his roadie won, received a little ovation, thanked us all and headed out.
Next was a full tour of the backstage and tour bus area. Man, it was very inclusive. We got to see all of the rigging, all of the drums, but, unfortunately, Neal's guitar case was closed. Night Ranger and Foreigner had theirs open, though. The computer setup backstage is mesmerizing. The techs were cool and answered questions as they worked. Walking out on the stage was cool, too.
Back to the dining area for some more food and drinks. Soon after, the band, minus Neal, came out and took a photo with everyone. Neal was taking a pretty good beating from some disgruntled fans that were (quietly) sharing their dismay with his absence. When I mentioned that this has been the protocol for a few weeks the fans colorfully told me what they thought of that!
Neal, get out there, dude. Your street cred with the fans is quickly waning. Your band, your album, your tour ... you should be out there thanking people and shaking hands. Anyway, this ends and we're taken to our front row seats.
Night Ranger
Night Ranger just lit the place up. After playing Lay It On Me, they unleashed powerhouse renditions of their hits and Jack worked the crowd relentlessly. He did acknowledge that his/their job was to warm the crowd up, and, boy, did they! Song after song was delivered like they were playing in front of 80,000 and the crowd loved it. Hoekstra and Gillis slayed, and they fed off of each other the entire time. NO ONE interacts like Night Ranger. Every single one of them was into the show, and these guys embody what a HEADLINER should be. Great show. 98/100
Foreigner
Foreigner wasted no time unleashing the hits on the fans. From Double Vision to start all the way to Juke Box Hero at the end, these guys pounded out sing-along-song after sing-along-song. Kelly Hansen was his usual animated self, but his vocals were a bit low up front. I wasn't blown away like I was for Night Ranger. They didn't seem to have any power up front. I can't say what it was like in the back, but Night Ranger was MUCH louder than Foreigner. That said, Kelly was his usual self, running through the crowd, singing one row behind us, taking a lap around virtually the entire venue and singing his heart out. This guy is polished, works hard and brings it every night. The rest of Foreigner, including Pilsen and Bruce Watson (subbing again for Mick) really worked hard, too. However, a little something was missing tonight. Great show, nonetheless. 94/100
Journey
Right before Journey took the stage I was lucky enough to meet up with KCJourneyfan and Hoagipete! 2 great guys! We shared a few stories, talked a bit (thanks for the birthday beer, Pete!) and went back to our seats to see Journey take the stage. Journey came out rocking hard with Separate Ways, but they unleashed those God Damned beach balls again!
I must've got hit in the head about 8 times with those fuckers! Anyway, the set list is pretty known by now so I won't get into that aspect of the show, but I will say this ... Neal's noodling has been reigned in. Thank you! The show was much more focused and everyone seemed to be on their A game. This was the best they've sounded of the 3 shows I've seen this year. Neal gave away another guitar, Ross and Jon were VERY animated, Arnel worked his ass off and Deen looked like he was running a wood chipper back behind the kit ... splinters flying everywhere. I swear, during one of the piano solos, I think I heard Deen's drums crying! Kelly looked at him when he guested on Sister Christian like "Dude, you're killing my fucking drums!" Deen was on fire all night. He sat side stage and drummed along to almost every song for Night Ranger and Foreigner. He looked like a caged anaimal. A guy that truly loves what he does! Many thanks for lookin at me, mouthing "Happy birthday, brother" and tossing me a drum stick after the show.
Highlights, song wise, were Stone In Love and Be Good To Yourself. Arnel really nailed those two. Faithfully remains one of the tougher renditions, but it came across well because of the crowd support. Open Arms was another one that he nailed and the crowd ate it up. I thought it would have been a PERFECT time to play the beefed up version. It would have gone over very well. Anyway, the show concluded with the DSB confetti parade, LTS played and the crowd seemed very content, very hoarse and pretty exhausted. It was a terrific show and Journey handled the headlining slot great last night. 96/100
PS Many thanks to Crazy Deb, Hoagiepete, KCJourneyfan (and his great kids), Val, Rhonda and everyone else that made the night extra special.
I gave you one, Lynn got one, AR, Donna, Ehwmatt and 
