MR

Journey - Hard Rock Live, Hollywood - June 28


By Abel Folgar Mon., Jul. 1 2013 at 7:02 AM

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/count ... lywood.php

In the past, some of my colleagues have pigeonholed the long-running American rock and roll act, Journey as a bit of esoteric Americana in the realm of kabuki karaoke theatrics. I did not grow up with Journey as a household name. Far from it. Aside from their monster hits in the '80s, I'm part of the cadre of fans that associates the band with The Sopranos.

But given the public nature of the internet, and the fact that these words of mine can be tracked and minced, I'll come clean. Leading up to the kick-off of their second leg of their three year tour, I had the pleasure of interviewing their drummer, Deen Castronovo, and the overall impression that I got was that these guys are, in the end, true musicians who believe in their craft.

Journey might not be churning out the million dollar singles anymore. That's OK. This is a band that understands their fan base, a band that will cater to their demands but is unafraid to throw in a few curveballs when needed. I must reiterate the obvious, if I wasn't a fan before seeing them perform at Hard Rock Live this Friday, I am now. Solidly so.

I will not even entertain the idea that there is a problem with Arnel Pineda singing in Journey. Steve Perry had his moment in the sun. Did he set a high bar for those who followed? Indeed! But that's not the point; Perry was not Journey's original singer, that was Santana's wingman Greg Rollie back in '73. Do I understand America's love affair with Perry?

Of course, I do!

A handsome and talented man he was and is! I'm only spouting this now, because even after all these years, Arnel is still questioned. Yes, he is not Steve Perry, but his vocal range is excellent, his rags to riches YouTube story aside. Arnel stepped in and there is no denying him. Opening with "Separate Ways," it became apparent that we were all in the Arnel show. All toothy smiles and energetic posturing throughout the stage; high-fiving fans in the front row and posing for photographs; a born leader.

He did not wear the signature leopard-print sleeveless tee, but, good grief, if he did he not earn his keep by sweating through an energetic set! The point is that Arnel might recreate a lot of the signature Journey tunes fans are accustomed to, but he brings his own to them in a refreshing and joyous manner.

Deen spoke of clichés in our interview, but after witnessing the band gelling live, the notions of absurdity are cast aside. Does Neal Schon have a burgeoning cult of personality? When all cameras are on him, one might be inclined to think so, but it is not so! As the only continuous member since inception, he has earned his right in the spotlight. It helps that he is also a pretty righteous guitar player.

Not only is he the only continuous member since inception, he was also the only band member who performed the entire evening; one could say he further callused his fingertips so that the other guys could catch a breather. Schon treated the crowd to a rocking rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that could've been interpreted as Van Halen's "Eruption" meets Jimi Hendrix.

The band clearly pandered to the fans on this first night of two shows, following the opener with the one-two punch of "Anyway You Want It" and "Who's Crying Now" before easing it with "Only the Young." Which brings me to my one and only point of contention; again, I am not a longtime fan, I'm "newerish" so I was kind of expecting them to play their latest single "City of Hope" which they did not do. It's a shame that can only be corrected on the road. It's a straight rocker showcasing Arnel's natural range, Castronovo's hard-edged drumming and the all-knowing rhythm section of unsung heroes Ross Valory and keyboardist Jonathan Cain.

Speaking of Cain... Did that mother come down from the keys turret and hold down on the rhythm guitar? Yes, he did! He even threw down a harmonica piece during "Wheel in the Sky" that was, simply put, awesome.

I'm bordering on "musical journalist" gibberish, so here's a set list created to the best of my hand-clapping abilities, noting of course, that the band dedicated "Don't Stop Believin'" to the late, great James Gandolfini:

Set List:
"Separate Ways"
"Any Way You Want It"
"Who's Crying Now?"
"Only the Young"
"Stone In Love"
"Lights"
"Open Arms"
"Escape"
"Wheel in the Sky"
"Faithfully"
"Don't Stop Believin'"
"Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'"

I'm sorry folks,,,not to be a downer or rain on anyone's parade here, but come on, that setlist is way too safe and darn right stagnant in my opinion. Not even 1 new song??!! There was no opening band either, so why didn't they play a longer set? There is always the excuse on triple bills that they don't have enough time, but what was their reasoning in Hollywood, FL?

[quote]Not only is he the only continuous member since inception]/quote]

I h ear them early bass-less Journey albums are rare.....

slucero wrote:

Not only is he the only continuous member since inception]/quote]

I h ear them early bass-less Journey albums are rare.....

Ross wasn't playing on the ROR tour, nor the album. Remember when he was fired and Randy Jackson was in the band?

The firing of Valory and Smith was bad,
But Jackson rocked on that tour, saw them three times, Mike Baird, no.

And they played new songs!

scarab wrote:The firing of Valory and Smith was bad,
But Jackson rocked on that tour, saw them three times, Mike Baird, no.

And they played new songs!

''

I will never understand why Perry favored Mike Baird -- in that lame baseball cap -- over Smitty.

FamilyMan wrote:

scarab wrote:The firing of Valory and Smith was bad,
But Jackson rocked on that tour, saw them three times, Mike Baird, no.

And they played new songs!

''

I will never understand why Perry favored Mike Baird -- in that lame baseball cap -- over Smitty.

It's not fair to discount Baird that way. He was known as the human metronome. With that said, he was no Smitty.

Schon:

Yeah, Perry wanted to let Smith and Ross go on Raised On Radio. We went through months of auditioning drummers and bass players. Everyone from Omar Hakim to Chad Wackerman to Vinnie Colaiuta and they were all amazing. I liked the three that I just told you were my faves and probably Chad fit with us better than anybody because he sounded a bit like Smith but he was a little looser like a Prairie Prince kind of thing. And we had Randy Jackson on bass and him and Omar, I thought, sounded like the bomb.

But Steve wanted Michael Baird and Baird is like a woodchopper. He’s a session cat but I was going, “After going from Aynsley (Dunbar) and Steve Smith, where is the fire for me to deal with?” I’m used to drummers kick my ass; not play a rhythm machine.

DING DING DING. Michael Baird. NEVER understood the logic.

Funny, JC has another opinion...
Excerpt courtesy of Don - Great Jon Cain Interview thread...

(http://bammagazine.com/index.php/the-news/117)

BAM: Randy Jackson, the American Idol judge, was a member of Journey for a while. Can you talk about Randy and tell us what part he played in the band’s history?

JC: Randy was sort of a studio rat at Fantasy [Recording Studios] in Berkeley, and he had that little band Taxi. He was always doing records and demos and producing R&B acts. He worked with Tony Toni Tone and a few other Bay Area R&B acts. So, Journey would do some kind of R&B track, and Ross [Vallory] would be playing, and Steve was trying to show him what he wants, and it wasn’t making Steve happy, so he goes and grabs Randy. The first time Randy really played with us was on "After The Fall" on The Frontiers album, which was in ’83. Randy played bass on that song and it felt really good, it was really strong. Ross was cool about it, and when he played it live, he’d try and channel Randy. I guess Steve remembered that when some of Ross' personal issues came down and he was kind of out of commission. And so Raised on Radio came along, and we sort of went into this different direction, which was definitely a more soulful, pop kind of album. It wasn’t like the rock & roll we’d done in the past. And, like I said, Ross was going through some personal issues, so with Steve Perry ending up producing – he had just come off his solo album – and he was excited to try his hand at producing Journey with Jim Gaines at The Plant [Record Plant Recording Studio in Sausalito]. We went in and tried to cut tracks with Ross and [drummer] Steve Smith, and they were really critical of what was happening there, and there was a lot of tension. So Steve [Perry], being in control, just said, "We’re going to get Randy and [drummer] Larrie Londin, and we’re going to finish this thing." They ended up finishing the album in like four days. They just blazed through it effortlessly. I remember sitting there at The Plant just going, "This feels really good," and thinking maybe they were right about this stuff. It was the kind of music we were doing, "I’ll Be Alright Without You" and music that was a homage to the soul music Steve and I grew up listening to. When we went out on tour that year, ’86 or I think it was ’87, there was a drummer that went out on the road with us. Steve Smith didn’t want to come back, he was still angry with us and Ross was in rehab somewhere. So, Randy came over to Oakland where we rehearsed, and we had to get a drummer. After 40 drummers auditioning, the only guy that sounded like Journey was my friend Mike Baird. Mike ended up going on the road with us and Randy Jackson for the Raised on Radio tour, and we ended up doing 40 shows together, ending up in Anchorage, Alaska, of all places. That was the last time Randy toured with us.

And here's what Neal has to say about MB in 1986...

at 8:45 mark ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8P5ZXBn-t4

c'on, Neal, make up your mind ...

The article says the band isn't afraid to throw a few curve balls. Where are these curve balls at?