Eric wrote:I love it.
Great and long set list with lots of new stuff. And the new solos were great.
I don't, however, have my surround sound stuff setup anymore so I can't comment as specifically on the audio, but I didn't like the 5.1 (if you want to call it that) on the 2001 DVD.
I don't think Arnel is bad on this, maybe I need to relisten as it's been a long time since I watched it. I'll pull it up on youtube while at work. As for over singing, MANY singers do that live. Perry did that all the time live on a regular basis. Up till about mid 83, he got away with it in spades and was amazing. At the end of 83 and into the 86 tours, however, he couldn't without cracking quite a bit. Some of the 86 shows were quite rough and found Steve changing melody lines to accommodate his roughed up voice.
I DO remember the Manilla video was pretty dark and the sound quality was really sub par and muffled to the extreme. I think that's the one where in Only the Young, Deen's hitting this tom and it's just SO FAR out front that it sounds ridiculous. That always sticks in my mind on that show. When you compare it to Vegas 2001, you gotta remember that a lot of that was redone in the studio, at least the vocals, so of course they're going to sound amazing. So amazing... that they went on the road with Journey for a time.

I've not heard the ACTUAL Vegas show, but I have heard enough people say how bad SA was at that show and just blasting Journey for the DVD compared to the show. Knowing how he could be live, I tend to believe it. And I LIKE Augeri ['don't stop believin' champ!']. Your Jon Cain remark was on the money and made me laugh out loud.
SG, You've never liked Arnel and that's not going to change, so why subject yourself to it?
Listened to it this AM- I can see where you'd gripe about the diction, I guess, but man, the dude hits the notes dead on and does a good job with the tunes. Compare the power of his voice to that of Steve Augeri who just didn't have the power for these tunes (live I mean. In the studio, he was excellent). I do hear him running low on air in spots, but his pitch is good and his tone is good. He strains on a few notes, but he hits them. Also- Arnel puts his everything into his performance. The dude just does NOT phone it in. He's a great performer. It's too bad that the language barrier is such a problem for some fans. It doesn't bother me when I hear what he can do with his voice. There are definitely way worse singers out there. I've heard English speaking singers where I couldn't understand a word. Ever heard a Dave Matthews album? Can't understand a friggin word. Sounds like he's got a mouth full of marbles. Same with Eddie Vedder, mushmouths, both of them. To me, Arnel did a great job with very difficult material. Compare this show to the Rascall Flatts show. His pronunciation on that show was peculiar to say the least and I'm still trying to figure out what he's doing there. Still, KILLER tone and great range- and a good guy too.
As for the production of the DVD, yeah, coulda been better sounding for sure. The drums are mixed so poorly. I DO like that you can hear every bass note Ross is playing for once.
Looks like the lights were LEDs and not enough of them. Pars put out more light, but they're not as vivid as the LEDs.
Not everyone's gonna like everything.
One more thing- tough to argue with this set list. For me, as a diehard, this show hit everything with the exception of "Higher Place" which woulda been a good addition. It wasn't so dull with JUST the DD and even those were altered so that they were more interesting for those who have heard them forever. I think the changes to those tracks might've been lost on those in Manilla, but not necessarily.