MR

I went to the Cleveland area Journey show tonight.

I haven't been paying any attention to what their set lists have been like at their other shows this summer, so I don't know if tonight's was any different or not?

The 3 most "obscure" songs that they played tonight, if you can call them that, were "La Do Da" "Line Of Fire" and "Dead Or Alive." At least it was nice to hear those as opposed to yet more hits.

Steve Smith did a kick-ass drum solo.

Why in the hell were Journey not having Deen do a solo in the past???

Journey/Survivor wrote:
Why in the hell were Journey not having Deen do a solo in the past???

I've seen Deen do solos before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJEq5Imtgp0

Steve's been sharing a lot of his drum solos on his Facebook page. There has to be at least a half dozen that he's shared. Although they're all similar, each solo has had it's own unique little fills. I'm sure he's mixing it up to not only keep it fresh and exciting, but to also keep up on his chops while on the road.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:
Why in the hell were Journey not having Deen do a solo in the past???

I've seen Deen do solos before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJEq5Imtgp0

So have I. But not for many years now.

Deen used to always do them during Bad English and Hardline shows.

Journey/Survivor wrote:

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:
Why in the hell were Journey not having Deen do a solo in the past???

I've seen Deen do solos before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJEq5Imtgp0

So have I. But not for many years now.

Deen used to always do them during Bad English and Hardline shows.

With all respect to Catronovo, I always got the impression that Smitty was quicker on his feet. Jazz is really improvisation anyway.

I was there as well. It was really a horrible show. One of the worst I've ever been to. The pacing of the three bands was terrible. How do you give Dave Mason only 28 minutes and the Doobies 58? Should've been divided up more equitably among the three bands (e.g., Dave 45, Doobies 90, Journey 90 mins).

Journey seemed more energetic than the last time I saw them five years ago. But the sound for all three bands was horrendous, at least where I was sitting, and with respect to Journey particularly, Neal's guitar playing has really jumped the shark. Neal - please stop shredding and listen to your guitar tone - it's awful! The signature Lights riff sounded like total distorted mud. The setlist is what it is - I wouldn't have minded seeing mostly the hits given the passage of time between Journey shows for me but for the terrible sound and Neal's wanking. Cool to see Smith drum, and I also thought Cain was very animated for a guy who gets shit on so much for "just going through the motions." At any rate, I probably won't be seeing Journey ever again barring a Perry-who-proves-he-can-still-do-it reunion. And honestly, at this point, Neal's overplaying would damper even that.

Ehwmatt wrote:I was there as well. It was really a horrible show. One of the worst I've ever been to. The pacing of the three bands was terrible. How do you give Dave Mason only 28 minutes and the Doobies 58? Should've been divided up more equitably among the three bands (e.g., Dave 45, Doobies 90, Journey 90 mins).

Journey seemed more energetic than the last time I saw them five years ago. But the sound for all three bands was horrendous, at least where I was sitting, and with respect to Journey particularly, Neal's guitar playing has really jumped the shark. Neal - please stop shredding and listen to your guitar tone - it's awful! The signature Lights riff sounded like total distorted mud. The setlist is what it is - I wouldn't have minded seeing mostly the hits given the passage of time between Journey shows for me but for the terrible sound and Neal's wanking. Cool to see Smith drum, and I also thought Cain was very animated for a guy who gets shit on so much for "just going through the motions." At any rate, I probably won't be seeing Journey ever again barring a Perry-who-proves-he-can-still-do-it reunion. And honestly, at this point, Neal's overplaying would damper even that.

Thanks for the review, Matt. I can't remember the last Journey concert I went to where the sound wasn't total distorted shit.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

Ehwmatt wrote:I was there as well. It was really a horrible show. One of the worst I've ever been to. The pacing of the three bands was terrible. How do you give Dave Mason only 28 minutes and the Doobies 58? Should've been divided up more equitably among the three bands (e.g., Dave 45, Doobies 90, Journey 90 mins).

Journey seemed more energetic than the last time I saw them five years ago. But the sound for all three bands was horrendous, at least where I was sitting, and with respect to Journey particularly, Neal's guitar playing has really jumped the shark. Neal - please stop shredding and listen to your guitar tone - it's awful! The signature Lights riff sounded like total distorted mud. The setlist is what it is - I wouldn't have minded seeing mostly the hits given the passage of time between Journey shows for me but for the terrible sound and Neal's wanking. Cool to see Smith drum, and I also thought Cain was very animated for a guy who gets shit on so much for "just going through the motions." At any rate, I probably won't be seeing Journey ever again barring a Perry-who-proves-he-can-still-do-it reunion. And honestly, at this point, Neal's overplaying would damper even that.

Thanks for the review, Matt. I can't remember the last Journey concert I went to where the sound wasn't total distorted shit.

In fairness, some of the bad sound could be the venue (which is always the same one here in CLE). I wish I could see them in a smaller more intimate venue.

Arnel was also trying pretty damn hard and sounding pretty decent (from what I could hear). Phrasing was still a little off to my ears but at this point that's just Arnel take or leave him. Honestly, besides the sound mix, Neal was the one who killed the show the most for me.

For financial reasons, I just got a lawn ticket to the show. From where I was on the lawn, the sound was fine.

I was glad that Dave Mason and the Doobie Brothers had short sets. Their music just doesn't excite me for the most part. It's not bad by any means. Just not exciting.

At this point I only want to see Journey tour with Santana, or to just play on their own with no other bands. Although I certainly wouldn't complain if they were to tour with Foreigner, Night Ranger or Loverboy again.

I'm sick of seeing Journey at Blossom. I like the Blossom venue, but I'm sick of those damn traffic jams. I'd like to see Journey play at the Q again. It's been too many years since they've played there.

Journey/Survivor wrote:I'm sick of seeing Journey at Blossom. I like the Blossom venue, but I'm sick of those damn traffic jams. I'd like to see Journey play at the Q again. It's been too many years since they've played there.

Blossom is really a terrible venue. The food sucks, the traffic and walking is a bitch, and the sound is terrible in 85% of the pavilion if you're not dead center. It had been 5 years since I saw a show there, and I don't think I'll ever go back again.

Surprised you went, Matt. I remember your review at your last concert in what, '11 (that was spot on as usual.) That was my last Journey concert as well back in 2011. They toured Pittsburgh again in 2014 but I couldn't get off work. I'll be going this Saturday the 16th with our big group. Looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I've seen a Journey concert. Hope it's better than '11's show.

You'd think 15minutes would be enough for Dave Mason to get thru his 3-4 songs. What a waste of stage time. Now, The Doobies? To some they might also qualify as having authored "the soundtrack" to people's lives. Best of the Doobies, Vol 1 is 11 tracks and 45 minutes of sheer brilliance. Throw in a couple of McDonald tracks and I could easily see how they could get as much as an hour.

YoungJRNYfan wrote:Surprised you went, Matt. I remember your review at your last concert in what, '11 (that was spot on as usual.) That was my last Journey concert as well back in 2011. They toured Pittsburgh again in 2014 but I couldn't get off work. I'll be going this Saturday the 16th with our big group. Looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I've seen a Journey concert. Hope it's better than '11's show.

Hey buddy, great to hear from you. Hope all is well. I went mainly to check The Doobie Brothers off my bucket list, but I did go in with low expectations and an open mind for Journey. As I said above, I have to credit Journey's energy and enthusiasm this time around - everybody was pumped to be playing, including Cain (who gets a lot of hate for not showing energy). The sound was just horrible, though, and honestly, this pains me to say, but Neal really ruined the show with his mindless guitar noodling/shred wankery. Although I think the venue played a part in the poor sound (as neither Doobies nor Dave Mason sounded good, either, and I know they both usually do) at least some of the blame has to fall on Journey given the comments about Journey's sound from around the country and the fact that Journey sounded even worse than the other two.

Hope your experience last night was better than mine.

koberry wrote:You'd think 15minutes would be enough for Dave Mason to get thru his 3-4 songs. What a waste of stage time. Now, The Doobies? To some they might also qualify as having authored "the soundtrack" to people's lives. Best of the Doobies, Vol 1 is 11 tracks and 45 minutes of sheer brilliance. Throw in a couple of McDonald tracks and I could easily see how they could get as much as an hour.

LOL.

Ehwmatt wrote:

YoungJRNYfan wrote:Surprised you went, Matt. I remember your review at your last concert in what, '11 (that was spot on as usual.) That was my last Journey concert as well back in 2011. They toured Pittsburgh again in 2014 but I couldn't get off work. I'll be going this Saturday the 16th with our big group. Looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I've seen a Journey concert. Hope it's better than '11's show.

Hey buddy, great to hear from you. Hope all is well. I went mainly to check The Doobie Brothers off my bucket list, but I did go in with low expectations and an open mind for Journey. As I said above, I have to credit Journey's energy and enthusiasm this time around - everybody was pumped to be playing, including Cain (who gets a lot of hate for not showing energy). The sound was just horrible, though, and honestly, this pains me to say, but Neal really ruined the show with his mindless guitar noodling/shred wankery. Although I think the venue played a part in the poor sound (as neither Doobies nor Dave Mason sounded good, either, and I know they both usually do) at least some of the blame has to fall on Journey given the comments about Journey's sound from around the country and the fact that Journey sounded even worse than the other two.

Hope your experience last night was better than mine.

Ditto to you too man! I always look forward to your posts. The concert in Pittsburgh was last night and you couldn't be more spot on. It was awful. The sound was even worse than 2011's show and the music drowned Arnel out completely. Great energy from the band, but all for nothing with the concert sounding like The Who's from 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' blindly banging instruments together. As for the Doobie Brothers, I actually really enjoyed them. Pleasantly surprised by that but Journey sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Not sure how many Journey concerts I have left in me. Maybe none. I'm glad I experienced the Revelation Tour in '08-09 because anything after that has been below average-poor. I still hand it to Arnel though. He gets the job done and sings his balls off. Unfortunately, a lot of the moving parts around him are watered down; set list and all.

YoungJRNYfan wrote:

Ehwmatt wrote:

YoungJRNYfan wrote:Surprised you went, Matt. I remember your review at your last concert in what, '11 (that was spot on as usual.) That was my last Journey concert as well back in 2011. They toured Pittsburgh again in 2014 but I couldn't get off work. I'll be going this Saturday the 16th with our big group. Looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I've seen a Journey concert. Hope it's better than '11's show.

Hey buddy, great to hear from you. Hope all is well. I went mainly to check The Doobie Brothers off my bucket list, but I did go in with low expectations and an open mind for Journey. As I said above, I have to credit Journey's energy and enthusiasm this time around - everybody was pumped to be playing, including Cain (who gets a lot of hate for not showing energy). The sound was just horrible, though, and honestly, this pains me to say, but Neal really ruined the show with his mindless guitar noodling/shred wankery. Although I think the venue played a part in the poor sound (as neither Doobies nor Dave Mason sounded good, either, and I know they both usually do) at least some of the blame has to fall on Journey given the comments about Journey's sound from around the country and the fact that Journey sounded even worse than the other two.

Hope your experience last night was better than mine.

Ditto to you too man! I always look forward to your posts. The concert in Pittsburgh was last night and you couldn't be more spot on. It was awful. The sound was even worse than 2011's show and the music drowned Arnel out completely. Great energy from the band, but all for nothing with the concert sounding like The Who's from 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' blindly banging instruments together. As for the Doobie Brothers, I actually really enjoyed them. Pleasantly surprised by that but Journey sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Not sure how many Journey concerts I have left in me. Maybe none. I'm glad I experienced the Revelation Tour in '08-09 because anything after that has been below average-poor. I still hand it to Arnel though. He gets the job done and sings his balls off. Unfortunately, a lot of the moving parts around him are watered down; set list and all.

Man, it's just bizarre it seems they haven't been able to get the sound even halfway right for more than half a decade now. Did you enjoy Neal's performance?

Man, it's just bizarre it seems they haven't been able to get the sound even halfway right for more than half a decade now. Did you enjoy Neal's performance?

Yeah, it's pretty baffling if you ask me. I ALWAYS dug Neal's rendition of the National Anthem so the timing of that segment in the show I enjoyed the hell out but other than that, nothing stuck out to me either way; good or bad from Neal's shredding. That could be either a good or bad thing....or both bad haha.