MR

This was just posted on Steve Smith's Facebook page:

Journey will be at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino May 3-20. On Wednesday nights (May 3, 10 and 17), the band will play the albums ESCAPE and FRONTIERS in their entirety! Get all the dates and ticket links for these shows here: http://vitalinformation.com/tour.htm

Also, looks like Smith's playing with a couple of his jazz outfits and the drum fantasy camp through most of the summer. I'm guessing Journey's not going to be touring much beyond the spring?

I personally would like them to pay homage to trial by fire while Smitty is still in the band. I don't think playing the full album in its entirety is a good idea since its too long of an album and some snoozers towards the end. But maybe playing the first 5 or 6 songs (which are the best songs on the album imo) would be a good way to honor it.

I am sure enough Vegas fans will be heading for beers/restrooms on the b side of Frontiers, but I love it as much as the A side.(I just wish they would make Backtalk an instrumental) as even Steve Perry screaming was TOO much! But to hear Smitty's drumming gonna be awesome.

Also, here's a link to a really good interview with Steve. It gets a bit technical at some points (still very fun to listen to), but Steve really covers a lot of area about his approach to playing on the latest Journey tour.

http://www.workingdrummer.net/2016/12/07/stevesmith/

In reading the link, it's the first show for the Escape/Frontiers tour - doubt we'll hear anything other than what the setlist will be for that tour - which yes, should include the deeper cuts from those albums, but probably nothing more.

Journey needs to tour by themselves and do Escape, Frontiers, and Infinity, the whole albums.

JourneyHard wrote:Journey needs to tour by themselves and do Escape, Frontiers, and Infinity, the whole albums.

I'd much rather hear Evolution than Infinity.

I prefer Infinity over Evolution. Evolution is my least favorite of the Steve Perry era Journey albums, not including Dream After Dream.
I still love the Evolution album overall. But it's still my least favorite.

Unless Deen was still in the band, I can't see Journey being able to perform 3 full length albums at every show. That would be too much strain on Arnel's throat.

Journey/Survivor wrote:I prefer Infinity over Evolution. Evolution is my least favorite of the Steve Perry era Journey albums, not including Dream After Dream.
I still love the Evolution album overall. But it's still my least favorite.

Unless Deen was still in the band, I can't see Journey being able to perform 3 full length albums at every show. That would be too much strain on Arnel's throat.

I'm not so quick to write Deen off. Smitty will leave the band again, simply because his commitment was for only two years. Then what? Time heals, and by the time Smitty leaves, it might be safe to put Deen back in. I have a feeling that's what will happen. Deen seems to have made great recovery. I'd love to see the band reunite with Deen, but only if it doesn't jeopardize his recovery.

steveo777 wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:I prefer Infinity over Evolution. Evolution is my least favorite of the Steve Perry era Journey albums, not including Dream After Dream.
I still love the Evolution album overall. But it's still my least favorite.

Unless Deen was still in the band, I can't see Journey being able to perform 3 full length albums at every show. That would be too much strain on Arnel's throat.

I'm not so quick to write Deen off. Smitty will leave the band again, simply because his commitment was for only two years. Then what? Time heals, and by the time Smitty leaves, it might be safe to put Deen back in. I have a feeling that's what will happen. Deen seems to have made great recovery. I'd love to see the band reunite with Deen, but only if it doesn't jeopardize his recovery.

I think there is a chance smith stays after this year. I remember reading a couple articles over the past summer where Neal said that Smith was enjoying being in Journey again a lot more than he thought he would, and that they are trying to keep him in the band longer.

If Smitty has found his place back in Journey, that works for me. I will miss Deen, but hey, it's Smitty.

George_g888 wrote:

steveo777 wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:I prefer Infinity over Evolution. Evolution is my least favorite of the Steve Perry era Journey albums, not including Dream After Dream.
I still love the Evolution album overall. But it's still my least favorite.

Unless Deen was still in the band, I can't see Journey being able to perform 3 full length albums at every show. That would be too much strain on Arnel's throat.

I'm not so quick to write Deen off. Smitty will leave the band again, simply because his commitment was for only two years. Then what? Time heals, and by the time Smitty leaves, it might be safe to put Deen back in. I have a feeling that's what will happen. Deen seems to have made great recovery. I'd love to see the band reunite with Deen, but only if it doesn't jeopardize his recovery.

I think there is a chance smith stays after this year. I remember reading a couple articles over the past summer where Neal said that Smith was enjoying being in Journey again a lot more than he thought he would, and that they are trying to keep him in the band longer.

That's Neal's perspective. He often has a lot of high hopes that should be taken with a grain of salt. Steve did a couple of really in-depth interviews after the tour. Sounded like he enjoyed playing with the band again, but he was also very anxious to get back to his jazz gigs. His jazz playing requires a lot more time, dedication and discipline than Journey's catalogue allows. It also offers him more creative freedom. He's not the type to allow his craft to get stagnant. He may be in the Journey fold here and there...but my bet is that he he returns full time to his jazz roots after this year.

I agree. Smitty's heart is in jazz, he has earned himself a terrific reputation in that genre.I think Journey is just a nice walk down memory lane for him, and he will be back to jazz full time after this year's tours.

Too bad, he makes the band so much better, and the fans love him. I personally don't listen to jazz, so it was nice seeing him in action again, he posted a lot of videos of his solos.

perryfan61 wrote:I agree. Smitty's heart is in jazz, he has earned himself a terrific reputation in that genre.I think Journey is just a nice walk down memory lane for him, and he will be back to jazz full time after this year's tours.

Too bad, he makes the band so much better, and the fans love him. I personally don't listen to jazz, so it was nice seeing him in action again, he posted a lot of videos of his solos.

The videos that he shared during the tour were a lot of fun. He said in one interview that he had to slowly build on the solo as the tour went on, not to hurt himself in the process. He really needed to be aware of his reach and his playing power. His style and approach has changed so much from 30 years ago.

Although everyone, including myself, label him as a jazz musician, it's probably more accurate to call him a world music player. Yes, he does play a good bit of traditional jazz. But his catalogue over the years has spanned over so many sounds and styles. The guy never ceases to amaze me, no matter what he is playing.

Journey/Survivor wrote:I prefer Infinity over Evolution. Evolution is my least favorite of the Steve Perry era Journey albums, not including Dream After Dream.
I still love the Evolution album overall. But it's still my least favorite.

Unless Deen was still in the band, I can't see Journey being able to perform 3 full length albums at every show. That would be too much strain on Arnel's throat.

Journey needs to get Steve Augeri back and keep Arnel. They each sing 15 songs. Have Gregg Rolie come out for the Inifinity album part. That would be a blast.