Journey in Louisville 2017

[Gideon]

Spent 25 fucking minutes reviewing this goddamned concert and the post timed out and I lost all of it. Fuck.

Here's the abridged version: Girlfriend surprised me with tickets to see Journey in my hometown of Louisville. Hadn't seen them in 3 years. Asia was good - drummer kicked ass, touching tribute to John Wetton, but everyone's asses were in their firmly in their seats 'til "Heat of the Moment."

Journey's mix has only slightly improved. Can discern every instrument and Arnel's voice is front and center, but Neal's got way too much reverb going on - a lot of his fast runs during his solos blur together in a sonic wall. That said, motherfucker can still play and shred with the best of them and he remains my guitar hero. (Great bluesy prelude to "Lights," too. PS: he's milking that hug from Perry for all it's worth. Give it a fucking rest, man.)

Jon seemed to be less stoic than usual, the crowd loved his solo.

Steve Smith... wow. Not much to say here other than that he was amazing, his solo was as well received as any of Schon's. First time seeing him live, he exceeded expectations.

Ross was Ross.

Lastly, Arnel. Holy fuck. I hear his struggles in live recordings, so I'm sure they were here too, but live in the actual concert? Couldn't hear a one. He was fantastic. Noticed he is much more conservative and conscientious about his singing. It's visibly not effortless anymore. He nailed all the important notes - the angelic cry above the solo to "Wheel," the piercing 'my my my's at the end of "La Do Da,"etc. But he's not randomly belting out glass-shattering shrieks with impunity like he did 6 years ago. He's also toned down the gymnastics and acrobatics. He's clearly conserving his energy for the vocals. My girlfriend was absolutely blown away. The crowd still loves him. For all he lacks in frontman polish, he makes up for in charismatic exuberance.

Great show. My girlfriend was completely floored and I was pleasantly surprised at how great Arnel sounded and how well the band played. The highlight was "Escape." Things I'd like to see: a few new tunes, ditching one of Neal's 3 absurdly long solos (love watching him play, but goddamn he can exhaust you), and the band & management need to do everything in their power to keep Smith in the band.

8/10

[The_Noble_Cause]

Spent 25 fucking minutes reviewing this goddamned concert and the post timed out and I lost all of it. Fuck.

Here's the abridged version: Girlfriend surprised me with tickets to see Journey in my hometown of Louisville. Hadn't seen them in 3 years. Asia was good - drummer kicked ass, touching tribute to John Wetton, but everyone's asses were in their firmly in their seats 'til "Heat of the Moment."

Journey's mix has only slightly improved. Can discern every instrument and Arnel's voice is front and center, but Neal's got way too much reverb going on - a lot of his fast runs during his solos blur together in a sonic wall. That said, motherfucker can still play and shred with the best of them and he remains my guitar hero. (Great bluesy prelude to "Lights," too. PS: he's milking that hug from Perry for all it's worth. Give it a fucking rest, man.)

Jon seemed to be less stoic than usual, the crowd loved his solo.

Steve Smith... wow. Not much to say here other than that he was amazing, his solo was as well received as any of Schon's. First time seeing him live, he exceeded expectations.

Ross was Ross.

Lastly, Arnel. Holy fuck. I hear his struggles in live recordings, so I'm sure they were here too, but live in the actual concert? Couldn't hear a one. He was fantastic. Noticed he is much more conservative and conscientious about his singing. It's visibly not effortless anymore. He nailed all the important notes - the angelic cry above the solo to "Wheel," the piercing 'my my my's at the end of "La Do Da,"etc. But he's not randomly belting out glass-shattering shrieks with impunity like he did 6 years ago. He's also toned down the gymnastics and acrobatics. He's clearly conserving his energy for the vocals. My girlfriend was absolutely blown away. The crowd still loves him. For all he lacks in frontman polish, he makes up for in charismatic exuberance.

Great show. My girlfriend was completely floored and I was pleasantly surprised at how great Arnel sounded and how well the band played. The highlight was "Escape." Things I'd like to see: a few new tunes, ditching one of Neal's 3 absurdly long solos (love watching him play, but goddamn he can exhaust you), and the band & management need to do everything in their power to keep Smith in the band.

8/10

Thanks for the review. Sounds accurate from the YouTube stuff I've seen lately. Arnel, like Perry in his later years, will learn how to compensate. What Perry lost in range he made up for in control, diction, etc. I actually like the post-Escape Perry voice better. And yea, Schon acts as if he and Perry is BFFs. Dude doesn't even have his digits. Get a grip.

I haven't seen Journey live since 2011. Arnel blew me away also with his precision and technique. Augeri was a better frontman. Neal's playing was buried in the mix. Like you said, a blur. Yet strangely, when Night Ranger/Foreigner opened, you could hear Hoekstra's playing perfectly clear. In 2011, Cain's solo got a very muted response and he was noticeably pissed.

[perryfan61]

Great review, I felt the same way about Arnel's voice when I saw them 2 years ago. Sure wish I could have seen Smitty, Omar was the drummer when I saw them, and Neal opened with 35 minutes of Vortex before the show.....the crowd was noticeably silent for that. I agree, too many long solos from Neal, but that's what he loves to do, so I'm thinking that won't change.

[Journey/Survivor]

In 2011, Cain's solo got a very muted response and he was noticeably pissed.

I love Cain's piano playing, but I've grown tired of his live solos. I've been wanting him to switch over to live solos more like he used to play in Bad English, mostly synth based solos.

[Journey/Survivor]

Great review, I felt the same way about Arnel's voice when I saw them 2 years ago. Sure wish I could have seen Smitty, Omar was the drummer when I saw them, and Neal opened with 35 minutes of Vortex before the show.....the crowd was noticeably silent for that. I agree, too many long solos from Neal, but that's what he loves to do, so I'm thinking that won't change.

I would have loved to have seen/heard Neal's Vortex show!

I also love for Neal to play lots of solos, including long ones. I've seen/heard Journey play every hit song live a million times over. The biggest appeal of one of their shows to me is their live solos or extended jams on songs. But Cain keeps playing the same old piano solos over and over and over, he needs to switch to synth solos for a while again.

IMO Neal should play lots of solos. Cain should switch to synth solos, Smith should always play a solo. (Fortunately he is)
And Ross should get a minute or two to solo every night.

Add in more deep cuts to the live set.

That would be a breath of fresh air and revive the excitement at Journey shows.

[koberry]

I'm about to buy tickets to see them in Raleigh soon. Going to (re-)introduce my heavy metal-obsessed and guitar-interested 13-year old to what heavy, Melodic shredding is all about.

[Gideon]

Thanks for the review. Sounds accurate from the YouTube stuff I've seen lately. Arnel, like Perry in his later years, will learn how to compensate. What Perry lost in range he made up for in control, diction, etc. I actually like the post-Escape Perry voice better. And yea, Schon acts as if he and Perry is BFFs. Dude doesn't even have his digits. Get a grip.

I haven't seen Journey live since 2011. Arnel blew me away also with his precision and technique. Augeri was a better frontman. Neal's playing was buried in the mix. Like you said, a blur. Yet strangely, when Night Ranger/Foreigner opened, you could hear Hoekstra's playing perfectly clear. In 2011, Cain's solo got a very muted response and he was noticeably pissed.

Yeah, I think Arnel is developing technique in lieu of raw, effortless power. He's 50 and while he's still got plenty of juice left in the tank, I think, he knows he's gotta conserve what he has left if he wants to satisfy audience expectations each night. I hope management encourages and accommodates that wisdom.