Neal on the Mitch Lafon and Jeremy White Show

[jrnyman28]

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mitch-lafon-and-jeremy-white-show/id1218868456?i=1000568008570

Some interesting notes, plans to 2025 including “an evening with”. What happened to Marco (and Narada and Randy…sorta).
Some fun guitar talk, fixing Arnel’s live sound.
A little on the Japanese bonus track.
More of the recording process, more Freedom talk.

[danielb]

What happened with Marco?

[Gideon]

What happened with Marco?

Neal said Marco overplayed at iHeartRadio and when Neal told him after to rein it in, Marco basically brushed him off.

So Neal and Jon said it wasn’t gonna work. They eventually drafted Todd Jensen.

[schonfan]

Why would Neal go public with a statement like that about Marco? It's so frustrating how little class he can have at times. Just say he is a great player, thank him, and say we have great chemistry with Jenson going back years and are enjoying getting out and playing music.

[schonfan]

Neal wants to be in a "Jam Band" but he is the only one who can shake it up...

[Gideon]

In Neal's defense, he didn't come out and demean or insult Marco.

He just said that after iHeart, he felt that Marco was overplaying at times and then not playing the "proper" bass lines at all at other times. So when he broached the subject with Marco, Marco was "nonchalant" and said he'd "think about it" (or something) and Neal chuckled and said he wanted Marco to do more than that. Then Neal said the others in the band reviewed the footage at iHeart and, as a unit, they agreed the chemistry wasn't there and so went in a different direction.

One of the interviewers interjected at one point and said "sounds like he needed to just do his fucking job," which was the harshest admonition of Marco. But it didn't come from Neal and Neal didn't jump on it.

NOW THAT SAID... I did have a big hearty laugh when, towards the end, Neal mentioned how he doesn't want the guitar to be overpowering and how he wants "a big band wrapped around him" as more of an ensemble effort.

This coming from the guy who, during the past several tours, had his own entire wing of the stage (Jon, the second keyboardist, and the bassist were all packed on the opposite side); the guy who gets 483 solos during a concert; and the guy who's basically hijacked Journey's brand and social media so that 90% of the posts are about him exclusively or him and his fucking wife.

I love Neal's playing, I love his energy, I love his enthusiasm for new music. But goddamn I miss a strong personality like Herbie who could keep that mf in check by harnessing his gifts and mitigating his flaws. Jon ain't it.

[danielb]

Thanks for giving the lowdown.

It's a shame anyone with a stage presence and ability to grab the spotlight gets fired from this band. JSS and now Marco.

[Journey/Survivor]

Let's not forget that one of the reasons that Aynsley Dunbar was fired from Journey is because he wasn't sticking to the correct drumming when they were playing live. He was treating songs as if they were his own solos, so the band, and most of all Steve Perry wanted him out of Journey since he wouldn't play what he was supposed to.

[JourneyHard]

Let's not forget that one of the reasons that Aynsley Dunbar was fired from Journey is because he wasn't sticking to the correct drumming when they were playing live. He was treating songs as if they were his own solos, so the band, and most of all Steve Perry wanted him out of Journey since he wouldn't play what he was supposed to.

Dunbar was part of Journey during the Fusion years and probably loved doing that because he had more freedom. Then the new sound of Journey, you couldn't do that anymore. So, Dunbar wanted to be in a jam band. Wasn't Dunbar in Whitesnake? I can hear some of that in their songs with the drummer emphasizing their drumming.

We have to wait until 2025 for Journey to do a three-hour show and play everything. They need to plan now to record that show and release it.

[JohnH]

So somehow this all becomes Neal’s fault . You can’t play Journey songs without locking in with the drummer and you can’t play Baked Potato fusion stuff in this band . Marco’s been doing that too long and has lost the Rock .

[danielb]

Marco was well received by fans both in Journey Through Time and Journey, applauded for bringing up the energy level. Suddenly, he is overplaying?

I have never heard any complaints about him not being able to "lock in with" the drummer. Not one. If there's anything he can do, it is probably just that, having "anchored" in so many top hard rock bands.

[jestor92]

That’s a shame about Marco. Thought the band sounded great with him and he was good musically and visually. I’ve seen videos of the current band and they aren’t as good.

[Monker]

Let's not forget that one of the reasons that Aynsley Dunbar was fired from Journey is because he wasn't sticking to the correct drumming when they were playing live. He was treating songs as if they were his own solos, so the band, and most of all Steve Perry wanted him out of Journey since he wouldn't play what he was supposed to.

Dunbar was part of Journey during the Fusion years and probably loved doing that because he had more freedom. Then the new sound of Journey, you couldn't do that anymore. So, Dunbar wanted to be in a jam band. Wasn't Dunbar in Whitesnake? I can hear some of that in their songs with the drummer emphasizing their drumming.

That's the official reason. But, Herbie said in the "Castles Burning" interview that Dunbar was hooking up with "young girls" and emphasized the "young" part. I took it to mean under age teenagers. He tells the story of going backstage and there would always be a group of these girls waiting just for him. Another part is Dunbar was making a lot of money being a session/studio drummer...more than he made in Journey. So, it was hard to pull him away from that to concentrate on the band. You would have to read the article again, but there was more there than Dunbar wanting to "jam". And, Herbie did the firing, not the band.

[Monker]

Marco was well received by fans both in Journey Through Time and Journey, applauded for bringing up the energy level. Suddenly, he is overplaying?

I have never heard any complaints about him not being able to "lock in with" the drummer. Not one. If there's anything he can do, it is probably just that, having "anchored" in so many top hard rock bands.

I think what Neal is implying is Marco was doing too much and stealing some of the spotlight. They (Neal and Jon) are used to Ross just playing the parts and not doing too much to be a focus of attention.

Also, when Marco joined, that is when the bass got REALLY loud...not sure if he requested that...

[Art Vandelay]

Let's not forget that one of the reasons that Aynsley Dunbar was fired from Journey is because he wasn't sticking to the correct drumming when they were playing live. He was treating songs as if they were his own solos, so the band, and most of all Steve Perry wanted him out of Journey since he wouldn't play what he was supposed to.

Dunbar was part of Journey during the Fusion years and probably loved doing that because he had more freedom. Then the new sound of Journey, you couldn't do that anymore. So, Dunbar wanted to be in a jam band. Wasn't Dunbar in Whitesnake? I can hear some of that in their songs with the drummer emphasizing their drumming.

That's the official reason. But, Herbie said in the "Castles Burning" interview that Dunbar was hooking up with "young girls" and emphasized the "young" part. I took it to mean under age teenagers. He tells the story of going backstage and there would always be a group of these girls waiting just for him. Another part is Dunbar was making a lot of money being a session/studio drummer...more than he made in Journey. So, it was hard to pull him away from that to concentrate on the band. You would have to read the article again, but there was more there than Dunbar wanting to "jam". And, Herbie did the firing, not the band.

They even touched on Dunbar's situation a bit in the Breaking the Band episode. Seems like he really wasn't happy with the new direction of the band and was openly critical, especially when drinking his Scotch and Gingers. I read an interview online from when he was still in the band. He mentioned something along the lines of all everyone wants to talk about now is Perry. He also said the tight setlists were basically warm-ups for his solos.
Yes, Perry didn't feel his groove and there were the reasons that Herbie brought up as well. But I think the writing was on the wall mutually that he was no longer a fit.

[danielb]

They just keep shooting themselves in the foot. Marco joins the band and the fans take to him. Bam, he's out.

[FamilyMan]

Interesting to hear Neal talk about the production of the album. He says he wanted the sound of the album to feel like the band was live in a stadium. Talks about the "chamber" effects to make it sonically feel live vs. studio. That could be why the mix sounds the way it does.