MR

On May 1st, longtime AOR and Journey cover singer, Hugo, and his new band (basically Valentine w/ Augeri's son on drums), performed in Dubai to celebrate the opening of a new Trump International hotel. Politics aside, it seemed like a rather big gig for a tri-state/ East coast area cover band to secure. I saw some video and thought "good for Hugo" and that was about it. It was now brought to my attention that Jonathan was with them on stage playing piano. Holy cow!

A few thoughts....

1) Neal can't be happy about this.

2) Is Jon testing the waters to branch out from the mother-ship OR is this standard generic fealty to Trump?

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BY24sFnnh/
https://www.facebook.com/share/18vTz5gWqN/
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BrgWs9DmZ/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJlmM9PI ... _copy_link

The_Noble_Cause wrote:On May 1st, longtime AOR and Journey cover singer, Hugo, and his new band (basically Valentine w/ Augeri's son on drums), performed in Dubai to celebrate the opening of a new Trump International hotel. Politics aside, it seemed like a rather big gig for a tri-state/ East coast area cover band to secure. I saw some video and thought "good for Hugo" and that was about it. It was now brought to my attention that Jonathan was with them on stage playing piano. Holy cow!

A few thoughts....

1) Neal can't be happy about this.

2) Is Jon testing the waters to branch out from the mother-ship OR is this standard generic fealty to Trump?

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BY24sFnnh/
https://www.facebook.com/share/18vTz5gWqN/
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BrgWs9DmZ/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJlmM9PI ... _copy_link

If Cain wants to make Journey-like music with other people outside of Journey, that's fine, and he should have every right to do it. Just the same as it was perfectly fine for Schon to perform with Journey Through Time. And ANYONE who tried to/did stop him from using the name Journey Through Time was just being a petty little brat, and all out asshole!

No-one was going to confuse JTT as being the real Journey. Journey never had the words Through Time in their name.

If anyone saw a band listed as "Scorpion Sting," they are not going to think "Oh, that must be the Scorpions."
They may possibly think that it might be a Scorpions tribute band? But they would not think that it is the actual Scorpions.

My comments are not directed at you TNC. I'm just saying that if Cain or Schon are trying to stop each other from performing with other musicians playing similar music to Journey. As long as that music isn't all out plagiarizing Journey songs, then there's no problem and they need to stay out of each others business.

I can't find any of those live performances with Hugo on YouTube. Does anyone know if they are available for viewing other than on Facebook or Instagram?

Journey/Survivor wrote:If Cain wants to make Journey-like music with other people outside of Journey, that's fine, and he should have every right to do it. Just the same as it was perfectly fine for Schon to perform with Journey Through Time. And ANYONE who tried to/did stop him from using the name Journey Through Time was just being a petty little brat, and all out asshole!

No-one was going to confuse JTT as being the real Journey. Journey never had the words Through Time in their name.

If anyone saw a band listed as "Scorpion Sting," they are not going to think "Oh, that must be the Scorpions."
They may possibly think that it might be a Scorpions tribute band? But they would not think that it is the actual Scorpions.

My comments are not directed at you TNC. I'm just saying that if Cain or Schon are trying to stop each other from performing with other musicians playing similar music to Journey. As long as that music isn't all out plagiarizing Journey songs, then there's no problem and they need to stay out of each others business.

I can't find any of those live performances with Hugo on YouTube. Does anyone know if they are available for viewing other than on Facebook or Instagram?

Well, just to clarify, Jon never blocked JTT. It was Nightmare and Ross / Smitty. I don't think they had an issue with Neal playing Journey music. Just like they don't have an issue with Augeri (or anyone) playing Journey music. The issue was him trying to trademark the name "Neal Schon Journey Through Time" without permission and profiting off of it in the form of misc. merchandise etc.

Wild. Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZIvoTB ... ZIvoTBc76M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYKv1VT0Y-Q

chynablue wrote:Wild. Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZIvoTB ... ZIvoTBc76M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYKv1VT0Y-Q

Thanks for posting!

Pretty cool for Hugo and the band

Clearly, whoever's shooting the YouTube videos has no clue who Jonathan is - since he's never in the shot.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:Well, just to clarify, Jon never blocked JTT. It was Nightmare and Ross / Smitty. I don't think they had an issue with Neal playing Journey music. Just like they don't have an issue with Augeri (or anyone) playing Journey music. The issue was him trying to trademark the name "Neal Schon Journey Through Time" without permission and profiting off of it in the form of misc. merchandise etc.

It was NIghtmare who filed the original trademark violation. Then, Neal fired and sued Valory and Smith, saying they tried to take over the band, and then the counter suit from Valory and Smith. IMO, the lawsuits were settled after a bunch of sealed documents were threatened to be revealed in court...and then destroyed when it was settled. The real details of everything has never been made public...But, Nightmare forced out Schon and Cain from leadership and replaced them with Valory and Smith just prior to filing the trademark complaint...IMO, that caused "The Wrath Of Schon". But, it was NIGHTMARE who owns the trademark the corporation brought the lawsuit...which included Herbie, Steve Perry, Smith, and Valory...and Neal and Jon. Gregg may have been part of Nightmare, too...I don't remember. And, they added that attorney guy. The bottom line, is it was a corporate Nightmare action that was able to happen because of the Schon/Cain and Smith/Valory moves.

The problem is not using the "Journey Through Time" name...it was using similar logos and probably the font size and prominence of "Journey"....making it look like a Journey concert and not a Neal project...At least that's what I got from reading the original Trademark complaint, years ago.

Also, don't forget that Gregg forced Neal to stop using the Journey Through Time name in that defunct concert in Europe. This WAS a problem Gregg had with using the "Journey Through Time" name because it did not involve him and he disagreed with how the band name was being used.

Frankly, I think Jonathan should "quit" the band (but not Freedom LLC, or NoMoTa LLC) and Nightmare should only allow Neal to continue as "Journey featuring Neal Schon"...all in the same font, size and coloring, etc...and retire "Journey". It's time to end all the stupidity. Neal wants Journey to be "his" band, so let him...but attach it to his name so whatever he does keeps "Journey" clean.

Journey/Survivor wrote:My comments are not directed at you TNC. I'm just saying that if Cain or Schon are trying to stop each other from performing with other musicians playing similar music to Journey. As long as that music isn't all out plagiarizing Journey songs, then there's no problem and they need to stay out of each others business.

ANY band can go out and perform ANY song they want...as long as they pay the appropriate fees. If JOURNEY wants to go out on tour and perform nothing but Steve Perry solo songs, they can...and Perry can't stop them. If Jonathan or Neal want to tour with other musicians and perform a Journey set, they can....and nobody can stop them.

BUT, if they use the word "Journey" to advertise the band, and they use similar graphics that Journey has copyrighted. Then the owner of the Journey trademark can stop them...and that is Nightmare...and THAT is what happened with JTT.

If Neal goes out and tours as "Journey Beyond" and using some flying wing sorta graphic and/or it is advertised as "JOURNEY beyond", expect Nightmare to file a trademark complaint.

Monker wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:My comments are not directed at you TNC. I'm just saying that if Cain or Schon are trying to stop each other from performing with other musicians playing similar music to Journey. As long as that music isn't all out plagiarizing Journey songs, then there's no problem and they need to stay out of each others business.

ANY band can go out and perform ANY song they want...as long as they pay the appropriate fees. If JOURNEY wants to go out on tour and perform nothing but Steve Perry solo songs, they can...and Perry can't stop them. If Jonathan or Neal want to tour with other musicians and perform a Journey set, they can....and nobody can stop them.

BUT, if they use the word "Journey" to advertise the band, and they use similar graphics that Journey has copyrighted. Then the owner of the Journey trademark can stop them...and that is Nightmare...and THAT is what happened with JTT.

If Neal goes out and tours as "Journey Beyond" and using some flying wing sorta graphic and/or it is advertised as "JOURNEY beyond", expect Nightmare to file a trademark complaint.

I'm not saying that you're wrong. I'm pretty sure you are right. But I'm saying that Neal or anyone else SHOULD have the right to have a band named Journey Through Time and that no-one else SHOULD have any right to stop it. Even if the graphics look similar.

A friend of mine saw Hugo perform over the weekend. When introing Open Arms, Hugo said the following:

"About two months ago in May, Jonathan Cain called us and invited us to perform with him at a private event in Dubai. It was put together quickly and the next week we were in Dubai with him. We gained a friend, and this one goes out to Jonathan Cain."