http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-rev ... 67048.html
By Kellie B. Gormly
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, August 28, 2005
The three-decade journey of a world-famous classic rock band continues to stretch into a new generation, while the band gathers a fresh crop of young fans eager to embrace the rock sound of the '70s and '80s.
Journey, indeed, still sails on the journey on which the band embarked in 1973 in San Francisco, and this ship has no plans to dock, says Neal Schon, guitarist for the band.
"What's cool about our name -- it means that it just keeps moving," says Schon, who will join Journey's four other members Wednesday night for a concert at the Chevrolet Amphitheatre at Station Square.
"It just means that no matter what, it just keeps moving," says Schon, 51, one of two remaining original band members. "We've had a lot of personnel changes, and we're still here."
Teenage boys and girls -- and even younger kids -- now are rocking and rolling to Journey songs. At concert meet-and-greet sessions, kids often say, "'Wow, you guys are the greatest band that I've ever seen -- you guys actually play instruments,'" Schon says.
Add the youngsters to the band's millions of established adult fans, and Journey still gets many sold-out crowds.
"They're ready for everything we're going to lay on them," says Schon, of San Rafael, Calif. "They want to experience that mode of music again -- the electricness of the instrumentation, and not just dancing and singing."
Band members have picked two highly fitting names for their current projects: a new album and 30th-anniversary tour. The album, "Generations," will be released in October. Fans who go to a show on the tour -- dubbed "The concert that takes you back ... and into the future" -- can get a free copy at the concert in the designated "Journeyville" area. Journeyville includes large screens with continual playback of moments throughout Journey history, and a motorcycle that concertgoers can enter to win.
"It's a celebration of everything we've ever done," Schon says of the tour.
Journey has undergone many changes during its three decades, the most notable being the departure of renowned singer Steve Perry -- the distinctive voice of Journey to longtime fans -- after the band's 1996 release of the "Trial By Fire" album. Perry suffered an injury during a mountain hiking trip and needed a hip replacement, which postponed Journey's tour. Perry left the band, and Journey replaced him with the band's second singing Steve: Steve Augeri.
Schon says the band does not maintain contact with Perry; members last saw him when he made a surprise appearance in Hollywood on "Journey Day," Jan. 21 of this year. The band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Augeri has a strong voice and his own style, but has not changed the dynamics of Journey much: It's still the same band, Schon says. The music on the new album still carries a distinctly Journey style, which Schon calls "rock and soul": rock with hokey melodies, strong guitars and uplifting lyrics and some ballads.
"It's a rocking record, though it's not a sleepy record," Schon says. "We didn't try to go with the flavor of the month or try to be modern. We actually made a very retro-type record that sounds like us.
"What would the purpose be at this point to change what we're dong?" he asks. "People like who we are."
