Why does Journey have such a problem...?

[Jeremey]

Okay, maybe it's me, but what is it about Journey hating tribute bands? I don't get it. They've gone on the record before saying that tribute bands are a "nuisance," while most other bands who have tribute bands eat it up - Because they know it is getting them publicity and helping sell their records! I mean, even people like Stewart Copeland and Gene Simmons have been known to HIRE their own tribute bands......

To me, it's an ironic stance to take, from an ever-evolving band that has - at the very least - proven to their fans and critics alike that their GREATEST enduring legacy will be the melodies and songs that have meant so much to so many.

[Rockindeano]

I don't see how any fan can answer this. You have to ask the Band themselves. However, as much as I love Neal, I don't understand it either. As for the BT fans getting all riled up, dude, who cares what those "crackpots" think. On second thought, those people don't think for themselves. if tomorrow is Journey t shirt day, 98% will wear Journey t shirts...

Either write Neal(or go backstage like I do), and ask him point blank. It may not be the members decision...It could be those grandpas in the "management offices;

or

Do it anyway, and take your chances. The backlash of PR the band would receive IMO, would be so great, they wouldn't persue it..

Hell with it, If I could out and play as good as they do, I would do it..

[ohsherrie]

Jeremy, I'm going to post this at the risk of pissing off a lot of people here. I hope that won't happen.

I don't know if the resistance is coming from the band or just from the BT zealots. If it's coming from the band though, it may be because they've said they are touring to carry on the legacy and that's also what most tribute bands are about. Most of the people at their shows only want to hear the same material that you play.

Again, I'm not trying to stir anything up. I'm just offering Jeremy my opinion. This negativity at BT may purely be from the BTers.

[LAWoman]

I haven't really seen any of the "threadkillers" but are you posting dates when your band is playing? I've seen threads killed for promoting other people's websites so maybe it is just an issue of not using the Journey official site to self-promote? Why don't you post in the Cooler--or here for that matter?

Also--do you cover Arrival, Red 13 or Generations?

[Jeremey]

thanks, deano...as far as doing the show, there's nothing that the band can really do about it...and it's not so much the band that causes any problems, it's just that i can't understand their position on the whole thing. again, it's kind of like - some bands get it, some bands don't....

oh sherrie, don't think you said anything to piss anyone off....i do know that the resistance we get from "journey fans" is what is so frustrating, but i also know that members of the band have directly instructed people in their organization to contact us about certain things (though any issues have been resolved without problems), we just seem like an awfully small operation to get real uptight about....

LAWoman, thanks also for your post. i stopped promoting the Frontiers shows long ago on specific threads, though I have mentioned Carolinas shows in threads where BT'rs were lamenting the fact that Journey had bypassed the Carolinas during the summer. For a long while I tried to post insightful and constructive comments but usually my posts would be the last on the thread, hence the idea "threadkilla." A good example is when one of the BT moderators attended a show and posted a very positive review in a thread, which not a single person responded to. It's not that my posts are self promoting....I think it's the fact that I have a link to FRONTIERS - A TRIBUTE TO JOURNEY in my signature....

And as a side note - We don't cover any of the Augeri-era material...It's kind of a thing where we do what we do, and being a tribute band with me dressed in tails impersonating steve perry, it would be very odd to do a song off arrival or generations. there's been much discussion about it in our band, but in the end, you gotta be consistant!

[heardonthestreet]

Go for it Jeremey and good luck. The tribute bands are just that. You are paying tribute to a great band and the fans love Classic Journey.Stay consistant.

[Rockindeano]

And as a side note - We don't cover any of the Augeri-era material...It's kind of a thing where we do what we do, and being a tribute band with me dressed in tails impersonating steve perry, it would be very odd to do a song off arrival or generations.

Easy fix. Take off the jacket. You can always put it back on. You are missing out on Generations...I don't much like red13 and only a few from Arrival, but that is my opinion.. The band should throw you a few gens discs, and give them out at YOUR shows. The fans know who JOURNEY is and who Frontiers is!

[Eric]

1) I would love if a Journey tribute band came near my home

2) However, whenever any band plays a Journey tune it sounds awful

3) I remember one tribute band that is out there put down the current
band...I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

[Jeremey]

Easy fix. Take off the jacket. You can always put it back on. You are missing out on Generations...I don't much like red13 and only a few from Arrival, but that is my opinion.. The band should throw you a few gens discs, and give them out at YOUR shows. The fans know who JOURNEY is and who Frintiers is!

Trust me, when it's 110 degrees onstage the jacket comes off no matter what. As I've said in other threads, there are some awesome, classic, killer Journey songs on Generations. I would love to play TPIYH or Out of Harms Way. Barry, our guitarist, has lobbyed hard to play "Higher Place." I wouldn't mind playing any of those songs. What I think it comes down to, though, is that I think a large part of what we do is musical theater, no matter how you slice it. I think people come to a show with a certain expectation of "oh, this is a Journey tribute show, don't stop believin', separate ways, yada yada yada..." We want to play to those expectations, and the bottom line is...yeah, I can sing a Steve Augeri song or a Sammy Davis Jr song for that matter, but what people expect out of me is a Steve Perry impression, for better or for worse.

That being said, if the band said they thought what we were doing helped promote them and their records and they liked what we did and wanted us to pass out Generations CDs, absolutely, we'd do it...I mean come on...It's freakin' JOURNEY, for God's sake! That being said, I can never see that happening, and I could smell the lawsuits from here!!

[SuiteMadameBlue]

That being said, if the band said they thought what we were doing helped promote them and their records and they liked what we did and wanted us to pass out Generations CDs, absolutely, we'd do it...I mean come on...It's freakin' JOURNEY, for God's sake! That being said, I can never see that happening, and I could smell the lawsuits from here!!

I thought you could sell a t-shirt and include a cd, so "technically" you're not selling the cd, your giving it away. I "heard" that a tribute band has been doing it this way for a while.

[Jeremey]

1) I would love if a Journey tribute band came near my home

2) However, whenever any band plays a Journey tune it sounds awful

3) I remember one tribute band that is out there put down the current
band...I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

1) If you are in the midatlantic, southeast, or OH/IN area, odds are we'll be playing somewhere near you next year...You should come out to a show!

2) I don't think we sound awful...Though I do think that no one really 100% "gets" what we do unless they come to a show. The audience interaction and response to the music is 60% of what we do...

3) It sure doesn't make any sense at all for a tribute band to put down the band they are playing tribute to...That would be absurd!

[SuiteMadameBlue]

1) If you are in the midatlantic, southeast, or OH/IN area, odds are we'll be playing somewhere near you next year...You should come out to a show!

How long is your set? Would you ever travel to the Milwaukee area if the price was right?

[NoMoreTails]

..It's kind of a thing where we do what we do, and being a tribute band with me dressed in tails impersonating steve perry, ...

This is the only reason I could see that Journey would posssibly have a problem with tribute bands. Maybe audiences expect it, I'd like to see you guys at some point but would prefer the impersonation part be left out, others may enjoy it.
In fairness to Neal, has he said anything negative? I do seem to recall Jonathan making a "nuisance" remark, perhaps it was an interview with the two of them and Jon make the remark, Neal agreed or something. But I can't specifically recall Neal making any negative comments.

[OpeningAct]

Go for it Jeremey and good luck. The tribute bands are just that. You are paying tribute to a great band and the fans love Classic Journey.Stay consistant.

Exactly...I just wish some of them would come to Boston!

[heardonthestreet]

Or Grand Rapids, Mi., OA.

[ohsherrie]

Go for it Jeremey and good luck. The tribute bands are just that. You are paying tribute to a great band and the fans love Classic Journey.Stay consistant.

Ditto!!

If you think about it there's really no point in playing the post Perry material. Most of the people who go the the band's own shows only want to hear Perry era material, so it only stands to reason that the people who go to a Frontiers show would also be going for that music. Maybe that's part of the problem. The tribute bands are promoting the era that they're trying to get past. Or, maybe they just don't want anyone but they're own singers covering that material. Who knows?

Just keep on rockin' Jeremy.

[Rockindeano]

Exactly...I just wish some of them would come to Boston!

Why? You wouldn't see the real Journey, why would you see the Tribute Journey? fool

[Rockindeano]

Most of the people who go the the band's own shows only want to hear Perry era material,

No way. There were people who were there just to see the new stuff. There were people who wanted Perry stuff. There were people who wanted it ALL.

Jeremy, if you are going to act the part, do it for real..go backstage and throw on some red pants, a whit long sleeve shirt, and two earrings..

Then change back..

PS- I do hate the earrings. Looks like Rob Thomas..FUGLY

[Greg]

Jeremey,

I know from experience that fans who come to see your band's tribute show does not leave disappointed! With that said...can you give me the web address to your band's website?

[ohsherrie]

Jeremy, if you are going to act the part, do it for real..go backstage and throw on some red pants, a whit long sleeve shirt, and two earrings..

NO JEREMY!!! PUUUUULLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSEEEEEEE
don't do that.

[Rockindeano]

Jeremy, if you are going to act the part, do it for real..go backstage and throw on some red pants, a whit long sleeve shirt, and two earrings..

NO JEREMY!!! PUUUUULLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSEEEEEEE
don't do that.

You want to brawl? Ok, screw the get up, but you cannot argue the new music is not awesome, Jeremy..

[OpeningAct]

Exactly...I just wish some of them would come to Boston!

Why? You wouldn't see the real Journey, why would you see the Tribute Journey? fool

I saw them TWICE during the tour jackass... Don't you get tired being wrong???

[ohsherrie]

You want to brawl?

Hell yeah baby, but I don't think our host would like it much.

[Rockindeano]

Hell yeah baby, but I don't think our host would like it much.

Andrew, screw him. Who cares what he thinks?

[ohsherrie]

You want to brawl?

Hell yeah baby, but I don't think our host would like it much.

Andrew, screw him. Who cares what he thinks?

He does, and we'd all better. He's the boss.

[sadie65]

I'm sure you're great. My own personal opinion, is that no matter what you should cover all incarnations of the band. Not that you were asking me of course...

Sadie

[Jeremey]

Thanks for all the replies to this thread! Just to answer a few responses:

SMB: Yes, we would travel to WI if the price was right, though airline tickets would be a must! Our set in clubs is usually about 3 hours, and for festivals etc we cut it down to whatever they are asking for...

Nomota: I think again it comes down to the theatrical aspect of it all, and what audiences expect regarding the term "tribute band." Frontiers doesn't dress or really act like Journey in any way, and I don't actually "act" like I'm steve perry during the show. Some tribute acts completely dress the part and some even act like they are the artist when talking to the audience. We don't do that at all, but we sound very much like Journey and so it's kind of a fine line you walk between cheese and crackers.

And to my knowledge Neal has never said anything negative about tribute acts, but it has seemed to be the general attitude from the Journey organization that rubs off on some people that inspired my OP.

Deano, yes there are songs on Generations that kick ass & are awesome.

Greggie, thanks - the site is www.journeytributeband.com

Sadie - thanks for your post....as far as covering all incarnations of the band...it would make for a very long and varied evening, and almost 90% of our audience is the casual Journey fan, many of them less than 25 years old or so, who get a kick out of the nostalgia aspect of the show. We open our second set with DSB, and between nearly every song in the first set someone is yelling "Don't Stop Believin! Don't Stop Believin'!" Our deepest cuts are something like "Can't Tame The Lion" or "Troubled Child," anything deeper and we'd start to lose people!

[sadie65]

Sadie - thanks for your post....as far as covering all incarnations of the band...it would make for a very long and varied evening, and almost 90% of our audience is the casual Journey fan, many of them less than 25 years old or so, who get a kick out of the nostalgia aspect of the show. We open our second set with DSB, and between nearly every song in the first set someone is yelling "Don't Stop Believin! Don't Stop Believin'!" Our deepest cuts are something like "Can't Tame The Lion" or "Troubled Child," anything deeper and we'd start to lose people!

I understand. I've just seen a Styx cover band who managed to do it. They chose the main hits, and selected one or 2 songs from the current lineup...in this case I would Generations would be the cd to work with. I wouldn't necessarily go deep cuts since your audience is just casual fan. Hey, not trying to tell you how to run your show. Good luck with it!

Peace

Sadie

[Rockindeano]

...in this case I would Generations would be the cd to work with. I wouldn't necessarily go deep cuts since your audience is just casual fan. Hey, not trying to tell you how to run your show. Good luck with it!
Sadie

I am sending you a copy tomorrow. I guarantee you like it. You need to "upgrade" bands, Sadie baby!

[A Fire Inside]

Journey probably doesn't like tribute acts because they're still all butt-hurt about Perry in general. Of course they wouldn't be too happy about an act that showcases Perry-era songs and brings out the tails... I bet they see it as something that just riles up the crowd against them.

But I like tribute bands. Sure, I'd rather hear the real thing with Augeri, but a tribute concert is fun. Let us know when you make that trip out to CA, Jeremey. Would love to see your band.