Question for Deano

[Abitaman]

You can take you adress down Deano-Thank you-ERIC

[Citygirl]

The allegations of Deano have been well known on here and BT since before the UK shows, yet I seem to recall that you, along with everybody else, were quite gushing in your praise of the band (including the singer) in the wake of the Manchester show. I can't believe that you would have been so pleased about the show if, as you say, you already knew, or at least believed you knew, about the so called tapes at that time. Or did your source tell you later (by the way, its not Dave Ling by any chance is it? I know he was a big Journey fan and he jumped on the Deano bandwagon around that time, and as a well know journo he was likely to have had contacts with promoters etc).
Marty

Marty, you being a big fan of JSS and also of Journey... and having been at the UK gigs... What's your opinion on the whole thing? Do you think tapes were used at the UK gigs?

[MartyMoffatt]

The allegations of Deano have been well known on here and BT since before the UK shows, yet I seem to recall that you, along with everybody else, were quite gushing in your praise of the band (including the singer) in the wake of the Manchester show. I can't believe that you would have been so pleased about the show if, as you say, you already knew, or at least believed you knew, about the so called tapes at that time. Or did your source tell you later (by the way, its not Dave Ling by any chance is it? I know he was a big Journey fan and he jumped on the Deano bandwagon around that time, and as a well know journo he was likely to have had contacts with promoters etc).
Marty

Marty, you being a big fan of JSS and also of Journey... and having been at the UK gigs... What's your opinion on the whole thing? Do you think tapes were used at the UK gigs?

I was aware of the allegations at the time of the UK gigs through what I'd read here, so I was paying close attention, particularly at the Manchester show. I can honestly say I saw or heard no evidence of tapes being used at Manchester or Edinburgh. I had front row seats at Manchester and 3rd row in Edinburgh so at times I was literally 3 feet from SA when he came out and leaned into the audience. In fact at one point he stumbled and virtually fell on top of us.

Some would say that I was perhaps too close, because the PA sounds very different centre stage at the front than it does further back. But there were times that SA was so close I could actually hear his real voice behind the microphone and he was definitely singing and putting his heart and soul into it. Of course the tapegaters would then say that doesn't prove anything because what he was singing wasn't what was being pumped through the amplifiers. And I agree, it doesn't prove it. I can't offer any absolute evidence to say there were not tapes being used. There were certainly times during that concert where he was completely live, when he messed up the lyrics of a couple of songs, and came in too early on one.

Equally I'm still not absolutely convinced by the evidence put forward by the tapegaters - especially about the length of time this supposedly has been happening.

So, to answer your original question.... I don't know, and I'm not about to speculate about things I don't know.

At the end of the day, its not as big an issue to me as it seems to be to everybody else. I paid to see a great Journey show and I got a great Journey show. My enjoyment of that night is not diminished dependent on whether or not tapes were used.

As you say, I am a big JSS fan anyway, and I'm looking forward to seeing him with Journey five times in the next couple of weeks. I know I'm going to enjoy those shows, because, having seen JSS a few times before I know he's a complete package. I don't care if he doesn't nail every note of every song (though I'm sure he manages better than some on here give him credit for). He is a star performer on stage and any live show with JSS involved is going to be electric.

Marty

[Liz22562]

Thanks very kindly Marty. It was just as nicely put as Paul_UK and some others had posted after they attended the Manchester & Edinburgh concerts also!

[McNeil]

I too attended the Manchester show, and I posted up my review of the gig in the "On The Road" section of the Jrny official site.

At that stage I hadnt been made aware of "tapegate", I was at the back third of the hall, so didnt have the greatest view, so couldnt make any kinda real judgement at the time.. I do know that the sound was generally very average, the vocals werent coming through as loud as they should have been, especially for a band, whose "vocals" are the main factor, so to me this is very suspicious. Fuck me, Jrny and crew are absolute veterans when it comes to sound probs etc etc. If the vox are low in the mix, its for a reason.

I noticed that this low vocal sound, has been a regular criticism in their gig reviews

Looking at film of Augeri taken by the audience at that gig and others recently, and comparing it to early gigs, his mic technique has changed markedly.

This has already been pointed out, but I will cover it again: In early shows, including the 1998 pro shot gig I have put clips up from, he raises n lowers the mic from his mouth to accentuate, or soften vocal passages, therefore we can all see his lips moving, in the alleged"tapegate" era, the mic hardly ever leaves his lips, being pressed to them almost canstantly (he even changes hands often , but the mic stays "glued" to his mouth in the most unnatural manner,) plus the mic shield is rather oversized, so you cant see his lip movements at all. the only time the mic is lowered is when there is a musical interlude. To me this is deeply suspicious, and is totally against how a vocalist uses the microphone.

My verdict: guilty as charged

[MartyMoffatt]

I too attended the Manchester show, and I posted up my review of the gig in the "On The Road" section of the Jrny official site.

At that stage I hadnt been made aware of "tapegate", I was at the back third of the hall, so didnt have the greatest view, so couldnt make any kinda real judgement at the time.. I do know that the sound was generally very average, the vocals werent coming through as loud as they should have been, especially for a band, whose "vocals" are the main factor, so to me this is very suspicious. Fuck me, Jrny and crew are absolute veterans when it comes to sound probs etc etc. If the vox are low in the mix, its for a reason.

I noticed that this low vocal sound, has been a regular criticism in their gig reviews

Looking at film of Augeri taken by the audience at that gig and others recently, and comparing it to early gigs, his mic technique has changed markedly.

This has already been pointed out, but I will cover it again: In early shows, including the 1998 pro shot gig I have put clips up from, he raises n lowers the mic from his mouth to accentuate, or soften vocal passages, therefore we can all see his lips moving, in the alleged"tapegate" era, the mic hardly ever leaves his lips, being pressed to them almost canstantly (he even changes hands often , but the mic stays "glued" to his mouth in the most unnatural manner,) plus the mic shield is rather oversized, so you cant see his lip movements at all. the only time the mic is lowered is when there is a musical interlude. To me this is deeply suspicious, and is totally against how a vocalist uses the microphone.

My verdict: guilty as charged

Whether this is 'suspicious' or not is still debatable, but either way it doesn't constitute 'proof'. There could be many reasons why somebody's microphone technique changes over time, and if he is singing along anyway, why would there be any need to deliberately hide lip movements - sorry, but as an argument it is not substantial enough to sway me. If we convicted people in a court of law on that level of evidence - oh he look suspicious so he MUST be guilty - then our overcrowded prisons would have been full to saturation point long ago. Ahh, they already are! But you get my point.

Anyway, this is a tired old argument and I don't want to stir it up again. Further chewing of the cud isn't going to create any more converts to whichever side of the fence you sit on, even if you're sitting on top of the fence.

Marty

[Jeremey fan forever]

Oh for Christs' sake..it was a parody. I am sure God is busting a gut on this.

It was no parody. In fact, go look at the points made in the "Journey to the dakside" thread. You have just added evidence to this.

Folks, pay atttention here!

Fact: Journey is a devil worship band

Fact: Deano is its evil spokesman on this board.

Get out while you can!

[conversationpc]

Oh for Christs' sake..it was a parody. I am sure God is busting a gut on this.

It was no parody. In fact, go look at the points made in the "Journey to the dakside" thread. You have just added evidence to this.

Folks, pay atttention here!

Fact: Journey is a devil worship band

Fact: Deano is its evil spokesman on this board.

Get out while you can!

They've sold their souls to Satan.

[Jodes]

Satan moves to our voices.. oops wait a minute.. wrong band!