What Neal Should really Do

[Saint John]

I think they could simplify all of that by merely promoting their new album, doing a few television shows

Now, this is where his accent and diction might come into play. I don't know the guy personally, and maybe he is rather smart and charismatic, but to have him on Leno, or some other show, I don't know if he could "hook" an audience. I do know Jeff would have done perfect in the TV show circuit. He could have led the band back into the eyes of America. With AP, the jury is still out.

Good point(s). I would stick to them closing a show and just performing where the music, and the music alone, is showcased. One of those outside performances would be cool. Just them playing to end a show.

[AR]

Some good ideas, Dean. I think they could simplify all of that by merely promoting their new album, doing a few television shows and sing the new songs in concert. But I like the fact that you are calling them to task. They chose to get rid of their last two singers in somewhat unceremonius fashions and now it's time to show us why. Time to answer the bell, boys. Your future in the business depends on it.

You're a traitor Dan.

Please do explain.

Hanging around a psycho site and losing the trust of many of your friends.

[Saint John]

Some good ideas, Dean. I think they could simplify all of that by merely promoting their new album, doing a few television shows and sing the new songs in concert. But I like the fact that you are calling them to task. They chose to get rid of their last two singers in somewhat unceremonius fashions and now it's time to show us why. Time to answer the bell, boys. Your future in the business depends on it.

You're a traitor Dan.

Please do explain.

Hanging around a psycho site and losing the trust of many of your friends.

If all of 5-10 posts is considered "hanging around" well then I'm guilty as charged. As far as "losing the trust of many of your friends", I have little/no control over that. Besides, that site has such little traffic that I find it hard to be touted as anything but meaningless.

[Rockindeano]

AR is definitely looking for a piece of somebody. Dude is enraged. I want to see a good throwdown.

[AR]

Some good ideas, Dean. I think they could simplify all of that by merely promoting their new album, doing a few television shows and sing the new songs in concert. But I like the fact that you are calling them to task. They chose to get rid of their last two singers in somewhat unceremonius fashions and now it's time to show us why. Time to answer the bell, boys. Your future in the business depends on it.

You're a traitor Dan.

Please do explain.

Hanging around a psycho site and losing the trust of many of your friends.

If all of 5-10 posts is considered "hanging around" well then I'm guilty as charged. As far as "losing the trust of many of your friends", I have little/no control over that. Besides, that site has such little traffic that I find it hard to be touted as anything but meaningless.

Dan it is meaningless - that site I mean. In fact I saw it was offline.

You know our community, and we had a minor issue going on, and well...... You were nowhere to be found, and I have heard you wanted to be removed anyway. Would that be accurate?

Doesn't mean I wouldn't hoist a beer with ya man. You know what that private site is supposed to be, and I think you just didn't want to be a part of it anymore.

[AR]

AR is definitely looking for a piece of somebody. Dude is enraged. I want to see a good throwdown.

I am beyond enraged Dean. A certain place that not only myself, but 2 others run was fucked with. Not a huge deal, but it was fucking annoying. People have come on there and entrusted us with some cool stuff. The chatroom especially.

Well it's been 3 leaks in a year. Nothing that has come out has been tragic, by any means. We held onto the Soto/Jeremey video forever until it was given permission to post.

I personally blame myself for any posts that were copied and pasted here or elsewhere in public. Maybe I wanted the site to be more inclusive. Maybe I was too nice in a weird way. Never again.

The new URL will never be advertised, and I want anyone who is a member to not worry about what they post there. If we have to chop membership down even further - so be it.

[donnaplease]

(Piggybacking off donna's stage presence thread)

Neal, dude, listen.

If you believe you made a great choice, a proper choice, then validate it. Here is what I mean.

Inundate the fans with Arnel. Paste his grill everywhere. Advertise the new singer, a "great new voice to music" and really increase the interest. Like someone else said, make his demo, you already did anyway, and play his version on all the radio advertising. You needn't worry about him taking all the spotlight. Real rock fans know who you are. but......as we both know, you may be the vehicle that makes the Journey machine move, but the singer is the gas, the fuel the additive you know you need. Although I think you had 92 octane with JSS, you chose to go another route and I do think AP can deliver. I am not worried about stage presence and as far as introducing songs and such, you or Princess can do that...Hell, you both spoke a lot during SA's first few gigs.

Seriously, flood the market with your new singer; his face, name and especially his voice. If he is that good, it is the smartest thing your band could do. Now, if he isn't really that good, you could continue to use SP's voice to get the ticket sold and "get through" your shows with AP.

I think you know I'm right on this.

Dreamin here Deano there going to flood it alright just like they always do ..with the Perry sound...then people will buy tickets show up ...then bingo "who the hell is that ?" cash the check ...run to the next county fair and do it all over again.

We were sitting in a restaurant in Clearwater, Florida after a particularly enjoyable basketball game. Those of you who were there know what I'm referring to. (it's a three letter word...) When the advertisement for the show that evening came on the overhead, I was torn between excitement and sadness because the voice we heard singing the tracks was that of Steve Perry, not that of Jeff Scott Soto. He had worked his ass off for this band, and I felt he deserved better. It should've been his voice we heard and the radio spot should've said something to the effect of "Journey featuring new lead vocalist Jeff Scott Soto".

I can't see Journey going that route with Arnel. Can you picture his image plastered on the side of a city bus? I guess the text could read something like "Journey featuring new lead vocalist Arnel Pineda, the guy we plucked off youtube to clone the vocal stylings of Steve Perry because our originality has dried up and we're too scared to step out of the box". Of course, that wouldn't fit on the side of the bus, so I'm sure we're just stuck in same old, same old land...

[Rockindeano]

Donna, for Chrissakes, we don't have to speak in code anylonger. After I beat Sotos PR ass in a shootaround, we went to eat, Chili's I think, maybe Applebee's, and when that radio ad came on, I distinctly remember having a tall frozen mug of beer in my hand squeezing out a 7 pound turd. I will never forget the size of that thing. I did NOT flush I was so proud. I left my pants and skid marked undies at my ankles and waddled out my stall, shuffling my feet, still not having wiped mind you, into the stall 2 doors down(there was a dude in the stall next to me). I remember laughing out loud at my actions and the guy next to me was not amused. As I approached the destined toilet, I remember making it just in time as another round of shit was making it's way out of the station. I released just in time, wiped up and ran outside and told Joe and I think Vader about it. Jeff was the one who went into the shitter. I don't know if he saw it or not.

Oh, yes, it was Perry singing on the radio ad.

That was a fun weekend, despite Angela getting run out of Pampano Beach show, and me running from the Hotel cops after destroying their 6 seater golf cart.

[larryfromnextdoor]

having a tall frozen mug of beer in my hand squeezing out a 7 pound turd.

you drink beer on the head??? thats insane man!!

[Lula]

having a tall frozen mug of beer in my hand squeezing out a 7 pound turd.

you drink beer on the head??? thats insane man!!

not insane. disgusting!!

[(Crazy)Dulce Lady]

having a tall frozen mug of beer in my hand squeezing out a 7 pound turd.

you drink beer on the head??? thats insane man!!

not insane. disgusting!!

that's a cute baby, sistah.

[donnaplease]

Donna, for Chrissakes, we don't have to speak in code anylonger. After I beat Sotos PR ass in a shootaround, we went to eat, Chili's I think, maybe Applebee's, and when that radio ad came on, I distinctly remember having a tall frozen mug of beer in my hand squeezing out a 7 pound turd. I will never forget the size of that thing. I did NOT flush I was so proud. I left my pants and skid marked undies at my ankles and waddled out my stall, shuffling my feet, still not having wiped mind you, into the stall 2 doors down(there was a dude in the stall next to me). I remember laughing out loud at my actions and the guy next to me was not amused. As I approached the destined toilet, I remember making it just in time as another round of shit was making it's way out of the station. I released just in time, wiped up and ran outside and told Joe and I think Vader about it. Jeff was the one who went into the shitter. I don't know if he saw it or not.

Oh, yes, it was Perry singing on the radio ad.

That was a fun weekend, despite Angela getting run out of Pampano Beach show, and me running from the Hotel cops after destroying their 6 seater golf cart.

I agree with Lu... that's pretty damned disgusting.

It was a really great weekend though, despite Angela getting kicked out of the Pompano venue and me almost getting roughed up by the bouncer dude in the M&G afterward for stepping around behind the table to talk to Ross & Deen. One too many Rum Runners, I guess...

[Rockindeano]

Donna, for Chrissakes, we don't have to speak in code anylonger. After I beat Sotos PR ass in a shootaround, we went to eat, Chili's I think, maybe Applebee's, and when that radio ad came on, I distinctly remember having a tall frozen mug of beer in my hand squeezing out a 7 pound turd. I will never forget the size of that thing. I did NOT flush I was so proud. I left my pants and skid marked undies at my ankles and waddled out my stall, shuffling my feet, still not having wiped mind you, into the stall 2 doors down(there was a dude in the stall next to me). I remember laughing out loud at my actions and the guy next to me was not amused. As I approached the destined toilet, I remember making it just in time as another round of shit was making it's way out of the station. I released just in time, wiped up and ran outside and told Joe and I think Vader about it. Jeff was the one who went into the shitter. I don't know if he saw it or not.

Oh, yes, it was Perry singing on the radio ad.

That was a fun weekend, despite Angela getting run out of Pampano Beach show, and me running from the Hotel cops after destroying their 6 seater golf cart.

I agree with Lu... that's pretty damned disgusting.

It was a really great weekend though, despite Angela getting kicked out of the Pompano venue and me almost getting roughed up by the bouncer dude in the M&G afterward for stepping around behind the table to talk to Ross & Deen. One too many Rum Runners, I guess...

I walked around the table and bear hugged Valory and Jeff. No one was bouncing me, oh fuck no. Even Deen..I picked his stick figure ass up and bounced him around. I had a blast. Those were the good times.

[donnaplease]

Donna, for Chrissakes, we don't have to speak in code anylonger. After I beat Sotos PR ass in a shootaround, we went to eat, Chili's I think, maybe Applebee's, and when that radio ad came on, I distinctly remember having a tall frozen mug of beer in my hand squeezing out a 7 pound turd. I will never forget the size of that thing. I did NOT flush I was so proud. I left my pants and skid marked undies at my ankles and waddled out my stall, shuffling my feet, still not having wiped mind you, into the stall 2 doors down(there was a dude in the stall next to me). I remember laughing out loud at my actions and the guy next to me was not amused. As I approached the destined toilet, I remember making it just in time as another round of shit was making it's way out of the station. I released just in time, wiped up and ran outside and told Joe and I think Vader about it. Jeff was the one who went into the shitter. I don't know if he saw it or not.

Oh, yes, it was Perry singing on the radio ad.

That was a fun weekend, despite Angela getting run out of Pampano Beach show, and me running from the Hotel cops after destroying their 6 seater golf cart.

I agree with Lu... that's pretty damned disgusting.

It was a really great weekend though, despite Angela getting kicked out of the Pompano venue and me almost getting roughed up by the bouncer dude in the M&G afterward for stepping around behind the table to talk to Ross & Deen. One too many Rum Runners, I guess...

I walked around the table and bear hugged Valory and Jeff. No one was bouncing me, oh fuck no. Even Deen..I picked his stick figure ass up and bounced him around. I had a blast. Those were the good times.

Yeah, that was just before you had us chasing down Neal's bus because he was too much of an ass to join the M&G folks. I thought we were gonna get tossed outta there for harassment...

Of course that was after our tailgate party in which Carol wrote a message on your butt cheeks and Vader christened every tree in the parking lot. Good times.

[infinityplusone]

5,500 - "What a beautiful summer night. Let's pack a picnic basket and a bottle of wine and see Journey! Remember them?" 80% chance - no knowledge of Steve Perry's replacement.

or

5,500 - "Okay kids, one more loop-da-loop/pony ride, then daddy's takin' ya to the concert. It's a 'rock' band called Journey. No, those aren't costumes."

1,000 - Greatest Hits owners/ie "casual fans."

1,000 - Under 25 "retro custom ball" crowd. Men dressed typically like Jon Cain circa '83, or Jon Cain's tennis coach. Women, dressed like.. hot. Just hot ("under 25" and all)

1,500 - People who have only seen the post-Perry era, and who were particularly impressed with Soto, and couldn't wait to see him again

100 - Same, with Augeri

700 - Those heard belting "assault, homicide, blood for money, HONNNNAYYYYY!" ie "fans"

200 - you lot ; )


soo true:

"Schon/Cain do not want anyone to know that SP is not singing. Most casual fans buy tickets to the show assuming they are seeing Journey, not a facsimile. If they promote Arnel, ticket sales plummet. Who wants to see a cover band unless you are a fanatic of the band such as ourselves"

[The_Noble_Cause]

He wont last through the summer without lipping,you can quote me on that. Sounds like has just made it when we was done at the studio.Just wait till he get wiff of the horseshit and dust from the county fairs. They ll be whippin out the tapes by August Just wait and see

The “hoarse from a cold” line in Arnel's interview might be reason for alarm.
Not to be paranoid, but anyone who lived thru the Augeri-era and its revolving merry-go-round of excuses (cold, flu, weather, no time to warm up) has every right to be concerned.

[texafana]

hmm.. I love the smell of bs in the morning.

[ohsherrie]

Schon/Cain do not want anyone to know that SP is not singing. Most casual fans buy tickets to the show assuming they are seeing Journey, not a facsimile. If they promote Arnel, ticket sales plummet. Who wants to see a cover band unless you are a fanatic of the band such as ourselves.

Good post. I agree.

Me too, but the only cover band this fanatic wants to see is Frontiers.

[The Sushi Hunter]

Schon/Cain do not want anyone to know that SP is not singing. Most casual fans buy tickets to the show assuming they are seeing Journey, not a facsimile. If they promote Arnel, ticket sales plummet. Who wants to see a cover band unless you are a fanatic of the band such as ourselves.

Good post. I agree.

Me too, but the only cover band this fanatic wants to see is Frontiers.

Yeah but it's not going to be a cover band because they are going to be doing the new songs that are supposed to be coming out on the new CD. Most who purchase the tickets will already know that either SP is not going to be singing, that Arnel is going to be singing the new tunes from the new album, or both. If Journey were just hashing over the old dinosaur Journey hits from the early 80's using Arnel, then they wouldn't need to market him. Journey didn't put out a bunch of marketing campaigns when they were using JSS did they? I don't think they did. Matter of fact, if it wasn't for Arnel joining up with Journey, I wouldn't have even been talking about Journey today.

[jrnyman28]

Yeah but it's not going to be a cover band because they are going to be doing the news songs that are supposed to be coming out on the new CD. Most who purchase the tickets will already know that either SP is not going to be singing, that Arnel is singing the new tunes from the new album, or both. If they were just hashing over the old dinosaur hits from the early 80's with SP, then they wouldn't need to market Arnel.

There will be a little promo during this tour of new music, but that will be it. Next tour it will be back to only the hits...

And I doubt they will be "marketing" Arnel.

[ProgRocker53]

All I know is, I'm excited for new tunes....

[The Sushi Hunter]

There will be a little promo during this tour of new music, but that will be it. Next tour it will be back to only the hits...And I doubt they will be "marketing" Arnel.

Never really know the outcome until it's in full swing. Also someone mentioned Toto had moved into the Asian market some years ago and this was Journey's way to do the same. If that's the case, Journey will be getting pretty famous over in Asia pretty soon. I was living in Japan when Toto put out that album Fahrenheit and Boston put out Third Stage. Both those two albums were very popular in Japan and the Philippines.

[jrnyman28]

There will be a little promo during this tour of new music, but that will be it. Next tour it will be back to only the hits...And I doubt they will be "marketing" Arnel.

Never really know the outcome until it's in full swing. Also someone mentioned Toto had moved into the Asian market some years ago and this was Journey's way to do the same. If that's the case, Journey will be getting pretty famous over in Asia pretty soon. I was living in Japan when Toto put out that album Fahrenheit and Boston put out Third Stage. Both those two albums were very popular in Japan and the Philippines.

Sure, we don't KNOW until it happens but I am speaking from the experience of the last 10 years here in America.

Journey has always done well in Japan so I would think that they could carry that over to other Asian countries even without Arnel...but certainly he will make it easier if he has such a following!

[Big J]

I think they could simplify all of that by merely promoting their new album, doing a few television shows

Now, this is where his accent and diction might come into play. I don't know the guy personally, and maybe he is rather smart and charismatic, but to have him on Leno, or some other show, I don't know if he could "hook" an audience. I do know Jeff would have done perfect in the TV show circuit. He could have led the band back into the eyes of America. With AP, the jury is still out.

Now you know better than this, how the fuck they gonna get booked on Leno?! Ellen maybe. Maury maybe. Maybe they can find out that Perry's the real father of Cain's kids.

No fucking way with the lack of competent management they have can they get booked on a show anyone watches that airs anytime before 1:00 a.m. on your local independent station.

[SF-Dano]

A few thoughts:

Unless the members of the band have control over every ad national and local, which I don't believe they do, then we are again blaming the members for something not within their control. Personally I have never heard a radio ad for a Journey show in aprox. the last 10 years that did not feature clips of the orginal (ie. Perry on vox) songs. Do the promoters or the band have control over these ads? I believe it has always been the promoters.

Also, if a person going to a Journey concert today, more than than 10 years after Perry's departure, does not know that SP is no longer the singer, then it is their loss and ignorance. IMO, they won't really care that much, because they haven't even kept a minimal amount of attention or interest in the band. They just want a good sounding show and a fun time. Again, my opinon only.

Lastly, we still have all the talk here of the "county fair" circuit Journey will be playing this summer. Well, it really hasn't happened with any incarnation of the band post Perry. So, I continue to try to understand why so many here think it is going to happen this tour. Seriously why? Because Pineda is an unknown? So was SA and to a lesser extent JSS. Now if Pineda's voice fails during the tour, well that could definately lead to major trouble.

[jrnyman28]

Now you know better than this, how the fuck they gonna get booked on Leno?! Ellen maybe. Maury maybe. Maybe they can find out that Perry's the real father of Cain's kids.

No fucking way with the lack of competent management they have can they get booked on a show anyone watches that airs anytime before 1:00 a.m. on your local independent station.

They could if Azzoff wants to do something for this band. But TV is something Journey does not want to do. There was a lot of talk about all the promotional stuff JSS wanted to do and there was talk that management was equally excited but that never happened. I don't expect it to happen now.

For 10 years I have offered up many a constructively critical post on the topic of promoting this band. For ten years nothing changed. You don't teach this old dog new tricks...

[ttango1]

Not saying that Journey is going the county fair route, I see Arena and possible Stadium in conjunction with someone else of note but...

Just wait till he get wiff of the horseshit and dust from the county fairs.

You're talkin' bout a little dust and horseshit like it's fricken poisonous gas or something. Whatevs...I will make an assumption and say that you've never been to the PI. (Philippine Islands) Manila especially due to the huge amount of overcrowding, while it has lots of beauty, also has so many noxious fumes in the air that horseshit and dust fall way below on the hazard scale.

Pollution in Asia is steadily worsening and is directly responsible for the death of thousands in Beijing, Jakarta, Seoul, Bangkok and Manila, according to the World Bank and the Stockholm Development Institute (SDI). SDI says that sulphur dioxide, ammonia and nitrogen oxides have been rising steadily over the past few decades and ground level ozone concentration has increased. Air pollution in the continent has now surpassed the combined emissions in Europe and North America.

According to the Bank's 2000 Annual Review, in Manila alone more than 4,000 Filipinos die each year because of air pollution. The mortality figure is the third highest for a city in the east Asian region after Beijing and Jakarta. Bangkok and Seoul were ranked 4th and 5th.

Beside the deaths, 90,000 Filipinos in Manila also suffer from severe chronic bronchitis, costing the government 7 percent of its gross domestic product in terms of health costs, the Bank said, citing statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) which did pollution and health studies in 126 countries last year. However, the air pollution death figures in other parts of the world are even higher, says the Bank, noting that yearly, over 40,000 die in India, 6,400 in Mexico City, over 5,000 deaths in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Horseshit and dust...Arnel will laugh that shit off. The cold virus can attack anyone, the article also mentions that Arnel insists that it hasn't affected his singing voice, once that album is released...we'll know then, won't we?

Y'all be cool. Seriously...reading this fine board has almost been like reading soap opera digest.

[chad]

It’s difficult to give advice if you don’t know what the objective of the band is.

Seems to me they’ve got two choices:

1) Greatest Hits band - Play the dirty-dozen, attract the casual fan, make good money
2) New Paths – put some promotional muscle behind the new music, attract the hard-core fan base and create new fans…by default they’ll still attract the casual fan

Strategically, you need to know which camp Journey has chosen before advice can be given. Remember, if they choose option #2, this isn’t easy….even for an established band like Journey in today’s climate. They’ll need a rock-solid promotional plan that is worlds apart different from option #1.

chad

[The Sushi Hunter]

Lastly, we still have all the talk here of the "county fair" circuit Journey will be playing this summer. Well, it really hasn't happened with any incarnation of the band post Perry. So, I continue to try to understand why so many here think it is going to happen this tour. Seriously why? Because Pineda is an unknown? So was SA and to a lesser extent JSS.

People think it's going to happen because of all the "new" tracks that have been talked about being mixed by Capt Caveman. It would be pretty stupid I think to put an album together and not tour the material while it's a hot commodity.

Now if Pineda's voice fails during the tour, well that could definately lead to major trouble.

Yeah, that would definitely put the band in a hurt locker on short order.

[StoneCold]

No matter what you think about them now. With a good pair up like DL , the Journey "name" is still big enough to go arena's. Just like last year.

Wonder if the Leps would go for it again. If they opened for BonJovi, sell out crowds everywhere no matter who's on the mike.