So here it is -- St. John, Rhiannon, Gayle and a few others of us finagled our way into the Journey show at the private RE/MAX convention (how I personally got in is a story in itself, but it only cost me $20!). I was just a little late and missed the first few songs, but was amazed at how many people were there -- a very nice arena at the MGM with a great crowd, and plenty of standing room on the floor. Within only a few minutes, and without any problems, I was standing 4 feet right in front of Arnel! They were filming for the DVD that night, too, and also are doing this on the 8th.
Let me tell ya, hands down, Arnel sounded FANTASTIC, and didn't appear nervous in the least. Great stage presence and crowd interaction, and he really seemed to be comfortably sinking into his new element. I got several cell-phone pics and short video clips that I hope to post soon. Rhiannon and Gayle were having fun interacting with Arnel (no, not in that way), and Rhi got to shake his hand. Right at the end he threw out an orange RE/MAX tie into the audience, and I was an inch away from catching it! I later tried to get the girl who did to sell it to me, but no dice -- she wanted to keep it. No guitar picks on the stage either, and none taped to the mic stand. Where does Neal keep them? lol...
After the show, we hung out for a while in the casinos. There were several of us, including Dan, Rhiannon, Gayle, Frank Martinez, Journeygirl, and others whose screen names I didn't get. One of them was from England, I think, and is one of the mods of the official Journey site board. Very cool group of folks, and quite a few of them got a kick out of meeting "The Dokken Guy"...
This short report will be my only one, and sorry I didn't list song titles -- I think everyone knows pretty much what's being played. I bought the cheapest little Internet package I could get -- $6.00 for an hour -- so anyway, talk to ya on our return!
