08.29.09 Journey @ Darien Lake PAC, Darien, NY

[isla]

http://www.examiner.com/x-12114-Buffalo ... n-Saturday


Journey set to perform at Darien Lake on Saturday
August 28, 3:31 AMBuffalo Music ExaminerJillian Smolinski

Arena-rock diehards Journey will perform at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center this Saturday night.

The legendary band is back on the road for the second leg of their Revelation Tour, which wraps up September 26 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Revelation, Journey's 13th studio album was released in June 2008. The Platinum-certified release is the first to feature new lead singer Arnel Pineda.

I don't know about you, but I'm still holding out hope that one day Steve Perry and Journey will reunite. Until then I'll take what I can get. Sure, Pineda will never come close to Perry's accomplishments with the band. But the good news is vocally, Pineda is as close to Perry as anyone can get. Those of you attending Saturday night's concert can expect to hear the classics like Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), Don't Stop Believing', and Wheel in the Sky as well as a few new tracks.

Formed over three decades ago, Journey hit its peak in the late 1970s to early 1980s. During that period (a.k.a. the Steve Perry-era), the band cranked out hit after hit including: Don't Stop Believing, Any Way You Want It, Faithfully, Open Arms, Send Her My Love, Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), Wheel in the Sky, Who's Crying Now, Stone in Love, Lovin' Touchin', Squeezin' and Lights.

Epic power ballad Don't Stop Believing , which debuted on 1981's Escape, is considered to be Journey's most recognizable song. In fact Don't Stop Believing might just be one of the most recognizable songs ever. While some won't remember the artist, everyone remembers the opening keyboard riff and the undeniably catchy chorus. Don't Stop Believing has been a mainstay at karaoke nights for over twenty years. The song is the top-selling track in iTunes history - thanks in part to it's popularity at bars across the country, but also to because of it's place in pop culture. Don't Stop Believing has made appearances in a number of film and television series including: The Wedding Singer, Family Guy, Monster, South Park, Cold Case, My Name Is Earl, Laguna Beach, American Idol, and Scrubs. Not to mention the national exposure the song received after being used in the final scene of HBO's The Sopranos series finale. The appearance sparked several parodies. Earlier this year the eighth seasons of American Idol featured contestants singing the song, which they later performed on the American Idol tour. Don't Stop Believing is also featured as the finale number in Broadway musical Rock of Ages. Most recently the song was covered for the new Fox musical-comedy, Glee.

Journey went on indefinite hiatus in 1987 when vocalist Steve Perry was unable and/or unwilling to remain actively involved in the band. The classic lineup reunited briefly in 1995 to record Trial by Fire, but Perry left two years later after injuring his hip. Drummer Steve Smith followed in Perry's footsteps. In 1998 the band hired drummer Deen Castronovo to replace Smith. Steve Augeri filled the vacant lead vocalist position. The band released two albums with Augeri at the helm - Arrival (2001) and Generations (2005). In July 2005, Augeri left the band in the middle of their tour with Def Leppard due to throat problems. Singer Jeff Scott Soto replaced Augeri but was out of the band by June 2007.

In December 2007, founding member and guitarist/songwriter Neil Schron recruited Filipino singer Arnel Pineda as the band's new lead singer. Schron discovered Pineda when he stumbled across a video on YouTube which featured Pineda singing Journey songs with his band The Zoo. Journey debuted their new lead singer two months later and released their 13th studio album, Revelation, in June 2008.The album sold over 196,000 copies in its first two weeks, debuting at #5. The single After All These Years peaked at #9, spending over 23 weeks on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Last summer their tour with Heart and Cheap Trick brought in over $35,000,000, making Journey one of the top grossing concert tours of 2008. Journey has been hard at work on a new album in between tours. They will release a DVD comprised of concert footage recorded in 2008 and 2009 this December. Fans can expect to hear the band's 14th studio album next year.

Back to Saturday night's show --- I can't wait for Journey to take the stage. I'll be the girl belting out every song with my eyes closed - a beer in one hand and a bic lighter in the other. Darien Lake Performing Arts Center will transform to the late '70s/early '80s and Steve Perry will be front and center. Alright, so maybe that last part isn't true. But a girl can dream can't she? Or rather, girl can't help it. Ow! My job is done here. Don't Stop Believing, Buffalo!

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and Live Nation from $25-$85. Tickets can also be purchased at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center's Box Office. Gates are scheduled to open at 6:00 p.m. and the show will begin at 7:30 p.m.

[Maui Tom]

Jillian was on a roll til the multiple Neal Schron references.....

[Michigan Girl]

Jillian did a much better job than John...but I have since forgiven him!!!

[Chubby321]

This article is better written than most.

[steveo777]

Any word on attendance? It was rescheduled and I was concerned about that. Big place and it's an evening with, so could be a great longer concert.

[ebake02]

Any word on attendance? It was rescheduled and I was concerned about that. Big place and it's an evening with, so could be a great longer concert.

They played about a 2 hour set and I asked an usher at the end of the show about attendance and she told me around 10,000

[stevew2]

A good honest reveiw, even some what accurate about Journeys past

[isla]

http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/artic ... 868470.txt


PHOTOS: Journey at Darien Lake
Sunday, August 30, 2009 3:16 AM EDT

DARIEN CENTER - Journey, one of the most popular arena rock bands of the 1980s, still has plenty of believers, even after going through a succession of lead singers in recent years.

Arnel Pineda is on his second world tour with the band and it has often been noted how surprisingly he sounds like former lead singer Steve Perry -- the voice behind such hits as "Open Arms," "Who's Cryin' Now," "Separate Ways," "Faithfully" and, of course, "Don't Stop Believin'." The latter, according to SoundScan, is the most downloaded song ever and it's been used as a centerpiece in the first episode of Fox's new fall series "Glee."

The oft-told story of hour Pineda, singer from the Philippines came to fill Perry's shoes goes something like this: Journey guitarist and founding member Neil Schon discovered Pineda singing Journey covers on the video-sharing Web site, YouTube.

The San Francisco band brought its latest tour to the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Saturday night, where staff photographer Mark Gutman captured the photographs at right.

Journey started more than 35 years ago and had its greatest commercial success after Perry had joined the band in 1977. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s Journey charted a succession of power ballads and rock songs on Billboard's most popular lists.

The current Journey lineup features Schon, Pinedo, bassist Ross Valory, guitarist and keyboardist Jonathan Cain and drummer Deen Castronovo.

The summer concert season ends next week with shows on Sept. 4 (Toby Keith, with Trace Adkins) and Sept. 5 (CrueFest 2, featuring Motley Crue, with Godsmack, Drowning Pool and Charmed City Devils).

photos by Mark Gutman/Daily News

[Michigan Girl]

I am LMAO at ^^^!! These reviews are really starting to sound repetitive for the most part, to us....but
whoever wrote this sounds like he's heard it as many times as we have and blah, blah, blah....
"The oft-told story of hour Pineda, singer from the Philippines came to fill Perry's shoes goes something like this: Journey guitarist and founding member Neil Schon discovered Pineda singing Journey covers on the video-sharing Web site, YouTube."
Did the photographer write this?!?!? Good Photos, btw!!!

[RocknRoll]

Another Review. Don't forget to read the comments. Deen Lipsyching to Perry's vocals ?? Give me a break, this guy is an idiot.

http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainmen ... 79159.html

Journey delivers emotional show
By Jeff Miers
NEWS POP MUSIC CRITIC
Updated: August 30, 2009, 7:41 AM /
DARIEN — Journey.

To some — the band guilty of starting in motion the power-ballad form that ended up granting us both Bon Jovi and Def Leppard.

To others — founders of a deeply emotive form of rock indelibly immersed in soul and R&B.

Is there an in-between? Not really. You either dig this stuff, or you don’t — with vigor.

Those who dug it gathered Saturday at Darien Lake’s Performing Arts Center, to the tune of a packed amphitheater and a lawn three-quarters full. Throughout, it sure seemed that those who made the trek to the show were getting exactly what they came for.

That’s cool, since Journey suffered a serious blow to its pop credibility when singer Steve Perry bailed on the band, first in the late ’80s and again after a brief reunion in the early ’90s. Perry is one of the finest singers to have worked with an American band during the ’70s and ’80s — so soulful and deeply immersed in the style of Sam Cooke was his all but peerless singing.

Replacing Perry was tough for Journey. The band—guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Ross Valory, keyboardist Jonathan Cain — first employed singer Steve Agueri, and then found former Yngwie Malmsteen frontman Jeff Scott Soto, neither of whom worked out in the long run. When guitarist and founder Schon found Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, he must have felt that he stumbled, unaware, straight into ecstasy. The guy can hit all the stratospheric Perry notes, he’s youngand— man, is he ever into it.

The band, working with no opening act, took the stage to the strains of the mildly overwrought but still moving “Separate Ways,” and immediately it was apparent that Pineda could cut it. He nailed the high notes —which, with Perry-based singing, is no small matter — and invested himself fully in the arc of the tune. “Only the Young” is a song from the end of the Perry era, and though its verse sounds like a lame exercise in Bon Joviism, the chorus simply explodes heavenward.

So the hits kept coming, much to the delight of the crowd, which appeared to range in age from 15 to 50. “Stone In Love” married early ’80s hard rock to R&B, and if Perry wasn’t there to sing it the way he used to, Pineda did a fine—and note-perfect—job of covering for him.

Interestingly, in addition to Pineda, drummer Dean Castronovo sang with exuberance —and sounded an awful lot like Perry — during “Keep On Running,” “Still They Run” and “Mother Father,” all of which would have provided a challenge to a singer not otherwise occupied performing complex drum patterns.

Some props must be paid to stalwart bassist and founding member Valory, who played lush, McCartney-esque lines throughout, and also provided faultless harmony singing on just about every tune. Valory is an absolute monster, and also, an apparently humble musician happy to let his contributions go unnoticed by the masses.

Guitarist Schon has never disappointed in the past, and he didn’t on Saturday. On occasion, Schon’s schtick — gorgeous melodic phrases giving way to breathtakingly fast flurries of notes connecting them— wore thin. But when the man played the solos to pieces so familiar and significant to the crowd—“Don’t Stop Believing,” “Faithfully,” “Wheel In the Sky” — he brought fire, passion and finesse to the proceedings.

Cheesy? Yes, a bit. But Saturday’s Journey show was also deeply musical, soaked in the emotions of the players parlaying it, and received like manna from heaven by those there.

Concert Review

Journey

Saturday night at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

jmiers@buffnews.com

[Michigan Girl]

This guy either did his homework or knows firsthand...

"To others — founders of a deeply emotive form of rock indelibly immersed in soul and R&B."
"Perry is one of the finest singers to have worked with an American band during the ’70s and ’80s —
so soulful and deeply immersed in the style of Sam Cooke was his all but peerless singing."

He lost me here...
"first employed singer Steve Agueri,
and then found former Yngwie Malmsteen frontman Jeff Scott Soto,
neither of whom worked out in the long run"

[Eric]

Deen-O also sang Higher Place....and one other I can't recall. They did 5 new tunes in all PLUS Mother, Father, Stil They Ride....and Keep in Runnin'. Great setlist, except LTS was the encore and only encore.

[Jana]

Great review. I would love to see a two-hour show instead of a 90-minute show. Anyone have the setlist?

[stevew2]

This guy either did his homework or knows firsthand...

"To others — founders of a deeply emotive form of rock indelibly immersed in soul and R&B."
"Perry is one of the finest singers to have worked with an American band during the ’70s and ’80s —
so soulful and deeply immersed in the style of Sam Cooke was his all but peerless singing."

He lost me here...
"first employed singer Steve Agueri,
and then found former Yngwie Malmsteen frontman Jeff Scott Soto,
neither of whom worked out in the long run"

Was Friga even there?

[Eric]

Great review. I would love to see a two-hour show instead of a 90-minute show. Anyone have the setlist?

It was something like this...not exact order...might be missing a Deen one

1-Majestic
2-Separate Ways
3-Only the Young
4-The Journey
5-Stone in Love
6-Keep on Runnin' (Deen)
7-Ask the Lonely
8-Lights
9-Still they ride (Deen)
10-Never Walk Away
11-Blues intro with harmonica
12-Wheel in the Sky
13-Higher Place (Deen)
14-Mother, Father (Deen)
15-Change for the Better
16-Open Arms
17-Faithfully
18-Wildest Dreams
19-Be Good to Yourself
20-Don't Stop Believin'
21-Anyway You Want it
----------------------
22-LTS

[WalrusOct9]

Some props must be paid to stalwart bassist and founding member Valory, who played lush, McCartney-esque lines throughout, and also provided faultless harmony singing on just about every tune.

Easy to sing faultless harmonies when said harmonies are on a tape.

[texafana]

Exactly.

[Vocalsmanvocals]

We were 14 rows from the stage..dead center! Perfect seats, hats off to ILAA...

Neal was shreddin, Jon was tearin up the harmonica and keys, Arnel was singing his ass off, Deen was a monster on drums, and Ross layed it down on the bass....Journey was high energy all the way through!!!!

One of the best shows ever!!

[steveo777]

Looks like they played to a pretty good sized audiance. That's pretty good for not having another act with them. Journey is hot stuff again.

[ebake02]

One of the best shows ever!!

I agree. I was 23 rows back on jonathan's side of the stage. This was the first concert I've been to with Arnel and I was very impressed. He was definitely on fire last night.