Nashville - 9/13/11

[Gideon]

Great show, gotta run to class + work, but there will be a full review later.

In the meantime, enjoy the encore in which Joe Don Rooney from Rascal Flatts has the temerity to duel the mighty Neal Schon on stage during LTS.... and actually hold his own!

[fightingilliniJRNY]

I'll have a full review coming later as well, but I'll echo Gideon in saying that it was a really good show. In the meantime, if anyone can tell me who played lead guitar for Foreigner last night, I'd appreciate it. I could not figure out who this guy was. It was not Joel Hoekstra and not Mick Jones, so I was lost. You would think they would intro him, but they didn't.

And I will also mention that for the first time in I don't know how long (probably multiple tours), I could hear Ross Valory in the mix. Hearing the bass lines kind of surprised me a little bit, actually.

[RocknRoll]

Looking forward to reading the reviews.

From Neal's FB:

Playing Nashville tonight!!! SOLD OUT! thank you...)~~.

From Cain's Twitter:

Jammed with Joe Don-guitarist from Rascal Flatts last night in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena--great player--great guy!
.

[Gideon]

From Neal's FB:

Playing Nashville tonight!!! SOLD OUT! thank you...)~~.

Almost 20k, if I'm not mistaken.

From Cain's Twitter:

Jammed with Joe Don-guitarist from Rascal Flatts last night in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena--great player--great guy!
.

Yup.
I'm not a big country music junkie, so I didn't recognize him. And his playing wasn't recognizable as country, either. He shredded like a true badass, so imagine my surprise when Cain introduces him as Joe Don from Rascal Flatts.

I never thought I'd see the day where a country playing guitarist would hold his own against Neal, but he was that good.

[Gideon]

Night Ranger

Between the fact that all of the pomp and circumstance of this tour has been largely exclusive to Foreigner and Journey and that I'm only a mild fan (I love some of their hits, but I don't know most of their deeper cuts), I didn't expect much from Night Ranger here. So imagine my surprise when they nearly stole the damn show; all things considered, NR did a better job than Foreigner and performed almost as well as Journey. Jack Blades might not have Arnel's pipes or Kelly Hansen's swagger, but he is charismatic enough and between him, Joel, and Brad, NR's three guitarists demonstrated showmanship to rival their formidable technical skills on the ax. Half the crowd were seated for NR's first couple of songs, but rose in unison when Jack introduced "High Enough" from Damn Yankees. From then on out, the set was pretty solid. "Sister Christian", naturally, was the song that got the entire crowd singing; Kelly Keagy sang his ass off. The downside to NR is that many of the songs seemed repetitive, especially with the structure of the chorus ("Lay It On Me", "Don't Tell Me You Love Me", "Sing Me Away" in particular) and their set wasn't nearly long enough.

Highlights
"Don't Tell Me You Love Me" and "Lay It On Me"

Score
8/10

Foreigner

With Mick Jones still absent, the lynchpin of Foreigner was Kelly Hansen. Much has been said about Kelly's charisma, but words and videos really don't capture it. Vocally, he sounds damn near identical to Lou Gramm; visually, he's the spitting image of Steven Tyler; and he channels his inner Mick Jagger for his stage presence. Between his frequent trips into the crowd and banter, Hansen really impressed and he was definitely the most impressive of the three frontmen/band leaders. His singing was strong and commanding, though it must be said that his technical abilities are outclassed by Arnel (though this is expected given the age difference). Kelly didn't power through songs, nor could he afford to, he was very economical with his singing. The rest of the band were largely outclassed by their frontmen in terms of an impression, though two standouts must be noted: The substitute for Mick Jones shredded with the best of them and Mark Schulman (drums) managed to work the crowd into a frenzy at points behind the drumkit. Foreigner had the distinction of being the only band who kept the majority of the audience on its feet, though I attribute most of this to playing driving anthems, unlike Journey, who dispersed their set with ballads. Objectively, Foreigner probably put on the best show all around. The length of their set was perfect as far as I was concerned, though they could have thrown in one or two from Can't Slow Down. For this, I must deduct a few points: As Jack Blades said, an artist who doesn't continue to produce works, you essentially rest on your laurels. Foreigner has allowed themselves to be too defined by their past and it's a shame, because they have more to offer.

Score
8/10

Journey

Because Journey is, without question, my favorite band and (in my opinion) the superior artist to NR and Foreigner, my expectations were considerable. In some ways, Journey not only succeeded, but exceeded. In others, they fell short.

For most in the audience, the two most important members were without question Arnel and Neal. Ehmwatt's concert review was sobering, as were some of the songs from the Cincinnati concert in which Arnel audibly struggled with (and in one or two cases slaughtered) notes and tempo. But as was the case in 2008 and 2009, the live concert environment serves to mask these imperfections. I asked my other 7 companions, and they said they didn't hear a single bad note from Arnel nor did they notice that the songs were lower tuned. Live, Arnel's tenor is elevated to epic proportions: his notes are clear and piercing on levels that CDs and DVDs can't match. Were the flaws there? Sure; no singer is perfect, but my party didn't hear any. Did I? Yes, my father and I noticed the few times that Arnel's falsetto cracked (during the new material, surprisingly), but overall, he demonstrated a range and power that both Jack Blades and Kelly Hansen simply can't match. As far as his showmanship is concerned, Arnel's demeanor is much more subdued than in '08, where his energy was that of an infectious, exuberant preteen. (I don't mean that insultingly.) Now, having gotten more comfortable in the gig, he seems to have picked up a few tips from Kelly Hansen. He exchanged notes with the crowd, ran into the audience once or twice, and improved his eye contact and intimacy skills with the front rows. (Except during high notes.) He still has a way to go before he's on Kelly's level, but he's made significant improvement and the crowd seemed to find him charismatic enough.

Neal was simply unstoppable. Moreso than Ross and Deen, or even Jon and Arnel, I attend Journey concerts to bask in the glory of Neal Schon. Why him and not the singer? Because great singers, to me, are a dime a dozen. Even emotive ones, who speak to my soul or other stuff Deb might say. Skilled guitarists are also surprisingly common. But it is extraordinary to find a guitarist who can truly speak to the laymen, to the person who doesn't play and has never had any real interest in playing. Neal does just that. (As does Steve Lukather.) Neal is the singer's guitarist and even his shredding fits the song in ways that even the formidable Brad Gillis couldn't replicate. He commanded the audience with magnitude equal to Arnel, working the stage in his rock star get-up without indulging in theatrics or headbanging. He absolutely mesmerized my friend Alex and girlfriend, who are metal/alternative rock junkies by nature. During "Wheel in the Sky", my girlfriend screamed in my ear: "NEAL IS A BADASS!" which captures my sentiments perfectly.

The true highlight of the show for me wasn't a song, but the moment at the end of "Any Way You Want It" in which Neal pointed to the audience and a cute high school age blonde came up to the stage. Neal jammed out for a few seconds in front of her before taking the guitar off, sliding it over her shoulders, and finished the outro while standing behind her like a father. He took the microphone from Arnel, he had her introduce herself, and bade the crowd to applaud her (which we were doing anyway). My sister and her boyfriend had been sitting next to this girl and they told me afterwards that she was crying and gushing to her friends in the audience after receiving the guitar. Knowing how expensive those things are and that Neal's been giving them out like candy increased my respect for him as a musician and artist considerably. Heartwarming and exciting and badass all in one.

Jon was decked out in a bizarre silver blazer and matching pants, I really don't get that. But he proved, once again, that he is the musical crux to Journey: piano, rhythm guitar, backing vox, harmonica, etc. Definitely a critical component to the band and its success, though I wish he'd smile a little more. That Deen didn't sing a note of "Mother, Father" is one of this tour's biggest crimes. He pounded the unholy shit out of the drums and kept the entire set rocking. Ross was Ross.

Now that all of the gushing is out of the way, what did the band do wrong/what went wrong for the band?

First and foremost, the set list was weird. "When You Love A Woman" was the third song in the set, right after the heavy combo of "Separate Ways"/"Ask the Lonely". It is a great song and was a great performance (especially Arnel), but it killed the momentum. I'm a firm believer that you don't introduce a ballad until after 3-4 songs in the set, especially one that isn't moody or epic. Then came "City of Hope", which was surprisingly well received by the audience, most of whom remained standing (though the fact that Jon is not on rhythm guitar for the outro is stupid given that it's supposed to be this heavy jam session). And then came "Faithfully"? "Faithfully" is a staple but typically enjoys greater success at the end, why are they dropping it in the very beginning? The mood wasn't quite right for it, especially after enjoying WYLAW.

The presence of LTS and "La Do Da" remains perplexing, though I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't singing along to both. Why not throw in some of the better Eclipse songs? (Though EOTM failed spectacularly to keep the audience's attention.)

Second, as been said before, the lack of Deen is unacceptable.

Third, the length of the setlist. Why aren't there more songs? Give Deen 2-3 and this might not be as big of a problem.

Highlights
"Wheel in the Sky," "Ask the Lonely," and "Stone In Love"

Score
8.5/10

[Gideon]

Sorry for the novel, guys, that came out a lot longer than what I expected.

[Rick]

Sorry for the novel, guys, that came out a lot longer than what I expected.

It was an excellent review, Gideon. Not long winded enough for my tastes. I'm glad you had a good time. Your statement that Neal is a singers guitarist, nails him to the wall, and probably the best description of him that I've heard. If it's been said before, I've either never read it, or forgotten it.

Thanks for posting your review.

[Saint John]

Night Ranger is blowing it up tonight. Fucking great!

[Gideon]

Sorry for the novel, guys, that came out a lot longer than what I expected.

It was an excellent review, Gideon. Not long winded enough for my tastes. I'm glad you had a good time. Your statement that Neal is a singers guitarist, nails him to the wall, and probably the best description of him that I've heard. If it's been said before, I've either never read it, or forgotten it.

Thanks for posting your review.

Np man. I had a hell of a time, even with the imperfections of the show. As far as Neal goes, that is a distinction that separates the likes of him and Lukather from other guitarists and it's a talent that makes him more of an icon for me than any singer. He is the very embodiment of a musician and I can't wait for next year.

Night Ranger is blowing it up tonight. Fucking great!

+1

Have a good time, Dan!!!

[Gideon]

^ Me and my better half, Ashley



^ Me and my old man



^ My friends Elizabeth, Daniel (Deacon for those of you who remember), and Wesley

[Saint John]

Song 3 WYLAW.

[Gideon]

Song 3 WYLAW.

As alluded to by my review, it was a bad place to put that song.

[Ehwmatt]

I would have enjoyed hearing When You Love a Woman. No such luck at my piece of shit show. Was the sound mix any better? I couldn't tell you how "badass" Neal was or wasn't because I couldn't even hear the first half of any of his solos because the incompetent sound man didn't bring him up in the mix for any of them.

Pound for pound one of the worst concerts I've ever seen. I've been seeing clean, tight bands like Elton John, Little Big Town, and Restless Heart lately. And the comparison wasn't flattering for Journey.

[Gideon]

The mix was much better than what you described, though my dad did say that it seemed a little off compared to the '08 show.

[Ehwmatt]

The mix was much better than what you described, though my dad did say that it seemed a little off compared to the '08 show.

For $95/ticket I expected a hell of a lot better. For that, I coulda seen Frontiers play for 3 hours with a good mix and play all the deep cuts 7.5-8 times, even after Ticketmaster gets done raping me with their fees.

Have you seen Frontiers? They're way better than the current incarnation of Journey.

[Gideon]

The mix was much better than what you described, though my dad did say that it seemed a little off compared to the '08 show.

For $95/ticket I expected a hell of a lot better. For that, I coulda seen Frontiers play for 3 hours with a good mix and play all the deep cuts 7.5-8 times, even after Ticketmaster gets done raping me with their fees.

Have you seen Frontiers? They're way better than the current incarnation of Journey.

I haven't. No disrespect to Jeremey, but I prefer Arnel's singing and I have a hard time believing they have the skills necessary to replicate Neal.

[Ehwmatt]

The mix was much better than what you described, though my dad did say that it seemed a little off compared to the '08 show.

For $95/ticket I expected a hell of a lot better. For that, I coulda seen Frontiers play for 3 hours with a good mix and play all the deep cuts 7.5-8 times, even after Ticketmaster gets done raping me with their fees.

Have you seen Frontiers? They're way better than the current incarnation of Journey.

I haven't. No disrespect to Jeremey, but I prefer Arnel's singing and I have a hard time believing they have the skills necessary to replicate Neal.

I thought the same way until I checked Frontiers out in December 08 in Pittsburgh.

Stephen [Frontiers guy] can do Neal, trust me. Neal's genius lies not in his technical prowess, but in his writing. And frankly, he's a bit washed up on both fronts (with exceptions of course - e.g., the Anything is Possible intro and middle solos). A lotta guitarists can play those parts pretty convincingly, and Stephen's a great guitarist. Whose singing you prefer is a matter of taste, but I will say the 2 casual fans I brought along with me to Journey and to Frontiers in the past both liked Jeremey a lot better than Arnel.

You're hereby invited to Cleveland House of Blues on Sep 30 to get a lot more Journey songs at the Frontiers show than you got at Journey-all for 1/8th the price. I'll supply the beer.

[Gideon]

Tempting......

[Ehwmatt]

Song 3 WYLAW.

Song 3 for you - When You Love A Man. You fuckin homo.

[steveo777]

The mix was much better than what you described, though my dad did say that it seemed a little off compared to the '08 show.

For $95/ticket I expected a hell of a lot better. For that, I coulda seen Frontiers play for 3 hours with a good mix and play all the deep cuts 7.5-8 times, even after Ticketmaster gets done raping me with their fees.

Have you seen Frontiers? They're way better than the current incarnation of Journey.

I haven't. No disrespect to Jeremey, but I prefer Arnel's singing and I have a hard time believing they have the skills necessary to replicate Neal.

I thought the same way until I checked Frontiers out in December 08 in Pittsburgh.

Stephen [Frontiers guy] can do Neal, trust me. Neal's genius lies not in his technical prowess, but in his writing. And frankly, he's a bit washed up on both fronts (with exceptions of course - e.g., the Anything is Possible intro and middle solos). A lotta guitarists can play those parts pretty convincingly, and Stephen's a great guitarist. Whose singing you prefer is a matter of taste, but I will say the 2 casual fans I brought along with me to Journey and to Frontiers in the past both liked Jeremey a lot better than Arnel.

You're hereby invited to Cleveland House of Blues on Sep 30 to get a lot more Journey songs at the Frontiers show than you got at Journey-all for 1/8th the price. I'll supply the beer.

To be fair (and I'm not giving them a pass), I hope it was just a bad night and you don't give up and never go see them again. I have thought long and hard about whether to see them or not based on some feedback from a couple shitty sound nights. In the end, they're still my favorite band and I'll give them a chance next month. I wasn't impressed with the sound where I was at in 08.

[Ehwmatt]

The mix was much better than what you described, though my dad did say that it seemed a little off compared to the '08 show.

For $95/ticket I expected a hell of a lot better. For that, I coulda seen Frontiers play for 3 hours with a good mix and play all the deep cuts 7.5-8 times, even after Ticketmaster gets done raping me with their fees.

Have you seen Frontiers? They're way better than the current incarnation of Journey.

I haven't. No disrespect to Jeremey, but I prefer Arnel's singing and I have a hard time believing they have the skills necessary to replicate Neal.

I thought the same way until I checked Frontiers out in December 08 in Pittsburgh.

Stephen [Frontiers guy] can do Neal, trust me. Neal's genius lies not in his technical prowess, but in his writing. And frankly, he's a bit washed up on both fronts (with exceptions of course - e.g., the Anything is Possible intro and middle solos). A lotta guitarists can play those parts pretty convincingly, and Stephen's a great guitarist. Whose singing you prefer is a matter of taste, but I will say the 2 casual fans I brought along with me to Journey and to Frontiers in the past both liked Jeremey a lot better than Arnel.

You're hereby invited to Cleveland House of Blues on Sep 30 to get a lot more Journey songs at the Frontiers show than you got at Journey-all for 1/8th the price. I'll supply the beer.

To be fair (and I'm not giving them a pass), I hope it was just a bad night and you don't give up and never go see them again. I have thought long and hard about whether to see them or not based on some feedback from a couple shitty sound nights. In the end, they're still my favorite band and I'll give them a chance next month. I wasn't impressed with the sound where I was at in 08.

Well, I'd like to think like you are but the sound has been consistently panned on this tour, and not just among hardcore forumites like us, either. I've seen negative sound comments in casual newspaper reviews too.

Honestly, even if the sound were perfect, it'd take a 3 hour Evening With format to get me to see them again. And I'm not paying over $50 to see Journey any more. I'll pay more to see legends like Bruce, Elton, and the like. Not Journey. I love their music but they shouldn't be commanding those ticket prices. Maybe a Perry reunion would command a $80+ ticket. Nothing short of that.

[Saint John]

Huge brawl. Almost had stop the show. I have it on my phone I think.

[AR]

Huge brawl. Almost had stop the show. I have it on my phone I think.

Cool, post it when you get a chance!

[Gideon]

Huge brawl. Almost had stop the show. I have it on my phone I think.

Details, man, details!

[steveo777]

The mix was much better than what you described, though my dad did say that it seemed a little off compared to the '08 show.

For $95/ticket I expected a hell of a lot better. For that, I coulda seen Frontiers play for 3 hours with a good mix and play all the deep cuts 7.5-8 times, even after Ticketmaster gets done raping me with their fees.

Have you seen Frontiers? They're way better than the current incarnation of Journey.

I haven't. No disrespect to Jeremey, but I prefer Arnel's singing and I have a hard time believing they have the skills necessary to replicate Neal.

I thought the same way until I checked Frontiers out in December 08 in Pittsburgh.

Stephen [Frontiers guy] can do Neal, trust me. Neal's genius lies not in his technical prowess, but in his writing. And frankly, he's a bit washed up on both fronts (with exceptions of course - e.g., the Anything is Possible intro and middle solos). A lotta guitarists can play those parts pretty convincingly, and Stephen's a great guitarist. Whose singing you prefer is a matter of taste, but I will say the 2 casual fans I brought along with me to Journey and to Frontiers in the past both liked Jeremey a lot better than Arnel.

You're hereby invited to Cleveland House of Blues on Sep 30 to get a lot more Journey songs at the Frontiers show than you got at Journey-all for 1/8th the price. I'll supply the beer.

To be fair (and I'm not giving them a pass), I hope it was just a bad night and you don't give up and never go see them again. I have thought long and hard about whether to see them or not based on some feedback from a couple shitty sound nights. In the end, they're still my favorite band and I'll give them a chance next month. I wasn't impressed with the sound where I was at in 08.

Well, I'd like to think like you are but the sound has been consistently panned on this tour, and not just among hardcore forumites like us, either. I've seen negative sound comments in casual newspaper reviews too.

Honestly, even if the sound were perfect, it'd take a 3 hour Evening With format to get me to see them again. And I'm not paying over $50 to see Journey any more. I'll pay more to see legends like Bruce, Elton, and the like. Not Journey. I love their music but they shouldn't be commanding those ticket prices. Maybe a Perry reunion would command a $80+ ticket. Nothing short of that.

I feel ya bro. I still think the band has a lot of daylight ahead and if they could just have it all come together, right set, right sound, AP in his proper vocal condition, a sound engineer that doesn't suck, etc. It just seems like it's been impossible to have every member of the band hitting on all the cylinders. We all know they can do it. I think the reason
we all get so disappointed is because we know what they can do, but yet, they kick the ball off the side of their foot too many times. They need a fucking coach, I swear!

[Gideon]

^ Jon Cain and his silver pimp suit.

[Saint John]

I have pretty good footage. No clue how to upload it. Help.

[Gideon]

I have pretty good footage. No clue how to upload it. Help.

Don't ask me, man, I fuck up with mere image coding.

[Deb]

^ Me and my better half, Ashley

Aww cute couple.

[Gideon]

^ Me and my better half, Ashley

Aww cute couple.

Thanks, Deb. She's definitely a looker, though one must question her vision.
Did you catch my shout out to you in the review?