Neal Schon lied to me about tapegate

[Eric]

1. Schon seems to always be somewhat negative about past work in a way to highlight what he's currently doing. I'm not defending him or saying I agree or even disagree...but just pointing out that trend.

2. I love Arrival sans the ballads, and enjoyed the Augeri era - but lets not pretend it wasn't time to move on. Its now 6 years later and they still wouldn't be able to do a heavy tour with him. Waiting wasn't an option. Maybe they shouldn't have done what I feel were unproductive tours in '02 and '04..especially '04, and that rest would have changed
things...but still.

3. JSS worked like Sammy worked with VH, and not getting a Journey album with him at the helm is a huge regret/miss for us musically. I listen to "Believe in Me" on regular rotation and still get goosebumps. I have friends who poo-poo'd the boots I played for them but were blown with how amped up the bad was with JSS on a frigid September night in Buffalo. Blowing Leppard off the stage is an understatement of all time. That forgotten European tour at the start of '07 featured some great performance by JSS, too, including and
especially LA Do Da.

4. Arnel is really doing a great job and the band, contrary to a lot of ignorance on here, is doing extremely well...and Eclipse is a great album. As long as they work hard and create new material I'm a fan, but don't for a second think JSS didn't help jumpstart this whole turnaround when he saved them in 2006.

[Eric]

So there you go, my take on how it all started, I think that helps the topic here about my involvement...regarding those who didn't dig what I did or brought, can't help on that one, I do what I do and did what I did

Would love to hear your opinion on Eclipse if you've had a chance to hear it?

[jestor92]

Jeff, I'm not sure if you can answer this question or not, but how far of an advance did you have that Journey was considering you as lead vocalist?

[stevew2]

First of all, my 1st gig was at Bristow, it was not my 2nd...I flew out to DC on July 5 where the guys had 2 days off....I didn't see or hear from a soul the 2nd day there, found out soon enough everyone keeps to themselves and do not hang together on days off. I woke the morning of the 7th to a greeting from Deen and him freaking that no one bothered sending me a set list or even discussed what we'd be playing that day. A setlist was faxed to my room but of course, I did my own homework days before by looking online as to what they'd played on previous dates before my arrival.

There was NO rehearsal, there was a 10 minute soundcheck which we did 3 songs and 2 monitor wedges were placed on the stage for me as everyone was on in-ears because of the not only the size of the stage but that everyone's volumes varied...with in-ears, everyone could have their own personal mixes in their ears....I didnt have this luxury as 1, I have always hated in-ears and didn't have any, but there was no time to arrange them for me outside of the generic headphones with a pack which I shot down within 30 seconds of trying it out at soundcheck.

Backing up a bit, the 'sounding rough' bit had a LOT to do with the months prior to me stepping in, I was working my ass off consistently singing up to that point, since Feb that year, I was doing 2 nights a week live with local gigs and in between those days I was singing the new Talisman album, from demos to final vocals. Naturally as one does when doing their 'own' thing, I would have drinks, hang out talking all day/night, blah blah, far from proper vocal rest one needs to prepare for singing the Journey catalog so yes, I came into the fold not just very rough but flat out spent, I honestly thought I wouldnt make it through the 1st week much less the next weeks before the 1st break of the tour.

I scraped by doing all I could to rest in between shows, I didn't drink so much as a beer on those tours and I didn't speak much either before and after shows. The 1st 2 weeks off, I took a week off vocally and did a 7 day sabbatical of silence. The 2nd week, I visited Perry's old vocal coach as he resides in LA and even if I got some warmups, it would have helped in which it actually did, he taught me how to work up to that 'pinch' that comes naturally in the voice by doing the right exercises.

From the 2nd leg onward is where I was able to step up finally. I got my customized in-ears but even then, it was a chore staying in pitch as if anyone knows direct pitch and relative pitch are 2 different things. When you hear an ambulance siren from a distance, the pitch changes as it gets near you because of the volume but then reverts back to the pitch it was once it passes. The same goes for direct signal into your ears verses hearing it from a distance, I found that wearing both ears had me singing chronically flat but once I pulled one ear off (and you'll see many in the industry do this), I could hear the pitch in one ear and what my voice was delivering directly into the exposed ear. This helped me stay on time and pitch with the band more fluently.

So there you go, my take on how it all started, I think that helps the topic here about my involvement...regarding those who didn't dig what I did or brought, can't help on that one, I do what I do and did what I did

Thanks for chiming in Jeff I had know idea that you did your first gig with them cold turkey.Them fuckers didnt even bother to talk to you ahead of time,then they fuckin dumped ya without any notice when they found someone else. Them pussies have no class at all.Best of luck to ya man

[WIX]

Augeri was a class act, got to meet JSS in Vegas too and was nothing but cool to me!

Shit am I the only one that likes everyone? Sheesh!

Actually on a side note, DAVE PERRY should have been offered the job as well!! bwhahahahahahahahahaaha

[YoungJRNY]

Actually on a side note, DAVE PERRY should have been offered the job as well!! bwhahahahahahahahahaaha

^Post of the year Dave Perry FTW!

I saw JSS twice, first time in Cincinnati and the next time in Pittsburgh months after in 2006. I dug both concerts, but was also bummed not to see the lead singer that was present since 1998 & was kind of pissed as the crowd treated Journey's gig as a filler to Def Leppards time on stage because of the lead singer change and a completely different voice to boot. That said, I enjoyed JSS, had no idea who JSS was before all of this went down and took me awhile to warm up to the sound of his voice singing Journey songs and I voiced that multiple times. That said, nowadays, even though JSS got hosed and even though I don't agree with how morally Journey handled that situation (both Augeri's, JSS's & hell, even Jeremey's) I still think both parties are best suited where they are now, as I'm loving JSS's material as a standalone singer without the "Journey sound" to live up to and I'm loving Arnel's contributions to the band thus far as well. Win win for this melodicrocker.

[Navarro]

Actually on a side note, DAVE PERRY should have been offered the job as well!! bwhahahahahahahahahaaha

^Post of the year Dave Perry FTW!

I saw JSS twice, first time in Cincinnati and the next time in Pittsburgh months after in 2006. I dug both concerts, but was also bummed not to see the lead singer that was present since 1998 & was kind of pissed as the crowd treated Journey's gig as a filler to Def Leppards time on stage because of the lead singer change and a completely different voice to boot. That said, I enjoyed JSS, had no idea who JSS was before all of this went down and took me awhile to warm up to the sound of his voice singing Journey songs and I voiced that multiple times. That said, nowadays, even though JSS got hosed and even though I don't agree with how morally Journey handled that situation (both Augeri's, JSS's & hell, even Jeremey's) I still think both parties are best suited where they are now, as I'm loving JSS's material as a standalone singer without the "Journey sound" to live up to and I'm loving Arnel's contributions to the band thus far as well. Win win for this melodicrocker.

Dave Perry, Steve's twin brother with an identical voice. He works for UPS as a driver in Ohio.

Seriously, the less I hear about Neal and the gang, the better. I like Journey though. JSS, I grew up listening to on those early Yngwie CDs. You are still the best singer Yngwie ever had. I think JSS (as well as Jeremy) could have brought to Journey a great song writing partner. The 3rd wheel NS and JC need. Arnel has a great voice, but JSS and Jeremy would have really brought Journey to different place musically. Really, it sounds like they dodged a bullet in some ways.

[AR]

My bootleg was Virginia Beach, not Bristow. So Jeff is right about his first gig and I was incorrect about what show I had. I do have his second show but was wrong about the venue.

[Arkansas]

I still want to hear the show where Augeri bailed after a few songs and DC filled in.

And I don't want anyone to celebrate SA's departure, or Journey's adhoc transition. I just think that it's a defining moment in Journey history. What show was it, and does anything, audio or video, exist?


later~

[YoungJRNY]

I still want to hear the show where Augeri bailed after a few songs and DC filled in.

And I don't want anyone to celebrate SA's departure, or Journey's adhoc transition. I just think that it's a defining moment in Journey history. What show was it, and does anything, audio or video, exist?


later~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pdgctX2l0

Painful.

[Arkansas]

I still want to hear the show where Augeri bailed after a few songs and DC filled in.

And I don't want anyone to celebrate SA's departure, or Journey's adhoc transition. I just think that it's a defining moment in Journey history. What show was it, and does anything, audio or video, exist?


later~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pdgctX2l0

Painful.

Yep, that's tough...no doubt. But is there vid of what happens next? Did SA actually go back to Deen and say, "I can't do this any more."? Did Deen actually take over center stage to finish the show, while his drum tech played? That's the video I've never seen.


later~

[bionic]

I still want to hear the show where Augeri bailed after a few songs and DC filled in.

And I don't want anyone to celebrate SA's departure, or Journey's adhoc transition. I just think that it's a defining moment in Journey history. What show was it, and does anything, audio or video, exist?


later~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pdgctX2l0

Painful.

I kinds like the way Dean helped Augeri with the high notes,i remember Steve and Dean exchanging vocal lines together when i caught them at the Greek Theatre show 2005 during either Escape or Stone in love.Which leads me to my next question, exactly how much of that show was on tape ? as i can also clearly recall Steve's voice cracking during Be Good To Yourself ? Does anyone have any audios from this ?

[annie89509]

For years, SP-fans and SA-fans had an acrimonious relationship... fueled somewhat by Neal and Jon, with their various print statements dismissive of SP (somewhat tactical as they wanted to be out of the large shadow of their former lead singer). When JSS came into the picture, he started to win over SP fans that SA never could. The Band themselves no longer seemed so defensive when referring to their past, so the tide was changing. I remember an early concert where Neal and Jeff came out donning wigs...Neal in afro and Jeff in long straight black hair and overcoat vintage SP... photo of which was posted in all the SP fansites. I think it was a Halloween show, but can't imagine something like that would ever be considered during the SA era.

The video posted by AR above of MOL played in concert has SP's intro taken directly from the record. Jeff often spoke about being majorly influenced by the singing style of Sam Cooke and Steve Perry. Indeed, talk on all the Boards were how Jeff channels the nuances to the point of copying the same phrasings of SP in the live performances. Examples: on DSB...Steve often shouted out "Neal" after the 1st stanza...Jeff did the same. On IBAWY (as shown on the 2nd video post by AR), Steve seques to "Cupid" in his solo tour shows...Jeff did the same singing that song with Journey. Many of the other songs, JSS takes a page right out of the SP school of singing.

Ironically, the wigglers were now hopelessly alienated and sworn away, it's place in the fan-wagon taken up by the loons...for some, just a bit of curiousity to hear the new Journey frontman "singing" the songs like SP without "sounding" like him.

Alas, JSS turned out to be but a blip in Journey's scheme ...before it's back to the "legacy" sound once again.

[annie89509]

I still want to hear the show where Augeri bailed after a few songs and DC filled in.

And I don't want anyone to celebrate SA's departure, or Journey's adhoc transition. I just think that it's a defining moment in Journey history. What show was it, and does anything, audio or video, exist?


later~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pdgctX2l0

Painful.

I kinds like the way Dean helped Augeri with the high notes,i remember Steve and Dean exchanging vocal lines together when i caught them at the Greek Theatre show 2005 during either Escape or Stone in love.Which leads me to my next question, exactly how much of that show was on tape ? as i can also clearly recall Steve's voice cracking during Be Good To Yourself ? Does anyone have any audios from this ?

Don't know when that Greek show was...my understanding is that the early 2005 (30th Anniv.) shows started out mainly live until they realized that SA's voice had deterioriated to the point they would not be able to carry on the tour without "Tape" help. As Dean has posted here, what started as tape crutch in certain portions of certain songs became full-blown lip-synching of whole songs in whole shows as they moved into the 2006 tour with Def Leppard.

[bionic]

annie89509.... Yeah kind of what i figured, no doubt as few songs went to tape.

[JSS]

For years, SP-fans and SA-fans had an acrimonious relationship... fueled somewhat by Neal and Jon, with their various print statements dismissive of SP (somewhat tactical as they wanted to be out of the large shadow of their former lead singer). When JSS came into the picture, he started to win over SP fans that SA never could. The Band themselves no longer seemed so defensive when referring to their past, so the tide was changing. I remember an early concert where Neal and Jeff came out donning wigs...Neal in afro and Jeff in long straight black hair and overcoat vintage SP... photo of which was posted in all the SP fansites. I think it was a Halloween show, but can't imagine something like that would ever be considered during the SA era.

The video posted by AR above of MOL played in concert has SP's intro taken directly from the record. Jeff often spoke about being majorly influenced by the singing style of Sam Cooke and Steve Perry. Indeed, talk on all the Boards were how Jeff channels the nuances to the point of copying the same phrasings of SP in the live performances. Examples: on DSB...Steve often shouted out "Neal" after the 1st stanza...Jeff did the same. On IBAWY (as shown on the 2nd video post by AR), Steve seques to "Cupid" in his solo tour shows...Jeff did the same singing that song with Journey. Many of the other songs, JSS takes a page right out of the SP school of singing.

Ironically, the wigglers were now hopelessly alienated and sworn away, it's place in the fan-wagon taken up by the loons...for some, just a bit of curiousity to hear the new Journey frontman "singing" the songs like SP without "sounding" like him.

Alas, JSS turned out to be but a blip in Journey's scheme ...before it's back to the "legacy" sound once again.

Great post, thanks for crystalizing the scenario as I saw'lived it

[Navarro]

I still want to hear the show where Augeri bailed after a few songs and DC filled in.

And I don't want anyone to celebrate SA's departure, or Journey's adhoc transition. I just think that it's a defining moment in Journey history. What show was it, and does anything, audio or video, exist?


later~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pdgctX2l0

Painful.

I was kind of rooting for Augeri after hearing Arrival, but I knew there were problems early on when I saw Journey clips in concert on the dumb show "blind date". I didn't go to the live shows so I never heard him live until then. Hearing a someone sing or play out of tune is like nails on a chalk board to me. SA wasn't even close, just awful. It was I think WGW. His own damn song. All said I have heard some live vids where he sounds good, but by late 2001, he was in trouble and had to of known it.

The best singing version of DSB live by someone other than SP is Jeremy's at some gig with JSS. They do a great version of JTSW with JSS doing Rollie's part. The rest of the band... No comment, these two kick ass.

[whirlwind]

Hotel room in Boston 2006. Deano and I there slamming beers with most of the band.

Neal claimed he had not had Steve A in his monitor for years and had no idea what was going on.

Also threw Augeri under the bus (wrongly) big time and said he hated
Arrival. I will testify in court to everything Schon said under oath.

Discuss.

But who or what set "Tapegate" in motion?" I have always believed that Deano was used, because of his bombastic, in-your-face, outspoken personality, to pave a way to get Augeri "thrown under the bus'. To oust him shamefully since the band couldn't get rid of him after their being part of the scam the band was part of. I always felt that Neal and Co., Soto, and Andrew were all in on the tapegate expo. and that Dean was fed the damning info he needed to get it all out in the open. I think that the band got what they wanted from Dean and the others and never kept the promises and eventually withdrew the carrot they dangled when they gave Soto his papers.

There is a whole lot more to that story and Maybe it will be someone like Deen who will write the book.

[YoungJRNY]

I still want to hear the show where Augeri bailed after a few songs and DC filled in.

And I don't want anyone to celebrate SA's departure, or Journey's adhoc transition. I just think that it's a defining moment in Journey history. What show was it, and does anything, audio or video, exist?


later~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pdgctX2l0

Painful.

Yep, that's tough...no doubt. But is there vid of what happens next? Did SA actually go back to Deen and say, "I can't do this any more."? Did Deen actually take over center stage to finish the show, while his drum tech played? That's the video I've never seen.


later~

I wish there was more footage of this show as well. I never seen any from it other than the clip I provided above. There are pictures I've seen of Deen fronting and coming out from his comfort zone of his drums, standing in front of the crowd & in the spotlight as the stand-in frontman. He did indeed take center stage. I've heard (could be rumors, not sure if it's 100% fact) that S.A was so bad, they helped carry his off the stage. Not sure the whole extent of the story though.

[kgdjpubs]

I still want to hear the show where Augeri bailed after a few songs and DC filled in.

And I don't want anyone to celebrate SA's departure, or Journey's adhoc transition. I just think that it's a defining moment in Journey history. What show was it, and does anything, audio or video, exist?


later~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pdgctX2l0

Painful.

Yep, that's tough...no doubt. But is there vid of what happens next? Did SA actually go back to Deen and say, "I can't do this any more."? Did Deen actually take over center stage to finish the show, while his drum tech played? That's the video I've never seen.


later~

speaking as someone who was there.....there's a lot of confusion about this show, so let me try and set the record straight.

Remember, this was 3/4 of the way through the show. The BIG vocal problems were at the start of the show.

Here was the full setlist for the show...

Faith in the Heartland
Be Good To Yourself (Steve & Deen)
Ask the Lonely (Deen on backup)
Guitar Solo (Star Spangled Banner)
Stone in Love (Steve and Deen)
Wheel in the Sky (Deen on a lot of backing vocals)
Lights (Steve and Deen)
Open Arms (Deen)
Every Generation
Chain Reaction
Faithfully (Deen)
Don’t Stop Believin’ (Deen on high notes) <---- here's the video.
Separate Ways
Any Way You Want It
Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’

As painful as it sounds, this was a bit after the point that Augeri returned permanently to singing lead, and his voice was improving leaps and bounds with every song towards the end. By the last song, his voice was probably 80% of the Jones Beach recording from a couple of days earlier--which is still very rough, but passable. He started sounding decent towards the end of Separate Ways.

Deen was doing probably 80% of the singing at the beginning and basically did Be Good to Youself by himself. For the early part of the show, Augeri was probably on the side of the stage as much as he was on stage.

The only comment Augeri made to the audience was basically "you might notice I haven't been myself. I've been under the weather lately, and here's Deen to save the day. Give him a lot of love". Deen did Open Arms and Faithfully out front with the tech on drums.

I've never seen anything from the show other than that one video on youtube. If there's a recording of the full show, I've never found it. That said, I saw it once live. It's one of those shows that I really don't need or want to hear again.

[Jeremey]

Here's something that's just very, very disgusting about that whole ordeal. I mean, so disgusting I can't think of anything equal to it in my knowledge of rock and roll bands. The fact that Augeri obviously couldn't sing, and yet was put out there on tour and made to sing. Why? From the sidelines, it was almost as though the band was punishing him for having lip synched and brought the negative attention to them. But the greater issue is: Here's a band that's had a lead singer for 8 years or whatever - And they guy wasn't important enough for the band to cancel shows so he could recuperate? Are you fucking kidding me? Everyone of the principals in that band have more than enough money to take a year off and allow their singer to "get fixed" or even quit if he couldn't get the job done anymore. I've always felt that Augeri didn't have a natural range to allow him to sing Perry songs every night...But certainly could have survived with a more accommodating schedule and tuning down a half step. I won't allow Augeri to get off clean in my book either for lip synching for basically two tours. I can't imagine not being in a position where I could put my foot down and say, "either the ship stops long enough for me to get better, or you find another singer." In the midst of battle, I know more than anyone, it's hard to make the right decisions, but this went on for two tours at least. There's no free pass in my book for any of the characters in the story.

[Liam]

Perry's at home counting his money saying "Dance, puppets, DANCE".

[kgdjpubs]

Here's something that's just very, very disgusting about that whole ordeal. I mean, so disgusting I can't think of anything equal to it in my knowledge of rock and roll bands. The fact that Augeri obviously couldn't sing, and yet was put out there on tour and made to sing. Why? From the sidelines, it was almost as though the band was punishing him for having lip synched and brought the negative attention to them. But the greater issue is: Here's a band that's had a lead singer for 8 years or whatever - And they guy wasn't important enough for the band to cancel shows so he could recuperate? Are you fucking kidding me? Everyone of the principals in that band have more than enough money to take a year off and allow their singer to "get fixed" or even quit if he couldn't get the job done anymore. I've always felt that Augeri didn't have a natural range to allow him to sing Perry songs every night...But certainly could have survived with a more accommodating schedule and tuning down a half step. I won't allow Augeri to get off clean in my book either for lip synching for basically two tours. I can't imagine not being in a position where I could put my foot down and say, "either the ship stops long enough for me to get better, or you find another singer." In the midst of battle, I know more than anyone, it's hard to make the right decisions, but this went on for two tours at least. There's no free pass in my book for any of the characters in the story.

That's what I don't get either.
As you said, Augeri never really had the range to do Journey to begin with. The Perry material was right near the top of his usable range. I saw some shows over the years (as far as 2003 even) where he was dead on. The 9/11 benefit show in Atlanta was one of those--listen to the boot if you have it. More often than not however, he was pushing to get to the top end. Singing it in a studio, and touring with the material every night when you end up losing the top end for whatever reason (temp, humidity, allergies, etc) are two totally different things. With the way Journey toured, it wasn't a matter of if he would crash and burn, it was a matter of when.

Augeri was sounding tired by the end of the 2004 tour. The Generations tour was going to be--and ended up being--murder for a singer. You warm up, get ready......then sit for an hour while the band plays instrumentals. Then, you are supposed to go on and be on the top of your game after your voice has cooled down. Is it really any surprise that his voice was basically destroyed on that tour?? He never had a chance.

Then, they manage to get through that tour without any bad pubicity, and the first thing you do is sign up for a full summer tour with Def Leppard. Why not just give him the year to recover?

I still for the life of me can't figure out why Raleigh wasn't cancelled on the day of the show. Listening to the Jones Beach recording from a few days earlier, there was no way Augeri was ever going to make it through that tour. I've heard singers struggle through shows. The recording of Don't Stop Believin' from Raleigh is miles better than the start of the show. Think of someone trying to sing with severe laryngitis when you have absolutely no range whatsoever. Everyone around had to know ahead of time that his voice just wasn't there. Maybe it was allergies that were the final straw. Regardless, Raleigh should have never happened.

[Michigan Girl]

Perry's at home counting his money saying "Dance, puppets, DANCE".

lol ...
Great businessman, smart man.
In fact Gene Simmons (another brilliant mind)
and Paul Stanley are
taking a page from his book ...KISS will
go on without them and they will collect
the goods!!

[whirlwind]

Here's something that's just very, very disgusting about that whole ordeal. I mean, so disgusting I can't think of anything equal to it in my knowledge of rock and roll bands. The fact that Augeri obviously couldn't sing, and yet was put out there on tour and made to sing. Why? From the sidelines, it was almost as though the band was punishing him for having lip synched and brought the negative attention to them. But the greater issue is: Here's a band that's had a lead singer for 8 years or whatever - And they guy wasn't important enough for the band to cancel shows so he could recuperate? Are you fucking kidding me? Everyone of the principals in that band have more than enough money to take a year off and allow their singer to "get fixed" or even quit if he couldn't get the job done anymore. I've always felt that Augeri didn't have a natural range to allow him to sing Perry songs every night...But certainly could have survived with a more accommodating schedule and tuning down a half step. I won't allow Augeri to get off clean in my book either for lip synching for basically two tours. I can't imagine not being in a position where I could put my foot down and say, "either the ship stops long enough for me to get better, or you find another singer." In the midst of battle, I know more than anyone, it's hard to make the right decisions, but this went on for two tours at least. There's no free pass in my book for any of the characters in the story.

Once the ruse started, Augeri might have liked having his fans think that he was maintaining the level of talent that he started out with and maybe hoped that his vocals might heal with the rest of just mouthing his lyrics and he could still have the honor of being lead singer for as long as it took. My guess is that the band found a way of revealing him, claiming that they had no knowledge of it. The whole incident is still just hearsay and not quoted as fact anywhere. The band outed him themselves at his last concert and even stated that he was on Med leave and would return when well. Nothing was proven, everything was denied and "The Band Played On." It was all a figment of our imagination, folks.

[Liam]

Perry's at home counting his money saying "Dance, puppets, DANCE".

lol ...
Great businessman, smart man.
In fact Gene Simmons (another brilliant mind)
and Paul Stanley are
taking a page from his book ...KISS will
go on without them and they will collect
the goods!!

Very true. Paul and Gene are whores, but it works. The only band in the world with a line of Kaskets and Kondoms.

[Eric]

Mistake posting

[stevew2]

Here's something that's just very, very disgusting about that whole ordeal. I mean, so disgusting I can't think of anything equal to it in my knowledge of rock and roll bands. The fact that Augeri obviously couldn't sing, and yet was put out there on tour and made to sing. Why? From the sidelines, it was almost as though the band was punishing him for having lip synched and brought the negative attention to them. But the greater issue is: Here's a band that's had a lead singer for 8 years or whatever - And they guy wasn't important enough for the band to cancel shows so he could recuperate? Are you fucking kidding me? Everyone of the principals in that band have more than enough money to take a year off and allow their singer to "get fixed" or even quit if he couldn't get the job done anymore. I've always felt that Augeri didn't have a natural range to allow him to sing Perry songs every night...But certainly could have survived with a more accommodating schedule and tuning down a half step. I won't allow Augeri to get off clean in my book either for lip synching for basically two tours. I can't imagine not being in a position where I could put my foot down and say, "either the ship stops long enough for me to get better, or you find another singer." In the midst of battle, I know more than anyone, it's hard to make the right decisions, but this went on for two tours at least. There's no free pass in my book for any of the characters in the story.

I totally agree Jeremey<they had the chance to take a break in 2004 ,although it might have been to late at that point,but they kept the train rolling anyway.2005 was a cluster fuck to begin with,but booking a tour with a lead singer that couldnt sing,was retarded.My daughter and I helped handed the free Generations Cd at the Bryce Jorden center in State Collage Pa.We sneaked in to the arena,there was one main pa board in the middle of the place,and there was a small mixing board to the right side of the stage.Ross and Kevin {the doctor of sound} was doing someing we said hi to Ross and he gave a stare that would kill you.That aint like Ross.later that night they sounded great.We heard them that same year in Baltimore Va,and salibsury Md.That sounded great everytime.I was a fool like alot of people were.Shit hit the fan in 2006.It shouldnt have gone down that way.Journey would do it again if they could get away with it.I think they know they cant,so they now lower the key, and hopefully not over book themselves.They could have down that alot sooner,and not embarress themselves and the fans they really supported them early on. Thats my 2 cents. I hope to come out and hear Frontiers soon. I am way overdue

[Lula]

Hotel room in Boston 2006. Deano and I there slamming beers with most of the band.

Neal claimed he had not had Steve A in his monitor for years and had no idea what was going on.

Also threw Augeri under the bus (wrongly) big time and said he hated
Arrival. I will testify in court to everything Schon said under oath.

Discuss.

But who or what set "Tapegate" in motion?" I have always believed that Deano was used, because of his bombastic, in-your-face, outspoken personality, to pave a way to get Augeri "thrown under the bus'. To oust him shamefully since the band couldn't get rid of him after their being part of the scam the band was part of. I always felt that Neal and Co., Soto, and Andrew were all in on the tapegate expo. and that Dean was fed the damning info he needed to get it all out in the open. I think that the band got what they wanted from Dean and the others and never kept the promises and eventually withdrew the carrot they dangled when they gave Soto his papers.

There is a whole lot more to that story and Maybe it will be someone like Deen who will write the book.

Dean was nobody's puppet. there were a few people behind the scenes that were instrumental in analyzing the shows. hmm, a book... i witnessed much firsthand...

[stevew2]

I believe that for sure