Opening Night -- San Bernardino

[fightingilliniJRNY]

Well, tonight's the night the 2012 leg of the Eclipse Tour kicks off. And if you didn't know it, you might think it's the third leg of the Revelation Tour. Here's the setlist:

Majestic
Never Walk Away
Ask The Lonely
After All These Years
Only The Young
Faith In The Heartland
Faithfully
Stone In Love
Where Did I Lose Your Love
Lights
City Of Hope
Wheel In The Sky
Escape
Open Arms
Separate Ways
Be Good To Yourself
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Any Way You Want It
Don't Stop Believin'

This seems to be similar to the way they begin most tours - play some out-of-the-blue songs before backing off after poor crowd receptions at about show number four. We'll see what happens this time around. Four from Revelation (counting FITH) and one from Eclipse. Eighteen total songs. Better than the 15 on last year's tour - we'll see if Neal ratchets down the soloing. I have to say I don't get the ballad in slot three - After All These Years this year, Faithfully in a similar spot last year. Interesting.

I'm seeing the tour in Indy in a few weeks and then Louisville right after that. If this is the setlist, I would say I would be decently happy. Not bad.

[scarab]

why are they STILL playing Eclipses worst song City of Hope?
and not Resonate?

[steveo777]

why are they STILL playing Eclipses worst song City of Hope?
and not Resonate?

I don't have much of a problem with the setlist, save for that gag-worthy City of Hope. Damnit!

Actually, they're mixing it up pretty good here, but need a couple of the best Eclipse songs.

[Ehwmatt]

Is this tour still officially called the "Eclipse Tour?" If so, that's a pretty damning indictment of the album's success (and possibly what the band thinks of it in hindsight?) if its immediate predecessor has 4 songs in this year's set and the tour's namesake album has only 1.

[Gideon]

I fucking love Neal: he knows some of us want a more eclectic set list and claims to want nothing more to support this most recent album of eclectic material, so what does he do?

He brings up 3 songs from the last album, commercially successful but completely abandoned for 3 years, and only 1 song from the most recent album, his supposed magnum opus, after which the tour is named. Whaaa??

He's trolling the hell out of us here.

That said, I'm happy that we're getting a longer set and some diverse tunes. He needs to throw out Where Did I Lose Your Love for Wildest Dream and/or Change For the Better, tho. Resonate also needs to find its way into the set list, pronto.

Skewed logic, Neal, but I'll give you a B for effort.

[steveo777]

Journey just does what it does to give us here in the situation room something to rant about. I'm convinced of it. Never seen such a great band with so many fumbles and bumbles.

It's like that fucking kid who always kicks the ball off the side of his foot, no matter how many times the coach tells him not to. LOL

[Gideon]

Amen. Herbie might have been a pompous blowhard, but the man had vision and could apparently put a leash on Neal quite easily. I think Jon stopped caring back in 2004.

[slucero]

Interesting way to look at the setlist...

1979 - Majestic
2008 - Never Walk Away
1983 - Ask The Lonely
2008 - After All These Years
1983 - Only The Young
2005/2008 - Faith In The Heartland
1983 - Faithfully
1981 - Stone In Love
2008 - Where Did I Lose Your Love
1978 - Lights
2011 - City Of Hope
1978 - Wheel In The Sky
1981 - Escape
1981 - Open Arms
1983 - Separate Ways
1986 - Be Good To Yourself
1978 - Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
1980 - Any Way You Want It
1981 - Don't Stop Believin'


or another way...

1978 - Lights
1978 - Wheel In The Sky
1978 - Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
1979 - Majestic
1980 - Any Way You Want It
1981 - Stone In Love
1981 - Escape
1981 - Open Arms
1981 - Don't Stop Believin'
1983 - Ask The Lonely
1983 - Only The Young
1983 - Faithfully
1983 - Separate Ways
1986 - Be Good To Yourself
2005/2008 - Faith In The Heartland
2008 - Never Walk Away
2008 - After All These Years
2008 - Where Did I Lose Your Love
2011 - City Of Hope

or...

Infinty
Infinty
Infinty
Evolution
Departure
Escape
Escape
Escape
Escape
Frontiers
Frontiers
Frontiers
Frontiers
Raised On Radio
Generations/Revelation
Revelation
Revelation
Revelation
Eclipse

[Gideon]

They need to throw in I'll Be Alright Without You (2nd greatest of the Dirty Dozen, in my humble opinion) and Who's Cryin' Now, a crowd favorite. Ditch Only the Young with its pussy pre-recorded keyboard riffs and LTS, which transformed from a 3 minute nightmare to a 17 minute one thanks to Neal's incessant shredding.

[Don]

Not surprised at all. While it's not saying much, Revelation has at least maintained an on and off again presence in Walmart's top 500 sellers while Eclipse hasn't even been in the retailer's top 2,000 sellers at all over the past 9 months.

[Gideon]

I am surprised, quite frankly. I expected to never again hear the majestic piano riff to After All These Years. I'm also surprised that Neal didn't include Change For the Better or Wildest Dream instead of FITH and WDILYL. The former two are not only stronger, heavier songs, but also afford him more time to shred.

[steveo777]

Not surprised at all. While it's not saying much, Revelation has at least maintained an on and off again presence in Walmart's top 500 sellers while Eclipse hasn't even been in the retailer's top 2,000 sellers at all over the past 9 months.

Have you ever seen the kind of person that shops at Walmart on a regular basis? Eclipse is too deep for them. Journey should do the re-records in Spanish. I'm sure sales would skyrocket.

[Gideon]

Journey should do the re-records

No.

[steveo777]

Journey should do the re-records

No.

Gideon - don't mean that. It was not all bad. There are a couple of the redos that are better, sonically, than the originals. Sure they piss off the purists, who probably didn't listen to them anyway, but IMO, WCN and OA sounded better with AP.

[Don]

Who knows what these guys think anymore.
I read awhile back that they had Arnel familiarizing himself with songs like Line Of Fire and Where Were You during his down time. While those two non hits were staples for the playlists of the 80,81 and 82 tours, for them to come back now when there is such an abundance of music from the last decade that hasn't been played live yet..well, that would be a head scratcher indeed.

Then again, they did totally blow off their A/C hit AIP for La Do Da last year.

[Don]

Well, this was their only SoCal stop this year so I don't have to worry about giving in to tempation like last year and seeing a show hoping that they MIGHT play something new that I liked (which of course, they didn't).

[steveo777]

Well, this was their only SoCal stop this year so I don't have to worry about giving in to tempation like last year and seeing a show hoping that they MIGHT play something new that I liked (which of course, they didn't).

I'm going to the Gorge on the 28th of this month. I figure this early in the tour they are fresh, hence less chance of tuning down too much. It's been a long, long time since they have been here and I figure I might as well get it because they probably won't be back.

[Don]

Well, this was their only SoCal stop this year so I don't have to worry about giving in to tempation like last year and seeing a show hoping that they MIGHT play something new that I liked (which of course, they didn't).

I'm going to the Gorge on the 28th of this month. I figure this early in the tour they are fresh, hence less chance of tuning down too much. It's been a long, long time since they have been here and I figure I might as well get it because they probably won't be back.

What do you mean "tuning down too much?" They'll either be tuned down or they won't. We'll know in a few hours anyway as something from tonight's show is bound to hit youtube by then. Any guesses which songs will be first to be uploaded?

Since you didn't see them last year, I would say go see them regardless. I've got four classic Journey and two AP shows under my belt, I'm good for life now.

[steveo777]

Well, this was their only SoCal stop this year so I don't have to worry about giving in to tempation like last year and seeing a show hoping that they MIGHT play something new that I liked (which of course, they didn't).

I'm going to the Gorge on the 28th of this month. I figure this early in the tour they are fresh, hence less chance of tuning down too much. It's been a long, long time since they have been here and I figure I might as well get it because they probably won't be back.

What do you mean "tuning down too much?" They'll either be tuned down or they won't. We'll know in a few hours anyway as something from tonight's show is bound to hit youtube by then. Any guesses which songs will be first to be uploaded?

Since you didn't see them last year, I would say go see them regardless. I've got four classic Journey and two AP shows under my belt, I'm good for life now.

I know...there is no such thing as half pregnant. It is or it isn't.

[Navarro]

Well, tonight's the night the 2012 leg of the Eclipse Tour kicks off. And if you didn't know it, you might think it's the third leg of the Revelation Tour. Here's the setlist:

Majestic
Never Walk Away
Ask The Lonely
After All These Years
Only The Young
Faith In The Heartland
Faithfully
Stone In Love
Where Did I Lose Your Love
Lights
City Of Hope
Wheel In The Sky
Escape
Open Arms
Separate Ways
Be Good To Yourself
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Any Way You Want It
Don't Stop Believin'

This seems to be similar to the way they begin most tours - play some out-of-the-blue songs before backing off after poor crowd receptions at about show number four. We'll see what happens this time around. Four from Revelation (counting FITH) and one from Eclipse. Eighteen total songs. Better than the 15 on last year's tour - we'll see if Neal ratchets down the soloing. I have to say I don't get the ballad in slot three - After All These Years this year, Faithfully in a similar spot last year. Interesting.

I'm seeing the tour in Indy in a few weeks and then Louisville right after that. If this is the setlist, I would say I would be decently happy. Not bad.

For a band that practically 40 year old, this a good set list. You have play the classics and to throw in 4 tunes written in the past 5 years is great. Eclipse doesn't warrant more than a couple songs, but they should do Resonate, EOM, or AIP not COH.

[The_Noble_Cause]

I think Revelation (thanks to the re-recorded hits, which are awful) has been a consistent seller, so this makes sense.
Maybe it's the time to do a second package of re-recorded hits + new material?

[jestor92]

I didnt even know they were touring this year.

[fightingilliniJRNY]

Maybe it's the time to do a second package of re-recorded hits + new material?

I think they are overdue for a live album. The new album could be disc one, and the live album could be disc two. Same package as Revelation, but with a live album instead of re-recorded hits. Now, the obvious question is if they are going to be doing another new album in a year or so.

[Ehwmatt]

I think Revelation (thanks to the re-recorded hits, which are awful) has been a consistent seller, so this makes sense.
Maybe it's the time to do a second package of re-recorded hits + new material?

I'd rather see some extra content that is for the TRUE fans. A tour documentary featuring Neal/Jon/Deen/Ross and their techs going over their respective gear, behind the scenes look at rehearsals, and interviews would be great. Alternatively (or better yet, additionally) a true "Making of (the next Album)" documentary would be GREAT. I'm not talking about something like the recent Asia XXX Making of XXX featurette, which really doesn't go into the recording process at all (it's just a bunch of clips of the band members answering some random questions and saying they're excited about the album etc). I want to see outtakes of Neal laying down solos, Neal and Jon crafting melodies and reworking arrangements, producers/mixers talking about their recording techniques, clips of Arnel laying down vocal tracks, members tracking harmonies together (if they really even do that) etc. Burton Cummings's last studio album, "Above the Ground," has an AWESOME "Making of the Album" documentary that features all of this stuff. It's fantastic.

Something like this for the diehard fans would be great.

[Ritchie]

I think Revelation (thanks to the re-recorded hits, which are awful) has been a consistent seller, so this makes sense.
Maybe it's the time to do a second package of re-recorded hits + new material?

I think the publicity of Pineda`s story(Ellen Show,Oprah show etc.) was the main reason Revelation became an instant seller.. but agreed including the greatest hits made it a consistent seller.
If I was Journey`s marketing consultant I would`ve advised them to do a Revelation II after Revelation but mucho respecto to Journey for not doing the obvious and give us Eclipse,a great album and not a Revelation clone.

[Don]

Cain has said that Perry has been cool with everything that the band has done so far as far as signing off on things that he has input on. A second greatest hits package on the heels of Sony's release might not go down that well though.

And let's face it, that recent GH2 release didn't exactly set the world on fire. Everything ties together with licensing for these older bands. DSB and to a much smaller extent AWYWI have helped move associated products by gaining exposure from their licensing deals. There is nothing that could be on a second greatest hits package worth even a sniff from advertisers or movie producers. Who would finance the album anyway?

[Majestic]

Even though LTS was a bonafide hit, I can't imagine anyone missing that one from the setlist as they would DSB, Faithfully, or what have you, and a lot of die hards, including me, hate that song. Why do they play it but not Who's cryin' now, or a some other hit? And City of Hope makes no sense at all. The only people who seem to have bought Eclipse are diehards, and we have all unanamously said we don't care so much for that song. All be Alright was also a big hit that Neal should love playing because of the guitar bits, and that was for sure one of his favorites to play during the ROR tour, you could just see it on his face. I think even though we love Neal, he doesn't have the same taste in Journey music as the fans do.

[steveo777]

They sounded pretty good last night, but not many clips out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKXQ0haAUbY

[RumTumJM]

Is it just me, or does it seem like they went back to original key/tuning?

[steveo777]

Is it just me, or does it seem like they went back to original key/tuning?

Sounds like it to me, but I'm not a musician.