Ultimate Journey Farewell Tour Lineup

[Voyager]

With both Steve Augeri and Arnel Pineda coming down with severe throat inflammation from singing the Perry catalog of Journey hits (aka Perryaoke Syndrome), maybe a farewell tour should involve more than one lead vocalist? Do you remember how Boston used several lead vocalists to cover Brad Delp's parts? Well, how about a Perry/Augeri/Pineda/Soto/Hunsicker lineup of lead singers to cover all of the vocal parts during the farewell tour?

This would solve two problems. Steve Perry probably is well aware of what a Journey tour can do to the lead singer's throat, and this may be one of the main reasons that he hasn't yet stepped up to the plate to do it again. In fact, no matter WHO sings lead for Journey, they always end up with severe throat inflammation after several years of touring. Having multiple Perry impersonators in the vocal lineup would solve both of these issues, and give fans what they ultimate have always wanted: a return of Steve Perry to the helm of Journey.

or ?

[STORY_TELLER]

Just say "no" to crack.

[scarab]

gave up the thought of Perry coming back years ago. JSS is what brought me back to this group.
Arnel has a couple good songs since, but for the most part he is doing what he does well, copying the greats.
JSS is an original, and if for some reason Journey tours for a last time, I want JSS to be the singer.

[JRNYFan]

As Jeremey wasn't ever officially part of Journey, I don't think it would make sense to include him.

I think the JSS debacle to is still too fresh for him to come around. Plus he's just too busy all the time.

I could possibly see Perry one or two shows, but even that's a stretch for him. I think he's very content to have his legacy frozen in time. You would probably see a press release and lots of interviews from him wishing the band well on their "farewell tour" and a chance for him to reminisce about his days in the band.

Realistically, I think you would see Augeri, Arnel, Rolie, and Fleischman (maybe singing WITS and possibly Feeling That Way/Anytime with Rolie) on the vocals. Steve Smith would take over on drums on some of his favorites. Aynsley would take over on WITS and any other Infinity songs they would do. It would be really cool if they set up a second drum set so Smith and Deeno could have drum off, ala Phil Collins and his touring band. Just for fun, you could see Randy Jackson play bass on BGTY when they hit a market close by him.

Hopefully, they would do something extra special with the set list like 2005, but I think they got too much flack for that from the casual fans so you'd probably end up seeing a 2-2.5 set as an Evening with Journey type of set playing material from GH 1 and GH 2.

[Voyager]

I'm guessing Neal may have put the nail in his own Perry coffin when pics of Neal's penis went international. If nothing else, it gave Perry an extra excuse to ignore him.

As Jeremey wasn't ever officially part of Journey, I don't think it would make sense to include him.

I swear, Jeremey is the official Charlie Brown around here. Imagine if you could sing Perry as good as Jeremey can and you almost made it to the helm of Journey. How would you like to be excluded from seeing the tour because you were not one of the original fans? Give the poor guy a break. So maybe he was smart enough not to go on the road and get Perryaoke Syndrome. Offer the guy a shot to sing some Perry with Journey on their final tour so his dream can come true. It's the holiday season... a time for inclusion, not exclusion - hahaha! Neal can afford it anyway, it's not like he would get Perry's salary.

Just say "no" to crack.

Got any? I'm running low.

[jestor92]

The ultimate farewell tour would be a 3 hour two set show. Rollie, Perry, Augeri, and Pineda would all sing songs from their time with the band, Steve Smith and every other member of the bands past would perform songs they were originally featured on. Nothing against JSS, Fleischman, or Jeremey but they unfortunetly never appeared on an album with the band(well with the exception of the box set for Fleischman).

[slucero]

There's about as much a chance of this happening as there is us seeing Herbie Herbert... on stage.. spinning Captured...

[Arkansas]

The ultimate farewell tour would be a 3 hour two set show. Rollie, Perry, Augeri, and Pineda would all sing songs from their time with the band, Steve Smith and every other member of the bands past would perform songs they were originally featured on. Nothing against JSS, Fleischman, or Jeremey but they unfortunetly never appeared on an album with the band(well with the exception of the box set for Fleischman).

This is the obvious setting. But unfortunately, it wouldn't sell as a tour. And logistics wouldn't work anyway. Something like this might go over for a couple of nights in Las Vegas only. There might be 5 or 6k true die hards in the world, that would make the trip, party for a few days, talk about it for a few more, and then it'd be over.


later~

[Yoda]

Well, I think if you ever had an "ultimate" farewell thing, it would be a one off show. It would feature the other Journey singers, with maybe Perry coming out at the end to sing a song or two. It would be televised and later purchased on DVD and Blu-ray. I think that is the only way you'd get Steve Perry involved in it again. One show, big pay off, everybody gets to see it either live or televised. I would be happy with something like this, especially if Perry and Augeri was involved.

[FamilyMan]

Well, I think if you ever had an "ultimate" farewell thing, it would be a one off show. It would feature the other Journey singers, with maybe Perry coming out at the end to sing a song or two. It would be televised and later purchased on DVD and Blu-ray. I think that is the only way you'd get Steve Perry involved in it again. One show, big pay off, everybody gets to see it either live or televised. I would be happy with something like this, especially if Perry and Augeri was involved.

Never happening.

[Archetype]

In all reality, a "farewell" tour with have Arnel at the helm with maybe a few special appearances by Gregg Rolie.

[Yoda]

Well, I think if you ever had an "ultimate" farewell thing, it would be a one off show. It would feature the other Journey singers, with maybe Perry coming out at the end to sing a song or two. It would be televised and later purchased on DVD and Blu-ray. I think that is the only way you'd get Steve Perry involved in it again. One show, big pay off, everybody gets to see it either live or televised. I would be happy with something like this, especially if Perry and Augeri was involved.

Never happening.

Of course it wouldn't. In fact, you won't hear about a farewell tour at all. Journey will just go away. However, if all parties involved were willing to participate to some degree, the current line up would still perform the bulk of the songs, with the former members joining for a cameo of sorts.

[Gideon]

Well, I think if you ever had an "ultimate" farewell thing, it would be a one off show. It would feature the other Journey singers, with maybe Perry coming out at the end to sing a song or two. It would be televised and later purchased on DVD and Blu-ray. I think that is the only way you'd get Steve Perry involved in it again. One show, big pay off, everybody gets to see it either live or televised. I would be happy with something like this, especially if Perry and Augeri was involved.

Never happening.

Perry's ego is such that he would never tolerate sharing the spotlight with another frontman, especially one who would presently hand him his ass (Pineda).

[slucero]

Well, I think if you ever had an "ultimate" farewell thing, it would be a one off show. It would feature the other Journey singers, with maybe Perry coming out at the end to sing a song or two. It would be televised and later purchased on DVD and Blu-ray. I think that is the only way you'd get Steve Perry involved in it again. One show, big pay off, everybody gets to see it either live or televised. I would be happy with something like this, especially if Perry and Augeri was involved.

Never happening.

Perry's ego is such that he would never tolerate sharing the spotlight with another frontman, especially one who would presently hand him his ass (Pineda).

...don't forget who originally co-wrote and sang those songs Pineda is now just attempting to sing (like the original)...

[Gideon]

Well, I think if you ever had an "ultimate" farewell thing, it would be a one off show. It would feature the other Journey singers, with maybe Perry coming out at the end to sing a song or two. It would be televised and later purchased on DVD and Blu-ray. I think that is the only way you'd get Steve Perry involved in it again. One show, big pay off, everybody gets to see it either live or televised. I would be happy with something like this, especially if Perry and Augeri was involved.

Never happening.

Perry's ego is such that he would never tolerate sharing the spotlight with another frontman, especially one who would presently hand him his ass (Pineda).

...don't forget who originally co-wrote and sang those songs Pineda is now just attempting to sing (like the original)...

Hey, you don't need to exhort me for praise about Jon Cain. He's the best thing that ever happened to this band.
Doesn't change the fact that Arnel would still hand Perry his ass.

[slucero]

Well, I think if you ever had an "ultimate" farewell thing, it would be a one off show. It would feature the other Journey singers, with maybe Perry coming out at the end to sing a song or two. It would be televised and later purchased on DVD and Blu-ray. I think that is the only way you'd get Steve Perry involved in it again. One show, big pay off, everybody gets to see it either live or televised. I would be happy with something like this, especially if Perry and Augeri was involved.

Never happening.

Perry's ego is such that he would never tolerate sharing the spotlight with another frontman, especially one who would presently hand him his ass (Pineda).

...don't forget who originally co-wrote and sang those songs Pineda is now just attempting to sing (like the original)...

Hey, you don't need to exhort me for praise about Jon Cain. He's the best thing that ever happened to this band.
Doesn't change the fact that Arnel would still hand Perry his ass.

haha.... I agree... a 45 yr. old Pineda may just do that to a 63 year old Perry....

but a 28 year old Perry would simply make a 28 yr. old Arnel cry for his mama....

[Infinity Vocalist 2010]

In '09, Arnel could maybe hand Perry his ass. Presently, with them playing detuned, after this health scare, and now more occurrences of note ducking... could he still do it?

[Gideon]

In '09, Arnel could maybe hand Perry his ass. Presently, with them playing detuned, after this health scare, and now more occurrences of note ducking... could he still do it?

Yeah.
If Perry were to go out and tour now, he'd be ducking enough notes to be playing vocal limbo.

[Infinity Vocalist 2010]

They can tune down for him, then it'll be easier

[Voyager]

Doesn't change the fact that Arnel would still hand Perry his ass.

If you said that to Arnel he would probably take a swing at you.

[Gideon]

Doesn't change the fact that Arnel would still hand Perry his ass.

If you said that to Arnel he would probably take a swing at you.

Well unless he and the rest of his clan intend to go all Gulliver's Travels on me, I'm not worried.

Sorry I don't share your morbid man-crush on an aged singer well past his prime.

[Rick]

Doesn't change the fact that Arnel would still hand Perry his ass.

If you said that to Arnel he would probably take a swing at you.

Perry has no worries. But just to illustrate the caliber of both singers. Imagine this....

If Journey were to do two nationally advertised concerts, each on a Friday night that had no other distractions, like a holiday or whatnot. One with Arnel out front, and the other with Perry out front, today, in Perry's current vocal condition, with posters saying that Perry is 63 years old and doesn't sound nearly as good as he did in his prime, which do you think would get the bigger draw?

[steveo777]

Doesn't change the fact that Arnel would still hand Perry his ass.

If you said that to Arnel he would probably take a swing at you.

Perry has no worries. But just to illustrate the caliber of both singers. Imagine this....

If Journey were to do two nationally advertised concerts, each on a Friday night that had no other distractions, like a holiday or whatnot. One with Arnel out front, and the other with Perry out front, today, in Perry's current vocal condition, with posters saying that Perry is 63 years old and doesn't sound nearly as good as he did in his prime, which do you think would get the bigger draw?

Depends on whether they advertised who the singer was. Considering so many casual fans don't know Perry ever left and Journey has a bunch of new fans in Arnel, I don't think it's a sure fire deal that attendance would be higher with Steve.

[Rick]

Doesn't change the fact that Arnel would still hand Perry his ass.

If you said that to Arnel he would probably take a swing at you.

Perry has no worries. But just to illustrate the caliber of both singers. Imagine this....

If Journey were to do two nationally advertised concerts, each on a Friday night that had no other distractions, like a holiday or whatnot. One with Arnel out front, and the other with Perry out front, today, in Perry's current vocal condition, with posters saying that Perry is 63 years old and doesn't sound nearly as good as he did in his prime, which do you think would get the bigger draw?

Depends on whether they advertised who the singer was. Considering so many casual fans don't know Perry ever left and Journey has a bunch of new fans in Arnel, I don't think it's a sure fire deal that attendance would be higher with Steve.

In this instance, considering the public knows everything, there would be no competition.

[steveo777]

Doesn't change the fact that Arnel would still hand Perry his ass.

If you said that to Arnel he would probably take a swing at you.

Perry has no worries. But just to illustrate the caliber of both singers. Imagine this....

If Journey were to do two nationally advertised concerts, each on a Friday night that had no other distractions, like a holiday or whatnot. One with Arnel out front, and the other with Perry out front, today, in Perry's current vocal condition, with posters saying that Perry is 63 years old and doesn't sound nearly as good as he did in his prime, which do you think would get the bigger draw?

Depends on whether they advertised who the singer was. Considering so many casual fans don't know Perry ever left and Journey has a bunch of new fans in Arnel, I don't think it's a sure fire deal that attendance would be higher with Steve.

In this instance, considering the public knows everything, there would be no competition.

Ok, you win.

[Gideon]

Honestly, Rick, I think you'd still have a large segment of the fandom clamoring over one another to listen to Perry croak and warble out some tunes.
I'm not saying the guy would sound like utter shit, just that Arnel would sound a lot better. That said, even if Perry absolutely sucked by any reasonable expectation, if the representatives of the fandom here and the internet abroad are any indication, there isn't a shortage of folks who wouldn't praise him as the second coming.

I'm convinced that there are people who would listen to Perry's grunts while he takes a dump and swoon.

[Rick]

Honestly, Rick, I think you'd still have a large segment of the fandom clamoring over one another to listen to Perry croak and warble out some tunes.
I'm not saying the guy would sound like utter shit, just that Arnel would sound a lot better. That said, even if Perry absolutely sucked by any reasonable expectation, if the representatives of the fandom here and the internet abroad are any indication, there isn't a shortage of folks who wouldn't praise him as the second coming.

I'm convinced that there are people who would listen to Perry's grunts while he takes a dump and swoon.

He does have some die hard fans, that's for sure. Good for him though. He earned them.

[Deb]

Honestly, Rick, I think you'd still have a large segment of the fandom clamoring over one another to listen to Perry croak and warble out some tunes.
I'm not saying the guy would sound like utter shit, just that Arnel would sound a lot better. That said, even if Perry absolutely sucked by any reasonable expectation, if the representatives of the fandom here and the internet abroad are any indication, there isn't a shortage of folks who wouldn't praise him as the second coming.

I'm convinced that there are people who would listen to Perry's grunts while he takes a dump and swoon.

Ick!

I'm with Scarab on this one, JSS on lead was what brought this fan back around to Journey as well. My ultimate line up would include both Perry and Soto. I know neither are going to hit those glass shattering highs of the 70s but that doesn't matter one iota to me, it's all about the soul/delivery. Oh man can you just imagine some of those old Rolie/Perry songs with Soto/Perry. Damn I think my toes just curled a little.

[annie89509]

Every diehard perryfan would be delighted if/when he brings it. We’re not stupid, of course, SP couldn’t sing like he did with Journey…we know that from FTLOSM and TBF. The connection is with the man himself, or as Deb says, how he delivers a song to the eyes and ears.

What is so sad for us is SP (imo) is hung up on what the millions of casual Journey fans would think. They have only heard him sing the old songs (through resurgence of the Journey brand and sale of their old hit records)…and he doesn’t want to tarnish that image people have of him by coming out with anything new (which will not sound the same). A loss for us all !