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Journey
A Concert Review |
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A Review in Sections:
So Much For An Easy/Short Review
Hope Springs Anew
My Kingdom For a Hip
But He's No Steve Perry…, Oh, Wait, He Is, Sort-of…
I Still Remember All of the Words
Time To Go
So Much For An Easy/Short Review:
I already had this review written. It was supposed to be simple,
something like, "Well, I went to see Journey, sans Steve Perry,
with Steve Augeri in his place, and, well, Augeri's no Perry, and
that's too bad." But no, Steve Augeri did a great job, impressed
me even by the end of the show, and now my simple review has turned
way complicated. So, with that, let's start at my beginning of
excitement of Journey coming back, disappointment of hearing Steve
Perry wouldn't be making the tour, and ending up liking the line-up
on stage, but… The but to be explained by the end.
Hope Springs Anew:
I was a huge Journey fan as they peaked during my formative teen
years. I had most of their albums, knew every song, loved their
videos, but never got to see them live. That was the bummer. The
closest I got to seeing them live was Steve Perry on a solo tour
back in '94, and it was very cool, but it was still solo. Then the
rumors started flying - a new Journey album. Steve Perry, Neal Schon,
Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory, and Steve Smith, together again, a tour
would follow because it had to, and my high school dream of seeing
Journey in concert would be complete. I could bust out my old
"Frontiers" baseball jersey, even if it was a few sizes
shrunk by then, and sing to every song I still remembered. Then the
single was released, "When You Love a Woman." Classic
Journey, a ballad, the radio play starts, here comes the CD, the
tour rumors hit a fever pitch, and then…
My Kingdom For a Hip:
The internet rumors started flying and the CD hype slowed -
"Steve Perry blew out his hip while mountain climbing"
seemed to be the ongoing thread, the tour plans were put on hold,
and the escalating rumors of a giant, Journey, reunion tour came
crumbling down. One newsgroup would say this, another would say
that, and the hype was nearly dead, until finally it was announced
that, yes, Perry and Smith had left the band and Cain and Schon
decided to find a new singer and new drummer, and thus the birth of
the current Journey line-up was announced. Neal Schon, Jonathan
Cain, Ross Valory, Dean Castranova, and Steve Augeri. They would
tour, they would work to put a new CD together, and Journey was
re-born again.
But He's No Steve Perry…, Oh, Wait, He
Is, Sort-of…
"Steve who?" seemed to be the question every Journey fan
had, that along with "Can he fill Steve Perry's shoes?,"
"Does he sound like Perry?," "Who wants to see
Journey without Steve Perry." And there were more. And you know
what, I was one of those questioning, and now not so eagerly awaited
Journey coming through Chicago. They came near, I think, in 1998,
but I wasn't really interested, but maybe I should have been. So now
the rumors of Journey fans started hitting the netwaves -
"Steve Augeri sounds just like Steve Perry, even better than
Perry would sound now on some songs (this sort of confused me), and
Cain and Schon are better than ever" was one I read, although
there were discussions that Augeri didn't have the stage presence of
Perry. "Hmm?" I thought to myself, "What a challenge
for someone, to be the front-man, replacing the man with one of the
most recognizable voices from a band, sound a lot like him, and not
have a single to call your own? How do you develop your own stage
presence when all people remember is that Perry guy?" What
shoes for Augeri to fill, but it was finally time for me to see how
the shoes fit.
I Still Remember All of the Words:
So the time comes, I take my place, and out comes Journey. The crowd
goes nuts, although a few of the folks seemed confused at who this
singer was (they didn't know Steve Perry was out of the band), and
"Separate Ways" fills the air. Augeri is a little timid,
but Cain, Schon, and Valory kick into solo-time, smile-time, and
just-having-fun-time. I'm singing along, "Stone in Love"
and "Ask the Lonely" continue the set, and I still notice
that Augeri still seems just a little out of place. He sounds great,
but just isn't getting into it yet, and I'm thinking this is going
to be a pretty long concert if all I'm going to get are some great
soloing by Schon and Cain and some dude singing just like Steve
Perry. I begin to accept this and figure I'll just sing along (how
come I knew every word to every song except the couple of new ones
they played, but sometimes I forget my own phone number?), and the
dude next to be does the same (he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket,
but he and his dudette are having a good time, so, oh well), and the
hit parade continues.
A Neal Schon solo here, a Jonathan Cain solo before "Open
Arms", I'm thinking I'm hungry but only have $3.00 which could
just buy a pretzel and nothing to drink except water from a
fountain, my row is like Grand Central Station with people coming
and going to the concession stand or bathroom, "Any Way You
Want It" sounds great, I spot a hubba-lubba-bulla dudette stage
left prompting me to write in my notes that she is just what I was
hoping I would see at a Journey concert (except she's not standing
next to me and was with some dude and after a better look seemed a
little young so I better get my mind out of the gutter, but, I
digress), another Neal Schon solo prompts notes of how I forgot just
how great a guitar player he is, a new song, and then I was hit with
some revelations: Hey, it looks like Steve Augeri is actually
getting into the show; Hey, Steve Augeri really needs to have his
own hit song with the band, and I don't think it will be this one,
or else he will always just be the guy who replaced Steve Perry.
Yes, this was the time that I found Steve Augeri began to be the
front-man he needed to be to begin to make Journey his own. Finally,
away from the protection of his microphone stand, Steve started
working the stage, started smiling more at the ladies checking him
out, and started smiling like he was having fun rather than the
smile hinted with "I hope they like me." And with that the
show became just a little bit more fun, even for me, a dude, not
checking Steve out. But, and this is where I explain that "but…"
in the first paragraph, then I thought, especially as they started
the new song off of their upcoming new CD, Steve Augeri needs a hit
with Journey.
He can sound like himself all he wants (sounding so much like Steve
Perry I think actually hurts him a little in the identification
side), he can develop great stage presence, but to many of those who
grew up on Journey, until he has that hit he'll always just be the
dude who replaced Steve Perry. And that's kind of too bad, at least
right now, because he can sing, he can command a stage once he gets
into the show, but most people right now will have the attitude of
"I'm not going to see Journey without Steve Perry. It won't be
the same." I hope he can get those couple of songs to call his
own to bring those fickle fans, like I was, to the show.
Time To Go:
So, this review turned out a hell of a lot longer than I had
planned, and I apologize, but somehow I needed to say all of that.
Journey with the current line-up still can blast out a song with the
best of them, and in seeing them your flashbacks to what was
happening when you first heard "Wheel in the Sky" will
come rushing back, you'll probably think of the dude or dudette you
danced with during "Faithfully," and will probably say
that Steve Augeri isn't that bad, he's pretty good even. With that
it's TWO "Steve's pretty good" THUMBS UP!!
That's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!! |
