My Journey

Journey came to town. I was there, front and center. Well, I wasn't in the front, but I brought the binoculars.

I finally am ready to share my experience with everyone. Sorry it has taken so long. Journey came on July 11. I'm just a month behind.

This was just an amazing concert. Even without front man Steve Perry, they definitely rocked the amphitheater. Cheap Trick and Heart opened up the night. We were stuck in traffic, so we missed Cheap Trick. I was kind of sad (I really like Surrender), but we did have a good trying to figure out if two couples walking down the street were all girls or not (I don't think we ever really decided). Heart came on and did a decent job. It is hard, however, for women past their prime to hit the high notes. The lead singer was wearing a very flashy outfit (with lots of sparkles) and she looked sunburned. Heart does some good stuff like "These Dreams" and "Barracuda." I remember that "These Dreams" was on the radio when I first got into music and the radio. We had a good time listening to Heart.

Then Journey came out. Be still my beating heart. These are the songs they played:

Majestic
Never Walk Away [new]
Only The Young
Stone In Love
Ask The Lonely
After All These Years [new]
Separate Ways (World's Apart)
Change For The Better [new]
Send Her My Love
Lights
Open Arms (Prelude)
Open Arms
Don't Stop Believin'
Edge Of The Blade
Wildest Dream [new]
Harmonica Solo
Be Good To Yourself

Encore:
Escape
Faithfully

This is definitely not Steve Perry's Journey. Neil Schon formed the band, but when Steve came along he seemed to call all the shots. Now, Schon is definitely back in charge. I wouldn't have chosen some of the songs they did (Escape? For the encore? Who knows that song?), but it was a great time. They did 4 songs from their new album--"Never Walk Away," "After All These Years," "Change For The Better," and "Wildest Dream." Nobody knew them.

The new lead singer sounds an awful lot like Steve Perry. He is full of energy and was bounding around the stage. He likes to sing with his eyes really wide open. At concerts, bands kind of like to embellish their songs and add to them, but Arnel basically followed Steve's vocals, so it was fun to listen to him.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the pianist, Jonathan Cain, also plays the guitar. I had no idea. He did a good job. I really loved the Open Arms piano prelude that he did.

We just had an amazing night. There were seven of us. Not everyone loves Journey as much as I do, but it was great that they came to enjoy some good music. There was a group of young 20's in front of us. They were totally getting into the music. They were all dancing around. Of course, we had to join them.

It was a very successful night. I bought a Journey t-shirt. And we were all privileged to see Emily's velociraptor impression. My favorite performance would have to be Faithfully. Nothing compares to it.

Ah Journey, you did me proud.