VACATION´s OVER

Photo by Wolfgang Schwaiger
Biography: Mark 2 / Mark 3 / 1990's / Mark 5 / Discography / Concerts / Homepages

The first band featured Neal Schon, Ross Valory, George Tickner, drummer Prairie Prince and 
Greg Rolie. The manager Herbie Herbert actually recruited the members in that order. 
The band was at first called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section and the idea was that they just 
would accompany other musicians. Within days, however, the musicians began to prepare material 
for an album of their own. San Francisco radio station, KSAN, held a name-the-band contest, 
although it was Herbert´s associate that came up with the name Journey.
 Mark 1b
After six months of rehearsals Prairie Prince left the band and after not finding a replacement 
through rehearsals, Herbert and Schon asked David Bowie drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who joined after 
hearing a tape.

 The first album, released April 1975.

After the tour George Tickner left the band to enter medical school
 Mark 1c

 Released January 1976  Released January 1977


After three albums they were told, get a singer, get some hit songs or you´re off the label.
Robert Fleischman was suggested to meet Journey after a Columbia executive attended a showcase.
After rehearsals he joined for a tour with Emerson, Lake and Palmer in the summer of 1977.
 Mark 1d
At the end of the tour Herbert wanted to get rid of Fleischman because he had a heard a tape 
by a band called The Alien Project, with singer Steve Perry. The switch didn´t take long.
One of these demo songs finally showed up on Steve Perry´s 1998 Greatest Hits album.

On October 28, 1977, Steve Perry, dressed all in white, walked on stage for the first time 
with the band for the encores at a special three-night run at the 600-seat Old Waldorf in 
San Francisco. He sang two songs, including "Lights".

 Perry´s first album with the band was released in January 1978.

The first victim of the new direction was Aynsley Dunbar. He was a phenomenal drummer, but he 
was playing way too much for the simplicity of the songs. They all agreed on the decision.
They found Steve Smith on the Infinity tour in the openers Montrose. He was asked in October 1978.
On the tour Steve grew to be a fan of Journey, he had bought the albums and listened to them at home.

 Released April 1979  Released March 1980

After two albums that climbed higher and higher on the charts it was time for live album.
 Released February 1981.
Gregg Rolie thought this was a good time to leave. He had been thinking about it for at least a year.


 The Mark 3 line-up

Gregg had spotted his own replacement in the opening band on the Departure tour, The Babys. 
He picked Jonathan Cain because he could play guitar for he knew that Neal wanted someone who 
could. In the same way as with Steve Smith, Jonathan had grown to like Journey on the tour.

Cain fell right in. Tunes poured out of Cain and Perry with Schon ready to sew them together.
Cain was confident that the collaboration would bear fruit. "I knew it wasn´t going to take a 
whole lot because of the way the guy could sing," he said. "All we had to do was to stay sincere."
The debut for Cain was on June 13 at the Mountain Aire Festival 4 hours outside San Francisco.

 Released August 1981  Released February 1983

The band went into the Plant Studios in Sausalito in Novemver 1984 to record the next album.
After two months the band had only completed two tracks. Session players like Bob Glaub and 
Randy Jackson replaced Valory on the recordings. Smith found difficulties with the material 
from the start. Before long, Smith and Valory were ousted from the group altogether due to 
creative differences and Journey would continue as a three-man band. It was 1985.
 Mark 3b
The album was completed twice, only to have Journey start over again. The months went by, 
almost two years, the budget went through the ceiling.
 Released May 1986.
While session player Randy Jackson made himself available to play bass on the forthcoming tour, 
drummer Larrie Londin had other commitments. Literally dozens of drummers marched in and out.
Three weeks before the tour was scheduled to start, the band selected drummer Mike Baird.

At the end of the tour, Jonathan found himself standing in the lobby of the Anchorage Sheraton 
after the last show, signing every autograph, waiting for the last fan to leave. "I knew it was 
over", he recalled. "It was a sad, sad night."

The next time the band appeared together in public was the March 1987 Bay Area Music Awards, 
better known as the Bammies. Schon and Cain performed a couple of songs together with bassist 
Jackson and drummer Narada Michael Walden with a new vocalist Cain was producing, Michael Bolton.
Journey won awards for Best Keyboardist, Best Guitarist, Best Vocalist and Best Group.

1990's
On a sunny sunday afternoon in November 1991, the three horsemen of Journey rode together one 
more time. In front of more than a quarter-million people spread across the Polo Fields in 
Golden Gate Park, Steve Perry, Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain joined a day long roster of 
San Francisco rock greats who paid heartfelt tribute to impressario Bill Graham, killed the 
previous weekend in a helicopter crash. The band had not been together in five years.

In 1996 the story continued with the release of the wonderful Trial By Fire album.
 Released 1996.
Back were the "original band", the ultimate Mark 3 line-up that recorded Escape 15 years earlier.
A tour was planned but because of problems with his hip, Steve Perry kept postponing it.

 Mark 4
   
Photo from the www.JourneyTheBand.com web site
After an almost two year long wait, they were approached by a singer called Steve Augeri.
After hearing him Neal, Jonathan and Ross, decided to go for it, they could not wait any longer.
Steve Smith could not see Journey without Perry, and decided to go back to his Vital Information.
The new drummer Deen Castronovo, played with Neal and Jon in Bad English.


In the summer of 1998 a new song appeared on the Armageddon soundtrack, "Remember Me" and the 
plan then was to record a new album before starting to tour. But in August they played four 
concerts in Japan. The World Tour started in October, but ended up being only a two month US tour.
The response was overwhelming. Augeri got great reviews from those who actually gave him a chance.
At the shows Jonathan expressed that everyone thought they were crazy to tour without a new CD, 
but continued with saying, they were crazy, but you people have been waiting long enough.
Ross added to Jon´s comments at the show in Portland, "We promise we're not going away this time."
A summer tour started on June 2, 1999 and ended in August.

 The new album "Arrival" was released in Japan October 18th 2000. 
Sony delayed the album for a February release in Europe and the US.
The Japan bonus track "To Be Alive Again" was too good to be missed by the American public, 
so they had to put that track on the US release as well, together with another bonus track, 
"World Gone Wild". "I'm Not That Way" was made into the Japan bonus track instead.

 In 2002 a 4-track EP "Red 13" was released.

 The new album "Generations" showed every member 
on lead vocals, although Augeri gets most tracks.
The drummer Deen Castronovo showed some amazing talents even on vocals.

And the tour brought them to Sweden in 2006.
Who's Crying Now ?  Not me, that´s for sure.


 The Mark 5 line-up

In July 2006, Steve Augeri was dropped from the band while they toured with Def Leppard, 
with the official statement citing a "chronic throat infection." 
The band hired singer Jeff Scott Soto from Talisman to fill in, and Soto officially replaced Augeri 
as Journey's lead singer in December 2006. But on June 12, 2007, Journey announced that Soto was no 
longer the lead singer, and said that they were looking to move in a new direction. 

In December 2007, Journey hired Filipino singer Arnel Pineda of the cover band The Zoo after 
Neal Schon saw him on YouTube singing covers of Journey songs. Journey debuted their new lead singer 
in February 2008 in Chile, and released the album Revelation that June. 
Revelation debuted at #5 on the Billboard charts, selling more than 196,000 units in its first two weeks 
and staying in the top 20 for 6 weeks. Journey also found success on the billboard's adult contemporary 
chart where the single "After All These Years" spent over 23 weeks, peaking at number 9. 
Receipts from that summer's tour, featuring Heart and Cheap Trick, made Journey one of the top grossing 
concert tours of the year, bringing in over $35,000,000. And on December 18, 2008, 
Revelation was certified platinum by RIAA. In 2008 and 2009, Journey recorded concert footage in 
preparation for a DVD release scheduled for December, 2009, and Neal Schon announced that the band was 
spending 2009 working on a new album due out in 2010 and completing the second leg of the Revelation Tour. 

Although Pineda was not the first foreign national to become a member of Journey 
(former drummer Aynsley Dunbar is British) nor even the first non-white 
(former bass player Randy Jackson is African-American), the transition was difficult for a number of fans 
who expressed what Marin Independent Journal writer Paul Liberatore called "an undercurrent of racism." 
Keyboardist Jonathan Cain responded to such sentiments: "We've become a world band. We're international now. 
We're not about one color."


Concerts
1998 / 1999 / 2001 / 2006


As this was to be the first time I heard Steve Augeri, I hadn´t heard Remember Me, of course my 
focus was mostly on him. He was unbelievable. He only made two mistakes. His voice fell on him 
slightly on Open Arms in the first chorus, and during a solo in Anyway You Want It he jumped up 
on a loudspeaker and missed the first words in the chorus.
Since I never saw Perry live, except for the live video, I can't really compare but since Augeri 
sounds as good live as Perry does on record, I must say that he is AT LEAST just as good.

1998 19 Dec Seattle Center, Mercer Arena, Seattle, Washington
 Row 3 left !!

Time: 8.21 p.m. -10.04 p.m.
Tracklist:
 intro tape + Schon and Cain
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Only The Young
 solo Neal
Stone In Love (Neal backs into Steve's mikestand which falls to the floor)
Remember Me (Ross comments on the empty seats, we really are popular, and presents the new guys)
Girl Can't Help It
Lights (Steve says it´s great to be in Seattle, your city by the bay, give or take a little snow)
 intro Jonathan
Who's Cryin' Now
I'll Be Allright Without You
Open Arms (suddenly the sound engineer raised the volume by the start of the second verse)
O Come, O Come Emmanuel (instr.) (Neal said he wanted to play this since it was Christmas time)
Instrumental with drum solo
Just The Same Way (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus)
Anytime (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus)
Escape
 blues intro Dreams Come True Today ? (Ross came running giving something to one on the first row)
Wheel In The Sky (Steve up on one of the loudspeakers)
Be Good To Yourself
Anyway You Want It (Steve up on one of the loudspeakers, again)
 blues intro (different than on Greatest Hits Live)
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

Encore: 10.07 p.m. -10.18 p.m.
Don't Stop Believin'
Faithfully (Steve: I personally want to thank you for allowing me to sing for you tonight)

1998 20 Dec Rose Garden, Theatre of the Clouds, Portland, Oregon
 Row 6 center !!!!

Just before the show started, I ran up to the tour manager and asked for a pass. He answered that 
there were 110 people on the guestlist (mostly because the show was in Deen's hometown) but then 
he added, "How many are you ?" and I replied, "just me", and then I got a pass from him directly.



Time: 8.17 p.m. -10.06 p.m.
Tracklist:
 intro tape + Schon and Cain
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (Steve's voice fell on him on "vain", one time)
Only The Young
 solo Neal
Stone In Love (Neal backs into Steve this time, is this a rehearsed routine ?)
Remember Me (Ross: How're you doing, Sea... Portland, we're in Portland right ?)
Girl Can't Help It
Lights (Steve says, we will take you away from the cold weather to the city by the bay)
Can't Tame The Lion
Instrumental (quiet piano piece by Jonathan just with Schon on guitar)
Who's Cryin' Now
I'll Be Allright Without You
Open Arms
O Come, O Come Emmanuel (instrumental)
Fillmore Boogie with drum solo (Neal: this next song features home boy Deen Castronovo)
Just The Same Way (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus)
Anytime (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus)
Escape
 blues intro
Wheel In The Sky
Be Good To Yourself
Anyway You Want It
 blues intro Making Love To You Is Like A Fast Car
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' (Steve goes padding Jon´s forehead, and suggesting "hot" keys)

Encore: 10.08 p.m. -10.20 p.m.
Don't Stop Believin' (Steve: This is a special night, because after tonight we go home to our families)
Faithfully

Waiting for Journey, backstage after the show, I met a huge Journey fan that was really nice.
He is on the photo with Jonathan and Neal, I never got a picture with me on it. We had to move on.
First I talked to Ross, when he heard I was from Sweden, he asked if I knew Clas Yngström, since 
Ross made an album with him in 1989 in San Francisco. I responded that I actually had met him 
just two weeks before. Ross said "Does he still live in Dalarna ? Tell him I said hello."
Then I told Steve, that I thought he was great but that I didn´t know where he wanted to sign 
and he said, "I know the problem, next year there will be an album with me on it though."


Talking to Jon and Neal was the highlight, since they are on two of my favorite albums of all 
time, Escape and Bad English. I told Neal that I had just seen Ted Nugent and that I liked them 
both on the new Merry Axemas CD.
Finally I met Deen. He was glad to be able to sign an album that he was actually on, Bad English.
He added, "What do you think of that hair-do?" and if you have seen the album, what could I say !!

Summary for both shows: Jonathan and Neal are amazing, Ross and Deen very competent and last but 
not least, Steve, what can I say, he is better than Perry. I never thought that that would be 
possible, but it´s the truth. He sings the same way and is as good live as Perry is on the albums.
And then on top of that he has great stage presence, a great frontman. In one word - Brilliant.

One last comment about these shows. I had hoped for more songs from the excellent Trial By Fire, 
but Jon said to me after the show that the american audience hadn´t responded to the new songs 
in the beginning of the tour, so they had taken them out.


 
Photo from the www.JourneyTheBand.com web site
On June 2, 1999, the next Journey tour started. The new album was still not out but still they 
decided to go on a summer tour of the states before finishing it.

Again I saw the last two dates, at home by the bay, in Concord and Sacramento.
1999 14 Aug Concord, CA    Concord Pavilion
Time: 9.16 p.m. - 10.39 p.m. Encore: 10.41 p.m. - 10.54 p.m.

1999 15 Aug Sacramento, CA Hornet Field
Time: 8.21 p.m. - 9.45 p.m. Encore: 9.47 p.m. - 10.02 p.m.

Both shows had the same tracklist:
Time: 96-99 minutes (different starting times) 20 minutes shorter than 1998
Tracklist:
 intro tape + Schon and Cain
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Ask The Lonely
 solo Neal
Stone In Love
Only The Young
Send Her My Love
Lights
 solo Jon
Open Arms (Jon presented Steve Augeri on lead vocals after Open Arms)
Fillmore Boogie
Just The Same Way (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus)
Anytime (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus)
Escape
 blues intro Dreams Come True Today ?
 solo Neal
Wheel In The Sky
Be Good To Yourself
Anyway You Want It (with sing-along)
 blues intro Making Love To You Is Like A Fast Car
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' (Augeri up on the piano)

Encore:
Don't Stop Believin' (with new ending) with Jon letting go on the keys
Faithfully

Outro: The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix)

At the first show in Concord I also saw the support act Foreigner. 
Lou Gramm's voice was strained. He only managed to sing the slower tunes but
on the good old songs like Cold As Ice, it sounded terrible.
Journey however was great. It felt great to be there when Augeri presented 
Lights with saying, "This belongs to this town."

The Sacramento show was even better.
They seemed to have a lot more fun and they had a lot more to say.
Steve: "This is the best place to end" (after Lights)
Jon: "Is this a great night for a rock show, or what. I say it's a great night."
Steve: "Running down Sacramento roads" (in Wheel In The Sky)
Steve: "I'm going to Sacramento, California" (in Be Good To Yourself)
Steve: "Nice to be back in the Capital of California"
Steve: "Making Love To You Is Like A Fast Car down a Sacramento road"
Steve: "I guess it was going to Sacramento" (in Don't Stop Believin', after goin' anywhere)
Steve: "Come on and smile for me, Sacramento" (in Faithfully)
Steve's end comments: "Thanks to the road crew. It's been the greatest couple of weeks.
How many of you remember the beginning.", presents Neal and Ross.
"Then we have picked up passengers along the way, you know Jonathan Cain.", then presents Deen.
Steve ended with: "It's not always easy to accept change. 
I wanna take the opportunity to thank you for letting me sing for you tonight."

The highlight, I think was, Anytime in Sacramento. Excellent.
And also, I met a Foreigner fan at the show in Concord that wasn't into Journey at all.
When the show started he began with, "That isn't Steve Perry." No, but he is just as good, I said.
He even thought that Augeri was miming to a Perry-tape.
Then he said "That isn't Greg Rolie." No, but Jonathan was with them already on Escape.
But when I had explained to him the story that they found Jon when playing with the Babys, 
he said, "Was he with the Babys ?, I saw them in concert, they were great."
When I added that Deen was with Jon and Neal in Bad English he started to accept everything.
Finally after the show he said: "I must admit that Journey was better than Foreigner."



2001 18 Jul Cleveland, OH Gund Arena
With John Waite & Peter Frampton as support

Time: 9.44 p.m. -11.21 p.m.
Tracklist:
 intro with video (nice looking stage)
Anyway You Want It
Only The Young
 solo Neal (Amazing Grace) (Steve: "I wanna introduce you to Mr. Neal Schon")
Stone In Love
To Be Alive Again (Steve: "That's how this town makes us feel")
Send Her My Love
Lights
 intro Jonathan
When You Love A Woman
Feeling That Way (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus)
Anytime (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus)
Chain Reaction
Higher Place (Deen amazing)
 solo Deen / Fillmore Boogie (Jon on guitar)
Don't Stop Believin'
Faithfully (Steve: This one's yours)
Livin' To Do (Neal introduced it with speech about his father)
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Escape (Steve up on one of the loudspeakers)
 intro Neal/Deen
Wheel In The Sky (new ending "Turn my wheels around")
Be Good To Yourself (Steve up on one of the loudspeakers again)

Encore: 11.23 p.m. -11.30 p.m.
 singalong from speaker
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' (Steve on top of piano)

Finally after 3 years, Augeri has won over the audience but the americans 
can't seem to respond to the new material.
Highlights: All songs that I hadn't heard live before, but especially Higher Place.


2001 20 Jul Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater
With John Waite & Peter Frampton as support

Time: 9.0? p.m. -10.47 p.m.
Tracklist:
 intro with video
Anyway You Want It
Only The Young
 solo Neal (Amazing Grace)
Stone In Love
I Got A Reason (instead of To Be Alive Again)
Lights
Someday Baby ? (boring song)
 intro Jonathan
When You Love A Woman
Feeling That Way (Jon sings great, but what a lift when Steve comes in on the chorus)
Anytime (Steve stops the cymbal twice in the second verse)
Higher Place
Chain Reaction (moved after Higher Place)
Don't Stop Believin'
Faithfully (fireworks from the amusementpark close by)
Livin' To Do
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Escape
 intro Neal/Deen
Wheel In The Sky (Steve did not sing first chorus: "You can sing the rest of the evening")
Be Good To Yourself (Steve up on one of the loudspeakers, without missing the words)

Encore: 10.49 p.m. -10.57 p.m.
 solo Neal (Steve: "There's a guy in the back that says he's having trouble 
                    hearing the guitar" so Neal turns up the volume)
 singalong from speaker
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

Can't really understand why Neal has to solo already after two songs.
Chain Reaction worked better after Higher Place than before.
Even the audience responded to Higher Place this evening, wow.
Highlight: Higher Place (again, even better than last time)



 Photos from Milwaukee by Patrik Wikström
More photos: 18 / 20 / 21 / 25


In 2002 Journey was out on their fourth tour since Augeri joined and that was the first tour I missed.
I couldn't go since I was blessed with a son (named Ted after Ted Nugent) on May 3.


2006 took Journey to Sweden, finally !!!!

Backstage me and Ted met all the members from one of my favorite bands Journey. 
The singer Steve Augeri and the drummer Deen Castronovo thought that my son was SO CUTE, and he really is.

They signed a couple of things for my son, including the latest album Generations.

Steve, Deen and Neal also signed a piece of paper that would look better on the web:

I had met them once before, 1998 in Portland, Oregon on their first tour with Steve Augeri.

Tracklist: (20.00-21.22)
Faith In The Heartland
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
 solo Neal Schon (Für Elise ?)
Stone In Love
Wheel In The Sky
Only The Young
The Place In Your Heart
Mystery Mountain (Jon Cain vocals, Steve guitar)
Where Were You (Deen Castronovo vocals) Great
Lights
Mother, Father (Deen Castronovo vocals) Even more great
intro Cain / Open Arms
Escape
Keep On Runnin'
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
Any Way You Want It
Be Good To Yourself

Encore: (21.25-21.36)
Edge Of The Blade (covered by Jorn Lande on Starfire in 2000)
Who's Crying Now

Great show, 7 songs from Escape and since that is my favorite album of all time, you can understand I liked it. 
And only one song from my least favorite album Raised On Radio, perfect. 

Steve Augeri was without a doubt the best vocalist at the festival. I might have to re-write my Top 10 Vocalists. 
My former favorites Freddie Mercury (Queen) and Geoff Tate (Queensryche) might have to move down a bit. 
Freddie died 15 years ago (in November) and don't stand a chance to fight back, Geoff Tate has lost some of his 
great voice and Steve Augeri still manages to surprise me, even though I have seen him 7 times now. 

The only things I have to complain about is that they keep playing Only The Young which I think is the only week 
song in the set and that they didn't play any songs from Trial By Fire or Arrival. 
They usually end with We Will Meet Again in the USA, this might mean that they don't expect to come back to Sweden. 

The drummer Deen Castronovo sang two songs great, the third "vocalist" Jon Cain only got to sing one song and that 
was Of a Lifetime from Journey's debut album from 1975. Normally Jon sings two songs and usually better songs like 
Feeling That Way, Just The Same Way and/or Anytime from the fourth and fifth albums Infinity and Evolution. 
Due to being forced to a shorter set this time, they chose to cut one of Jon's songs and since Steve and Deen are 
even better singers I won't complain about that.

Highlight: Mother, Father, since it is one of my favorite songs and this was the first time I heard it live. 
Then on top of that Deen Castronovo sang it just as good as Steve Perry ever did. 

Rating: 5- (- because they didn't play any songs from Trial By Fire or Arrival)


During the summer tour in USA Steve Augeri suffered a throat problem so 
Jeff Scott Soto jumped in on short notice to save the tour.
It would have been great to see him with Journey, but me and my son Ted 
arrived in Minneapolis on July 27, 9 days after Journey had played there.


Sweden Rock Festival, June 6, 2009

Tracklist:
Intro
Never Walk Away
Only The Young
Stone In Love
Ask The Lonely
Wildest Dream
Keep On Runnin' (vocals Deen)
Change For The Better
Separate Ways
Where Did I Lose Your Love
Lights
Be Good To Yourself
Don't Stop Believin'
Faithfully
 instrumental Jon harmonica, Neal acoustic guitar
Wheel In The Sky
Escape
Any Way You Want It

Encore
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

Strangely enough they didn't play Open Arms, 
possibly it was meant to be a second encore but time or arranger didn't allow it.

Once again it was a great show, but sadly no songs from Trial By Fire or Arrival.

Rating: 5-


Homepages:

Journey Tribute Page
Neal Schon's Piranha Lounge
The Official Jonathan Cain WebSite
The Storm World Wide Web Page Great Page !!
Tyketto
John Waite Worldwide Connection

Up until 1991 the text is edited from the TIME booklet´s liner notes by Joel Selvin.
Then from 1996 and onwards it is my own thoughts and comments.

© 2006 Patrik Wikström

Send E-mail