Journey Back in Time
June 22, 2008 by David Bergman
This is a slight Departure from my photography blog, but I just wanted to share it.
In my formative years (the early 80’s!), there was no band bigger in my mind than Journey (Styx was a close second). On April 24, 1983 at the Miami Baseball Stadium (which is now long gone), my brother took me to my very first concert. The lineup in order:
* Bryan Adams – “Cuts Like a Knife” was his big hit. He’s actually a really good photographer now!
* Aerosmith – When they were going through a rough period.
* Sammy Hagar (BVH – Before Van Halen). His big hit was “I Can’t Drive 55.”
And, of course,
* JOURNEY
I was 13 and up until that point it was the greatest day of my life. I can’t remember if Frontiers had come out yet, but they were still riding high off the success of Escape.
Over the next few years, I pumped a lot of quarters into the Journey video game and Raised on Radio was the first CD I bought (along with Sting’s The Dream of the Blue Turtles). I’ve now seen them play live three or four times. I even watched three Michael Bolton sets at Grad Night in 1988 because Jonathan Cain and Ross Valory were playing in his band. I still have the autographs somewhere.
I just re-watched the Live from Houston 1981 DVD and those guys were awesome. I wish I had been a tour photographer back in those days but I don’t think my mother would have let me go out on the road at 13.
So now it’s 2008. The band is still touring (without Steve Perry and Steve Smith). Neal Schon found the new lead singer on youtube! Arnel Pineda is from the Philippines and sounds exactly like Steve Perry. It’s pretty incredible considering he has a thick accent when he speaks.
They just released a three-disc set called Revelations. It contains one CD of new material, one CD of re-recorded classic tracks, and a live DVD. I was bummed that they didn’t take the opportunity to play around with some of the arrangements on the classic songs. Those tracks are timeless, but the new versions sound exactly like the old versions. When they come up on my iPhone, it sometimes takes me a minute before I can figure out which recording it is.
Having said that, the new material sounds great and the live concert is awesome. It’s still fun to watch those guys play. And who knew Deen Castronovo could also sing like Steve Perry!
Their U.S. tour starts in a few weeks (co-headlining with Cheap Trick and Heart). I don’t have any connections to them but being their tour photographer would be a dream gig for me.
I think my mother would let me go this time.
never mind his thick accent that’s filipino english.he is still perfecting his american accent,and he is getting better every gig.
nEVERMIND ABOUT THE THICK ACCENT.bE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU GOT.
nah! forget the accent… he can work on it along the way… as long as ppl understand what he say, who cares? talent and personality comes first…
what is wrong with having an accent!!
There’s nothing wrong with having an accent. I said that it’s incredible that he speaks with an accent and still sounds just like Steve Perry when he sings. There aren’t very many people in the world who can sing like Steve Perry.
The guy sings with no accent and who cares if he talks with accent, he is not the only there are many big names out there that can’t speak english straight.
Sadly, the Journey concert in Houston happened about two years before I began my concert-going days. (Did see the same Bryan Adams tour you mentioned at Astroworld in ‘83, though!) I just recently heard the new singer for Journey and was pleasantly surprised. Steve Perry has such a unique, amazing quality to his voice — didn’t think it could be matched.
Here’s to hoping you get your “dream gig”!
That was MY first concert too! That was, in fact, the Frontiers tour. Actually, there is a quick shot of Steve Perry onstage from that concert int he “Faithfully” video. During the “woah, woah, woah” section, they show a tour bus driving in different parts of the country, it goes into a tunnel and then bam, there’s the clip of Perry onstage at Miami Baseball Stadium. I think you can see Jonathan Cain in the shot, as well. Perry is wearing the baseball jersey from the Florida shows. There is also a shot of a tour bus driving on the causeway heading to Miami Beach. By the way, “I Can’t Drive 55″ was not out yet. Sammy Hagar was touring for “Three Lock Box”. I Can’t Drive 55 came out the following year. I lost my t-shirt from that show, but found two on ebay. One was brand new and never worn and I’ve managed to get it signed by Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain. met Steve Smith last year and screwed up and didn’t bring the shirt.
Awesome!
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I have been trying to find any videos of this concert because I was also there. It was one hell of a day and all the bands from what I remember put on a great show but the best was saved for last. Journey rocked the place like no other concert I have been to since. Steve Perry commanded the stage, and for some reason I just can’t wrap my head around Arnel Pineda being the lead singer. He’s no Steve Perry thats for sure!