Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland State University Convocation Center
October 23th, 1998

Pete Flauto

The "vacation is over"- but is the chemistry? Journey played the Cleveland State University Convocation Center last Friday (oct.23) in front of a loud audience of 4000. the play list was the same as the ST.Paul show, although during one short musical jam Neal Schon started to play the intro to Sandcastles from 'Dream After Dream'. During the first half of the show the band seemed to just be playing the songs not performing them. Agueri does have a great voice (very perry-like) and a good stage presence, but the chemistry with the band is just not there. About half way through the show the band performed two instrumental tunes, Neal introduced the first song which sounded very strong. The second tune however was the knockout punch that we where waiting for. This hard-hitting song brought the crowd to our feet and never let us down. The band now had us in there hand (this is journey I thought). During "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin," the band brought out eight ladies from the crowd the help sing the 'nah, nahs'. The band will miss Steve Perrys vocal style and range, but I do hope that this band will start to gel as the tour continues.

Jim Tauberg

Journey's been my favorite band since 1981. I've seen several shows including: Escape, Frontiers, ROR, Vacation's Over (Twice), Bad English, Steve Perry (FTLOSM), The Storm (twice), and Neil Schon with Paul Rodgers.

I saw the "Vacation's Over" show at Pittsburgh and most recently in Cleavland, Ohio. The show in Cleavland was much better than the show in Pittsburgh. The band seemed more into the show, and the fans responded as such.

There were several improvements I noticed, including an improvement in Dean's levels & attack dynamics, a somewhat improved stage presence for Steve Augeri, and a more reasonable announcement of "Lights." At the Pittsburgh show he said something like "With all the beautiful lights shining on the rivers, your city reminds me of a special city on the west coast." I sent a review to Journey's web site stating that they should not allow someone from Brooklyn, NY to announce Lights in a way which cheapens the experience for the fans. In Cleaveland, Steve Augeri said something like "You know, I've kind of adopted San Francisco as my new hometown. When I look at the lights of your city shining on the water, they remind me of that special place." Anyway, even though it was a bit better, they should just have someone else announce the song.

Ross was great! He was much more lively and funny, the way I remember him. Neil and Johnathan both were excellent!

I attended the Cleaveland show with friends from Ohio, and they came to the same conclusion that I had drawn. Even though Steve Augeri did the best job anyone could be asked to do, we still WILL NOT SETTLE FOR THIS SUB-PAR JOURNEY EXPERIENCE. We demand Steve Perry's return to the band.

Yes, it's true Ross and Neil are original members, and they have the right to carry on the JOURNEY name. And through his hard work and talent Johnathan Cain, too, deserves to be considered a core member of the band, but the experience is INCOMPLETE without Steve Perry who, while not an original member, helped to shape and define the band's sound and Provides the band with the HIGHEST LEVEL of ENERGY and ECITEMENT that any concert show has to offer.

While we rated the show at 8/10 for a rock concert, we rated it at a 4.5/10 for a CLASSIC JOURNEY show. My friends said that they probably WOULD NOT GO to another Journey show without STEVE PERRY.

I hope the band affords the opportunity to Steve Perry and Steve Smith in the future. If they don't they will be doing themselves and the fans a great disservice.

One more thing, I've read a lot of reviews of the tour, and many people have said that Steve Augeri is as good or better than Steve Perry. These people are insane. Perry, even today, has a FAR GREATER RANGE than Augeri and it is CLEARLY EVIDENT in the concert, as you will see. I don't mind people being excited that Journey's back, but to tell other fans this kind of GARBAGE only leads to dissapointment.