Davenport, IA
Adler Theatre
November 24, 1998

Set list sent to me by Joel Kolsrud:

Can't Tame The Lion; Only The Young; Stone In Love; Girl Can't Help It; Lights; I'll Be Alright Without You; Left Heel Of Spartacus; (instrumental); Of A Lifetime (instrumental); Just The Same Way; Anytime; Remember Me; (unknown); Wheel In The Sky; Anyway You Want It; Lovin',Touchin', Squeezin'; ENCORE: Don't Stop Believin'; Faithfully

Joel Kolsrud (Camanche, Iowa):

Quad-Cities area. The building is an old theater, but still holds around 2400 people. And, boy, was there people! The place was packed! It was the first time Journey had played there since a July 1978 show where they opened for the Doobie Brothers. At that time, it was called the RKO Orpheum.

The show started almost a half hour after the listed eight o'clock start time. The crowd didn't really grow restless, but they were more than ready when the house lights were turned down. The intro was fantastic and set the mood for the show as they opened with Can't Tame the Lion. From the get-go it seemed as though the crowd wasn't bothered at all by the fact that Steve Perry wasn't still singing with the band. As if they understood what change means and were willing to accept it. The Quad-Cities can be a one-sided crowd some of the time. Tonight was not one of those nights.

Only The Young came in next. The harmonies were right on as the band proved that hadn't lost a step. Next up was Stone In Love which brought the crowd to its feet for the first of many times. As soon as Neal Schon, sporting a cut-off jean jacket and shades, ripped into the intro, they jumped up on instinct and stood for the entire song. This is one of my personal Journey favorites which made it that much more special.

Ross Valory introduced Steve Augeri and Deen Castranova to the crowd which threw their much deserved appraisal forth to the new recruits. He mentioned that it had been a while since the band had been in the area and they were glad to be back. He introduced the next song, from the Raised on Radio album...Girl Can't Help It.

Steve Augeri made mention "that city by the bay" as Lights became the next number. This was the first song where Augeri sounded identical to Steve Perry. He really let it go! Amazing. I'll Be Alright Without You came after easing the crowd into the middle of the set.

Neal dedicated the next two songs, which were instrumentals to a jazz player whose name I didn't catch. He said that both he and Carlos Santana were both influenced by this guy and "that's who Carlos got all his sh*t from". Left Heel of Spartacus and Of A Lifetime were two of the most brilliant pieces of work I've ever seen performed live. Shortly before the end of the latter song, Deen roared through a thunderous drum solo. Simply incredible.

Jonathan Cain got his turn to speak and sing, talking of the fact that there is so much material to choose from, going back to Infinity, that's it's impossible to play everything. He ended saying, "We're going to dust off a couple more right now." Just The Same Way and Anytime were next in succession. Jonathan's vocals were great. What a voice. And Steve! My God! Steve Perry reincarnated on the two numbers.

Steve introduced the next song, from the Armageddon soundtrack, called Remember Me. A lot of people knew this song and it got a great reaction. I'm not sure of the title of the next song. It was hard to make out what they were singing (being that I was on the left side of the stage on the floor, thus not getting an equal mix, although everything could be heard). It could have been One More, but I don't believe that it was. Neal played an incredible solo that preceded the next song...Wheel In The Sky. This once again brought the crowd to it's feet, singing along to every single word.

Anyway You Want It and Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' followed with Steve singing verses to the latter that weren't in the pattern of the song, but fit the beat the band was playing. The crowd remained standing for all three songs with loud ovations following.

It was encore time, led off by Don't Stop Believin'. They may as well have not had chairs, 'cause noone was in them. Steve told a brief story about how the band (Neal, Jonathan and Ross) had told him and Deen about what to expect of a Journey crowd and the band continues to play because of how "faithful" the fans were. This was such a moment that some eyes were swollen. Faithfully marked the close of the show and an incredible night.

They played nearly ninety minutes and it was fast-paced and tremendous. A great show! Journey is worth seeing with this lineup. There is just as much energy and it's a tribute to the band to stick with a good thing. And it's up to the fans to keep the "good thing" going.