Fort Wayne, Indiana
Allen County Coliseum
October 16th, 1998

Todd Curry:

The Fort Wayne, Indiana Concert - Old Journey Fan/New Journey Fanatic

On October 16, 1998 Journey came to the Fort Wayne Allen County Community Coliseum with almost no fanfare and very little promotion. Being a closet Journey fan (which means I have always liked their stuff) I was quite frankly surprised that my first knowledge of the concert came to me by word of mouth. The local promoters of the event certainly did not do a very good job with this one. We (my wife, two friends and I) were fortunate enough to get row two tickets for the concert (this concert did not sell out) so I guess from a personal viewpoint the lack of promotion had a positive side. Enough on that.

Through some research I had performed on the web we knew that Steve Augeri had replaced Steve Perry as lead vocalist but were so excited that Journey was touring again after such a long hiatus that we approached the concert with an open mind and prepared to enjoy ourselves.

As we entered the Coliseum my first impression was that there was a noticeable diversity of ages in the crowd. People from the ages of 3 to 60 were roaming the hallways, buying Journey concert 'stuff' (my wife, Alice, was one of those buying $25 tee shirts!!! EEEEESH) and moving slowly toward the main concert area of the Coliseum. Up to that point I was having a difficult time visualizing myself jumping up and down and basically losing my inhibitions during this concert considering my 40s ish out of shape body frame. Luckily the 40s ish group was well represented and in fact seemed more the norm than the exception. Thus with all of my anxieties eliminated we entered the concert hall all wound up and ready to rock with Journey.

I did not write down the song sets or the order in which they were performed. From reading about other Journey concerts, the Fort Wayne concert was very similar as far as what songs they did.

At 7:30 p.m. sharp the concert began and within moments we knew we were going to see a fantastic show. We were seated on the right side of the stage and for most of the night Neal Schon played in front of us. Neal Schon is one of the best guitarists I have ever heard (including Clapton). He played flawlessly and with passion the whole night. About midway through the concert he did an instrumental with Jonathan Cain that was so fantastic it had my jaw dropping open. I honestly did not know a guitar could do some of the things Neal made it do. I could go on and on about how great he really is but you Journey fans already know that and any words I would use to describe him would not do him justice.

The new drummer Deen Castronovo was a crazy man who absolutely crushed his drums during the entire concert. Ross Valory on bass was superb particularly when he was doing nothing but playing. Ross seems to have a lot of fun on stage and sometimes would put more energy into joking around than playing. Don't get me wrong Valory is great but when he was playing back by Deen or face to face with Neal his mastery really came through. Jonathan Cain was excellent on keyboards. He played a piano solo that was so good it left the crowd quiet for a few moments (Jonathan had to invite applause by waving his arms). Cain was, for the lack of other words, BUSY. Besides his keyboards and vocals he played guitar and generally seemed to be doing whatever the group needed on the various numbers. Jonathan Cain came off as being the quiet, steady strength of the group during this concert.

The surprise of the night for us, however, was the vocals of Steve Augeri. This guy was simply amazing. He does not sing like Perry (though his range is as good or better) but by the end of the evening we concluded that he didn't need to. He dispelled any reservations I might have had by the second song of the evening and his performance seemed to improve as the night went on. Augeri took the old Journey songs, embraced them and made them his own. If it is possible, Steve Augeri at times sounded more Journey-like than the old Journey if you "catch my drift" (sorry for the seventies verbiage there but I've already told you that I'm an old guy so I'm entitled). Steve Augeri showed a powerful stage presence, related very well to the audience (when he unbuttoned his shirt with kind of a quasi strip tease my best friend, Nan, did a fainting act into her husband Jim's arms) and clearly enjoyed himself.

The new Journey is a professional rock group who delivered an exciting, entertaining concert. But that is only one side of the Journey that I saw in Fort Wayne. What I never expected to see from these guys is that they have a personal, friendly, warm side to them, which was simply wonderful. For example during the concert this father walked up to the stage with his two daughters (age 3 or 4 is my guess) on his shoulders. He stopped right in front of Neal who immediately walked up to the edge of the stage and began to make funny faces at the girls as he played. It was hilarious to see a normally very serious performer like Neal Schon act like a clown for what now has to be some of his youngest fans. Some time later either the same father or another one (I am not sure) approached the stage also with a little girl on his shoulders. Steve Augeri got right down on his knees and sang to the little girl no more than three feet away. The crowd absolutely loved it.

At about midway through the concert Steve Augeri accidentally knocked over his microphone stand at the beginning of a song and the microphone flew off stage. At first it looked like he was going to get another from back stage but a woman in the front row picked it up. Augeri hurriedly motioned her forward which she did handing the microphone to him just as the song started. Steve could've went on and sang the song as normal but what he did was sing the first part of the song directly to the woman that helped him retrieve the microphone. I know my wife was melting just seeing him do that.

Then there was the fan on the second level who leaned over Augeri who was off stage changing shirts and told him what a great job he was doing. Steve actually climbed up on a table, reached up and shook hands with this fan. Finally, I have to mention Ross Valory. Ross clowned around the entire concert, making funny faces, walking around with a lighted rose and generally having a ball, which rubbed off on the audience and the band itself.

This was one fantastic concert. I am going to work on my wife to see if we can catch the Merrillville or the Indianapolis show. If not I'll be in line when Journey releases a new CD in Fort Wayne… and the second… and the third… and the forth……..!!! If you are not a Journey fan I would be willing to bet that you will be after seeing one of their concerts. If you are a closet Journey fan (like I was) you'll walk away being a new Journey fanatic. You know, that wonder of wonders that manages to get up the nerve to write concert reviews (as you have probably noticed by now I don't write for a living).

To the Steve Perry fans: Steve Perry was great. We all know that. But go see Augeri. He IS very, very, very good and IS part of Journey's future now. I am anxiously waiting to see if he can write as well as he sings.

The band Journey is genuinely devoted to their fans and you could see that in the way they performed (at least in Fort Wayne, Indiana). In the words of Jonathan Cain, "We are Journey and we are back!!!"

L. Starks

I saw Journey friday October 16 in Ft. Wayne Indiana. It was an awesome show, Steve Algeri does an incredible job with their tunes, If I didn't know it wasn't Steve Perry I assure you that I wouldn't have known from the way he sings. I think Steve Perry has been replaced!. Anyone who misses this show is missing a great time. I think a lot of people are afraid it won't be a good show because Steve P. isn't with the band, in Ft. Wayne I bet there were barely 5000 fans at the show, pretty poor considering how great these guys are!!. If you are wondering how it will be, believe me GO !!. I saw Steve Perry three years ago, and this show is better than his solo performance!.