Greensboro, NC
Greensboro Coliseum Complex
November 22, 1998

Steve Kroekel:

I am a long time Journey fanatic, for many years now.. and I too had apprehensions about seeing Journey without Perry and Smith. Still, I had to see them. The hard-core, faithful fans of Journey came out and packed War Memorial Auditorium in support of Journey. I was blessed with a GREAT seat.. center of stage.. third row.. So I got a good close-up perspective of the show.. OK..

1. Steve Augeri, could he or couldn't he carry on the vocal acrobatics of Steve Perry. The answer is YES.. and I still can hardly believe it myself.. I have heard many who have tried to emulate Steve Perry..(My favorite all time vocalist). but many have failed.. Augeri has the range.. AND more importantly the tone.. that distinguishes Perrys voice..If you closed your eyes.. you might not be able to tell the difference.. it was that close.. If I had to point out any weakness. and its a understandable one .. is that Augeri doesn't quite have the soulful.. feel that Perry owns.. but the difference was so slight, its very scary.. If Augeri continues to improve.. who knows how awesome this talented singer will become.. New material is gonna be the true test for him.. then, he can sell more of himself.. and not have to prove that he can do Perry's part.. (which he is doing a awesome job of) His MC work was truly humble and he came across a very nice person.. grateful to be at the helm.. He praised both band and the fans..with a honest smile.. and he has this funky side stepping glide move he does.. almost moon walking sideways.. :) He looked very much like he was haveing the time of his life.

2. The band sounded fantastic, Dean Castronova is truly awesome.. definitely a rocker.. he showed me his versatility, doing those subtle one handed Smithy rolls on "Escape". and grooving Baird-Like on "I'll be All Right Without You".. He took some liberties on drum fills.. which was tremendous.. this cat is BAD! Just wait till you hear his solo!!!

Ross Valory was solid.. and grooving.. Ross seemed a bit uptight at the first of the concert..seeming low key at first.. but as the crowd got more and more vocal and crazy ...(and Greensboro was roaring).. Ross let seemed to slip into his clown-like facial antics.. working the crowd like a pro.. and jamming up "Stone In Love" like a madman.. Neil Schon.. looking hip in his shades.. put on a rock guitar clinic.. shredding it up with his signature sound.. His solos were awesome.. and his showmanship was tops.. Johnathan Cain had those melodic lines singing out with passion.. His chops are definitely in shape.. he has let his hair down a bit.. longest I have seen him have it.. and he is playing even more guitar than usual.. he plays guitar on Chain Reaction now.. sacrificing the keyboard/background vocal thing.. the tone of the song is much more rocking..(although I prefer John on keys anyday!) Johnathan sang lead on "Just The Same Way, and Anytime" which I thought was interesting.. here you see for the first time.. both Rolie and Perrys duet pieces, duplicated by Cain and Augeri.. the new sound is JUST AS GOOD! Johnathan commented much on how the band couldnt wait any longer to tour the music.. and how they felt a close connection to the songs.. and to the fans.. The crowd cheered him lovingly.. He said then, so how do you like it so far.. and the place roared in delight!

The only negatives about the show.. and they were few.. was Journey needed to at least pretend to be singing backups in places where there were backups.. i.e. "Girl Cant Help It" Jonathan appeared to be doing all backups.. singing through the vocal processor on his keyboard.. it could have been more effective.. if Neil and Ross pretended to sing along..like they did at the end of the tune. Cain needs to show Augeri how to hammer out the reacurring octave/quarter note part on the piano at the end of "Stone In Love", Perry used to cover for John when John's playing guitar with Neil on that tune..also I wish they would have done more songs from TBF.. the only song I heard from that album was One More.. I was waiting for When You Love A Woman or Message Of Love.. it didn't happen.. but HEY.. who is complaining..these are minor points..the show was FANTASTIC!

If you haven't planned to see them.. CHANGE YOUR MIND!.. they are awesome.. Augeri isn't hurting at all vocally..The band is kicking butt and takeing names.. After the new CD, (which they said they were recording), the tour situation will be different. You will NOT see them this up close again.. Auditorium seats really get ya close to the band.. any seat is a good one..Next time around they will be in much Bigger venues. much larger buildings.

Why you may ask? Cause they still got the magic folks..