Merrillville, IN
Star Plaza Theatre
November 15th, 1998

Doug:

All I can say is: Wow!

I waited 18 years for last night. And I was not disappointed. The band sounded as crisp and tight as ever. I certainly will not wait another 18 years to see them again. From Separate Ways to Don't Stop Believin', the musicianship shown was beyond any of my wildest expectations. The only mistake I could detect was Steve Agiari (sp?) missing the beginning of Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' by one phrase.

The gory details. The set list remained the same as the previous dates. The theatre was 90% capacity, although I couldn't tell for sure how full the balcony was from my seat. The sound was clear and not ear-blowing. My only complaint was the rotten promotion job, because I found about the show only after visiting your site.

I'm looking forward to forthcoming new album and the next tour.

Scott Smith:

I attended the November 15th concert in Merrillville, Indiana. I wanted to take a couple of days to think about my review instead of just sending it out on pure emotion.

I have been a fan of Journey for more than 20 years, I've now seen 12 Journey concerts during that time. I had two objectives going into the show:

1) Can Steve Augeri cover the Steve Perry material properly and by that I mean does the music continue to stand on its own and

2) How does the new material (Remember Me) sound live being its Steve A.'s first work that was not done previously by Steve Perry.

I went into the show with no preconceived notions or any prejudgements of what to expect. I really wanted to just see these guys and I hoped that I would not be disappointed. I've read and heard so many different thoughts from folks both Pro-Perry and Pro-Augeri. Let me say that in my honest opinion the only thing that matters is the sound of Journey and as long as that continues thats all that really matters.

OK enough rambling, on to the show. I arrived about 1 hour early, I wanted to get to my seats (by far the best seats I've had for a Journey show ever - 15 rows from the stage). The first thing that struck me was how much cozier this was going to be than any past show I've seen. The Star Plaza Theatre seats approx. 5000 people. No the show wasn't sold out but it was awfully close. As the playlist shows they did start out with Separate Ways. Steve A.'s mike was not quite loud enough during this song but that was taken care of quickly.

The crowd loved the opening song but with tempered enthusiasm. Let me say it didn't take much into the second song for the crowd to get on their feet and start dancing and singing along. Of all the shows I've seen, from the crowds standpoint it was amazing.
Literally from the second song on you could clearly hear the crowd singing every song along with the band. It looked as though the band was equally surprised. I won't go through the playlist again, however, I will say their two encores were Faithfully and Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'. The crowd danced and sang in the aisles on their chairs and generally let all inhibitions go. And for a late thirties guy I was surprised that I was able to let go as much as I did. My wife said from the first drum beat I couldn't sit still and she was right.

I thought each band member was highlighted nicely during the show. They seam to be listening to the reviews, the much talked about instrumentals were not as long and surprisingly everyone enjoyed them. The only thing that the band seemed to take to heart, primarily Ross Valory, was his clowning around. For more than 20 years that has always been one of my highlights of the show. Watching Ross on stage go through his 'act' was so much fun. I always figured if you can have that much fun performing the music you've lived for so long you must truly love what your doing. He didn't do as much clowning around on stage and I only hope it was due to the long road and not something that will be permanent.

As far as the group goes, Neil is by far one of the best Guitarists anywhere. He can make his guitar do flips, he was truly amazing.

It was so neat to see Jon's piano again and to hear him play that big beautiful red piano again was such a treat. And to hear him sing Just the Same Way and Anytime, which I hadn't heard for so long, was one of my personal highlights.

The combination of Ross on Bass and Dean the 'madman' Castronova on drums was the best I've heard in my 20+ years. Dean was wild on drums, I found it interesting to hear how many compliments a drummer has gotten in these reviews, but after hearing him its not difficult to see why. Ross is rock solid on bass as always and a true treat to watch.

OK, now for Steve A. As I said no preconcieved notions. I would agree with one of the other reviews, he is about 80% of Perry. But with that I say so what? He is plenty capable of carrying the old music and after hearing him on Remember Me I can't wait to hear the new album! I really feel it will knock our socks off and Steve A's voice is phenomenal. They found someone who can carry the vocals of Journey far into the next millenium and I welcome him with 'Open Arms'.

The night was electric, the show was terrific. I think it will be a long time until the Star Plaza theatre sees a show like this one again. It'll take that long to put the roof back on after Journey knocked it off! I sincerely can't wait for the new album and new tour. If you get a chance to see Journey don't pass it up. They are truly the best!