New Orleans, LA
Saenger Theatre
November 10th, 1998

Darryl C. Richardelle:

We began our 3 hour Journey to the concert at about 2:30 p.m. I was accompanied to the concert by my 8 year old daughter and my two nephews ages 15 and 12. When we got there, we could hear them warming up from a stage door on the street. They were playing Seperate Ways. This really heightened the excitement for us. While waiting, I was surprised to hear rumors that a local radio station had announced that Steve Perry would be there to sing some classics. Although I didn't believe it for a minute, it would have been nice to see him. A guy I was speaking to while waiting for the doors to open told me he'd be disappointed if Perry wasn't there. I told him he wouldn't be, the new singer is great. (he had not heard "remember me" yet.)

We brought four signs to the concert. They read "Hey Neal, how 'bout a pic", "Steve A. Rules", "I'm 8 years old and this is my first Journey" and "Mardi Gras Beeds to 'Remember Me' by." We also brought several Mardi Gras beeds to give to the band. After taking our second row seats, I went to a security guard on a side stage and asked him if there was any way that I could get the beeds to the band. He came back a few minutes later and took the beeds and my "beed" sign. He came back without the beeds and my sign was autographed "Thank You, Neal Schon." What a thrill. When the concert began, Jon came out wearing one of the beeds and the rest were on Neal's mic stand. That was great.

The concert began about 20 minutes late. It finally began with a guitar solo by Neal. When he made his way to our side of the stage, we held up our sign he had just signed. He greeted it with a big smile. The rest of the band came out and they began with "Can't tame the Lion." Steve Augeri is quite a singer and performer too. All of the band members acknowledged our signs. This made it much more personal for us. Steve smiled and pointed to us when we held up our "Steve A. Rules" sign.

As for the concert itself, I give it an 8 out of 10. I attribute this mainly to the fact that the band was not feeling well. Neal made mention of toncillitis that was going around the band and crew. Steve A. sounded great, but his mic could have been turned up, at times it was hard to hear him. The crowd was into it at times, but constantly coming and going to the bar. The crowd really got into it for the last 45 minutes or so of the concert. When the band played "Escape" this is when it really started getting wild. Steve A. nailed this one perfectly. The crowd really went ballistic when "Wheel in the sky" came up. At this point the crowd told me something very important. It doesn't matter who is singing to them, it's the music we love. The encore consisted of "Seperate Ways" and "Faithfully". Prior to Faithfully, Steve said that Neal, Jon, and Ross were trying to explain to he and Deen what to expect from Journey fans. He said they've been accepted really well, but the thing he's noticed the most is that Journey fans are very "Faithful."

During the concert, Neal came over to our side of the stage and did a guitar solo. The security guard took my daughter to the stage with her "pic" sign. After he was finished, he threw her his pic. Thanks to all who were sitting around us for making sure my daughter could see well and was having a good time. After the concert, a security guard came from backstage and gave my daughter a bumper sticker and two more pics with Neal and Jon's names on them. He said "This is for her from the band."

After getting my camera back, we went around to the stage door on the street. We figured we'd try. I asked the security guard to ask the band if the 8 year old girl who brought them the Mardi Gras beeds could get in to meet them. He came back with four backstage passes. We all got in, met the band, got autographs and took pictures. It was the biggest thrill of my life. Shame on me for using my daughter like that. Some comments on each of the band members.

Neal: We met him first. He is the constantly cool dude. I thanked him for the show and all of the music he's given us over the years. He was glad to know that he had such young fans. He said its great to be back out on the road again.

Ross: The clown prince of Rock and Roll. A very nice man. He made faces and cut up throughout the entire concert. He was constantly sticking out his tongue at my daughter and making faces to her during the show.

Deen: He said the first songs he ever learned were Journey songs. He loves being in the band and is having a great time. He hit it off with my nephew who is a beginning drummer himself. He asked him what type of drums he had, said that's a good beginner brand and took a legitimate interest in his drumming. He also gave him a drumstick to take home.

Jon: A real family man. Told us about his 5 year old daughter and 2 1/2 year old twins. He said he plays with Mardi Gras beeds all the time because his kids have some at home. A really nice fella.

Steve: The first thing I told him was not to let any of the critics worry him. And that he's doing beautifully. He said some seafood he ate earlier in the day had a bad effect on his throat, that's why he was not in prime voice. He seems to be very appreciative of the opportunity he's been given. When we told him that my 15 year old nephew skipped football practice (the week of a state playoff game) to go to the concert, he wished him luck with the big game. Journey could not have found a better successor to Steve Perry. I look forward to his songs of the future.

Overall, the concert was an 8, but the experience was a big fat 10. We really had a great time. Thanks to the band and the security guard for letting us backstage. I'm 31 years old and this was my first Journey concert. It was well worth the 20 year wait.

To sum it up using a paraphrase from a popular credit card commercial: "4 second row seats to a Journey concert, $182. Experiencing your first Journey concert with your 8 year old daughter, Priceless."

Judy:

My husband and I attended the Nov.10 concert in New Orleans. It was a great birthday gift to me. We have been Journey fans for over 20 years. The crowd was getting anxious awaiting the concert to begin. Journey came on stage at 8:20 and rocked "The Big Easy." We were not disappointed in Steve Augeri's performance. He's not Steve Perry, but a great replacement. Deen was impressive too. Ross seemed to be having a good time. It's such a joy to see him. Jonathan and Neal are so talently awesome. Neal wasn't singing much. We understood him to say he had tonsilitis. The only disappointment was the concert lasted one 1/2 hour. Maybe Neal wasn't feeling well. He surely made the guitar sing. We would recommend anyone to go experience the new Journey. Let's keep listening to their great music faithfully.

Edward Painter:

About a month before the show, my girlfriend called to let me know she had a "surprise" for me, and that I should make myself available on November 10. At the time she told me this, I didn't know that Journey was coming to New Orleans. I asked her if it was Journey, since I knew they were touring, and she said "no."

A couple weeks later, I heard a DJ here in Baton Rouge mention Journey at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans on November 10. I called my girlfriend and told her I heard this on the radio, but she just told me that it was tickets to "something else on the same night" and was really upset that she had managed to surprise me on the same night as Journey would be in New Orleans.

So I make it down to New Orleans on the 10th for my sweetie's surprise. When we were ready to leave, she blindfolded me, put me in the back seat of my own car while her roommate drove. So I sat in my car blindfolded for the 30 minute trip to wherever it was we were going, and her roommate was making a bunch of nonsense turns and stops to make sure I didn't still have any idea where we were.

So about 30 minutes after leaving, they stop, pull me out of the car still blindfolded, point me in a particular direction, and unblindfold me. Big as life in front of me was the marquee to the Saenger, reading in huge letters: JOURNEY

I was honestly shocked to be there, although I had this nagging feeling that it was Journey that she had tickets to all along, even though she denied it up and down for the entire month.

We made it into the theatre, where the next nice surprise was that my sweetie had managed to get the tickets 7 rows from the stage, dead center orchestra. Walking into the theatre with the stage bathed in blue light just about took my breath away.

The show started slightly late, at about 8:20 or so. But I can say, as a long-time Journey fan, that they did not disappoint at all. The crowd was unfortunately dead for the first half of the show, but I guess that was due to the skepticism about Steve Augeri. I am as big a Steve Perry fan as any other Journey fan, but I can say that Steve Augeri did an excellent job onstage. He wasn't afraid to move around a bit.

Neal mentioned something about a case of laryngitis going around. It seemed (at least to me) that Steve's vocal amp was not as loud as the other guy's vocal amps or the instruments, whether it was to intentionally let his voice blend into the mix rather than stand out like Steve Perry, or it was a minor sore throat.

It seems as if Steve Augeri was not meant to replace Steve Perry, but to succeed him. I think most Journey fans would agree that, while no one can replace Steve Perry, Steve Augeri has done a great job of succeeding him.

Neal was at his consistent best, going from hard chords to floating riffs effortlessly. Jonathan looked like he's been working out lately, and sounded great when they "dusted a couple of the old ones off," as he put it before they did "Just the Same Way." Deen was nothing short of an octopus on the drums. His energy and ability fit it perfectly with the band.

After the show broke up around 10:15 or so, my girlfriend and I were walking around the theatre and wound up by the backstage door where the equipment was being loaded. I glanced in and saw Ross sitting down on an amp, just relaxing. Far be it from me to be a groupie, but I just turned back around, waved to him and said "Hey Ross, great show. Thank you!" He responded back with a sincere "Thanks very much." That was the highlight of my night full of surprises.