Portland, OR
Theatre of the Clouds
December 20th, 1998

Set list sent to me by Patrik:

Intro tape + Schon and Cain; Separate Ways (Worlds Apart); Only The Young; Neal solo; Stone In Love; Remember Me (Ross: How're you doing, Sea... Portland, we're in Portland right ?); Girl Can't Help It; Lights (Steve: we will take you away from the cold weather to the city by the bay); Can't Tame The Lion; Instrumental; (quiet piano piece by Jonathan just with Schon on guitar); Who's Cryin' Now; I'll Be Allright Without You; Open Arms; O Come, O Come Emmanuel (instrumental); Fillmore Boogie with drum solo; (Neal: this next song features home boy Deen Castronovo); Just The Same Way (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus); Anytime (lead vocals by Jonathan during verse and Steve during chorus); Escape; blues intro; Wheel In The Sky; Be Good To Yourself; Anyway You Want It; blues intro Making Love To You Is Like A Fast Car; Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' (Steve goes padding Jonīs forehead, and suggesting "hot" keys); Encore: Don't Stop Believin' (Steve: This is a special night, because after tonight we go home to our families); Faithfully

Brianne Beazley:

I've been a Journey fan for six years, from the tender age of 13. My parents had always been fans of Journey and finally, when I hit "teenagehood," I begun to understand why they liked the band so much. (I won't go into the reasons why--other Journey fans know!) It had always been a dream to have them release a new CD and someday go on tour, so last night, my dream came true. The show was incredible. I had floor seats, seven rows back, and right in front of Jonathan Cain and his piano. Jon has always been my favorite Journey member and to have him in front of me all night was unbelievable. He sang lead vocals with Steve Augeri on "Just the Same Way" and "Anytime," and also did an instrumental with Neal Schon, which sounded very similar to the stuff on his solo instrumental albums. (I'm hoping Jon will go on a solo tour someday so he can really show off his solo work.)

Since I am a bit of a "Perry Purist," I was a little bit leery about hearing Journey's songs sung by Steve Augeri. I really had little reason to be worried though, since the guy is amazing. He sounds and looks so much like Steve Perry, you don't really miss him at all. Steve Augeri seemed to really make an effort to win over the crowd and I think he suceeded. (Hey, he won me over.) The guys more or less played all the big hits, as well as "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," off a new CD called "Merry Axemas 2." There was also a long instrumental section that ended with a really loud (but really cool) drum solo from Deen Castronovo. They only played one song off "Trial by Fire"--"Can't Tame the Lion".

Like a lot of other women at the show, I was moved to tears when they performed "Faithfully." Before they began to play the song, Steve told the crowd how Neal, Jon, and Ross Valory tried to explain to him and Deen how much the fans loved the band, how "faithful" they were. I really think Steve and Deen got a taste of that last night. The band was surrounded by fans, old and new, who absolutely love the band and their music. And hopefully they will be back very soon.

Mike:

I went to the Portland concert last night (20th) and it was flawless. I have never heard Journey sound so good. The first time I saw them was in 1975 in Hawaii, they played with Styx. Anyway the new drummer is super and the new singer I like because he doesnt go all over the sound spectrum on every other note like Perry.

jaandlc@uswest.net:

I have to say that this was my first JOURNEY show. It was amazing. From our second row seats we saw Neal Schon in top form. Not to mention Jonathan Cain, Russ Valory, and local hero Deen Castronovo. I have read various reviews and agree with all of them. But, even though it might be difficult to do we can stop comparing Steve Augeri with Steve Perry. From what I saw last night Augeri filled those big shoes and did more. He sang the classics with heart and passion. I highly urge all who are undecided about seeing this show to go do it.

They said that new album is due out next year, and with a tour to follow. I will be there.

Kevin Closson:

I was the most hesitant about how this group might perform with traditional Journey material (round about way of saying I didn't think they could pull it off without Steve Perry). My hesitation was, at best, unfounded. In fact, it was outright wrong.

This lineup had such a fantastic zest for the tunes we love...hell I would've gone just to see Neil play the guitar.... and God he played.

This show was 2 hours of wonderfully executed Rock and Roll.

I think I'll be a fanatical Journey fan for another 20 years now!

Patrik, from Sweden:

Just before the show started, I ran up to the tour manager and asked for a pass. He answered that there were 110 people on the guestlist (mostly because the show was in Deen's hometown) but then he added, "How many are you ?" and I replied, "just me", and then I got a pass from him directly.

First I talked to Ross, when he heard I was from Sweden, he asked if I knew Clas Yngström, since Ross made an album with him in 1989 in San Francisco. I responded that I actually had met him just two weeks before. Ross said "Does he still live in Dalarna ? Tell him I said hello."

Then I told Steve, that I thought he was great but that I didnīt know where he wanted to sign and he said, "I know the problem, next year there will be an album with me on it though."

Talking to Jon and Neal was the highlight, since they are on two of my favorite albums of all time, Escape and Bad English. I told Neal that I had just seen Ted Nugent and that I liked them both on the new Merry Axemas CD.

Finally I met Deen. He was glad to be able to sign an album that he was actually on, Bad English. He added, "What do you think of that hair-do?" and if you have seen the album, what could I say !!

Summary for both shows: Jonathan and Neal are amazing, Ross and Deen very competent and last but not least, Steve, what can I say, he is better than Perry. I never thought that that would be possible, but itīs the truth. He sings the same way and is as good live as Perry is on the albums. And then on top of that he has great stage presence, a great frontman. In one word - Brilliant.

One comment to close off though. I had hoped for more songs from the excellent Trial By Fire, but Jon said to me after the show that the american audience hadnīt responded to the new songs in the beginning of the tour, so they had taken them out.