Reader: Journey...Steve Perry isn't coming back

Over the weekend at Comfort Dental Amphitheatre, there was a triple bill featuring what's left of Night Ranger, Foreigner and Journey. Stephanie March had fun, and while Spaceplace, who posted our comment of the day, agrees that it was fun, there were plenty of other things he didn't appreciate, from...

By Dave Herrera

October 4, 2011

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Over the weekend at Comfort Dental Amphitheatre, there was a triple bill featuring what's left of Night Ranger, Foreigner and Journey. Stephanie March had fun, and while Spaceplace, who posted our comment of the day, agrees that it was fun, there were plenty of other things he didn't appreciate, from the plethora of forty- and fifty-somethings getting high to the way Arnel Pineda takes liberties with classic Journey songs.

"I was at this concert, wow - was this reviewer drunk too?

Night Ranger totally rocked the place, best band of the night. Foreigner has been reduced to a cover band, even the last original member, Mick Jones, was a no-show for this concert.

When Journey hit the stage, Arnel decided he wanted to sing several of the songs the way HE wanted to, not the way they were written. Extending notes the way some choose to do when they sing the National Anthem. These are classics and you don't mess with classics. Even portions of the crowd boo'd when he consistently altered the way he sang them.

Was it fun? Sure...but I was still amazed at the amount of 40 & 50 somethings who still insist on getting high at a rock show. No security to speak of, not even an usher except at the point of separation between general admission (lawn) seating and the assigned seats.

The quality of Night Ranger's voice was exceptional, Foreigner sounded really good, but it's not them, and Journey...Steve Perry isn't coming back, Steve Augeri was a solid replacement, John Scott Soto was horrible...Arnel is an improvement over him, but that's not saying much. He can hit the notes, but his tone is different and it seems his popularity has begun to take over and he's becoming full of himself. Thanks for the 70's & 80's Journey - it was awesome, but as Journey sings "The Party is over...."

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