Drove all the way up to Clearlake to see Journey on Saturday, and while we weren't really all that impressed with Konocti as a venue, the concert was freaking amazing.
It will never cease to floor me how perfect a fit Steve Augeri's voice is. It sounded like he might be getting over a cold or something, but damn, the man has got some pipes.
Neal Schon's rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner...well, let's just say they need to play that at Sharks games, instead of some of the other people they have come sing--I just wish people'd remember to take their damn hats off! :)
I had no idea that Deen Castronovo could sing, but he does, and wow, he sounds great. And I just love a drummer who plays so hard that he makes the drum kit shake, and drops jaws at some of the fills he hits. It's amazing, I could watch him the entire night.
The show was really fantastic--they have a new CD coming out, which they gave a copy of to everyone who attended...which you can't get anywhere else right now, woo. They played a lot of the new stuff, and some of the *really* old, pre-Steve Perry tunes, which was fantastic.
And then came the intermission. And *then* came the last two hours of the show--some new stuff, but mostly all the old hits, where you could hear the crowd singing every word right along with them, which is always such a cool part of concerts, for me. We only got one song for an encore, but they were running up against a curfew, and they'd already played so much, I can't imagine what else they would've done.
All in all, it was an amazing birthday gift. I don't think we'll go see a concert there again--too much work, the drive is too long, the venue is not very good, the accommodations aren't the best, but for this one night, this one event...there's nowhere else I'd have wanted to be.
Posted by Liz at July 4, 2005 08:17 AM