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My Own Journey
Or, How Journey Became Part of My Life
I have been familiar with Journey and their music my
whole life, literally. My parents were fans before I was born and
remained that way while I was growing up. Both Mom and Dad say
that I showed interest in Journey as early as age two. They have
often said that when they brought me home from the baby-sitter's,
I demand that their album Escape be put on. I don't know
I can actually remember this or not--I can imagine it, but I'm
not sure if that's a product of memory or an overactive
imagination. Either way, I can recall dancing to the uptempo
numbers like "Stone in Love" and "Don't Stop
Believin'," while slow songs like "Open Arms"
would make me cry because they sounded so sad. I'm unsure of the
effect other Journey albums had on me, but I sure can remember
hearing them.
Most people don't develop an interest in music until they are teenagers, but for me, I became interested in music--my own music--before I turned ten. The first album I remember wanting was not one from Journey--it was from Tiffany, instead. (Don't laugh!) For the next several years, until I was 13, I definitely had my own taste in music. I listened to tapes from people like Rick Astley, Bananarama, Paula Abdul, and Gloria Estefan (who I still like). Both of my parents HATED the music I like, and in turn, I hated their music, including Journey. I thought my parents music was boring and all sounded the same; they thought my music was just loud, without any sense of melody. This type of disagreement among parents and kids is pretty common and actually, still exists in my family today. Except now, my mom likes listening to "hippie music," meaning anything from the 1960s, whereas I listen to . . . Well, I think that's obvious.
It was 1993 when I finally saw the light and began
appreciating Journey. I bought my dad the Time3 box set for
Christmas (against my better judgement) and out of curiosity,
began to flip through the set's booklet one day. One of the band
members caught my eye, a shy-looking keyboard player named
Jonathan Cain. For some reason, I kept thinking about Jon and
wound up playing closer attention to Journey's music. Pretty
soon, I had pilfered my parents' Journey CDs and albums
(including the box set) and listened to the music whenever I
could. Keep in mind that this was in junior high and other people
my age were listening to alternative and rap. I was never popular
in school and my liking for Journey caused me to stay unpopular.
Most of the kids I knew didn't have a clue who Journey was, and
the few who did know told me that they were a "wussy"
band and that my taste in music sucked. Fortunately, my friend
Kristen, who up until then wasn't a Journey fan, began liking
them too, so I wasn't alone.
Being
a Journey fan in the early 1990s wasn't exactly easy. The fact
that the band hadn't released an album in seven years was
depressing enough, but what really bothered me was that none of
the band members seemed to be doing anything. Eventually, I
discovered Bad English and Hardline (featuring future Journey
drummer, Deen Castronovo), but I still wanted new music from
Steve Perry, and most of all, Jonathan Cain. I was thrilled when
Steve Perry released For the Love of Strange Medicine in
1994, and even more so when he came to Portland for a concert in
January, 1995. While it was cool to hear him sing his solo
material, the highlights of the show were obviously the Journey
songs. As the concert went on, I wondered if this would be the
closest I'd ever get to seeing Journey in concert, and I
sincerely thought it would be. I had no way of knowing all the
good things that were to come in the near future.
In the spring and fall of 1995, Jonathan
Cain released two solo albums, Back to the Innocence and
Piano With a View, which made me very happy, needless to
say. I knew that my two-year wait had been worth it the first
time I listened to Piano With a View, which is my
favorite solo album from any members of Journey. Neal Schon's Beyond
the Thunder, was also released in 1995, so that year was the
best year to be a Journey fan--so far, anyway.
Even thought reunion rumors had been floating around for years, it wasn't until fall 1996 that the Journey reunion took place, marked by the release of Trial by Fire. I had a vivid memory of the first time I heard the new song, "When You Love a Woman." My friend, Kristen, had heard the song on the radio one afternoon and called me right away. She had caught the tail-end of it, so I was unable to hear the song. We vowed to stay close the radio and to call each other if we heard it again. Less than a hour later, I heard the opening notes of the song, and I knew it was Journey immediately. I called Kristen and we listened to the song over the phone, talking afterwards about how cool it was and how much we were looking forward to the new album and tour. Well, the album came out (and it was great), but because Steve Perry damaged his hip while hiking, the band never went on tour. Although it was incredible having a new album, what I really wanted was a tour, and when that didn't mainfest, the joy of the reunion kind of fell flat.
In
the next couple of years, Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon both
released new solo albums, but there was no word on anything
forthcoming from Steve Perry and definitely no news about a tour.
When the Armageddon soundtrack came out in 1998, I
learned that there was a new Journey song on it, but they had
replaced Steve Perry with some guy I'd had never heard of. The
new guy, Steve Augeri, reportedly sounded exactly like Steve
Perry, but I bought the CD with some reservation, because I
really doubted that Journey could be Journey without Steve Perry.
And I was unimpressed by the new song and the new singer, but the
song grew on me, and when I learned the band was going to tour, I
bought tickets the minute they went on sale.
Journey played in the Theatre of the Clouds in Portland, Oregon on December 20, 1998, and to put it simply, they kicked ass. I was lucky enough to get floor seats, seven rows back, and I could see the guys perfectly. The seats were near the left-hand part of the stage, so Jonathan Cain was right in front of me--what a dream come true! I was very impressed with Steve Augeri, not just with his beautiful voice, but how he interacted with the crowd. It seemed like Steve was very reserved and sang the songs almost exactly like Steve Perry did, but the crowd appeared to like him and welcome him to the band. (I knew I did.) Near the end of the show, Steve told the crowd that Jon, Neal Schon, and Ross Valory had tried to tell him and new drummer Deen Castronovo about how faithful the fans were and how much love and support the band felt from them/us. They then went right into "Faithfully" and although I had heard about "Faithfully" being turned into the fans' song for the band, it wasn't until then that I could consider "Faithfully" my song for them, as well. It was a special evening, and I went home looking forward to the summer tour and knowing that the guys had replaced Steve Perry with the right person.
The band came back to Oregon in August, 1999, this time to the L.B. Day Amphitheater in Salem. Once again, I had great seats (six rows back) and from there, I could see the action on-stage, as well as backstage. While Foreigener was playing I saw Deen Castronovo back-stage and I just stared at him, trying to figure out if it was really him. It really was Deen and when he realized I was staring at him, he smiled and waved. I just kind of smiled back, feeling embarassed that he had caught me. The embarassment continued when I noticed Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon walking to their dressing room. I knew it was them immediately and like an idiot, I pointed and exclaimed, "Look, it's Neal and Jon!" The people around me turned to look and Jon and Neal, who obviously heard me, looked over to see who was making such a big fuss.
Minutes before Journey went on-stage (and
shortly after the interlude with Jon and Neal), I noticed a woman
standing next to a chain-link fence that was near my seat. Every
few minutes, she'd laugh and freak out, as if she could see
members of the band. I went over and asked her if she could see
anyone and as I asked that, we saw Ross Valory. This woman (whose
name was Stephanie) asked the roadies if they could please bring
out Neal. The roadies mainly ignored us, but for some reason, one
of them obliged us and brought out Neal and Deen. The guys were
less than ten feet away from us, waving and saying
"Hi," and all I could do was laugh because I couldn't
believe what I was seeing. Somehow, I got myself together and
wound up blowing a kiss to the guys and telling them I loved
them. They laughed and then went back to preparing for the show
while I returned to my seat, shaking because of what happened. I
continued to tremble as the band began the show and was almost in
tears, because I had never thought I'd have that kind of contact
with any of the guys.
I calmed down after a while and really enjoyed the show, probably more than the one in December. Steve Augeri was more flamboyant, dancing a lot and even climbing on top of Jon's piano. After the band played an encore, Steve told the crowd we'd be seeing them again in the new millenium, so needless to say, I can't wait for the year 2000. It will be more than a new century--it will be the continuation of an almost lifelong Journey . . .
For reviews of the above-mentioned concerts, go here.
To find out about other music I like, go to my personal webpage.
Or, you can go back to the main page.