9/19/2008 SEATTLE WHITE WATER AMPHITHEATER

FROM BRYWOOL OF MELODIC ROCK

YABBA DABBA FRIGGIN' DOOO!!!!
JUST got home, it's 1:25 AM-

Thanks to Saint John, I was able to get FRONT ROW seats, right below Cain. My wife and I were able to get 2 of his guitar picks. Very cool.
Journey kicked ass. It was weird, near the end, the front rows seemed EXTREMELY quiet. Very strange. Unfortunately, I was on the boring side of the stage, though Arnel made eye contact with my wife and I and we got the thumbs up, etc. I did the "we're not worthy thing" (I look like Carvey I guess) and that got a reaction from him, but I couldn't really give him the hand slap thing. Cain also seemed pretty friendly to us. I've not been this close to a favorite band since Styx back in 81. Usually, I'm in seats or back a few rows, which I normally hate cuz I'm not a tall guy.

Surprise for me- Faith In the Heartland. It rocked. Very cool to hear this as I'm an Augeri fan. They did Fithl, Never Walk Away, After All these Years, and Change for the Better from the New album. Awesome! They also did La do Da. I was disappointed that Arnel didn't go for the high headvoice note at the end. However, say what you want, but the guy sang notes that I NEVER saw ANY of the Journey vocal predecessors hit live. Deen did a great version of Keep on Runnin, much better than Journey ever did it live because Deen hit ALL THE HIGH NOTES IN THE SONG. They used to get avoided live. Also- they did ESCAPE. Arnel KILLED on it. I can remember hearing Augeri struggle with that one all the time. Arnel NAILED the song and then some. Cain did a different piano solo than I've heard before. Much more classical based. I really liked it. Edge of the Blade was as good as it gets live. Not since the Frontiers shows in 83 in Tacoma have I heard this live. Very cool.

I know people want to live in the past, but Arnel AMAZED me as a vocalist in such a way that I've not been amazed since I first saw Journey on the Departure Tour. I was totally blown away by the guy. He was VERY VERY warm to the audience and made sure to make eye contact with so many people. The rest of the band didn't really smile too much, though I did see Neal smile (which I didn't with Augeri) and interact with Arnel, and Ross was his weird, Kooky self. Jon Cain seemed pretty serious, but he did smile a few times and made sure to toss my wife and I a pick. Neal came and blazed some solos RIGHT IN FRONT OF US and I just cannot believe how fast the guy plays. You hear it. You see it in videos, but when it's 8 feet in front of you... well, mosquitoes were flying into my open mouth. But Arnel was all smiles and all 'get the crowd into it'. Very cool front guy. Wish I could've met him.

They only did one encore and thankfully didn't close with Faithfully. Like I said, down in front, it was REALLY REALLY quiet at the end. I didn't get that at all. For those that didn't hear the story- I was up 2/3 of back for Heart and CT and for Heart the crowd seemed to go apeshit. But when I came down front for Journey, the crowd seemed pretty sedated. Maybe it was just my side. Their sound from where I was sitting was excellent. Could hear every note. Deen's drums sound a million times bigger live then on record. He's got that low end live that's missing from the recordings.

Heart- Great set. I heard people here saying they didn't like the way they kind of redid songs like Never and Alone. Personally, I loved what they did to the tunes. Heart has ALWAYS been about mandolins and acoustic guitars unlike the 80s slick stuff they did. That was never really Heart. That was more other writers and producers, not to mention image consultants. I prefer the Heart from Little Queen days. They were much more interesting and home grown. Ann was nearly flawless. She seemed to have a bit of trouble on the high notes of Barracuda, but she just sang it differently. Their sound guy was superb.
Their sound was crystal clear. Their keyboard player also rocked. She had some old Moogs and stuff to get those sounds like in Magic Man and stuff. Very good set, not really any surprises for the Home Town crowd though.

Cheap Trick- I've always loved these guys. However, one thing I've noticed at the last two CT shows I've been to (Last one was when Special One came out)- The band has WAY WAY too much DEAD AIR. Their show hardly gets any momentum because their time between tunes is so long. Also, their sound guy sucked. Robin sang great and I only heard him duck the middle high note in The Flame and the end high note was really flat, but otherwise, he was great. However, the sound guy, and Rick's playing kind of made them sound like a garage band. I really liked when Cain and Deen came out and did Dream Police. Very cool of them to do that. Personally, though I LIKE "The Flame", it's a song not written by the band and I could really care less about it. I prefer the Rick Nielsen/Robin Zander/Tom Peterson penned stuff.

I was also able to hook up with Scotticus and get him better seats.

Thanks St. John for a great night!

Unfortunately, I only got crappy grainy cell phone photos and I have NO idea how to post them. My daughter got some shots, but she was about 2/3 back (it's a long story- I didn't leave her up there, she came with her friends and aunts, etc.).

Great concert!