Y'all know I've been depressed lately and even though the Lep show helped bunches, I'm still going through a lot of BS. So I go to the mail today and what do I find? A stack of bills and a letter with no return address. I open it last and inside was a gorgeous picture of Phil and another of Phil and Joe from none other than Rhonda Elizabeth.
Thank you so much Rhonda. You have no idea how much I needed not only the pick me up of the pictures but also just knowing someone cares. With friends like you I know I can get through whatever life throws at me.
EDIT: Chrissy you are my very best friend and you are always there for me and I guess I sometimes take that for granted though I don't mean too. I LOVE YOU damn it! It's not very often that I hear from anyone else though and Rhonda's note was a nice surprise. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. Forgive me?
We'd met up with Jan, Cindy, Gina, Sheila and Lori during the pre-party so afterward we went into the ampitheater with them, except Gina and Sheila who'd left the party a bit early. We found our seats and 5th row ended up not being too bad, since the rows were slightly curved and each was a seat or two longer, meaning we were actually only about 3 rows from the front.
We hadn't been there too long when we looked up on stage and there was Mike Reinemann and Mark Senff. If you've read the thread on the OF about the Cincy show, you already know that Mark had posted that they were going to be there. I jokingly replied that I wanted Mark's autograph and then Chrissy posted that she was going to wear a shirt that said "Senff Groupie" on it. Mark came back with a "Mark Senff calls your bluff" post. Ha!!! He'll know better next time!
We got out shirts that we'd made and then yelled for Mark and held them up. He look confused at first but the look on his face when he realized who we were and what was on the shirts was priceless! After the sound guy got out of his way, Mike took a picture and then Mark came down to talk to us. We insisted that he sign both shirts and pose for pics. He did, bless his heart, and we chatted for a bit before he was off to shoot some video for the website. He is still involved with the site, he's just not in charge any longer.
We weren't interested in seeing the opening act so we headed back out to the lawn where it was slightly cooler so that I could have a smoke. During Stoll Vaughn's last song he announced that Neal, Jon and Phil were joining him onstage so we hurried back to our seats. I got a couple of pics of Phil and Jon jamming.
Journey came on very quickly afterward. I think I've made it very clear how I feel about Journey without Steve Perry. Chrissy was impressed, I was not. Jeff Scott Soto has a nice voice it just isn't suited to Journey's classic songs, not to mention he's one ugly mo-fo. Neal took his usual "Look at me I'm a rock gawwwwd" stance. Ick. The guy makes me sick, always has. There were however a couple of highlights. Deen did lead vocals on Who's Crying Now, Faithfully and Open Arms. He was amazing. His voice is much better suited to the songs, and while he does sound a bit like the great Steve Perry, he changed the songs just enough to make them his own. If he would take over lead permanently I might just have to approve! I so wish I had been at the show where he did have to take over from Steve Augeri. That would have been a real treat.
Okay now for the good stuff! da Leps! Of course they were awesome, though I thought there might have been a problem with Joe's mic. Numerous times his voice faded in and out. All the guys were spot on all night. They opened with Let's Get Rocked and no more than a couple of lines into the song, he looked our way and gave Chrissy a big smile. we were close enough to get smiles from every one ('cept Mr. Allen :( , I hate the new stage setup!) Vivian saw me aiming the camera at him and gave me a huge grin for my efforts, sweetie that he is.
Sav's bass solo before Rock On is absolutely fabulous and the screen during Rocket was awesome. Sav's mic must have been turned way up during most of the show. I've seen them 15 times now and this was the first time I could ever very distinctly pick out his voice, a lot. At one point he was at the front of the stage, and he turned to Vivian and said "wow" so the crowd must have impressed them too!
Photograph was the highlight for me, for several reasons. At one point, Joe held a note so long it was amazing. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open! Then of course there's Phil. we didn't see much of him, since we were right in front of Viv but when he came over during Photograph I was able to cathc his attention. He stopped, smiled, said "Hey", turned away, turned back, smiled again and said "Hi Lisa!" I nearly fainted! By the time the show was over I was beginning to wonder if I'd just imagined it. Chrissy said she saw him say hi the first time but didn't catch the second part. By then I was certain that I had imagined it, until Jan came over and said she'd seen him say hi to me. I even asked her if she'd seen him turn back and say my name and she said YES!
Ya'll know I adore Phil but I had nooooo idea that he'd have any clue what my name was. Thanks a bunch Phil, you definitely made my night!
After the show, we hung out in the parking lot for a bit though from what we'd heard the band was leaving to catch a flight to the next show, so probably wouldnt' be coming out. Finally some rent-a-cops on bikes insisted that we leave so we headed home, exhausted, thrilled, just a bit disappointed that they hadn't come out, not enough to ruin our day though.
Our next show is in August to see Rick Springfield, then it's another Lep show right here in Columbus and I can't wait!
We started out a little after 10 yesterday morning and made the drive to Cincy in record time. I forced Chrissy to listen to Neal McCoy's "Hillbilly Rap" and she loved it! Come on Chrissy admit it! We ended up driving into Covington Kentucky to do some shopping since we got there so early then headed back to Riverbend and sat in the parking lot for a while, waiting for them to let us in to the VIP parking. We thought we saw Vivian walking around inside the venue, but we were too far away to be able to tell for sure. My zoom lens still didn't give me a close enough look. A few minutes later we saw the same figure again and Chrissy used the zoom on her camera. She said she was sure it was him. Later, after we were inside, we heard one of the security guys say that one of the guitarists had been out walking around so I guess we were right! We also saw Journey's buses pull in while we were waiting.
The ILAA packages were a bit of a joke if you ask me. The "goodie" bags were lame, I'll keep the t-shirt and the leather Lep wrist band. If anybody is interest in the really cheesy Journey luggage tags, you'll find them in my ebay store really soon. I'm not sure what the food was like, it was too damn hot to eat so i stuck with a diet coke. Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain and Deen Castronovo made an appearance. Neal was Neal and that's all I'll say about him at this point. Jon was as breathtakingly handsome as we was back when I was a huge Journey fan and is as sweet as he is good-looking.
I'd never heard of Deen and had no idea who he was until I asked Lori after we were done taking pics. We were in the first group so we went back to our table while they finished taking pics with the others. As the guys were leaving Deen stopped and put his hand on my shoulder and said "thank you". I'm not sure why he did it, but it was a sweet thing to do nevertheless!
They raffled off some stuff, and I won the white Lep tank that I'd been wanting since I saw it on the OS. Unfortunately it's a size small and wouldn't fit over one boob! After that we headed to our seats, in the 5th row. Pretty disappointing considering we paid $500 and I've rarely paid more than face value for second row or better.
I thought I'd pop in for a minute while I'm having a cup of coffee and a smoke. Chrissy and I will be off for Cincy in about an hour or so. We won't be back til the wee hours tomorrow so here's wishing everybody a happy Tuesday and hopefully we'll be back with lots of pics and interesting stories to tell!
and everbody else, to keep you entertained until Chrissy and I get back from our road trip. For more pics go to: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v379/lpprdlvr/ There are several albums with family pics, pics from shows and lots of miscellaneous stuff.
Along with watching what I eat, I've also been making some changes in what I eat. Years ago we switched from canned veggies and fruit to fresh or frozen and over the past several months I've been trying to add more fiber and complex carbs.
We've given up plain white bread in favor of whole grain (David and Scott still insist on white though, while I prefer whole wheat), potatoes are gone for the most part as is white rice. I've switched to long grain rice and whole grain pastas instead. We've found that we actually like whole grain pasta much better than regular. It has much more flavor and a heartier texture.
I would love to add more fish and chicken but that's going to be a problem. Scott won't eat either one and while David loves chicken, he won't touch fish of any kind. I could eat grilled salmon or tuna every day. If anyone has any suggestions as to other changes I'd love to hear them!
BTW I'm still drinking about 60-70 ounces of water a day and my glucose was 113 this morning.
McCoy eats, meets fans at Cambridge Wendy’s Michael Neilson/The Daily Jeffersonian Country music star Neal McCoy stopped in Cambridge Sunday night after performing at Jamboree in the Hills. McCoy and his band stopped at Wendy’s on Southgate Parkway for a quick bite of food. While there several fans talked with the star and got autographs and photos. Pictured with McCoy are, l to r, Andy and Teresa Yandora and Lisa Neilson.
I saw this on the wesite for the newspaper in my hometown and thought I'd share. I LOVE Neal McCoy and in fact, was listening to his songs "Hillbilly Rap" and "Wink" on my MP3 player just this morning!
Well I still haven't lost any weight but I put a belt on today and had to put it on the fourth hole instead of the third and even better in my book, I needed a black bra and when I went to Walmart I couldn't find my size, 36DD. I need the bra pretty badly so I decided to see if I could squeeze into a 36D. Not only did I not have to squeeze into it, there's a bit of room to spare! Woo hoo! I was so excited I bought one in green too!
Well I'm still working out, weights 3 days a week, bike 5 or 6 days a week. I'm up to 12 pounds on my weights and 8 miles on my bike but I'm still not losing any weight and I don't understand it because I seriously don't eat that much. Here's a typical day:
Breakfast: 2 pieces of toast (low cal bread), grapes, 8 oz milk
Lunch: salad or fruit, 4 oz of light yogurt
Afternoon snack: whole wheat crackers or slimfast bar
Supper:Pork chop, rice, mixed veggies, salad
Snack: small bowl of cereal
I'm trying to work my way up to 10 miles a day on my bike by adding a half mile a week and I'm thinking maybe add another weight lifting session once or twice a week. The doctor wants me to lose 10 pounds by the next time I see him but I dont' see it happening. I only have about 5 more weeks.
that I love my brother but he makes me sooooo angry I could spit nails sometimes? Most of the time actually which is why I haven't seen or spoken to him in several years. We've never had a fight or anything we just lead very different and seperate lives.
I started out last night doing a search for pictures of my hometown. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for so I ended up doing a search of my maiden name. I was shocked at how many results I got! Nearly 50,000! Didn't find anybody I knew or was related to, at least that I'm aware of. That search led me to search for full names of family members though. Found a ton of interesting stuff on a guy who shares the same name as my brother Mike.
Then I started a search on my brother David. Big mistake. First I found the website for his shop, which was pretty cool but hasn't been updated since '04. Again, I love my brother, but his political and religious views have always been extreme to say the least. One of the first things I find is a response to a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, seriously bashing John Kerry. Then I find a letter that he'd written on another political site about gay marriage. After the usual "downfall of america if we don't turn back to God" smeal, I've heard it probably a million times, I got to the last paragraph. It says something about God can "deliver" homosexuals (whatever! Insert eye roll here) then goes on to say that god hates divorce even more. He talks about how easy it is to get a divorce in this country and how we should concentrate on putting our first marriages back together, adultery is horrible, blah blah blah. Really funny stuff coming from a guy who cheated on his first wife with his boss, divorced said first wife and married the boss! What a f*cking hypocrite!!!!!
After I quit fuming, I clicked on another link with his name (I know I'm a glutton for punishment!)but it was in spanish. I translated it, using yahoo, and found a newsletter from a group in California that supports a woman's right to an abortion. David's name was listed as one of the top five most dangerous anti-abortion protesters, right up there with Randall Terry!
I just keep repeating to my self, "I love my brother, I love my brother, I love my brother." Someone pass me a valium please.
BTW I'm not posting any links to the pages I found. I seriously do not want the fallout if my family would read this.
EDIT: I thought i should add a bit about my views on abortion. I could never have one and I would never, ever suggest to anyone that it's a good option, however I also don't think it's my place to tell another woman what she can or can't do with her own body.
Scott just called from work. His brakes went out on the pickup, as did the brake light switch. He didn't have an accident or anything, I'm just aggravated at having to put more money into the truck when we've got so many other bills to pay. Grr.
He was already supposed to have a long day today, said he wouldn't get in until about 8, now it'll be more like midnight. Okay I'm done ranting for the day I guess.
Well the announcement is finally up on the Journey site. It's word for word what was on melodicrock so I don't see any point in posting it again. This after the webmaster stated on the Back Talk forum that "we shall see" whether or not the announcement would be the same. Lead me to believe that there would be a more detailed explanation but I guess not.
Chrissy and I have VIP packages for Cincy and Columbus, but I am seriously reconsidering the Cleveland show. We haven't bought tix yet and feeling the way I do about the co-headline shows anyway, I think we'd be better off saving our money.
This whole tour has turned into such a fiasco. I would much rather see Def Leppard play smaller venues and longer sets than to have to endure any more of this. Anyway most of the diescussion about the whole mess seems to be taking place on Steph's blog so join us there if you'd like.
EDIT: I went to JSS's myspace page. Not much to look at (LOL)but he's got a nice voice. His range however seems much lower than either SP's or SA's so it wouldn't surprise me if the poor guy ends up blowing his pipes as well, not that Neal Schon would appear to care. Gotta keep that Journey cash cow going!
JOURNEY: STEVE AUGERI RETURNS HOME - JEFF SCOTT SOTO FLIES IN: Steve Augeri has stepped down as lead vocalist for Journey on their current tourand has returned home. This follows recent reports of vocal problems. His last show for this tour was in Raleigh, NC on Tuesday night. During recent shows he has struggled with his voice and as I understand, he was aware before the show that this would be his last performance of this tour. Although plagued with problems from the outset of the show, Steve handled himself with dignity and grace and has to be applauded for his contribution to the band and the manner in which he has handled himself. Jeff Scott Soto, Neal Schon's bandmate in Soul SirkUS has flown in to meet up with the rest of the band and will make his debut Friday night in Bristow, VA.
A statement has been prepared by Journey management:
JOURNEY FORCED TO MAKE LEAD SINGER CHANGE ON NATIONWIDE TOUR
"Jeff Scott Soto to assume JOURNEY lead singer duties starting on July 7th in Bristow, VA due to Steve Augeri throat infection. Due to a chronic throat infection, Journey's lead singer, Steve Augeri, has been forced to leave the band's current nationwide tour with Def Leppard. Jeff Scott Soto, who has previously performed with Journey guitarist Neal Schon, will assume the band's lead singer duties starting with the July 7th show in Bristow, VA. Steve Augeri's condition will be closely monitored by his physician to determine when he may be able to rejoin the tour. According to Journey, "Steve's been suffering with an acute throat condition since before we kicked off the tour with Def Leppard. We were hoping he'd be in well condition to handle the rigors of the road but unfortunately it appears to be a chronic condition requiring total voice rest. We all wish Steve a speedy recovery." For the latest tour dates, please visit www.journeymusic.com."
This is not on Journey's official site as yet but after reading the Back Talk message boards it does appear to be true and an official announcement should be up sometime today I would think.
Journey hit the stage first with Faith in the Heartland and it was immediately clear that something was wrong. Augeri showed up in Raleigh---his voice did not. To say he was having a difficult time would be putting it mildly. He was struggling. The extent would not be totally realized for a few songs though. Explanations would come later, but there was a problem.
Be Good To Yourself started and the after the first line of the song, Augeri signaled to Deen Castronovo to take over and Augeri went backstage. I have heard Deen sing a few times, and he was on tonight. Augeri returned after a little while and he and Deen went back and forth on lead vocals for the remainder of the song while Augeri tried to coax his voice into action.
Ask the Lonely came next and was somewhat of a breather with it’s lower-pitched vocal. Augeri did better on this song, but he was still having major problems. Throughout the song, Deen supplied backup and occasionally doubled Augeri’s voice. Only the Young came next with Deen singing lead. It didn’t look as if it was planned for Deen to sing on this, but after the problems Augeri was having, it wasn’t a surprise. Journey has been changing the songs Deen would sing in a show, so anything is possible. Augeri needed a breather anyway.
As the song ended, Neal Schon started up his guitar solo. With his choice of playing the Star Spangled Banner at concerts over the past few years, it wasn’t hard to guess what was coming. Tonight’s version was inspired with Ross Vallory and Deen giving the “we’re not worthy” bows towards the end. Stone in Love was next and Steve Augeri was back, but Deen took over shortly in to the song singing the majority of the lead vocals from there on. Wheel in the Sky followed, and Augeri took the lead in this, but Deen was still doing a lot of doubling parts and singing the high parts leaving Augeri for the lower notes.
By now, everyone was fully aware there was something serious going on, but the show continued. Lights was next, and Augeri signaled for Deen. They went back and forth on lead vocals throughout the song. Near the end of the song, Augeri went back to the drums, signaled to Deen and the two of them went offstage. It was plainly obvious there was a problem. Augeri’s voice was not getting any better and he was really struggling. You could feel the tension in the air. Augeri said something and Deen’s reaction had to be seen to believed. Basically, it was “you have got to be kidding me!”. What was said would be revealed very soon. Augeri disappeared into the wings of the stage and the stage was set. For anyone who is not aware, Deen Castronovo has been doing lead vocals for several years now, but had always been behind the drum seat, playing the drums and singing. Tonight, that changed.
A drum tech came out and got in the drummers seat and Deen made his way out to the front of the stage as Open Arms had started. Open Arms isn’t a very drum-intensive song, and there are no drums until the end of the song. Ross Vallory was near the drum kit trying to help the new guy on drums as Deen was out front with just a microphone singing the song. Anyone could tell that Deen was extremely nervous being alone out front, but the crowd loved it. The applause at the end was geniune.
Every Generation started up next, and Augeri was back, this time with guitar in tow. Jonathan Cain took lead vocals, and Augeri did some backup on the chorus. Chain Reaction followed with Augeri singing lead, but he was still having problems. He was giving his all, but the voice just wasn’t there. His voice was improved from the start of the show, but he was still struggling.
As the song ended, Augeri addressed the crowd and informed them of the situation that was occurring on stage. What follows isn’t exactly verbatim, but was written down immediately after he said it, so it is VERY close. “You might have noticed I haven’t been myself. I’ve been a little under the weather lately, so here comes Deen Castronovo to save the day. Give him a lot of love”. That was the intro to Faithfully, and once again, Deen was center stage, and the tech was on the drums. Deen was less nervous this time, trying to get the audience to sing, but still far from comfortable. Ross was at the drums once again helping the tech through the song.
Don’t Stop Believin’ was next and Augeri was back once again. His voice had improved, but he was still signaling for Deen to take the high parts. Separate Ways followed and Augeri’s voice was on the rebound. He was far from perfect, but was still giving 110%. He would nail one note, then his voice would die on the next, but he didn’t give up. Any Way You Want It was next, and the voice continued to improve. Deen continued helping, but Augeri’s voice was finally starting to come around. By this point, he was hitting about 70-80% of the high notes. Early in the show would have been maybe 15-20%. Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin closed the show out with Augeri finally in command.
As the band left the stage, Augeri and Deen embraced for probably the 5th time that night. It was obvious how much Augeri appreciated it. Without Deen being able to sing lead vocals, everyone knew the concert probably would have been cancelled. Augeri knew that better than anyone else.
They say that heroes arise in the time of need. Journey encountered that tonight, and Deen Castronovo stepped up. If there was ever a case for Journey to need a backing tape for Augeri, tonight was the case. There was no backing tape used, and everyone was better for the result.
I don’t know what will happen for the rest of the tour. Journey has a major problem if Augeri has another night like this one, but for those in the right time and place, they saw history being made. Tonight’s show wasn’t what anyone was expecting, but I’ll take this over a pre-recorded experience any day. After seeing the reaction of the crowd when Deen finished Open Arms at center stage, I don’t think I’m alone in that thought
Just in case anyone is reading and cares, I'm in a real funk right now. No reason that I can really pinpoint just life in general. I feel like screaming and crying, not that it would do any good, I don't want to go to the Lep show in three weeks, i want everybody to leave me alone, but I'm pissed when I'm ignored (LOL) and I want to explode!
Joe Columbus 07-08-07
