The band Journey followed Steve Miller Friday night at Chase field in Phoenix. I am sorry to say that I am going to be more critical about that Journey performance.

First of all, Chase field did not open the roof. Journey’s sound engineer turned up the mixing board volume too high to the point where the sound bounced around the closed venue so much that there was no clarity nor definition. I wonder if the roof had been opened if the sound would have been more palatable.

The lead vocalist Arnel made repeated gestures that implied he could not hear himself. There were moments when his intonation was off.

Journey also chose to open with several lesser known songs in a row in which much of the audience did not seem to relate. The lead guitarist Neal Schon, while very technically adept, chose to play alot of long guitar solos which seemed to be outside the harmonic changes; almost as if he was trying to prove something.

The drummer, Deen Casteonovo employed a double bass which at times seemed to be too busy, disturbing the groove. However, the over-thumping audio mix which echoed throughout the stadium may have contributed to that confusion as well.

I also noticed some of the side fill audio speakers were distorting terribly as if either they were being over-driven or maybe there were some blown speakers. Though I did not notice these type of problems with the first act, Steve Miller band.

Anyway, Journey finally gave the audience what they wanted with all the familiar hits and people finally got into the familiar songs they know and love despite the audio issues during the Journey portion of the concert.

Overall Arnel connected well with the front rows and sang impressively.

The pianist, Jonathan Cain played a bright red grand piano but unfortunately was difficult to hear; lost in the bad audio mix most of the night.

I was really looking forward to hearing Journey and have to say was a little disappointed, mostly with the sound engineer. Hopefully, their sound mix will be better next time.

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