DVD Review: Journey - Live In Houston 1981, Escape Tour

You know that there is some bad blood between Steve Perry and his old bandmates when you see no mention of this new concert DVD on the official Journey website. Perry produced the thing and probably hurt some feelings along the way by not asking his old friends for help. This release has garnered huge fanfare because it captures the band at their peak, having just released their first number one album with 1981's Escape. Like it or not, Journey was the biggest band in the world during most of the 80's, so it seems rather counter productive for the current incarnation of the band to completely ignore this release. Do they think fans will suddenly turn against them and demand no less than a Steve Perry reunion? Shit, they just might after seeing his performance here.

There are basically two schools of Journey fandom; those who find the current Perry-less version to be an abomination, led by a Perry-wannabe who can't hold a candle to the real thing; and those who can enjoy both incarnations of the band. I am certainly no card carrying member of the Journey fan club, but I did grow up listening to these guys since junior high school, so I do have many fond memories of these party anthems. I also really enjoyed the Journey 2001 concert DVD, which featured new band members Steve Augeri on vocals and Deen Castronova on drums. Castronova is a phenomenal drummer, and Augeri is about the next best thing to Perry they could have hoped for. Seeing Perry perform these songs in his prime though really accentuates the differences between him and Augeri, but I think they are both great vocalists in their own right.

My favorite Journey period will always be the Infinity and Evolution years that featured Neal Schon's old Santana bandmate Gregg Rolie. I loved the contrast between his earthy, soulful vocals and Perry's powerhouse pipes, as well as his great Hammond B3 playing. The music also featured a little more prog elements instead of the pop that started to dominate the later stuff. I pretty much lost interest in the band soon after the Escape album, which is the focus of this show.

Live In Houston 1981 was originally filmed by a then four month old MTV during Journey's tour in support of their chart topping album Escape. The show was filmed on November 6, 1981 and features their most successful lineup of Steve Perry, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory, and Steve Smith. The Escape album is almost performed in its entirety, with only two songs skipped. Departure gets four cuts, and Infinity and Evolution have to share three. Although only covering a four year span of the bands career, most of their biggest hits are here.

Article Author: Paul Roy

Paul Roy is a network administrator by day and amateur music DVD critic by night. When not attending as many live concerts as he possibly can, Paul likes nothing more than to kick back with a good concert DVD and rattle some walls. …

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