April 2017 - #Atozchallenge - Journey to J

J is for Journey.  I'd have to say that this is one of my top five favorite groups.  It would be number one if Steve Perry was still performing with them.  I was really hoping to see that happen when they were recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but unfortunately it didn't.  I never saw Journey when he was touring with them and I didn't see the other Steve they had (Steve Augeri).  The first time we saw them Jeff Scott Soto was their lead singer.  He only lasted about a year and then Neal found Arnel Pineda in Manilla and he's been singing with them since about 2007.  He is okay, but he's no Steve Perry.

In any case, here are the layouts from the first Journey concert in 2006.  This was the one where we saw Def Leppard the first time too.  Neal Schon came out alone at first and did the Star Spangled Banner.  Blew the house down right away!

This is the first time we took a "concert selfie."  Since then I've tried to remember to do it with each show.  How young I look!  

The next time we saw them was in 2008.  Journey was the headliner with Cheap Trick and Heart performing first.  This time it was Arnel singing with Journey and they had just released a new album so they had some new music to show off.  I was not impressed with the new stuff and although the sound was close, I could still tell it wasn't Steve Perry singing my favorites.  

I'm also not really impressed with these layouts.  I think I should have put some mats behind the photos.  I love the paper, just not with these pictures.  Maybe someday I'll redo it.

We next saw Journey in 2011 and although those pictures are not yet in my concert album, I did make another kind of album to give to some friends who went to the concert with us.  This is one of the paper bag albums I make.  It is literally made using paper bags and it has inserts that pop out of the top and cards that are in the side pockets.  

We had a pre-concert tailgate in the parking lot so I included those pictures and then I added some pictures of each of the bands.  Night Ranger played first, then Foreigner and finally Journey.

 With each pocket card I included the set list from the band.

I was able to get some really good pictures because we had great seats and a couple of them look like the singer (Kelly Hansen of Foreigner) is looking and pointing right at me!

I like making these paper bag albums and have done them for all kinds of different themes.  School days and baby's are the most common, but they work with any occasion.  I think they make great gifts.  I have one ready for Mother's Day in my Etsy shop. (Shameless plug of my crafting work!)


That's our Journey with Journey.  We did see them two other times, in 2014 with Tower of Power and Steve Miller and 2016 at the big San Francisco Fest with Tower of Power, Doobie Brothers, Steve Miller and Santana.  I think my favorite show of all was the very first one!


So, have you seen Journey?  Like Arnel better than Steve Perry?


You can click over to the main A to Z Challenge page to see what other participants have come up with for this letter, and come back to see what K has for us!  

April 2017 - #Atozchallenge - Diving into D

D is for Def Leppard.  This is another group that we have seen several times now but I only have our first show in the concert album.  This was from August of 2006 when we saw them with Journey (they'll make an appearance later in the alphabet).

This was only the second concert we had been to in a long time and the first time I had ever been to Shoreline.  We had gotten a sitter for the night and decided to make the most of it and got a motel room close to the venue, even though it only takes 45 minutes to drive home!  We didn't get out much back then.  

Again, a pretty simple layout for these pictures.  

Def Leppard is one of the bands that I didn't know the background story about but I knew I liked their songs.  When I saw the movie Hysteria and learned about Rick Allen losing his arm and yet continuing to play the drums, I really wanted to see them live. 

In this concert they did not disappoint.  We've seen them a couple of times since then and although I have better pictures, the show itself was not as good.  They have had really poor sound systems and the bass gets so overpowering that you can't even hear the singing.  It was so bad during the last one we went to that we ended up leaving early.  Shame because we had REALLY good seats that time!

Okay, that's D.  So far so good.  


You can click over to the main A to Z Challenge page to see what other participants have come up with for this letter, and come back to see what E has for us!

December Reflections - 2016

December 13 -- Soundtrack of 2016

Anybody who knows us, knows that we are concert crazy.  Here are the bands/singers that made up our soundtrack for this year:


May 19 - The Who

We had never seen them before so it was a good way to start off the concert season.  Our anniversary was the next day so this was our present to ourselves, as if we needed an excuse!

Behind blue eyes

July 3 - Foreigner

This was our first concert at the Mountain Winery this season.  My biggest highlight was when Kelly Hansen came and stood next to me and then when he climbed over the seats as he usually does during the show because he climbed right next to me so I was able to help hold him steady as he climbed back to the stage.  Star struck!

July 9 - Boston     Another new band for us.  They sing the song "Amanda" which is our daughter's name. 

July 14 - Sting and Peter Gabriel  

This was an interesting concert as they sang each other's songs and were both on stage the whole time.  

August 2 -- Adele

I was afraid that we were not going to be able to see her as the tickets were so hard to get and sold out within minutes.  I got lucky and got a text message from Ticketmaster that seats had become available so I grabbed them.  They, of course, were not our usual up close and personal seats but just being there and hearing her sing was such a great experience.

August 24 -- Pat Benatar and Melissa Etheridge

 We have seen Pat Benatar many times but never Melissa Etheridge and were quite surprised that we enjoyed her so much.

They really have a chemistry together that is fun to watch.

August 26 -- Peter Frampton

There was a sign up right by the stage saying that pictures would only be allowed during the first three songs so that everyone could "enjoy the show."  I've never been good about following directions when it comes to taking pictures at concerts.  I am respectful about not using the flash but when I'm paying $150+ for a seat, I'm gonna take what pictures I can.

September 4 -- San Francisco Fest -- Tower of Power, Doobie Brothers,  Steve Miller, Santana, Journey

What a day this was!  Santana and Steve Miller were the highlights as far as we were concerned.  

September 25  -- Tesla, REO Speedwagon, Def Leppard

Tesla and REO were great but the sound on Def Leppard was so bad that we left early.  We had really good seats too so that was disappointing.  

December 14 -- Stevie Nicks

Ms. Stevie is tomorrow night.  I'm charging my cameras and getting ready.  She is my idol.

I do have some videos that I took at most of the concerts but it would take too long to load them up on YouTube to get them ready for posting here now.  Another time for sure.

How about you?  What does your playlist for the year sound like?