Journey rocks on with new lead singer

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Journey — from left, Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory, new drummer Deen Castronovo, Neal Schon and new lead vocalist Steve Augeri — is bringing that classic-rock sound to three concerts in Hawai'i — two in Honolulu next week and one on Maui on Oct. 12. Journey 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 11 Blaisdell Arena $45, $55 526-4400, 591-2211 Also: Journey plays at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in the A&B Amphitheater at Maui Arts & Cultural Center; $35, $45, $55; (808) 242-7469

They join founding powerhouses Neal Schon, guitarist; Jonathan Cain, keyboard player; and Ross Valory, bassist.

Journey has not been available for interviews, but here are some nuggets gleaned from the group's Web site:

• Perry's failing health in the mid-1990s presented Journey with a major task: to find that lead voice. Schon had remembered Augeri's name and one of Schon's guitar techs had a phone number to make that initial contact. Augeri thought "somebody was playing a joke on me. So I played it cool. Until I hung up the phone and found out it wasn't a prank — then I really lost my cool."
• Augeri first recorded with Journey in the band's "Remember Me" track, from the 1998 "Armageddon" soundtrack album. The album became a No. 1 Billboard hit.
• Their new album, "Arrival," is No. 18 in Journey's discography, arriving with the usual ingredients: intense but harmonic rock, served with dedication and a musicianship that appeals to diehard fans and newbies.
• The scarab on the "Arrival" CD cover is an icon of regeneration; Egyptians regard the beetle as a symbol of self-creative power, rebirth and renewal.
• Tunes from "Arrival" were downloaded on the Napster Web site before the release. "We were devastated," said Cain, concerned about freebie downloading. But quick buzz gave the disc a thumb's up, with a call for more rock, so "Nothing Comes Close" and "World Gone Wild" were added. "We turned lemons into lemonade," Schon says.