JSS and The Sopranos, How Ironic
“We’re excited to start a new chapter with Jeff and we’re excited about what the future may bring.” Journeymusic.com December 2006
By Kimterp
This future turned out to be a little less than 6 months.
I started out being a huge Def Leppard fan. I took many road trips to see them when ever they were on tour. Last year was no different. June 2006 my friend and I had hit the road to see Def Leppard. They were touring with Journey last year so I was excited having been a fan in the 80’s. The first show I noticed that the lead singer whom I didn’t know at the time (obviously now I know as Steve Augeri) was having some problems. He was constantly drowned out by the music or would give a ‘look’ to the drummer (Deen Castronovo) to take over. I thought it odd but maybe just a bad night. But all 5 shows we saw that week were the same. It became painful to sit through the Journey portion of the concert. Not only did they sound bad, but the performance lacked life. It was very bland and static. But hey, I was there to see Def Leppard so I just chalked it up to a band that had lost its luster.
My friend and I decided to go on our 2nd leg in September of 2006. We had heard that they had a replacement in for Steve Augeri. I was not surprised after seeing his performances in June that he was being replaced. I though “well maybe this will be better with the new guy.”
Enter Jeff Scott Soto
The first show I saw with Jeff performing was as different as night and day. This ‘new guy’ comes on stage and literally owns his space. The energy he displayed was contagious. His voice was powerful and soulful – yet had the Journey essence in every song. He brought together this band, which 2 months before looked as if they were on life support - to the band members laughing and actually looking like they were having a blast! By the end of that week, I was a Jeff Scott Soto (JSS) fan. I decided I wanted to be a part of promoting this underrated talent. I transitioned from a Def Leppard die hard to a JSS (Journey) die hard. I became a moderator on the JSS Forum (www.jeffscottsoto.niceboard.com). I met wonderful JSS fans that were welcoming and supportive. And by December 2006, Jeff was named the “official lead singer” for Journey.
That led me to MelodicRock. Yes another terrific group of people, some feistier than others but a lot of fun. And much to my surprise, Jeff actually interacted with fans. He talked; debated and just plain old had fun with us. What a great surprise this was. This in turn led me to The Annex which is my extended family whom I truly care about and love very much.
June 2007 – The Whack
Andrew from MR announces a big 10 year celebration concert for MelodicRock. It starts off as excitement but quickly turns dark with rumors of Jeff’s longevity in the band.
Keep in mind all of this is going on while Jeff is in Europe doing is Farewell Tour with Talisman. The boy is working his ass off overseas so as not to disappoint his fans over there. While here... shit was hitting the fan, so to speak.
This is insane, I think to myself! They JUST named him as the lead singer in December. Truly they wouldn’t do that when the band is really starting to come alive? (Although looking back it did look as though when Jeff was performing with them, he was performing with the California Raisins.)
I go to the Journey website to prove this rumor to be false. I look for the pictures of the band. It is different. This is not good. I start to get nervous that this is actually true. I think if this is true… then there should be a picture of a revolving door where the lead singer picture should be. And replace Neal or Jon’s mug with a picture of a villain twirling his villainous mustache. But I digress…
The forums are down… Strange. An hour later I go back to Journey’s website and Jeff’s picture is still there but his bio is now gone.
Still no official announcement.
About a ½ hour after that, the link to Jeff is gone. Little by little they are erasing Jeff from the website as if he was never there. Strange how just a few days ago they played a Journey song on the finale of the Sopranos, a show that is infamous for people getting whacked. Odd parallel if you ask me. Jeff was getting the proverbial WHACK in the same way the characters did it on the Sopranos. No warning, no heads up... Just done.
Apparently the band has forgotten how Jeff put his whole life on hold and jumped in to save the tour last summer when Steve Augeri couldn’t perform anymore. Forgetting the unyielding support and constant defending Jeff had done for them. He was just gone from the site.
Finally an “official” statement was made. It sounded as one would expect. Very politically correct and void of all truth I am sure. It’s a typical eye rolling B.S. statement that we as Journey fans have become all too familiar with since 1986.
The official statement was buried after the Sopranos story. And by the way, The Annex had posted the same Sopranos story 6 hours before the “Official” site. I wont go on a rant like I want to, but journeymusic.com is one of the most poorly run music websites that I have ever seen. The content is rarely updated. With this news, they can’t wait to WHACK Jeff and almost all reminisce of him immediately. Augueri lasted 3 months before they changed anything on the Official site, even after the made the announcement Steve was out! But again, I digress.
Jeff has proven to many of us his devotion to his work and his fans. His professionalism and loyalty is all second to none. Jeff will follow a new path as he has in the past. He doesn’t take this new path alone. He has a new group of us that will take this path with him, support and rally around him when he needs us. We truly care about him and his success. We are with you Jeff. You truly are the epitome of class.
Journey’s journey has come to an end for many. Jeff’s is just beginning.
www.journeyannex.com
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Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:38 pm
Jeff is a class act, a man of tremendous talent, much underrated as you mention and not worthy of this questionable act from Journey and their management. We should have seen this coming...the management made absolutely no effort to promote Jeff's induction into the band so they are not about to prove to be professional about "dismissing him". 
