Romney campaign: Stop believin' that we paid Journey $500K to perform in Tampa, 'cause we DIDN'T.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

No, Mitt Romney Did Not Pay Journey $500,000 To Perform In Tampa

Campaign denies TMZ report that the candidate or his campaign is sponsoring the concert. posted Aug 26, 2012 3:38pm EDT



http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/no-mitt-romney-did-not-pay-journey-500000-to-pe

TAMPA — Mitt Romney's presidential campaign denied a TMZ report that the soon-to-be GOP nominee paid $500,000 to bring the band Journey to Tampa to perform at the Republican National Convention.

Asked whether the report is true, a Romney spokesperson said, "no."

Journey is set to perform in Tampa on Thursday night at an event space near the Tampa Bay Times Forum, but the concert is not sponsored by Romney.

"Liberty Plaza, benefiting Citizens Helping Heroes, hired Journey to play outside the RNC convention at a private venue," said Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for the RNC convention event space.

[hexola]

1. Neal Schon, Michaele Salahi To Wed: Couple Headed Toward Marriage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/neal-schon-michaele-salahi-marriage_n_1332864.html

[madmom]

2. Sorry, that's not Journey..no Steve Perry..no Journey!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. I posted this in one of the other Romney / Journey threads, but...

...I can't stomach Arnel Pineda. He was chosen because Schon saw YouTube clips of him performing in his "Journey tribute band"...they were definitely seeking a Steve Perry clone...but Pineda also has this grating, annoying rasp to his voice. Don't care for the guy at all.

I only saw / heard a couple of clips with Jeff Scott Soto, who was Pineda's predecessor...he definitely was NOT a Perry clone but he just didn't sound right with the band.

Steve Augueri...who was Perry's first replacement...sounded eerily like the real thing. I thought their two albums (and one E.P.) with him were pretty strong.

It took me a long time to appreciate the Perry version of the band. O heard every one of the songs back in the day, but I was also part of the crowd who thought it was cool to not like Journey. That and the fact that I thought "Look Into The Future"...their second, guitar-heavy, jam-filled album...was pretty amazing. I thought the third album, "Next," was pretty weak in comparison, so it made sense that they went looking for a new direction...but for me, on first listen, Perry was too much of an abrupt shift.