Journey Revisited

Date: Monday, January 24, 2011
Hello Theresa!

Thank you so much for helping to ring in the New Year here in Sacramento…
Arrival really was all that you promised, and then some! This past New
Year’s Eve Sky Spectacular in Old Sacramento was by far the most
enjoyable for me of all 11 years of production. You and the band members
were all very professional, humble and fun to work with. When business
becomes that pleasurable – I know I made the right choice!

The event drew the largest crowds ever. Arrival was definitely up for the
task, rocking over 3,000 zealous Journey fans of all ages at any given time
during their 3 sets. That sure was a sight to appreciate! I’ve never
seen such a diverse crowd in front of that stage. Arrival definitely took
them all on a journey of classic rock and classic entertainment! The guys
in the band are extremely talented. They really know how to entertain and
interact with the crowd.

Thanks again Theresa. I look forward to working with you and the band at every opportunity. Please let me know when Arrival performs next in the Sacramento area – my friends and I are looking forward to it… and I’m sure about 3,000 other Arrival/Journey fans from NYE are too!

Sincerely,

Brett E. Freeman, Community Events Assistant
- Brett Freeman, City of Sacramento

"ARRIVAL" PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF JOURNEY AT THE RIVERSIDE RESORT IN LAUGHLIN, NEVADA.

This is from the Laughlin, Nevada Entertainer Magazine dated July 16-22.


Tuesday, July 15, 2008 4:54 PM PDT

The tribute business is booming and branching out. Within the last few years, tribute shows have traveled far beyond the traditional truckloads of Elvis Presleys, Neil Diamonds, Garth Brooks and Shania Twains-and Laughlin seems to get the lion's share of them.

The good news is some of these tributes are pretty darn good. While the jury is still out on a few shows (because we haven't seen them all yet), several of the groups who make regular stops at the Riverside Resort and Casino, do so because they've been invited back. And they've been invited back because they're going about the business of a tribute show with more dedication than the originals seemed to have had the first time around.

When groups like Desperado put together their Eagles tribute, which has everything to do with superior vocals and skilled instrumental work, they put the right people in the right places to pull it off. A new group making their Laughlin debut is Journey tribute band, Arrival, who have approached their tribute take in the same way. Having to compete with the trademark power vocals of Steve Perry, and the well known musicianship that is Journey, this band had its work cut out for it. Audiences will be the judge when Arrival arrives to play in Don's Celebrity Theatre Thursday, July 17 through Sunday, July 20.

The Laughlin entertainer recently talked with a couple of members of the group-Jeff Salado, tackling the Perry vocals and Val Popovic, in the role of lead guitarist Neal Schon. (If Popovic sounds familiar, it's because he also portrays Ace Frahley in the Kiss Army tribute band, which just finished a return engagement at the Riverside).

Jeff Salado

Q. How did "Arrival" come to be?

A. I always loved music and pretty much been in and out of bands for the past 20 years. When we formed a band called Off Kilter we decided to recreate music that reflected original songs the way they were recorded. Instead of reinventing a song and giving it a different twist, we'd perform it just like the radio version.

A lot of the songs we did happened to be Journey songs because it was easy for me to adapt my voice to the different vocalists and their styles and Steve Perry was one I could do.


We got more and more requests to do Journey songs-so many, we thought why not concentrate on just Journey stuff. That's when we decided to become a tribute band. We changed the name to Arrival and concentrated on that whole sound-the vocal quality, the backup vocals and music-and everything else that has the Journey feel. Other Journey tribute bands don't capture that entire sound. We believe we actually have and we're pretty proud to present that.

Most people tend to forget how popular Journey really was-they made a video game-how many bands get a video game? Hard-core fans are starving for that old sound, which means the door continues to be wide open for us and we're glad that we can give that back. We're happy about that. We're fans like anybody else. We listen for that special sound which was magic and capture a pretty good chunk of it-especially if you were to close your eyes.

Q. How has the group evolved since inception?

A. Things started changing and transitioning about a year ago. Remi Kern (bass) and myself have been trying to find the right people to make it happen. When Val came on board he was the perfect fit. Like me, he's a perfectionist. He has to get it right. He'll work on it until he nails it exactly. I appreciate that from him and the other guys, Andy Dean on drums and Ray Potter-keyboards.

Andy was the last piece that fell into place-we must have tried 10-12 drummers before we found him.

What we have now is a very close rendition of the original act. People who remember and want to hear the essence of Journey-when they had Steve Perry's vocals and Neal Schon's famous guitar licks-will get all that. That's the beauty of this group.

Q. How tough was it to nail Steve Perry's vocals?

A. Funny thing is it wasn't that tough, only because his voice falls in my vocal range. As I said, I can adapt my voice to different styles. I can emulate Elvis and could do a tribute to him-which is something my girlfriend wanted me to consider. I thought, I can't bear the get up-it was ridiculous when he wore it.

Even though I was born with the ability to emulate singers, I do like the challenge to try different things I haven't done. So when something comes along, like a guitar riff, I try to work on it until I get the same vocal pitch, tone and range. I'll work on it everywhere-even in the shower-until I get it. That's why I appreciate when artists do renditions as close as possible to the original. Audiences want to hear the original sound with the same quality and not hack it up. Why destroy a - Laughlin Entertainer

HOMEBASE: Modesto

PLAYERS: Jeff Salado, lead vocals; Val Popovic, vocals/guitar; Ray Potter, vocals/keyboard; Andy Dean, vocals/drums; Remi Kern, bass.

SOUNDS LIKE: Arrival is a melodic rock band which has been compared to, well, Journey. The group plays classic Journey hits from 1978-1996.

BACKSTORY: The band Arrival was founded in 2006 as a variety band with a few Journey covers in the mix. As members received more and more requests to do Journey songs, the group decided to transition from a variety band to a Journey tribute band. Vocalist Salado along with bassist Kern started the group and found guitarist Val Popovic, keyboardist Potter and drummer Dean, the latter was previously with Arrival's variety band but had moved away to Texas.

For the past year the members have concentrated on perfecting the Journey sound. In July the band did a mini tour with shows at Pala Casino in San Diego, the Blue Cafe in Long Beach and four shows at the Laughlin Riverside Resort in Nevada, returning to the Fat Cat Music House & Lounge in Modesto and most recently the Modesto Art & Wine Festival.

QUOTE ME: "I feel as long as the fans keep longing for classic Journey with Steve Perry fronting the band, we will keep performing for them." — vocalist Jeff Salado

NEW MUSIC: Music clips are available through YouTube

NEXT GIG: Show at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Fat Cat in Modesto.

FIND ONLINE: www.myspace.com/arrivaltheband, www.reeseentertainment.org.

- Marijke Rowland