Steve Perry - Clippings from Hit Parader

San Francisco and will continue through the spring.

May Tour Dates
May 1st - Champagne, Illinois; 2nd - Louisville, Kentucky; 3rd - Nashville, Tennessee; 4th - Lafayette, Louisiana; 6th - Utica, New York; 7th - Springfield, Illinois; 9th - Hempstead, New York (Nassau Coliseum); 10th - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 11th - Cleveland, Ohio; 13th&14th - Toledo, Ohio; 16th, 17th, 19th & 20th - Detroit, Michigan (Cobo Hall); 22nd - Cincinnati, Ohio; 23rd - Indianapolis, Indiana; 24th - Chicago, Illinois; 27th - South Bend, Indiana; 29th - Springfield, Illinois; 30th - Kansas City, Missouri; 31st - Cedar Falls, Iowa.

    "The group and I endorse Peavey equipment. I use practically all Peavey equipment - bass, power amps, speakers, pre-amps. I think I'm the only musician on our level of the industry that's playing all Peavey.
    "I play a Peavey T-40 bass, a T-40 Ross bass which has a thinner neck because I have small hands. I was used to playing a Fender Jazz before so I had to whittle down the neck to fit my size. Right now I'm working with Peavey and some other musicians to produce one bass that has the special circuitry, the pickups, and a thin neck for people like myself. And they'll provide another bass with their standard neck which is bigger and thicker and has a single pickup for those who are interested in the Precision sound and style.
    "I also play a Fender Precision with a Jazz neck. I'm using two Peavey musician amplifiers and four CS-800 power amps, two double 15" speakers and a Moog pedal system.

"Our pa system has a cabinet with two 18" speakers, four 10" speakers, 2 horns for the upper mid-range, and then high frequency tweeters. The pa consists of forty-four cabinets like that. They're all hung in a circle around the stage up in the air so there's no blocking of the sightlines - it also helps the sound spread over the building. Each speaker cabinet is driven by a Phase Linear 700P amplifier so the overall pa consists of 44,000 watts RMS of power - which we rarely use, it's just there. The front console is a 36 input, 8 output Midas console from England. And we use several types of effects - Eventide Harmonizers, Aural Exciters, Revox tape recorders, and different types of flanging equipment."

TRIM JOURNEY

    By the late 1960's it was easy to tell 50's rock stars from 60's rock stars because the 50's stars didn't have long hair. Now in the 80's the roles are reversed and the new wavers have short hair while the 60's and 70's stars show their age by the length of their hair. But some of them have been cleaning up their act, among them Neal Schon of Journey who recently removed a good deal of facial hair.
    "I'm not going to go total new wave hair," comments Schon. "I grew a beard while we were in the studio recording 'Departure', then I started shaving it before we took pictures, and then just kept going. I thought I'd shave off the moustache for the '80's but the hair is going to wait for a long long time. I like looking crazy.
    Speaking of rock stars and their images, Schon realizes that while he may be considered a rock star in 'the public's eyes maybe' he doesn't live like one. "Every once in a while you go out and have a big loon-about, right, and you have a great time and you party your ass off and then you've had enough of that. I've been through the rock star syndrome when I was real young.
    "I'm glad I did it when I was young because my body was more able to take the abuse I put it through. Now I realize I am getting older, even though I don't feel old, and I don't want to abuse my body. I want to have a long life. And when I diem I want to leave something behind for people to remember me by."