Laughlin Entertainer: Cover Stories

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 on 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 song when it's so perfect the way it is?

Q. What do you think sets your Journey tribute apart?

A. The strong point of tributes is to emulate the vocalist, the recognized front man. That is one of the strong additions to the group. The other assets are the other guys doing their respective parts, doing them the way they're supposed to be. If it weren't for each and every guy-Val, Ray, Remi and Andy-there would be no group. Everyone in this group has a piece of Journey in them. Everyone loves the music and has their own ability to pull it off.

Q. What Journey song gets the biggest response?

A. ”Don't Stop Believing,” one of their more upbeat uptempo songs. Also “Faithfully” and “Open Arms.”

Q. Even though we know it's like picking your favorite kid, can you pick your favorite Journey song?

A. It's so true. It's tough to pick just one. It's like having a Viper, a Ferrari and a Porsche-I want to drive hem all. However, I think their best album was Evolution.

Val Popovic

Q. How did you become involved in this project?

A. Remi called me and told me they needed a guitar player and asked me if I could do it. It was awesome to be asked-and it was a big challenge, especially when they had a guy like Jeff Salado who can sound exactly like Steve Perry. When I went to my first rehearsal, I was blown away. He really does sound like him. How do you build a Journey band without that?

Q. So the show is more about the music than the look?

A. None of us really look like the guys-I look nothing like Neal Schon-but we took on their roles from a musical standpoint. We wanted to make this a good musical tribute to Journey. We kind of dress like they did in the 70s and 80s, just to give the show the feel of that era-even though it's hard to find stuff from that time.

We do music from the early era of the '70s, later '70, '80s and one or two from the '90s. We cover all the bases. They have an enormous catalog-we try to do the greatest hits-the best of these songs from all their albums.

Q. When we talked to you about your role in the tribute band Kiss Army, you stated how your love of the music was important to why you wanted to be in such a band. The same must be true for you for Journey, correct?

A. Yes. I loved Journey and I love Neal Schon. My wife took me to see Journey for my birthday two years ago and I was floored. It was the first time I'd seen them live and that's how I got bitten by the bug.

Journey had a jazzy, Latin influence because a couple of the guys played with Santana before they joined the group and brought that with them. Later, different members came and took the group in a more poppy direction. It was still cool with a lot of cool hooks.

A live tribute to Journey is a big undertaking. This takes some serious practice time to do justice to the music. There's a lot of vocals, background vocals, harmony, dynamic playing. We are very critical of each other and it's because we want to get it right.

I've seen a couple of Journey tributes. In one group they tune it down to make the vocals easier to sing-they kind of look like Journey, but when they sing, they're whispering, which isn't going to cut it. You'll know when you hear this band if it's right.

Q. What's your favorite Journey song?

A. I like one of their oddball songs, “Majestic.” It's an instrumental, no lyrics. It's a great guitar solo. Neal Schon is a great player, definitely a ‘guitar god' in my book. He combines a very bluesy sound with jazzy elements and a very fast slurry of notes on some solos. It's not easy to recreate.

ARRIVAL

A tribute to JOURNEY

Thursday, July 17

through Sunday, July 20

at 8 p.m.

Don's Celebrity Theatre in the

RIVERSIDE RESORT

Tickets are $20

two-for-one for locals with ID

For tickets, see the Entertainment Ticket Office next to Don's Celebrity Theatre or call 702-298-2535 ext 616; 928-763-7070, ext 616; or

1-800-227-3849, ext 616