The Journey/Def Leppard concert last night at the Forum was AWESOME.  Both bands were incredible; they played all their favorites, and they played them “right”. No major changes or new arrangements like you get with Bob Dylan concerts; you got to hear the songs the way you know them.
First of all, our seats were outstanding. We were in the 6th row directly in front of the stage. Excellent view of the show; I could have hit Neal Schon with a ping-pong ball. Instead, he hit me with a personalized Journey guitar pick. (I’ll take a picture and put it here later). Here’s a pre-show view of the stage from our seats. (click on the pictures to bring up the full size version)
Journey was fronted by Jeff Scott Soto, who was a mid-tour replacement for the dude that replaced Steve Perry 10 years ago. I’ve never heard the original replacement, but Soto was perfect. He had the same incredible range that Steve Perry had, but his voice sounded somehow stronger or fuller than Perry’s. His stage presence was great, too. He seemed like a longtime member of the band, not a last-second stand-in for someone else. Wearing a Titans jersey for the last song was a nice touch, too.
The show opened with Neal Schon rocking the Star Spangled Banner as a guitar solo. He rules. Another nice surprise was drummer Deen Castronovo taking the lead vocals for the two big ballads, “Open Arms” and “Faithfully”. It was amazing how much he sounded like Steve Perry. I also like how the audience has kept up with the times; instead of lighters, everyone opened their cell phones and waved them in the air during “Lights”. Here’s Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain rocking it out:
After a short intermission to reset the stage, Def Leppard took over. Like Journey, they played all the songs you wanted to hear and didn’t mess them up trying to be unique. Good use of the video screen, too–during “Photograph”, they showed a cool collage of old DL pictures from the 80’s. It made me want to tight-roll my jeans:
In addition to the two shows on the stage, we were treated to a third show in the audience. Here’s a picture of the woman seated behind us that was trying to earn a backstage pass. We’re pretty sure she was ready and willing to offer any of the musician’s a “backstage pass” of her own. I’m also pretty sure that she has a lot of self-respect and a wonderful relationship with her father.
Finally, here’s a picture of Rick Allen taunting Richard Kimball:Â
The rest of the pictures from the night can be found here.
Journey’s Set List:
The Star Spangled Banner
Stone In Love
Ask The Lonely
Wheel In The Sky
Message of Love
(no idea-never heard it before)
I’ll Be Alright Without You
Chain Reaction
Lights
Open Arms
Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin
(no idea-never heard it before)
(no idea-never heard it before)
Faithfully
Don’t Stop Believin
Any Way You Want It
Encore:Â Separate Ways
Def Leppard’s Set List:
Let’s Get Rocked
Let It Go
Foolin
Bringin’ On The Heartbreak
(no idea-never heard it before)
Hysteria
No Matter What*
Rock On*
Rocket
Photograph
Armageddon It
Animal
Rock Of Ages
Encore:Â Love Bites
Encore 2:Â Pour Some Sugar On Me
*These two are from the new album “Yeah!”, which is an album of cover songs from the late 60s and 70s. The two they played last night were really good.
Loved this post and LOVED the concert!! My favorite part of the entire concert was when DL sang “Photograph” and showed old photos of the band. (glad you mentioned that!) Great photos, too!
Great pics! Hey, if you have myspace, join the Def Leppard E-Team/Street Team! http://www.myspace.com/defleppardeteam
To equate the quality of Jeff Scott Soto’s vocal ability and stage presence to Steve Perry is hideous. Today’s music scene is so shallow with true musical genius, perhaps a mediocre obscure musician mugging onstage blinded you from the likes of Ashley and Jessica Simpson.
Soto is child’s finger painting compared to the Picasso of Steve Perry. Shame on you!!!
Thanks for stopping by, Tnay. Comments are always welcome, even when they are wrong. Perhaps you are blinded by the likes of Steve Perry’s gargantuan beak.
Great review on the concert Wish I could have been there. I’m a huge Perry fan but I think Jeff Scot Soto is doing a great job. Jeff doesn’t try and be Steve perry with a perm like some past singer…..Tnay comparing Jeff and Steve is like Apples and oranges Steve is unique but that doesn’t make Jeff Scott Soto any less talented. In this Music industry that sings to tapes and no one plays instuments and they have to rely on their looks and dancing to get them by it is refreshing to see someone like Jeff rocking the house down….This guy is even been excepted by alot of die- hard Perry Fans……Jeff Makes no bones about what he is doing living a dream and one more thing he also is a huge perry fan……Which is a plus too me…..
How dare you post your opinion about Journey and Steve Perry and how he compares to Jeff Scot Soto! You make it sound like you went to a concert as a fan or something, and wanted to talk about what you heard. As if you, a mere mortal, should have the right to have an opinion about what you heard. Who do you think you are to even have an opinion! You should have asked Steve Perry to write this part of your blog for you. Failing that, you should have consulted Tnay before trying to form an opinion. I mean, what do you think this is - your personal web log? As if this were a place for you to voice your opinions? You shouldn’t even have a blog. Your blog is a child’s finger painting and someone somewhere else is writing a blog that is like Degas or Dali or Renoir or something. And stuff. Shame on you!
Also, the backstage pass girl is funny.
Hey, if that comment seemed kind of harsh, I’d just like to point out that it wasn’t me. I mean are you saying that I posted a taunting comment? That I crushed her criticism? When I came home there was a man in my house posting on my computer. I fought with this man. He had a mechanical arm. You find this man! You find this man!
I’m glad to see someone got the Kimball reference… I was starting to lose faith in humanity.
If you don’t want opposing comments, then don’t offer the opportunity to express them?! Simple, just allow those who agree with your misguided musical tastes. I saw JSS on several occasions and formed my opinion from those performances. He’s is one cut above Augeri, that’s it. Nothing to shake the rafters about.
The Rolling Stones wouldn’t be the Stones without Mick. Same goes for Journey without Perry! Journey should hang up the scarab and move on to new horizons. They are nothing more than a tribute band to themselves now. Sad.
Tnay, your reading comprehension is as poor as your ability to compare lead singers. As I stated in my comment to your original message, comments are always welcome here. That’s why I have them enabled. That, however, doesn’t mean I’m not going to ridicule them when they are so obviously misguided.
Journey is not Journey without Perry? Tell that to Neal Schon… If Perry was the only reason Journey was good, then I would think that his solo career would have amounted to more than “Oh Sherry”.