Journey And Def Leppard in St. Louis

I was fortunate enough to be able to take my daughters to see two great bands in one night. I got lawn seats so they would be able to see more since they are still quite young. It was also cheaper since this tour isn't easy on the wallet. My lil bro and his wife drove us out from High Hill where I was spending the week visiting my folks. It sprinkled on us a bit on the way in, but as cloudy and dark as it got, we didn't get any rain during the show. We thought it looked like it was just going to pour, but the weather held out for us. There was an opener, Stoll Vaughn, but we didn't pay much attention. If I remember correctly, he had some Johnny Cash influence in his bluesy old fashioned sound. I'm sure it was ok, but just not my thing as I was more anxious to see the headliners.

Journey came out with Jeff Scott Soto filling in for the ailing Steve Augeri. I've been anxious to see Jeff sing for years as he has performed with Yngwie Malmsteen, Talisman, and others over the years. After hearing his collaboration with Neal Schon and Dean Castranova in Soul SirkUS (Dean recorded a released version of the CD, but had to leave the project due to other committments.), I was quite anxious to hear Jeff on some Journey tunes. He was fantastic! I think he's a better frontman than Steve is, but vocally on a similar level as they are both great sounding on the Journey classics.

The show started with Neal doing the American Anthem and the video screen behind him was lit with stars. The crowd was on its feet in honor of this great nation and anxious to hear this show. From the solo they kicked into Any Way You Want It. After that tune, Jonathan Cain announced that Steve was not there this particular night, but their good friend Jeff was filling in. I appreciated this as many probably didn't know. The crowd just went nuts as Jeff sounded great and looked good fronting this band. He was obviously thankful for the fans making this the best summer of his life. Ask The Lonely was followed by my favorite Journey tune, Stone In Love. These guys really cranked it up this night and I'm sure they are doing it all tour since Def Leppard is following them. I'm glad they came out to rock. The set list is as follows:

National Anthem (Neal's solo)
Any Way You Want It
Ask The Lonely
Stone In Love (Cain on rhythm guitar)
Keep On Runnin' (Cain on rhythm guitar)
Who's Crying Now (Dean on lead vocals)
Chain Reaction
Lights (Added a progression of Wind Cries Mary to end the song.)
Jon's Keyboard Solo
Open Arms (Dean on lead vocals)
Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' (Cain on harmonica and lots of blues throughout.)
Wheel In The Sky (Cain on rhythm guitar)
Escape
Dead Or Alive
Faithfully (Dean on lead vocals)
Be Good To Yourself
Don't Stop Believin'
ENCORE
Separate Ways

Def Leppard came out with the full staging they haven't used in quite some time. They had the steps up the side leading to the walk in back of the drum riser. They used this on several occasions. The screen lit up with graphics that included live shots of them as well as album art in several spots. That digital screen looked sharp! The boys were in full force as the entire crowd seemed to stay and rock out to both bands. Def Leppard cranked things up from where Journey left it at Separate Ways. Def Leppard came out with Let's Get Rocked and went right into Make Love Like A Man. Over 15,000 people were singing along from the beginning. The set list is as follows:

Let's Get Rocked
Make Love Like A Man
Promises (My kids were glad to hear this as they grew up on Euphoria.)
Bringin' On The Heartbreak
Foolin'
Hysteria
No Matter What (Vivian sure can play some slide!)
Rock On (Featured Sav's bass solo intro.)
Rocket (Vivian and Phil traded licks at the end. I love a good guitar dual.)
Photograph (Ran right into the next tune...)
Armageddon It
Animal
Rock Of Ages
ENCORE
Love Bites
Pour Some Sugar On Me

After Hysteria, Joe introduced the new CD, YEAH!, and said to check it out for their true influences. The transitions from song to song were flawless and the run from Photograph right into Armageddon It was really a great rhythm turn. Joe kept getting the crowd fired up all night and had us all screaming before Rock Of Ages. When they came out for the encore, Sav thanked the crowd for their support and Joe later added how great it is that after all these years we are still turning out to see them. It really is true what he repeatedly says. We don't forget them and they won't forget us. This crowd hasn't forgotten either band and this sold out show is proof that this music will live on for generations.