Concord, CA - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Gina

Wow! What a night!!! My only regret - forgetting the camera... I missed the opening act because I was stuck in the t-shirt line, but got back to my seat just in time for Journey to come on. We were in the lower level and had a pretty decent view of the stage. The usher at the top of our section was a friendly type and mentioned that the show had sold out (which was really encouraging) and mentioned that he had been watching the Leps rehearse earlier and that they were, and I quote, "on fire!!"

Now I do like Journey, but have not paid much attention to them since Steve Perry left. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but had been encouraged by reports of Jeff Scott Soto’s performances thus far. They put on a great show!! I really liked Jeff Scott Soto - I thought he sounded very good. It was interesting having the drummer sing the hit ballads, but he sang them well. The crowd was really into Journey. In fact when the drummer was singing the famous ballads such as Open Arms and Faithfully, I swear just about every person in the venue (man and woman alike) had their arm in the air swaying back and forth. In fact at one point I was a little worried this might be a crowd made up of mainly Journey fans.

Well, that theory went out the window as soon as the boys hit the stage!!! It was a performance to remember!! The energy in the venue - between Def Leppard on the stage and the crowd gathered to watch - it was amazing!! They sounded and looked incredible!! I loved the stage set-up which they made good use of. Especially Sav! You couldn’t nail him down even if you tried. Sav was all over the place - up and down the stairs, running across the stage and the bass solo was fantastic!! Joe was his usual self - commanding the stage and working the crowd. Since he’s my favorite I have to say that he looked especially good that evening!! I wasn’t sure what to expect vocals-wise as they’ve been on the road for awhile. Most people have been reporting that Joe’s voice has been strong and that held true for Friday night as well. There were a couple of times where a word was dropped here or there at the end of a note, but he continued to sound strong song after song. Joe sounded particularly strong on Hysteria. And you should have heard the audience when he held the long note (head...) in Photograph - I don’t think I have heard him hold it quite so strongly before and the crowd showed their appreciation!!

I was so pleased to hear 20th Century Boy. I was hoping they’d perform it as it’s now the second single off of YEAH and I was thrilled when they did. I do like their recorded version, but my god, it is a fantastic song live!! It was loud and energetic and they made it their own!! Rock On was amazing of course! But, I have to say besides 20th Century Boy, one of the biggest highlights of the show was Rocket. Wow! I’ve seen them do Rocket live before, but there was something about it that night that was particularly special. The video to go along with it was perfect!!

A few final thoughts... I was wondering if Joe would mention anything about Vivian’s birthday and sure enough he did. Joe brought Vivian center stage and had him stand there while the audience sang him Happy Birthday - not sure how Viv felt about it, but we had fun!!! Phil, bless him began the show shirtless, so you could have knocked me over a feather when later in the show he was suddenly fully clothed!! At one point, can’t remember which song they were singing, but Phil had on a white dress shirt and black blazer like jacket. As is customary, Joe at one point introduced Rick and the crowd gave him an extra warm reception I thought. And, of course, Rick had that famous and infectious grin on his face the entire show.

Overall, the show was tight and well executed. The sound was just right I thought and the energy was good both on stage and from the crowd. The Lepps were hot – or as the usher had said earlier "on fire." It was an amazing show overall. The crowd was into both bands, but I think the boys brought the house down!! Definitely a show to remember!!.

Fan Review - By Lisa

After our flight from LAX being cancelled and us getting onto another flight just in time we made it to the VIP preshow party. We had the VIP room open to us all night. They had a small buffet set up with an open bar. Journey came out for group pix. No Lepps. :(

Our tickets were 3rd row. It is awesome being so close to the band. They came out to the Hellraiser scream then launched into Let's Get Rocked. It really seemed like it took a good 2 or 3 songs before the band and audience were sufficiently pumped. 2nd row was empty until then. It was a nice treat to hear 20th Century Boy. That's a great song live. I did feel like there were too may slow songs played. I could do without Foolin. The guys looked fantastic!

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