Minneapolis, MN, USA - Media Reviews

Concert was eclectic mix of old-school fun By Benjamin Malakoff

I'll admit it - I was in the stands Tuesday night when Journey and Def Leppard took thousands of fans back to their glory days of the '70s and '80s. I belted out "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' " and "Rock of Ages" with the rest of them. I played air guitar to "Photograph" and watched Journey administer more "Bam!" moves than Emeril. Why? Because it was fun. I bought the tickets as a birthday present for my best friend.

Just to give you an idea about this guy - the band America and Neil Young populate his top-five tracks on iTunes.

Ready to rock - I shelled out some dough, we scarfed down some dinner and watched "the lights go down in the city," to quote Journey. Just a bit of history: Journey's original lead singer, Steve Perry, was replaced by another gentleman after Perry left the band. But that guy, who we'll call Lead Singer No. 2, the crowd was told, couldn't make it Tuesday night. "So we got lead singer No. 3?" I asked my friend. I'm not the hippest guy, but I'm well aware that those two bands are well past their primes.

Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" launched a slew of double entendres - in 1987. And Journey's greatest hits came out in 1990. That's 16 years ago - not exactly recent. Highlights - Let's recap: I was watching two bands full of fogies; I'm not even a huge Journey or Def Leppard fan (though, who hasn't rocked out to "Don't Stop Believing"?); my ears were graced not by Lead Singer No. 1 or No. 2, but No. 3; and I paid money for these tickets.

And it was worth it. I didn't go there exclusively for the music but for the experience and to live out my boyhood dreams of seeing these bands live. I went there to see Def Leppard's one-armed drummer deeply appreciate the arena's cheers and see Journey play the songs that I've heard mostly on oldies radio and in my high school art class (my teacher was a fan).

My friend and I, to at least add some laughs to the night, got hit on by some middle-age ladies in the row behind us - a definite highlight.

It wasn't the concert; it wasn't the songs; it wasn't the one-armed drummer; it wasn't the ladies; it wasn't recalling Def Leppard's VH1 "Behind the Music." It was fun because I called it the Def Journey concert, and because I saw two bands who were popular when I was learning my ABCs. The only bad part of the evening was driving home. Interstate Highway 94 westbound was closed for roadwork Tuesday night. The Minnesota Highway 55 to Minnesota Highway 15 route back to St. Cloud was not fun, and I don't recommend it. Not like a Journey and Def Leppard concert.

By St. Cloud Times 2006.

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