Journey and Def Leppard concert

Last night I went to a Journey / Def Leppard concert with my mom and had a good time watching two bands I have listened to a lot during my lifetime. The concert was at the Shoreline Ampetheatre in Mountain View with slightly cool weather. I've been a huge Journey fan for many years and have seen the band live about four times (twice with Steve Perry, twice without). Def Leppard I saw in 1988 at the Shoreline Ampetheatre. All of the shows I have seen with both bands have been great in the past.

The first person to sing was the opening act, a guy named Stoll Vaughn. He sounded a bit like Bruce Springsteen and performed with an acoustic guitar and harmonica. His songs had the folky heartland sound Springsteen had perfected a long time ago, but I found his performance enjoyable in that vein. He had a few other musicians join him for the last song before he left the stage.

Journey came out next, I was very interested in seeing this show to see their interim lead singer Jeff Scott Soto. The bands' current singer Steve Augeri developed medical problems which have placed his singing career in jeopardy. Soto, who had played with Journey members Neal Schon and Deen Castronovo in a short lived band called Soul Sirkus signed on as the temporary replacement.

Guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain opened their set with an instrumental of "Star Spangled Banner" with Schon's blazing guitarwork. After the patriotic intro, the set list I remember was:
Stone In Love - Ask The Lonely - Wheel In The Sky - Edge Of The Blade - Keep On Running- Who's Crying Now - Escape - Dead Or Alive - Open Arms - Chain Reaction - Lights - Any Way You Want It - Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin' - Faithfully - Don't Stop Believin'
Encore: Separate Ways

Journey started playing with about a fourth of the audience having not arrived yet, it seemed to be a very Def Leppard crowd. This may explain the set list, which has a heavy emphasis on the rock side of the band with minimal balladry. Neal Schon was on top of his game for most of the night and was creative with his guitar solos and fills, not content to simply repeat what is already on the albums. Keyboardist Jon Cain doubled on guitar for a few songs adding to the rock edge, even on the usually synthesizer driven "Chain Reaction". This was the first show I had heard "Edge Of The Blade" and "Dead Or Alive" live, so I was very into those songs.

But, the big question of the night was how would Jeff Scott Soto perform? The bits I had heard of Soto's voice before which sounded promising, but this would be the first time I had really seen or heard him. The end result? Sort of a mixed bag. In his favor, Soto's voice is more soulful and in line with Steve Perry's vocal style than recent singer Steve Augeri. This is important because Journey's music tends to sound a little stiff without that bit of soul interjected into it. Soto is also a showman, taking the opportunity to lead the audience in sing alongs or swaying arms whenever he could. He also interacted with all of the band members on stage and displayed constant energy with his dance moves.

In spite of these positive factors, Jeff Scott Soto had a few negative ones as well. What started as a plus is that Soto seems to know Journey's music intimately and was able to closely mimic Steve Perry's vocal style exactly as they are on the albums. I was impressed at first, but as the show wore on I started wishing he would add more of his own vocal style despite the obvious Perry influence. Soto's voice is a bit lower than Steve Perry's, which made it painful in some spots to watch him strain his voice to hit and sustain high notes. Some fans have talked about the songs being played in a lower key, but after seeing Soto struggle to hit those high notes I don't think that's likely. Hopefully, Soto won't blow his voice out trying to copy Perry as Augeri seems to have.

Another negative is Soto's stage presence. Jeff Scott Soto's shaggy appearance and poserish dance moves made me feel as if I had accidentally tuned in a rerun of Fame on my tv set. It wasn't that his performance seemed insincere, just a little overdone. I was surprised at how much appearance could play a factor in that because Augeri "looked" like Steve Perry, I found it easier to accept him as a new singer. Still, Jeff Scott Soto's stage style is actually closer to Perry than Augeri's in his constant shout outs to the audience for applause and sing alongs.

The final negative against against Jeff Scott Soto really isn't his fault, but on the three ballads drummer Deen Castronovo took over lead vocals. Deen Castronovo sounds more like Steve Perry than either Jeff Scott Soto or Steve Augeri. Castronovo has a naturally higher voice than either lead singer and also seemed raised on Perry's style. In many ways, Castronovo is the best Journey vocalist currently in the band. The problem this posed was that there wasn't one but two people emulating the Steve Perry vocal style in the same show. It gave the effect of watching 'Steve Perry Karaoke night" with a live band instead of an actual concert.

In the end, last night caught Journey in a state of flux. The band remains poised to deliver their greatest hits live to their fans, but have to keep switching singers in order to achieve this goal to the point it hurts their creative credibility. Hopefully, should Soto stick around, the band will drop their songs to a lower key to allow for more consistent vocals. Also, if they can remove some of the Fame dancer style from Soto's stage presence will help as well. Journey's segment was good, but I ultimately felt uninvolved from much of their set.

On the other hand, Def Leppard came in as the apparent headliners and delivered a fine set which included:

Let's Get Rocked - Let It Go - Rock Rock (Til You Drop) - Bringin On The Heartbreak - Hysteria - Foolin' - Twentieth Century Boy - Rock On - Rocket - Photograph / Armaggedon It / Animal - Rock Of Ages
Encore: Love Bites - Pour Some Sugar On Me (I assume because we left)

Def Leppard began their set standing on a classic metal stage with a black and yellow striped floor and steps surrounding a huge drum riser. The band had mics set up on top of their amps as well. True to their past, the band worked the stage like pros with the proper amount of movement and rock poses to drive their set. I got a big thrill out of hearing "Let It Go", one of my favorite Def Leppard songs. "Hysteria" reminded me of my wife as I had butchered the song singing it to her recently.

Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell still had "it" as they played off each others guitarwork. Collen is still one of the top "shred" guitarists around while Campbell displayed a blusier phrasing in his playing. Vocalist Joe Elliot's voice is a little shot, a shadow of what it once was. However, with the assistance of a lot of reverb on his voice Elliott was still able to have an impact. Actually, everyone had reverb on their voices because when the echo machine stopped during "Foolin" the dry voices sounded very unharmonious.

The audience was practically sold out during Def Leps set. The dueling guitars during "Rocket" was awesome! Also, the nonstop triple play of "Photograph/Armageddon It/Animal was fantastic. I enjoyed their set a lot and hope they are able to stay on a roll with their performances.