August 15, 2006: Red Rock Rocks!

Morrison, CO
Red Rocks Amphitheater

Okay, it's August. Journey's been on tour since June. Tonight was my first show of the season. Very weird for me! I mean, it's been TEN MONTHS since my last show... what the heck??!!!

I've been wanting to see a show at Red Rocks since... well... pretty much since seeing the U2 video way back in high school. So, when this show was announced I sent an email to my old high school friend Ana Gloria (my closet Journey fan friend) who's moved to Golden .... "So, how do ya feel about Def Leppard?" and invited myself for a visit. (Ain't old friends great!)

Red Rocks really is a gorgeous place to see a show, but damn, the elevation is BRUTAL. After nearly killing ourselves walking up to the amphitheater from the parking lot we had to walk all the way to the top of the amphitheater to find the rest rooms before walking back DOWN to our seats. I was thinking I would be totally exhausted BEFORE the show even started! Shew!

We took our seats in the 14th row and caught our breath during the opening act. (Alas, never quite caught his name.) He was pretty good and played for about 15 minutes with Jon joining him on harmonica at the end. He left the stage and a short while later, Neal comes out while the pre-show music is still playing and launched in to the Star Spangled Banner. The rest of the band came out and kicked in to "Stone in Love," and that's when I noticed something different -- Deen wasn't behind the kit! ACK! His tech was playing. My heart, still racing a bit from the hike up to the show, beat faster -- first no Steve, now no Deen?! Oh man, this was gonna take some getting through. After they finished Jon introduced Jim and said that Deen was sick. Of course, he then neglected to introduce Jeff! Oddly enough, no one seemed to notice.

Going in to the show, I wasn't really sure how I'd react to Jeff Scott Soto. I knew he was a great performer from having seen the Soul SirkUS show, so I wasn't worried at all about his stage presence. I WAS worried about what his voice would sound like. All in all... not bad. He's definitely more suited to the rockers like "Stone in Love," "Edge of the Blade," "Chain Reaction," and "Escape." The more mid-tempo tunes -- just didn't do it for me. They were generally too low and just didn't sound right, though the rest of the band was tight. Ultimately, someone named Steve needs to be singing them.

The show progressed and during "Keep on Runnin'" I saw Deen walk out behind the drum kit and start playing with his drumsticks behind Jim on the kit. When the song was over, Deen took his place on the drums! Woo HOO! The band launched into a fantastic version of "Edge of the Blade." JSS was great on this tune and he really added some energy to the band tonight.

EOTB was followed by "Who's Crying Now" with Deen taking the vocal. The start of the song sounded a bit off key all around, which even Ana Gloria noticed, but everyone righted themselves quickly and it brought tears to my eyes.

As always, "Lights" was a bit of home away from home and a special moment to share with a very dear friend that I've known for nearly 25 years. You can't beat friends who've known you that long and that well and getting time to spend with them when you live in different states is very precious.

JSS just oozed sexiness during "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" -- he's very well suited to the blues. Deen got to sing a couple more times, and by the time he got to "Faithfully" he was sounding a little scratchy -- whether it was being sick, the elevation (truly brutal on the voice -- my throat is raw from singing along) or a combination of both who knows, but he did a really good job even exhorting the crowd to sing along!

The sold-out crowd was incredible all night and on their feet for the entire Journey set (way to go Denver!) but even before Def Leppard took the stage, it was apparent that it was more of a Leppard crowd. When DL took the stage, they went nuts.

It's easy to see why a lot of people are saying Journey is the opener for Def Leppard -- though the show is billed as a co-headliner and both bands play the same amount of time, DL's stage production blew Journey's away. Add in the crowd, and yeah, it makes sense that few think of this as a co-headlining tour.

I've been excited about this tour since it was announced as I enjoy both bands, and DL put on a great show. Alas, Joe Elliott's voice was really low in the mix and I could barely hear him on most of the songs. And damn, I keep feeling old at concerts now. Last year it was Journey showing clips from Frontiers and Beyond reminding me how time has passed. This year it was DL using various video clips and photographs of the band in the Pyromania/Hysteria era to remind me just how much time has passed.

All in all, a fun show and it FINALLY feels like summer to me. A week off for me until the band gets back to the Bay Area.... See you all then!

Set List:

Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
Wheel in the Sky
Keep on Runnin'
Edge of the Blade
Who's Crying Now -- Deen vox
Chain Reaction
Lights
-- Jon solo --
Open Arms -- Deen vox
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Escape
Jon mini-solo
Faithfully -- Deen vox
Don't Stop Believin'
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Separate Ways