August 25, 2006: ... I Wanna Get Back to My City by the Baa-aay......

Concord, CA
Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord

... I wanna get back to my city by the baa-aay ...
 
WOW! Hometown crowd -- SOLD OUT! Or at least darned close to it. When we arrived at the Concord Pavilion (or whatever the heck they call it these days) we heard security at the box office repeating "The lawn is sold out." From my seat, looked like all the reserved seats were too -- 12,000 people! Woo hoo! Can't wait to see the crowd tomorrow night at Shoreline since I know as of a few days ago only lawn seats were available (22,000 capacity!)

The opening act -- Stoll Vaughn -- did his 15 minute set as before and both Jon and Ross came out to join him on his final song -- Jon on harmonica and Ross on a stand up electric bass.

Unlike my Denver experience the crowd was more evenly divided between Journey fans and Def Leppard fans -- okay, so it helps to be in the band's hometown (or thereabouts.)

I was really impressed by Jeff Scott Soto tonight. He sounded MUCH better than he did in Denver -- I was really amazed. I still think he's better suited for the rockers than the mid-tempo songs, but tonight they sounded closer to what I expect from a Journey show. Deen once again took the ballads and I was thrilled with that -- he has really done a great job of it.

The show started out with a few interesting moments -- Jon stepped on Ross's cord during "Stone in Love" and while Ross did not come unplugged, he was stuck trying to walk across the stage. Typical Ross just made goofy faces and pretended to try and drag Jon along. JSS had problems with his mic during "Keep on Runnin'," but it was quickly fixed.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear "Dead or Alive" tonight -- that song is just so darned FAST and Neal's fingers were just FLYING! :eek: There was a great shot of Ross goofing off during "Faithfully" ("we all need clowns...") When the guys came back out for the encore, Neal was cordless and racing all along the stage! Guess the DL guys are rubbing off a little!

Def Leppard's set tonight was also improved from Denver -- I could actually hear the vocals! Still gotta learn all the words though -- I keep missing parts of the verses.

Set Lists:

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 (WOO HOO! Great crowd!)
-- Jon solo --
Open Arms -- Deen vox
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Escape
Dead or Alive
Jon mini-solo
Faithfully -- Deen vox
Don't Stop Believin'
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Separate Ways

Def Leppard
(for those who haven't seen a show yet, though god knows it's late enough in the tour....)

Let's Get Rocked
Let it Rock
Promises
Bringing on the Heartbreak
Foolin'
Hysteria
--Happy Birthday to Vivian
20th Century Boy (new, cover)
bass solo
Rock On (new, cover)
Rocket
Photograph
Armageddon It
Animal
Rock of Ages

Encore:
Love Bites
Pour Some Sugar on Me