Back in April I bought Chad tickets to the Journey/Heart/Cheap Trick concert and last night was finally the night. We got there a little early, got some drinks and popcorn, claimed our seats and there we stayed for nearly four hours as three of the greatest rock bands ever showed what a real concert is supposed to be. It was the first concert I have been to that was a true sing-along from start to finish. Nearly every song had the audience singing, you couldn’t help yourself. We had fairly awesome seats, to the left of the stage in the second section… close enough to see without the help of the large screens and out of reach of the rain clouds. And, as Jonathan Cain (songwriter/piano/keyboard/guitar for Journey) informed us we were the largest crowd ever at the Clark County Amphitheater. Way to make history Journey!Lights dim and here’s… Cheap Trick!
They started the show and played classics “We’re All Alright,” “I Want You To Want Me,” and “Surrender” among others. The guys were hilarious; Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist, kept throwing picks into the crowd after every song and then threw handfuls when the set was over. Not to mention the fact that he played a new guitar for every song; including a five-neck guitar. I didn’t have a camera on me but here he is playing it at an earlier concert stop:
Two of the guys from Journey made guest appearances during the set and sat in on a couple of songs including “Dream Police” during the encore. You could tell they have a great time backstage.
Next up… Heart!
Those women can ROCK! They played a ton of great songs including “Straight On,” “Magic Man,” “These Dreams,” “Barracuda,” "Crazy on You," “Never,” and covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” (one of Chad’s favorites) and The Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me” (one of my favorites) which was nothing short of incredible. The power of Ann’s voice is hard to put into words. Hearing her on the radio is one thing but hearing her live is something you will never forget. She is in a class all her own. And you can’t forget Nancy, jumping and dancing all over the stage while killing her guitar and rocked a harmonica solo during “Never”... Chad has a new crush. No joke, at the end of the night he got a Heart concert shirt and couldn’t stop talking about Nancy. So great.Unlike Cheap Trick who liked to talk between numbers, Heart just went from one hit into another and the crowd stayed on their feet the entire time. And when Heart left the stage with a standing ovation it wasn’t long before they came back out for a three-song encore.
If you have a chance to see them in concert, do it! I found some videos from this concert series on YouTube you can enjoy:
"Crazy On You":
"Never":
Finally the main attraction… Journey!
When their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda took the stage I held my breath. Could he pull off classic Journey? The answer is a resounding yes! He lights up the stage. I had heard great things about him but you still wonder. He delivers in a big way! He was flying all over the stage all night having the time of his life. It was infectious; you can tell the original band members really get a kick out of him and love the way he gets the audience pumped.
They played a number of songs from their new album and a bunch of favorites like "Any Way You Want It", “After All These Years,” "Faithfully", "Open Arms", “Lights,” "Separate Ways", "When You Love a Woman," "Wheel in the Sky," and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin’.” And who can forget the encore that included my favorite "Don't Stop Believing." Those of you out there that left a little early to beat the traffic you are losers. You never leave a concert until the house lights go on for that very reason. I would never forgive myself if I missed them playing "Don't Stop Believing." Check it out:
By the end of the night our ears were ringing and our throats hurt from singing so loud. We couldn’t have asked for a better show.
Here’s a nice People.com interview of Journey talking about how they found their new lead singer on YouTube:
Meet Journey's New Singer!
