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| Joe Elliott of Def Leppard @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Journey was the middle act of the big 3-headliner concert at Oracle Park on Wednesday, but they came out ready to own the night in their hometown. After Steve Miller Band had started the show with a terrific exploration of Miller’s catalog and before Def Leppard came out with a dazzling light and video show, Guitarist Neal Schon led Journey to the stage and immediately strode down the ramp from the stage and out to the crowd while wailing away on his guitar with a giant smile.
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| Neal Schon & Arnel Pineda of Journey @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Journey was in the middle of a stadium victory tour celebrating their 50th anniversary across this United States this summer and Fall, but from the energy and intensity they held all night, it seemed like they had Wednesday night circled on their calendar. They started off the night with 1985’s “Only the Young” and 1986’s “Be Good to Yourself” from the Raised on the Radio album. That tour would be the last one that saw then lead singer Steve Perry’s full-time participation before he left the band in early 1987 after their performance at the Bammies. Perry rejoined the band briefly to record 1996’s Trial by Fire, but his health issues canceled the reunion tour and eventually led to his exiting Journey. Arnel Pineda – found from video by Schon was brought in to audition and joined the band in December 2007. As keyboardist Jonathan Cain pointed out Wednesday, Pineda has now with the band for 16 years – three more than they enjoyed with Perry.
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| Arnel Pineda of Journey @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Pineda was in constant motion on Wednesday – leaping and high-fiving concertgoers as he and Schon took turns coming down the ramps and out to the crowd on the auxiliary stage. It’s often been pointed out how much he sounds like Perry, but his crowd-work is nonstop and his voice has really become that of Journey. Schon - starting the show in torn black jeans with a black leather motorcycle jacket and sunglasses – had a huge smile from his first opening notes. He was the most captivating figure beyond Pineda throughout the entire concert.
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| Journey @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Following the first two numbers, Schon took the first of his two featured solos of the night before he led the band into a hard-rocking version of “Stone in Love.” Arnel stretched out vocally on “Ask the Lonely” as Cain’s talents shined brightly on his large red piano. A speedy version of “Escape” was driven by drummer Deen Castronovo and bassist Todd Jensen. Cain’s piano and the keyboard work of Jason Derlatka brought forth the night’s first ballad with “Who’s Crying Now.” As the day moved to dusk, Schon now without his sunglasses, brought the song to a close as he delivered a shrieking solo as he made his way down the ramp under a solo spotlight.
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| Jonathan Cain of Journey @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“It’s an honor to be back on the same field as our iconic baseball team – the San Francisco Giants,” Cain told the crowd before dedicating “Faithfully” to US troops around the world. Following that ballad, the band cranked up the energy with a fun, singalong version of “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin,’” before Cain took an extended piano solo that led the band back to ballads with Cain and Pineda starting “Open Arms” with just the vocalist and the piano before the whole band joined in. Deeper tracks “Line of Fire” and “Dead or Alive” were delivered enthusiastically by the band – particularly Castronovo on drums - though many in the audience seemed to take the songs as a bit of respite in a hits-packed night.
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| Neal Schon of Journey @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Schon brought his Gibson out to the front of the stage to deliver a solo that morphed from a more traditional hard-rock style into the blues and then finally into a jazzy tribute that included a very loving interlude of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” as Tony Bennett’s face was projected on the screen behind the stage. Schon then transitioned into the distinctive guitar riff of “Wheel in the Sky” as Cain donned a #24 Giants jersey and played rhythm guitar for a song that saw a long jam break out in the middle.
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| Journey @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“San Francisco, it’s great to be home. I’d like to dedicate this to two people who I miss terribly. Herbie Herbert – someone I could really use right now,” Schon told the crowd in perhaps a thinly veiled reference to the much-publicized legal battle that has gone on between Cain and himself. “And Steve Perry,” he continued. “This is the second song we wrote together. It’s time to light this place up.”
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| Neal Schon of Journey @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Like Schon, drummer Deen Castronovo never stopped smiling and his grin was at its brightest when he took the lead vocal duties next on “Lights” while playing the drum kit. The longtime drummer’s voice was exceptional on the song as darkness had fully set in and the cell phone lights of the entire crowd were on display. From there the band blasted through three huge songs with “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” “Don’t Stop Believin’” and the final “Any Way You Want It.” The final song saw the band singing along at full-throat as Schon leaned into the final huge solo and then confetti cannons blasted streamers over the crowd. The band came down the ramp and took a collective bow to a screaming audience reaction.
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| Steve Miller @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Earlier in the day, Steve Miller Band came on promptly at 6 pm to start the night with an hourlong set packed with megahits from their career. It was my first time seeing Miller in concert and I had a couple revelations:
- Steve Miller Band has a much deeper treasure trove of songs that I knew and could sing along to than I expected (eight of the eleven songs on this night).
- The songs were surprisingly more rock-forward in concert than some of the more effect-heavy, amusing tunes I remembered from younger days. Songs like “Swingtown,” “Fly Like an Eagle” and “Jungle Love” were delivered with a harder rock edge.
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| Steve Miller Band @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“In 1982, Abracadabra was the number one record in the world,” Miller told the crowd. “Then it came back again. Thanks Marshall!” he said before dedicating the song to Marshall “Eminem” Mathers – who incorporated the song into his song “Houdini.” Miller, at 80 years old seemed to be winning any battle he’s had with Father Time. Dressed head to toe in black with his close-cropped, white hair shining up top, he stood at center stage under a hot sun for the entire sixty-minute set.
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| Steve Miller @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Rock’n Me” followed with the SF crowd responding lustily to the line “Northern California where the girls are warm.” He followed with “The Joker” that saw him playing the shiniest blue guitar anyone may have ever seen. The hit was met by loud and extended cheers that morphed into a standing ovation as Miller seemed to soak it all in.
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| Steve Miller Band @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Les Paul was my godfather…and taught me my first chords on guitar when I was four years old. San Francisco is really our home and it’s always great to come back here and play. I’d like to dedicate this one to Les Paul.” With that, the band finished with a rousing version of the guitar-classic “Jet Airliner” to finish “Peace. Love. Happiness. Take care of yourselves. Thank you San Francisco!” Milled said before leading the band down the ramp for a bow to the loud cheers of the adoring hometown crowd.
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| Def Leppard @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Def Leppard may have been the only band that was not from San Francisco, but that didn’t stop them from connecting with the crowd. Taking the stage to “Rock! Rock (Till You Drop)“ lead singer Joe Elliott and bassist Rick Savage headed down the ramp and spent a large percentage of their time on the front stage. Savage wore a headband mic that enabled him to roam non-stop while he provided background vocals throughout the performance. Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell made occasional visits to the front and side stage areas - including on their terrific solos during a blistering version of “Rocket” that was fueled drummer Ric Allen.
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| Def Leppard @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Good evening San Francisco!” How we doin’ out there?” Elliott asked the crowd. “Good to be here. Good to be back. So, what are we going to do tonight for you guys? Well, amongst this evening’s festivities we’re going to be celebrating an album that just went past its 40th birthday – Pyromania. The band then delivered a huge version of “Foolin’” - the night’s second song from that landmark album on an evening that would see them play seven of the album’s ten songs.
1987’s Hysteria sold 20 million copies and so it should come as no surprise that songs from that album were also heavily visited in the night’s setlist. Campbell provided the opening riffs of “Armegeddon It” before the band delivered a visually dazzling version of “Animal” with Elliott looking the ringmaster as he sang “The circus comes to town”. The hit ballad “Love Bites” followed – a song that had much more of anthemic nature when performed live than it had on the original album.
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| Rick Savage of Def Leppard @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Just Like ‘73” a new single that was released earlier this summer followed and was met by a healthy reaction from the crowd who sang along as the band poured their full energy and power into the new material. From there it was back to Pyromania with “Comin’ Under Fire,” “Too Late for Love” and “Die Hard the Hunter” (a song that Elliott recounted recently was written about the Rambo character in the movie “First Blood).
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| Def Leppard @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
From there, Elliott grabbed an acoustic guitar and headed out to the center of the thrust stage. “You’ve been very accommodating to this band for 44 years,” he told the Oracle Park crowd. “It’s going to just be you and me on this one.” He then performed a shortened solo acoustic version of “Two Steps Behind” before he was joined out on the extended stage by the rest of his bandmates to provide a full-band finish to “This Guitar” he had started solo.
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| Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Elliott, Collen and Campbell remained out on the thrust stage with acoustic guitars to begin a unique version of “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak.” What began as a delicate number - accented with Spanish-guitar influence and a stained-glass scene on the big screen above the stage - exploded a few minutes in when Elliott screamed the lyric “No” and the entire power of the electrified band kicked in to starkly contrast the song’s beginning. The musical “Switch 625” followed with Rick Allen taking a large drum solo.
A quick version of “Rock of Ages” had Elliott again out at the crowd and leading them in screaming the refrains of “I want rock ‘n’ roll” and “long live rock ‘n’ roll.” At the end of the song, the guitarists walked down the ramp together under the spotlight before launching into the beloved opening notes of “Photograph” as the screens took the audience through a video tour of the band’s historical scrapbook. Elliott raised his arms up to bring the main set to a close, and after a breather brought the band back out for a two-song encore.
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| Phil Collen of Def Leppard @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Thank you San Francisco. Thank you for sharing this amazing evening with us. Thanks for celebrating the 40th birthday of Pyromania with us. There was however another album,” he said leading to the “Hysteria” title track as Savage emerged sporting a Giants jersey under his bass strap. The song was morphed into a stadium-wide clap-along as Elliott served as a conductor of the crowd. Campbell and Collen once again took to the thrust stage to join Elliott to launch a triumphant finale of “Pour Some Sugar on Me” that had the crowd singing along at the top of their lungs.
“Amazing stuff, San Francisco. Thank you so much. It’s been a real pleasure as always,” Elliott said after the band had concluded their set. “Until next time….and there will be a next time! Till then, do us a big favor. Don’t forget us and we won’t forget you. Goodnight!” With that, Def Leppard sent many of the crowd home with no doubt less voice than they had arrived with after a great triple-headliner concert full of songs they all knew came to a close.
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