Journey/Def Leppard pour on the guitars
Two of the biggest rock bands of the '80s performed at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain on Friday before a ready-to-party crowd of 10,500. And though the perception might be that the two groups are quite different stylistically, the show revealed, surprisingly, that they might not be as far apart as one might think.
Journey and Def Leppard, quite simply, are both very good, guitar-driven rock bands with a super gift for melody. Put 'em on the same stage on the same night, and you've got yourself almost three hours of pop and rock classics.
America's Journey – considered by most to be the softer of the two – actually rocked pretty hard during most of its set. Guitarist Neal Schon, one of rock's finest players, gave a chunky kick to tunes such as "Be Good To Yourself," "Wheel In The Sky, "Chain Reaction" and "Lights" while the rest of the band also played more like a hard-hitting unit than a band best known for prom songs.