Journey/Pat Benatar/Loverboy Tour 2012
Woman in the Middle | July 25, 2012Eighties hit makers Journey, Pat Benatar, and Loverboy have teamed up for a tour bound to appeal to people my age, and people of all ages, really, who enjoy the hits of the 1980s. Last Saturday night Hubby, the girls and I went to San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino to see the three bands. It was the first night of their tour so in case they are coming your way I though I would let you know how it went.
Loverboy opened the show. Their hits catalog is not as deep as the other two acts but everyone around me seemed to enjoy them and when they did sing the two songs I was familiar with they sounded like they did back in the day. My only suggestion would be for someone to ANNOUNCE that Loverboy was hitting the stage. The only way the audience knew they started was because the piped in music cut off and they immediately started. It was a “What? Oh look, the concert has begun!” moment.
Next up was Pat Benatar and her husband/guitarist Neil Giraldo. Pat still sounds great even after over 30 years in the business. Her husband was great as usual on the guitar. Pat liked to talk to the audience and tell a few stories, and that really added to her set for me. The whole family rocked out and enjoyed hearing all of her classic hits.
The roadies really had to scramble to get the stage ready for Journey, the headlining act. I have to say that the stage changes went quickly between the acts. The stage set up for the first two acts was pretty simple, nothing too elaborate. The stage for Journey was more what you often see at a rock concert today with big screens that had various graphics depicted on them, depending on the song.
Journey has a new lead singer, Arnel Pineda , who was asked to join the Band after the lead singer most associated with their hits, Steve Perry, left the band, was asked to leave, or what ever happened in the crazy mixed up world of rock bands. He was actually found on UTube by Journey guitarist Neal Schon. Arnel was flown in from the Philippines, his native country, to try out for the band and the rest is history! He sounds remarkably like Steve Perry when singing the band’s well-known hits. Journey has a new album out with their new lead singer and they played several cuts off of it during the concert. The one I liked the most was City of Hope, which, I suppose, reminded me the most of the Journey songs we all know and love.
All and all a fun night with some nostalgia, a little new stuff, and a lot of good music!
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