Scranton, PA, USA - Media Reviews

Journey, Def Leppard rock Montage Mountain By Amy Bugno

Despite this week's wet weather, the rain held off just long enough for 10,500 people to rock out at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain on Friday night, with generations of fans gathering to enjoy the classic rock sounds of Journey and Def Leppard.

Journey kicked off the night at 7:50 with a new high-energy tune including the typical Journey elements of electrifying guitar solos and pounding drum beats.

As the night wore on, Journey mixed old favorites like "Be Good to Yourself" and "Wheel in the Sky" with more unfamiliar recent songs. Although a few diehard fans scattered throughout the crowd sang and danced with lead singer Steve Augeri, an undertone of disappointment spread through the Pavilion. Unfortunately, although their names sound similar, there was no mistaking Augeri for rock legend and former Journey frontman Steve Perry. It took one of the band's more mellow hits, "Faithfully," to get the crowd on its feet an hour into the show. Fans were finally able to experience the emotion of a true rock concert for the last three songs in the set, when they drowned out Augeri's vocals with their own vocals on "Don't Stop Believin'," "Separate Ways" and an encore of "Any Way You Want It." The performance ended on a good note, with the band bowing together at center stage and drummer Dean Castronovo throwing his drumsticks to a few lucky fans.

Taking the stage around 9:45 p.m., Def Leppard significantly livened up the proceedings with an intricate, revved-up performance that mixed classics like "Foolin'," "Hysteria" and "Photograph," with well-known cover songs from their latest album, "Yeah!"

By The Citizen's Voice 2006.

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Rock 101: Def Leppard Schools Journey By Gene Padden

While it's been 27 years since Def Leppard's first recording, watching the band rock the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain Friday night, you couldn't help but shake your head. A countrified Bon Jovi not withstanding, Def Leppard is schooling every single band of its heyday.

And, the guys know what's up. Near the one-hour mark of their torrid, greatest hits-heavy set, singer Joe Elliott paused to deliver one of the most sincere "thank you" passages of any band we've ever heard on the mountain.

"We've been following what's been going on around here and we didn't think anyone was going to come out tonight. We thought you all had more important things to do than to come and see a rock 'n' roll show. We're all here, and we're going to try and make everybody happy for a little bit."

This was a damp Northeastern Pennsylvania crowd that had spent the past few days watching a river swallow entire towns, but tired it was not. It needed a release, and Def Leppard provided it.

This crowd stood for Def Leppard's entire set, and sadly, it was a stark contrast to Journey's opening set, which can be described as dismal at best.

By night's end, it was obvious that Def Leppard had come to rock, while Journey had come to get paid. DL looked and sounded even better than its prior visit to Wilkes-Barre not six months ago, and it added updated song and video selection to its show.

As for Journey, Cain told us in a recent interview (posted on this site) that Journey has a legacy to protect, and like a knight at the round table, he steps on stage with his sword drawn to play the songs people paid to hear.

On this night, DL was the band with swords drawn to protect its legacy, and Journey? Well, guys, next time you ride into town on your white horse, swords drawn in the name of rock 'n' roll, you better have Sir Perry leading the charge.

By Electric City 2006.

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