"Oh Perry! Journey’s third-stringer Jeff Scott Soto. photo: Chris Neal"
"Don't stop believin'
Ever since their acrimonious split in 1998, it’s almost as if the members of JOURNEY have been determined to prove to former lead singer Steve Perry that anyone can do his job. First they replaced him with sound-alike Steve Augeri. Last year, they let each band member sing a track on their Generations album. And when a throat infection hit Augeri just as the group was gearing up for a summer tour with fellow ’80s hit-makers DEF LEPPARD—which arrived at Starwood Amphitheatre on Sunday—vocalist JEFF SCOTT SOTO was drafted to replace the replacement, at least temporarily. Then they handed vocal duties on several tunes in the show to drummer DEEN CASTRONOVO. Take that, Perry! The sold-out Starwood crowd didn’t seem to mind the last-minute switch too much. In fact, the surprisingly high-energy Journey set and the overwhelming heat left the audience perhaps a bit wrung out by the time headliners Def Leppard hit the stage. The Leps charged gamely through hit after hit nonetheless, barely stopping for breath, except when lead singer JOE ELLIOTT pointed out how “fucking hot” it indeed was. Alas, the group’s well-earned pre-encore bow was upstaged somewhat by the mass migration of the KEITH URBAN-NICOLE KIDMAN entourage toward the backstage area."
