Moline Review

[Saint John]

I just got back in town from the Moline, Illinois show. I'll start with Journey. They came out with the SSB and Stone In Love. The place had 5-8 thousand people I'd say. The crowd seemed pretty into the show. The usual set list with Message Of Love and I'll Be Alright Without You being the two wildcards. These songs were performed VERY well. Unfortunately, MOL was not received well. It seemed that most people didn't know it. The crowd was a Def Leppard crowd. I'd say 70% to 30%. Edge Of The Blade was a beer/bathroom song. There was a mass exodus about 30 seconds into the song. NO audience participation whatsoever for this song. Jeff sounded great, moved all night and got some of the crowd into the show. He didn't stand still for a second. Deen's two songs were well received. He did an outstanding job with the ballads, as usual. Overall, Journey played very well. I didn't hear Jeff miss a note all night. The show could have been a bit louder, as could have the vocals. I'd give Journey a solid B for the show.
After a short break Def Leppard came on. The crowd was immediately into it. From the first song til the last one the crowd remained standing. Def Leppard was VERY good. I'd heard a lot about lipping and canned vocals but it sure seemed very live to me. Joe sounded great...and I mean great. Rock Of Ages, Foolin and Bringing On The Heartbreak were the 3 loudest songs of the night. You could really see Joe working his ass off on those songs. A few times you could hear him breathing a bit, but at least I knew it was live. He really shocked me. He didn't move a lot, but he sure nailed the songs.
As far as the entire show goes, it was well worth the money. Both bands were excellent. I would have to say it was Def Leppard's evening though. Having such a much larger crowd there for them made a difference. The electricity was just overwhelmingly in Def Leppard's favor. Their set was louder, their setup better, the crowd more into it for them and they were closer to replicating the original sound of their songs. Overall, it was a tremendous show. Journey really has to lose the screensaver background. It's almost embarrassing. Throwing a few bucks toward some pyro would be a really good idea too. It really got the crowd into it for DL even BEFORE they played a note. I'd go see these two together again in a second. I had a great time.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

"Edge of the Blade" was a beer/break song???? I'm actually shocked to hear that! I love that song!!

Glad to hear that you had a good time

[somethingtohide]

Hard to understand how someone could take a break during EOB or MOL. Not as familiar to the casual fan, sure, but still compelling. Guess like you said most were there for DL.

[roycap]

Journey - dump Message of Love & Edge of the Blade. Replace them with Higher Place and Be Good to Yourself. The crowd will go nuts.

[froy]

Journey - dump Message of Love & Edge of the Blade. Replace them with Higher Place and Be Good to Yourself. The crowd will go nuts.

While your at it Replace Jeff and Dean with Steve and Steve

[somethingtohide]

Journey - dump Message of Love & Edge of the Blade. Replace them with Higher Place and Be Good to Yourself. The crowd will go nuts.

Then I'd be going to get a beer.

Okay, I'd probably sit still for Higher Place.