Def Leppard & Journey co-headlined a show at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Tx on August 14th, 2024 with support from Steve Miller Band on their Summer Stadium Tour!
Def Leppard are an English rock band originating from Sheffield, England and was formed in 1976. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist/occasional rhythm guitarist/keyboardist/pianist Joe Elliott, guitarist/backing vocalist Phil Collen, guitarist/backing vocalist Vivian Campbell, bassist/keyboardist/backing vocalist Rick Savage, and drummer/percussionist/backing vocalist Rick Allen. Founding members Joe Elliot and Rick Savage are the last remaining original members still performing live for the band.
Despite a 15-minute countdown to showtime (called the Pyro Clock), the band’s entrance wasn’t the best due to some technical difficulties. Def Leppard still riding high on the 40th anniversary of their iconic 1983 album “Pyromania”, opened their set to the intro track “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)”. Taking up nearly half of their set, this was the first track of seven from that album with “Foolin” following closely the song after the next.
Next up was four tracks off of their most known album “Hysteria“. “Rocket“, “Armageddon It“, “Animal“, and “Love Bites“. Only excluding two more songs performed from this release, this took up another huge portion of their setlist.
Immediately after was their latest single “Just Like 73“, which was released earlier this year featuring Tom Morello. This song was made for stadiums and harkens back to the earlier ’70’s hence the name.
Collen speaking about the new single:
“When I saw David Bowie on TV between 1972 and 1973, everything I thought I knew about music went from black and white to vivid technicolor. Our song ‘Just Like 73’ represents that awakening.”
Elliot added:
“It encapsulates a time that burned deep into our DNA. We wanted to celebrate that very important and glorious time.”
After three more songs from “Pyromania“, they segued into the acoustic segment of their performance. This included “Two Steps Behind“, “This Guitar“, and power ballad “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak“. These three songs were the first half of songs performed as part of the “Thrust Stage” portion. The second half included “Switch 625“, “Rock of Ages“, and last but certainly not least “Photograph“. This concluded their regular set.
Elliot speaking before performing “Two Steps Behind” solo:
“This is a fucking amazing place to play! It’s huge and you’re loud. How’s your singing voices? Are you up for a little singing? Well it’s just you and me, so let’s see how we do. If you know it sing it.”
Finishing off strong they encored with their two most played hits, both of which are from “Hysteria“. The first being the title track and the second obviously being “Pour Some Sugar on Me“. Two of rock’s most iconic and influential bands had finished this stop of the summer’s hottest co-headlining stadium tour!
“Houston, I will be your rocket! Thanks for a great night.”
Setlist:
- Gods of War (“Drastic Symphonies” version; countdown) (tape)
- Pyromania Intro (tape) (Audio did not play)
- Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) (Audio technical difficulties; drums and bass not heard the first two minutes)
- Rocket
- Foolin’
- Armageddon It (shortened ending version)
- Animal
- Love Bites
- Just Like ‘73
- Comin’ Under Fire
- Too Late for Love
- Die Hard the Hunter (with no second verse/chorus)
Thrust Stage:
- Two Steps Behind (Joe solo; short acoustic version)
- This Guitar (acoustic/electric version)
- Bringing On the Heartbreak (acoustic/electric version)
- Switch 625
- Rock of Ages
- Photograph
Encore:
- Hysteria (with extended outro)
- Pour Some Sugar On Me
Journey is an American rock band originating from San Francisco, California and was formed in 1973. Their current lineup consists of rhythm guitarist/keyboardist/pianist/backing vocalist Jonathan Cain, lead vocalist Arnel Pineda, keyboardist/backing and lead vocalist Jason Derlatka, bassist/backing vocalist Todd Jensen, drummer/backing and lead vocalist Deen Castronovo, and the last remaining original member Neal Schon.
Journey shared equal stage time with Def Leppard for this co-headlining performance. Their high-energy set was filled with hit after hit and garnered the most engagement from the audience! Original member Neal Schon and near original member Jonathan Cain led the performance, along with their charismatic lead singer Arnel Pineda.
Schon explaining how they found Pineda as the lead vocalist for Journey:
“I finally just took it in my own hands and I said I’m gonna go on the internet. I went on YouTube. After two days of searching and completely throwing my arms up, I stumbled upon one video of his. So I went ‘wow that’s a great sounding voice’.”
Despite the two longest standing members being locked in a bitter legal dispute after keyboardist Jonathan Cain accused lead guitarist Neil Schon of “exorbitant” spending, their performance was nothing short of spectacular with great chemistry. On the stage at least!
Opening with “Only the Young“, “Be Good To Yourself“, and “Stone In Love“, it was obvious we were about to witness a nostalgic live performance. The rock legends kept the same pace working through their greatest hits such as “Who’s Crying Now“, “Faithfully“, “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin‘”, “Open Arms“, and “Wheel in the Sky“.
Cain giving praise to Minute Maid Park and the Houston Astros while also changing to an official jersey later in the set:
“We’re honored to be in this iconic ball park. Home of an iconic ball team. Two World Series championships to prove it. Your Houston Astros. Glad to be here, thank you! Thank you for being here tonight.”
Cain dedicating “Faithfully to the U.S. Armed Forces:
“I’d like to share a song a wrote in 1982. It’s about the sacrifices that we make on the road. These days I get to thinking about some of the folks who are making sacrifices for the life they leave. That would be the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces. They sacrifice so much for our freedom around the world. So let’s send this song like a prayer and keep them out of harms way.”
Finishing off strong they played arguably four of their best hits. The first one being “Lights“, where Deen Castronovo took lead on vocals as the crowd illuminated the ball park with their cell phone lights. This was honestly my favorite part of their set. As I’m sure you could have guessed, the last three songs that were performed for their set were “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)“, “Don’t Stop Believin’“, and “Any Way You Want It“.
Pineda had the entire crowd singing “Just a small town girl. Livin’ in a lonely world. She took the midnight train going anywhere.”, then proceeded to change it up with “Just a city boy. Born and raised in Houston, Texas. He took the midnight train going anywhere!“.
“Houston we want to say thank you for all these years. We’re yours faithfully.”
Setlist:
- Only the Young
- Be Good to Yourself
- Guitar Solo
- Stone in Love
- Ask the Lonely
- Escape
- Who’s Crying Now
- Faithfully (Dedicated to U.S. Armed Forces)
- Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’
- Piano Solo
- Open Arms
- Line of Fire
- Dead or Alive
- Guitar Solo
- Wheel in the Sky
- Lights (Deen Castronovo on lead vocals)
- Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
- Don’t Stop Believin’
- Any Way You Want It
Steve Miller Band is an American rock band originating from San Francisco, California and was formed in 1966. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist/ guitarist/keyboardist Steve Miller, guitarist/backing vocalist Jacob Petersen, keyboardist/backing vocalist Joseph Wooten, bassist/backing vocalist Kenny Lee Lewis, and drummer Ron Wikso.
Steve Miller expressing his gratitude:
“You guys have been a great audience! Thank you for coming early and catching our set. I want to thank Neal and Journey. I want to thank Joe and Def Leppard for inviting us to be part of their generational gapping tour. This is a lot of fun playing here in a big room with you guys and I hope it sounds okay. Does it sound okay at the top? Well thank you mister sound man! That’s fantastic. Alright this one is especially for everybody up in the back row and at the top. It’s called “The Joker”!
Steve Miller dedicating “Jet Airliner”:
“I’m going to dedicate this to all those Texas guitar players up there.”
Setlist:
- Space Intro
- Swingtown
- Serenade
- The Stake
- Living in the U.S.A.
- Fly Like an. Eagle
- Abracadabra (Dedicated to Eminem)
- Rock’n Me
- Jungle Love
- Take the Money and Run
- The Joker
- Jet Airliner (Paul Peña cover) (Dedicated to Les Paul)
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