Journey, Def Leppard, and The Pretenders: Live

Batter Up!  Wrigley Field rocked hard with Journey, Def Leppard, and special guest The Pretenders.

Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL, USA, July 14, 2018

Review and Photos by Anita Maree

 

On a hot summer night, the iconic Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, saw thousands of fans trickle in to get their seats to hear three giants of music. “The

Friendly Confines” was buzzing with excitement when Chrissie Hynde walked on stage with her band to perform a series of solid hit songs. Wearing over the knee black boots she grabbed her guitar and performed 10 songs during The Pretenders 45-minute set.  Some of the songs performed included their huge hits like “Back on the Chain Gang”, “My City Was Gone”, “I’ll Stand By You,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” and “Talk of the Town,” She concluded with “Middle of the Road.”  The Pretenders formed in London back in 1979 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 2005. Give credit to Chrissie, she was sharp with her recognizable powerhouse vocals and each song sounding better than the actual album versions.  A+ for the night!

Then with a snap of the finger, the San Francisco formed the band back in 1973 took the stage.  Journey, one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time has sold (see photo from the night)

over 75 million records. While some of the members have changed over the years they are still as solid as ever. With Jonathan Cain’s intro on keys, the bandemerged playing their mega-hit “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”.  The band consists of lead guitarist Neal Schon – who is an original member – bass player and also original member Ross Valory, drummer Steve Smith, and leading vocals since 2007 is Arnel Pineda.  The band performed hit after hit including “Be Good To Yourself,” “Escape,” “Lights,” “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin”, and “Open Arms.”  Jonathan Cain told the audience how excited he was to be playing in Wrigley Field. As a boy, he would come to the park to watch the Cubbies play.  Little did he know that sitting in the crowd singing to their hits was Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.  Both Arnel and Jonathan later came out singing with Cubs jersey’s on.  Thumbs way up for lead singer Arnel, who takes each song and delivers them with such real passion.  Also, to note, his energy on stage is outrageous – from running back and forth to the sides of the stage then leaping sky high. I feel like I am getting a work out just watching him.  Journey also performed “Wheel in the Sky,” “Faithfully” and they ended with confetti shooting out to the crowd during “Don’t Stop Believin.” During the night drummer, Smith gave the crowd a monstrous drum solo while Cain taunted on keys with fragments from other Journey smash hits including “When You Love a Woman.”, “Send Her My Love,” and “Who’s Crying Now.” Just an incredible show by this incredible band.

 

Finally, the 30-minute countdown started for the final rock show of the night. As the crowd counted down the stage lit up for the English rock band Def Leppard. As

lead singer Joe Elliott took stage he seemed pumped and so was the crowd.  The band launched into “Rocket” followed by “Animal,” and “Foolin.” The band also consists of guitarist Phil Collen, bassist Rick Savage, drummer Rick Allen, and guitarist Vivian Campbell. The rock harmonies from the band were simply the finest. Other songs performed included David Essex’s “Rock On,” “Hysteria,” “Two Steps Behind,” and they ended the night with encore songs “Rock of Ages,” and “Photograph.”  Def Leppard is one of the greatest selling bands of all time and here is hoping they get the induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon.

 

 

Chicago had a party – and they inhaled each and every minute of it. The night was secured with three sensational bands.  Rock on!

Journey photos

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