Journey, Foreigner, Night Ranger - Darien Lake PAC, Darien, NY - Aug 10, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 6:22AM 
Review/photos by John Jeffrey
Darien, NY - On Wednesday night, August 10th, Journey, and fellow rock legends - Foreigner and Night Ranger, performed to a huge crowd at Darien Lake's PAC. The running joke amongst quite a few of the attendees seemed to be which group had more 'scab' (replacement) members (Foreigner wins that dubious award, as Mick Jones is the only original member in the current lineup).
Night Ranger opened the show with a strong 35 minute set. Starting things out with "Lay It On Me" (from their 2011 CD release, "Somewhere In California"), Night Ranger set the stage for what was to be a great night of Rock and Roll. The remainder of their short, 7 song set contained all of their hits, plus the addition of the song, "High Enough" by the Damn Yankees (Jake Blades 'side band' featuring Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw from Styx). The highlight of their set was when they performed the monster ballad, "Sister Christian," which featured drummer, Kelly Keagy, coming out from behind his drum set, to take the lead vocal spot. The fans loved it and got them primed for the rest of the evening.
With Foreigner coming up next, I really didn't know what to expect from them. I've heard over the past fewyears that Mick Jones has hand picked some of the best hard rock musicians in the biz, in order to assemble a new, youthful version of the band. Recruiting Jeff Pilson from Dokken on bass, and at different points, having Jason Bonham and Brian Tichy on drums, it seemed as though it was a super group in the making. However, the one member I was not convinced by, was Kelly Hansen (ex-Hurricane) replacing legendary vocalist, Lou Gramm. I have to say, after their first song, "Double Vision," I was completely sold. Kelly Hansen can not only replicate all of Lou Gramm's vocals perfectly, but visually, he looks like a young Steven Tyler, with an amazing stage presence. During the group's hour long performance, Hansen made his way through the crowd twice, with the audience showering him with love, and showing their approval of this generation's Foreigner singer. Without a doubt, Foreigner stole the show, with a set filled with nothing but hits, played to near perfection.
Journey hit the stage at 9:30 pm, and came out of the gates strong with "Separate Ways." They really seemed to kill all momentum by following up the classic opener by playing 3 newer songs, which most of the non-diehards were not familiar with. They got back on track with "Stone In Love," and with the exception of "Be Good to Yourself" and "Edge of the Moment" (from their 2011 Walmart exclusive CD, "Eclipse"), they stuck with only hits for the remainder of the show. Arnel Pineda, their Filipino (mini) Steve Perry vocal clone, is THE star of the band. While lead guitarist Neil Schon is a legend in his own right, the energy and the way Pineda commands the stage, could not be matched by any of the Journey veterans. Even with all of Schon's incessant soloing, the viewer's focal point always went back to Arnel. The crowd ate up all of the hits, and of course, all of the female fans loved the ballads. I don't know if playing 5 newer songs in a 15 song set is too many, but perhaps the song placement could have been better. I can't put my finger on it, but the flow of their show seemed slightly off, giving Foreigner the edge in my book.
The combination of these 3 great bands on one bill, could easily be touted as 'the tour' of the summer. While Journey will continue to tour and do well with their revamped lineup, this bill solidifies the fact that only good things continue to lie ahead for Night Ranger and Foreigner as well.
Journey Setlist
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Ask the Lonely
City of Hope
Only the Young
Stone in Love
Edge of the Moment
Lights
Who's Crying Now
Wheel in the Sky
Open Arms
Be Good to Yourself
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
Encore:
Any Way You Want It
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Thomas