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July 31, 2024

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Three Hall of Fame bands, Cheap Trick, Journey and Def Leppard rocked 30,000 fans at Progressive Field last night.  All three bands were inducted between 2010-2019 and to their credit, all proved that their induction was worthy and while still going strong.

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The first act to hit the stage was Cheap Trick.   The Rockford, Illinois outfit is still three-fourths original as guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Patterson and singer Robin Zander are still out front rocking.  Nielsen's son Daxx has been behind the kit for more than a decade and Zander's son, Robin Taylor Zander plays rhythm guitar and helps out on backing vocals.

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The band is still extremely tight and Zander's voice is on point.  Their hour set consisted of mostly hits like "Dream Police," "If You Want My Love," "She's Tight" and "I Want You To Want Me."  There were a few deep cuts thrown in like "He's A Whore," and "Downed" which featured RT Zander on lead vocals.​

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Next up was Journey.  Neel Schon and Jonathan Cain led the group through a litney of the bands extensive catalog.  The crowd was on its feet when the opening chords of "Only The Young" blared through the sound system.  Fans had to dodge some rain during the first two songs, but luckily it stopped and it turned into an absolutely perfect night in Cleveland.

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Most of the songs you would expect to hear from Journey were played.  "Stone In Love," "Be Good To Yourself," "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" and the power ballads "Faithfully" and "Open Arms" were played to perfection.

 

Arnel Pineda is still proving that he was a perfect replacement for long time vocalist Steve Perry.  Actually, Pineda has been in the band than Perry was.  Drummer Deen Castronovo was skillful behind the skins but really impressed with his lead vocals on "Lights."

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Their set closed with the most popular/downloaded song of all time, "Don't Stop Believin'" and the huge sing-a-long, "Any Way You Want It."

 

Def Leppard closed out the trifecta of rock bands by celebrating the 40th (actually the  41st) anniversary of their landmark album Pyromania.  Kicking off their set was "Rock Rock (Till You Drop)" which set the tone for the evening.

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Several other deep cuts were played from that album, many of which had not been played in years such as "Billy's Got A Gun," "Die Hard The Hunter" and "Too Late For Love."  Long time fans were in heaven hearing those songs played live, perhaps for the first time.

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Of course, a good serving of Hysteria songs were also in the set.  "Rocket," "Animal" and the bands only number one single, "Love Bites" were sprinkled in the set.

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Towards the end of the main set, Elliott made his way to the end of the catwalk, and began playing "Cleveland Rocks" on his acoustic guitar.  He told the audience that he was seeing Ian Hunter in a few days and was going to tell him the Cleveland crowd was loud.  He then went into "Two Steps Behind" by himself and was later joined by Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen to play "This Guitar."  The trio then started an acoustic version of "Bringing On The Heartbreak" before the two guitarists traded their acoustics for electrics to rock out on the ending of the tune.

 

Two more Pyromania tunes, "Rock Of Ages" and "Photograph" closed out the main set.

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The band from Sheffield, England returned to play two Hysteria era tunes, "Hysteria" and the anthem, "Pour Some Sugar On Me" thus ending a fantastic evening of classic rock by three Hall of Fame artists.

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Photos and review by Greg Drugan

 

 

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