Review: Journey, Def Leppard close out Stadium Rock Weekend with kinder, gentler, sweet sounds

On the fourth day of Stadium Rock Weekend in Minneapolis, they turned down the volume.

After two nights of pulverizing Metallica at U.S. Bank Stadium and one long evening of galvanizing Green Day at Target Field, it was a kinder and gentler — well, by comparison — but still beer-fueled marathon of classic rock on Monday with Def Leppard, Journey and Steve Miller Band at the Twins ballpark.

It was billed as the Summer Stadium Tour with its publicist insisting that the three Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are co-headliners and therefore do not call Miller “an opening act.”

Who’s on first?

The answer: the opening act. And Miller was on first with 63 minutes of pre-MTV hits that worked on both album-rock and Top 40 stations in the 1970s. Like the beloved novelty “The Joker” (it received the loudest and longest ovation Monday) and an epic and artful nine-minute rendition of “Fly Like an Eagle,” with Miller’s guitar soaring majestically.

Miller, 80, long the squarest looking dude in rock ‘n’ roll, is an underappreciated guitarist who infused jazz, Latin and space-age sounds into his expressive blues-rock solos.

The affable singer reminisced about last playing a Twin Cities stadium with the Eagles during a pouring rain in 1978 at the old Met in Bloomington. He mentioned that his grandfather was born in St. Paul, and he dedicated his closing “Jet Airliner” to Twin Cities musicians Billy, Ricky and Paul Peterson, each of whom played in Miller’s band at various times.

Speaking of dedication, Miller sent out 1982′s “Abracadabra,” his lone MTV sensation and last big hit, to Eminem, who sampled the song in his recent smash “Houdini.” Miller, the elder statesman on the tour, also thanked Joe Elliott of Def Leppard and Neal Schon of Journey for inviting him to join what he called a “transgeneration rock show” embracing the ‘60s (that’s when he started), ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

Who’s on second?

Celebrating its 51st anniversary, Journey is experiencing quite a trip. Once again. It’s an acrimonious, litigious situation between co-founder and guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist-since-1980 Jonathan Cain, each of whom is a co-manager of the band. They are feuding over finances. More specifically, Schon’s use of the band’s credit card.

There was a 2022 suit by Cain against Schon for the same reason that was dropped with an agreement “to move forward with prejudice.” Another suit was filed and last week Schon posted on Facebook that Cain “has created a very hostile work environment” for him, the band and crew.

Enough with the bickering. How was the music? Loud, slick and impactful, with plenty of speedy guitar runs by Schon, 70, whose playing was as skillful as it was emotional. The rich piano of Cain, 74, was prominent on ballads like “Faithfully.” Each co-leader was given an extended solo spotlight, with Schon’s including an interpolation of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

But the real show was singer Arnel Pineda, 56, plucked from a Journey tribute band in the Philippines 16 years ago. He emulated original lead singer Steve Perry’s adenoidal voice faithfully but more importantly, he was a kinetic, leaping frontman who effectively worked the wide stage and the W-shaped runway. He had all 35,000 fans singing along to “Don’t Stop Believin’” about a city boy “raised in the Twin Cities” (instead of South Detroit).

Cain, who donned a Twins jersey for the second half of the 93-minute set, saluted the Twins and their three World Series championships (he must be including the 1924 title when they were the Washington Senators, the original team of the franchise). And for those keeping score, Schon logged much more time than Cain on the giant video screens during Journey’s performance. The feuding pair spent the night on opposite sides of the stage, only getting together for an end-of-set bow, with Pineda between them.

Who’s on third?

Celebrating the 41st anniversary of its blockbuster “Pyromania” album, England’s Def Leppard reminded the crowd what glam metal is all about. Rumbling rhythms, chiming tandem guitars, harmony-heavy choruses, high-pitched lead vocals and flashy outfits (leopard pattern is never out of date in rock).

“Every band on the planet has been here this weekend,” frontman Joe Elliott, 65, declared early in the set. His ears must have been ringing, too.

Unlike Journey, Def Leppard has had the same lineup since 1992. The San Francisco-launched group didn’t even have the same lineup when it rocked Target Field with the Lepps in 2018. But on Monday, the Brits’ music felt more dated than nostalgic fun. The group lost momentum mid-set with Elliott doing a solo acoustic reading of “Two Steps Behind” and then delivering a downer by transforming the ‘80s rock favorite “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak” into an acoustic number, with an electric final chorus.

To the fans’ delight, Def Leppard recovered with a 1-2-3-4 lineup of hits at the end of its 90-minute segment — “Rock of Ages,” “Photograph,” “Hysteria” and “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” a sweet walk-off for Stadium Rock Weekend.