As always, when Def Leppard comes to Milwaukee, we go see them. This year they were at the Summerfest main stage with Journey. When tickets went on sale, I was able to manage to get some VIP reserved seats that ended up being in the third row. Going to Summerfest is getting to be quite an ordeal so I am not sure how much longer I am going to consider going, but here is my review of the show along with our ordeal getting there as well as leaving.
First, parking. Parking is ridiculous at Summerfest. Milwaukee does its best to push their shuttle bus service from the park and ride lots, but that ends up just making things a mess when it is time to leave at the end of the night. So I always just go ahead and pay the outrageous fee to park in a lot at Summerfest, or in a lot nearby. The parking permits in the lot to the south of the Main stage gate were all sold out (where we usually park), so I had to scramble around to find a different place to park. Luckily I was able to find a spot thru the parking links on the Summerfest website. When we got there, I managed to get lucky enough to get the first spot, right next to the entrance/exit, and they allowed me to back in so leaving at the end of the night would be pretty easy. But the lot ended up being about three or four blocks away. Not ideal, but it was the best we could do.
Our tickets were at will call so we had to go pick them up. That went pretty smoothly. Since they were VIP seats, we got vouchers to go to a table/counter where we got some sweet Def Leppard SWAG. Kris and I each got a Def Leppard tote bag, with a poster, limited edition photos from the band’s history, a Def Leppard luggage tag, passport holder, and a lanyard with our VIP credentials. Not too shabby.
We got there about 30 minutes early, so we had to stand around waiting for the gates to open. While in line, we found out that we got priority entrance into the venue to look over the t-shirts and other merch before everyone else got let in. Again, not too shabby. And while we waiting to ultimately be let into the amphitheater the sky started to get very dark. We got to go to our seats right before the sky opened up and started pouring. We totally dodged a bullet there. Kris would have had a fit if we would have gotten stuck in that downpour. Unfortunately, Alison was there with some friends to see someone on a side stage that same night and she did get stuck in the rain, since the side stages are not covered.
Things went pretty smooth from there. Since Journey and Def Leppard are both “headlining acts”, they switched off who opened and who closed every night. We found out that Def Leppard closed the show before so they were the opening act that night. That sucked, because I really wouldn’t have cared all the much to see Journey.
Def Leppard had a very good set and our seats were excellent. They came out to one of my favorite songs, Rocket. Awesome way to start the show. THen they did a couple other older songs from Hysteria and Pyromania, Animal and Foolin'. The fourth song was a song Kris and I had never seen them perform before, When Love and Hate Collide. I was glad that they decided to include this song in their set list. As far as power ballads go, this would be my favorite. I wish they would replace Loves Bites with this one as a staple going forward. Most of hte rest of the set were songs from Hysteria and Andrenalize, with Bringing on the Heartbreak and Switch 625 from High -N- Dry. They did play another song, Man Enough, from their 2015 self-titled release, that we had never seen them perform before. So overall, their set gets an A. They usually bring great energy and enthusiasm for playing, and this was no different. The only complaint is the same one I always make, I wish they would do a longer set, and include some more songs that don't normally get played. They put out new records, and then they select one song (if any at all) from the new record to perform. But that is a small complaint, and they didn't disappoint.
Journey wasn’t too bad. But in my opinion, I felt like they were mailing it in. Personally, I don’t think Ross Vallory is a great bass player, and Neal Schon is sort of a knob. Their new (can you call him new if he has been with them for a decade?) singer was very good. How they came out to start playing was very bizarre. The “house music” that was playing was a version of the Police’s Synchronicty II. Then right before the show started, the video screen started showing the song, and it turns out it was Journey playing/singing it. It was actually very good, and I found out later it is for a special, benefit record. But as it was playing, The band started coming out, and then they stood around as if they were waiting for the video/song to end, or more like someone was supposed to have cut the video. Or maybe they came out too early? Whatever the reason, it was weird to see how they came out. Overall, there set gets a B I think. I wasn’t blown away, and it was pretty much what I expected.
Now for some stories…
Or seats were in the third row overall, but we were right on the end of the aisle. There was one seat next to us, And I thought it was weird that there would be a single open seat. I went to get something to eat and a beer and when I got back, there was a lady sitting in the seat next to Kris and they were making small talk. After the show, she told me all about this woman, and she was a little bit nuts. She was 54 years old, and was a total Journey groupie. She told Kris that she bought the seat for herself and that her husband was sitting someplace way up in the cheap seats. Which I thought was very strange. I don’t know if I would ever take Kris to a concert, and then not sit with her. Next, she was telling Kris all sorts of Journey facts, and pointing out people backstage… “oh look, there is Neal’s wife. She is wearing her hair different, she never wears her hair that way…” Then she was telling Kris all about how she had met the band once before at a meet and greet, and it sounded like she totally thought the band knew who she was. And she was waving at Arnel and telling Kris how he looked right at her, they made a connection. CRAY-ZEEEEE!!!!
Getting out at the end of the night was also an ordeal. We thought we might try and find Ali and her friend so they didn’t have to take the shuttle back to the park and ride. Since the lot we parked in was off the street the lead into the main, center entrance to the park, we thought we would walk to that gate and the show Ali was going to watch was on the way. That was a big mistake. We found out that they had already left, but before we did, we got stuck in a mass push of people moving to the north end of the park. Then we had to deal with totally drunk, teenaged to early twenties kids, all half-dressed (that is boys, and girls by the way). And it just so happened that two of the other shows on the side stages ended at the same time as we were moving to the main gate, it was just a hot, sweaty mass of people (it was still about 80 degrees and the rain made as humid as a tropical jungle… maybe the humidity just made it seem that hot). We saw a few almost fights on our way to the gate, and thank god we didn’t take the shuttle because we would have been stuck waiting for a bus for at least an hour. Once we got to the car, we managed to get out of the lot and out of the third ward in about 15-20 minutes. It was one of the fastest exits I have ever made from Summerfest.
To summarize the night… Parking – OK, Def Leppard – Excellent, Journey- Meh, Summerfest, way too crowded, not good. maybe I just need to go on nights when there aren’t crappy, dance music acts that attract all the millennials.
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