Pics: Def Leppard & Journey at the XL Center

I took Sally to see Def Leppard and Journey last night at the XL Arena in Hartford.  We saw Def Leppard about a year ago at Mohegan Sun and had such a good time that we wanted to go again.  But we'd been on the fence because the show was on a Monday night, and the XL Arena is not, in all honesty, the nicest venue I've ever been to.

After what has felt like a month of rain, yesterday was gorgeous.
Took this shot on my way down to the Hudson Greenway to memorialize the weather.

But Sally really wanted to go.  So I got tickets for her for Mother's Day, and we trekked up there last night, leaving our daughter Hannah in charge of the house.

Would she burn it to the ground?

Only time would tell.

The drive was pretty easy.  Hartford is only about an hour from our place, and though there was plenty of traffic, it was mostly going the other direction.  We got into the city and parked by maybe 5:15 pm then walked over to a local BBQ place for some pregame beer and food.  I honestly don't remember what we had, but it was fun.

Wound up walking maybe half a mile to the XL Center from dinner.  Sally got a t-shirt, and then we headed to our seats.

Concert t-shirt.  Not any cheaper than you remember from back in the day.

These are specific to this year's tour.  Last night was the first of 60 gigs.

The XL Arena

If you haven't seen Def Leppard lately, they are an efficient rocking machine.  They hit the stage at exactly 7:30, rocked the house for precisely ninety minutes, and left frenetically energized crowd in their wake.  Those guys are really great.  I mean, they have this down to a science.

They've also been touring for forty years!  So imagine Taylor Swift.  Now imagine her packing arenas in 2048.  That's where Def Leppard is today.  It's really amazing.  

And oh by the way, they're still putting out albums.  They maybe don't get the kind of airplay they once did, but they mix in some new stuff with their current set list, and it absolutely works.

From my Instagram account

From "Are You Man Enough," which is a newbie but a goodie.

Journey hit the stage about thirty minutes after Def Leppard knocked off.  From what I understand, they're co-headliners, and they're going to alternate closing nights.  And honestly, we were a little concerned about how Journey would look after seeing Def Leppard bring down the house, but...

Y’know, you don’t appreciate a band like Journey until you see them in concert. Every song is a #1 hit that you could’ve heard on the radio last week, & your kids would be like, “Hey Dad, turn that up. I like this song.”

— Danno E. Cabeza (@Dan_T_Head) May 22, 2018

I like Journey.  I will say this about their show, though: the sound wasn't mixed quite right.  The baseline was overpowering, and although I'm not a sound engineer, I think that created harmonics against the XL Arena's concrete walls.  I mean, it was a fun show, but at times I felt like the baseline was literally pummeling me.

To say the very least, the band was at its best when they slowed it down and let the music do its thing.  But they came out rocking, unfortunately, and that's fine, but at times it was also overpowering.

The camera on my phone wasn't really up to the task on some of these shots, but the panorama came out okay.

Journey came out rockin'

We stumbled back to the car around 11:30, and now I'm on my way in to the office.  I'd planned to take the morning off but had to reschedule a meeting.  Alas.

Good show, good time.  If you get the chance, I recommend it highly.

Also: Hannah didn't burn our house down.  Bonus points!