Steve Miller Band, Journey and Def Leppard bring decades of music to life in Nashville

Steve Miller Band, Journey and Def Leppard bring decades of music to life in Nashville

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From Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker” and Journey’s “Faithfully” to Def Leppard’s “Photograph,” Saturday night at Nissan Stadium was all about the crowd’s favorite songs. Decades of songs that everyone in the audience seemingly knew every word to, even though some of them were from 40 years ago.

Less than an hour before the Steve Miller Band was set to take the stage, rain was still falling on Nissan Stadium. The storms, which had already caused people inside the stadium to be evacuated to safety by lightning, had subsided by the time the show started, and a pleasant breeze had picked up.

Miller, who you would never guess is 80 years old, dressed in a light blue shirt and black pants, reminded the crowd why he still does what he does, more than 50 years after his first hit. He has a catalog full of iconic songs and he can still sing and play them with ease.

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Miller took the stage at 6 p.m. with his Fender Stratocaster around his neck and began playing the familiar riff from “Fly Like an Eagle.” He then played “Take the Money and Run,” “Rock ‘n Me Baby” and “Abracadabra,” which he dedicated to Eminem.

“He asked me if he could use this song and I didn’t want to get in trouble with Slim Shady, so I said ‘send it to me and I’ll check it out,'” Miller told the crowd. That request became the building block for Eminem’s 2024 single “Houdini,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and was “based entirely on those ‘Abracadabra’ tracks that were recorded in 1982.”

Miller closed his hour-long set with well-known numbers such as “Jungle Love”, “The Joker” and “Jet Airplane”.

Journey took the stage by storm. Literally.

As Journey took the stage around 7:30 p.m., the second wave of the storm was starting to form over Nissan Stadium. The sky looked eerily dark and ominous, but the band took the stage to celebrate their 50th anniversary.e anniversary despite the weather.

Thirty minutes in, it started to rain, perfectly timed with keyboardist Jonathan Cain’s piano solo. It was a beautiful moment that never developed into a show-stopping storm. Just a soft rain as a beautiful backdrop for Schon’s cherry-red grand piano.

The rain couldn’t silence the powerhouse of the band Journey. Fronted by vocalist Arnel Pineda, who took over in 2007 as the perfect vocal replacement for original lead singer Steve Perry, the band is able to flawlessly perform original songs known for Perry’s signature vocals from “Faithfully” and “Open Arms” to “Only the Young” and “Wheel in the Sky.”

Guitarist Neal Schon is the last remaining original member of Journey, but Cain had been with the band since 1980.

Cain introduced a song he wrote about the sacrifices musicians make while on the road, telling the crowd, “This was written on a late-night bus ride from New York City in 1982. Today,” he added, “I think of other people who make sacrifices. They’re the men and women who serve in our armed forces. So let’s send this song up as a prayer and keep them out of harm’s way.”

The band launched into the song ‘Faithfully’.

After scoring hit after hit, Pineda and Cain took the stage wearing special Tennessee Titans jerseys with the number “24” on the front for “Wheel in the Sky.”

Drummer Deen Castronovo gave Pineda a run for his money on “Lights,” where he sang (very well, we might add) and played drums.

Saving their biggest hit for last, the band closed their album with a bang (literally, with streamers being shot out of cannons) with “Don’t Stop Believin.”

Def Leppard Revisits Album “Pyromania” 40 Years Later

Unlike many bands dating back to the late 1970s, Def Leppard’s current lineup has been consistent since 1992, when guitarist and vocalist Vivian Campbell joined the band to replace Steve Clark, who died in 1991.

And it shows. The five-piece band—lead vocalist and founding member Joe Elliott, bassist and founding member Rick Savage, drummer Rick Allen, guitarist and vocalist Phil Collen, and Campbell—put on a rock show that was brimming with craftsmanship and a touch of bravado, all held together by a catalogue of chart-topping singles.

From 1982’s “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” to the many hits from the album “Pyromania” like “Photograph” and “Rock of Ages,” the members of Def Leppard proved they still have what it takes. Guitarists Campbell and Collen took turns on lead guitar, often playing together and backing each other up.

Halfway through their set, Elliott came to the front of the massive catwalk with an acoustic guitar. Before he began playing, he urged the crowd to turn and catch a glimpse of the full moon that had become visible as the clouds cleared. He then played “Two Steps” before the rest of the band joined him. They dedicated “This Guitar” to the band’s good friend, Nashville native Alison Krauss.

The British rockers closed the night with hits like “Hysteria” and the band’s anthem, “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” which was sung along to in its entirety by the crowd at Nissan Stadium, giving Elliott a hard time.

Before Elliott left the stage, he thanked the Nashville crowd and said, “Let’s do it again soon.”

“Until next time — and there will be a next time,” he told the crowd. “Don’t forget us and we won’t forget you.”

Steve Miller Band Setlist

  • “Fly like an eagle”
  • “Serenade”
  • “Living in the US”
  • “Abracadabra”
  • “Swing City”
  • “Dance dance dance”
  • “Take the money and run”
  • “Rock ‘n Me Baby”
  • “Jungle love”
  • “The Joker”
  • “Jet aircraft”

Travel Kit List

  • “Only the young ones”
  • “Be good to yourself”
  • “Stone in love”
  • “Ask the lonely one”
  • “Escape”
  • “Fidelity”
  • “To love, to touch, to squeeze”
  • “Open arms”
  • “Firing line”
  • “Wheel in the air”
  • “Lights”
  • “Parted ways”
  • “However you want”
  • “Do not stop believing”

Def Leppard setlist

  • “Rock! Rock! (till you drop)”
  • “Rocket ship”
  • “To fool”
  • “Armageddon it”
  • “Animal”
  • “Love Bites”
  • “Just like ’73”
  • “Come under fire”
  • “Too late for love”
  • “Die Hard the Hunter”
  • “Two steps behind”
  • “This guitar”
  • “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak”
  • “Switch 625”
  • “Rock of Ages”
  • “Photographer”
  • “Hysteria”
  • “Pour some sugar on me”

Melonee Hurt writes about music and the music business for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at [email protected]on X @HurtMelonee or Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.