Journey, Santana Share Rock Spectacle At PPL Center

(TRR) – Last night, classic rock titans Journey and Santana shared a rock spectacle at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA. Two storied acts – who share a common thread in guitarist Neal Shon – put on a tight show that treated fans to over three hours of hits. The double bill is certainly one of the top rock tours of the year, and a must for fans of either band.

Santana have reunited their classic lineup that played the original Woodstock in 1969. Santana himself was sporting a Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey jersey with his name on it, showing support for Allentown’s ice hockey club. The kicked things off with “Jin-Go-Lo-Ba” and went right into a rowdy rendition of “Evil Ways.” After the song, Carlos asked the crowd rhetorically, “Good Lord, how high am I?”

The fourth song – “Shake It” – saw Journey axman Neal Shon join the band on stage. Shon, a member of Santana before he founded Journey in 1973, performs on and wrote much of Santana’s new album Santana IV. Shon performed the next 10 songs with the band, ending with a lengthy mashup of “Black Magic Woman” and “Gypsy Queen,” which may have been the set’s crown jewel. The last few songs included huge hits “Oye Como Va” and “Maria Maria” from the smash album Supernatural (1999).

The closed out the evening the triple GRAMMY Award-winning chart topper “Smooth.”

Journey took the stage next with a seemingly refreshed Neal Shon on lead guitar. They wasted no time and got right down to business with “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).” However, they slowed things down on the third song with their beautiful ballad “Open Arms.”

Carlos Santana, returning Shon’s favor from earlier, came back out for a jam nearly midway through the set.

Other highights from Journey included smash hits like “Lights,” “Faith In The Heartland,” “Escape,” “Wheel In The Sky,” “Faithfully,” and others. The 18-song set ended with back-to-back bangers – “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Any Way You Want It.” Not a single fan was sitting.

Journey returned for an encore of their smooth jam “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’.”

It was certainly an incredible night of big hits and on-point performances.

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