Journey, The Doobie Brothers Rock Bangor Waterfront

Journey brought its San Francisco Fest 2016 Tour to our fair city of Bangor Wednesday night, and did not disappoint. Even from early on in the afternoon, the first notes of the rainy soundcheck hinted at the excitement to come.

The crowd streamed in and the clouds cleared out as Dave Mason delivered a solid set of classics, spanning from his days in Traffic all the way through to the present.

The Doobie Brothers followed and absolutely killed it! From the wailing sax to the thunderous double drum section, they gave a super high energy show, powering through tall their hits like "China Grove", "Long Train Running" and "Listen to the Music", as the sun set on the Waterfront.

The chilly crowd was absolutely ready to get warmed up by Journey. The band came out swinging with "Separate Ways" and it was a parade of smash songs, one after another. Some bands at their level barely know what city they're in, but vocalist Arnel Pineda, whose high kicks make a 1984 David Lee Roth seem ready for retirement, made sure to address Bangor properly all night.

Neal Schon talked quite a bit to the enthusiastic crowd as well, complaining how incredibly hot (in temperature) some of the other tour dates were, and they were really enjoying Maine's cooler temps. Neil also gave a heartfelt dedication to our nation's Veterans right before Jonathan Caine came in with the opening piano chords of "Faithfully".

It was pretty much at a fever pitch when the band tore into "Don't Stop Believing" and from what I saw from every man, woman, and child singing along, Bangor never stopped believing for a second. You couldn't ask for a better way to kick off the summer.