It felt more than a little like 1982 at the Minnesota State Fair on Saturday, Sept. 1, with a triple bill of Journey, Pat Benatar and Loverboy packing a sold-out Grandstand with 13,127 fans.

Indeed, 30 summers back, rock radio -- and a fledgling MTV -- was all over Loverboy ("Working for the Weekend," "When It's Over"), Benatar ("Hit Me with Your Best Shot," "Heartbreaker") and Journey ("Open Arms," "Don't Stop Believin'"). And a fair amount of those songs are aired to this day, particularly Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" which stands as the most-downloaded classic rock song of the online era.

What made Saturday's show different than, say, Kiss and Motley Crue earlier in the week, is that none of these three acts dabbles in camp, but instead plays the old hits as faithfully as possible.

This was an evening more about remembering the past than smiling and winking at it. As such, the well-hydrated crowd sang along throughout the evening and pumped many a fist (when said fist wasn't clutching a beer).

Loverboy opened the show with a concise, seven-song set that found room for pretty much every hit the '80s version of Nickelback landed on the charts the first time around, save for the "Top Gun" power ballad "Heaven in Your Eyes."

The Grandstand already was hopping when they ambled on shortly after 7 p.m., and lead singer Mike Reno seemed to feed off the energy. Now 57 and looking every minute of it, Reno didn't hit all his notes but was all smiles in his sleeveless black top, opened halfway down to his navel.


Benatar, 59, changed up some of the arrangements on her hits but still belted them out with an infectious aggression. She even, very briefly, indulged the audience with her infamous shimmying dance from the "Love Is a Battlefield" video. But when she wasn't singing, Benatar preferred to keep her back to the audience, ceding the spotlight to her guitarist hubby, Neil "Spyder" Giraldo.

Very much the headliners, Journey performed longer than both opening acts combined and switched on some serviceable, if not too fancy, electronic screens that gave their set a contemporary feel.

But, really, the guys could've played in the dark and the audience would have eaten it all up. Journey is one of those bands with more hits than you might remember, and they played them all -- from "Who's Crying Now" to "Wheel in the Sky" to "Open Arms."

For five years now, former Filipino pop star Arnel Pineda has filled Steve Perry's role on vocals. And, no kidding, the vocal resemblance is eerie. One gets the sense Pineda learned Journey's songs phonetically, because he not only captures Perry's distinctive voice but replicates his phrasing and intonation with chilling accuracy. The only thing Pineda is missing is a mullet.
