Journey with Styx on a Speedwagon

Arena rockers, mullet heads and ’80s music freaks rejoice! Heaven awaits you on Saturday… Arena rockers, mullet heads and ’80s music freaks rejoice! Heaven awaits you on Saturday night when Styx, Journey and REO Speedwagon invade Mellon Arena!

Three of the biggest rock acts of the ’70s and ’80s, these bands have combined for numerous hits. Among them are “Mr. Roboto,” “The Best of Times,” “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” and “Too Much Time On My Hands” from Styx; Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin'” and “Open Arms”; and REO Speedwagon’s “Take It On the Run,” “Keep On Loving You,” “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and “Riding the Storm Out.”

The three bands have sold out arenas over the past three decades, made oh so many cheese-dripping videos and sported countless, half-completed, business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back haircuts.

There have been shake-ups with the lineups for these bands – most notoriously, Steve Perry journeying away from Journey to pursue a solo career, only to come back for an ill-fated reunion in the mid-’90s – so the faces rocking out on the Mellon Arena stage might look a little different for die-hard fans. But the music will still pop with the same electricity that makes these bands staples for a range of radio stations, from classic rock to light rock, and compilation CDs, from ’80s mixes and arena rock discs to those “best of” love songs and ballads.

And as if there wasn’t already enough incentive to head down to the Mellon Arena on Saturday night – after all, when will you next get a chance to see these three bands together – it’s an affordable show. Forty-five dollars for these three bands isn’t all that bad when you consider that it breaks down to $15 a band, a price you would never have been able to pay to see just one of these bands 10 years ago.

The only thing that could make this lineup better would be an Earth-shifting appearance from Steve Perry or a surprise visit from Bad Company or Foreigner.