SCOTT TADY

PITTSBURGH — Parting is such sweet sorrow, but it also brought sweet sounds Monday from Journey.

In night No. 2 of a farewell tour, the classic rockers treated Pittsburgh faithful to a night of hits played well and with enthusiasm.

There’d be a few surprises, maybe a few missed marks, but an overall highly pleasing performance for a close-to-full PPG Paints Arena crowd decisively old enough to recall Journey vinyl spinning at basement parties or proms.

Neil Schon starred as the guitarist, unleashing clean, robust riffs from the set-opening “Any Way You Want It” through a two-hour-10-minute performance culminating with “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

Lead singer Arnel Pineda frequently flashed smiles and did a few mid-air splits, ensuring audience engagement amid hitting the soaring vocal heights of Steve Perry-era Journey.

Those vintage Perry-era tunes can be a mighty climb, so Journey also enlisted a hired gun (voice?) in Nashville singer Jason Derlatka who quite capably handled lead on “Suzanne” and “I’ll Be Alright Without You,” that latter tune introduced by keyboardist Jonathan Cain as a number reflecting Journey’s Motown and R&B influences.

Many of Monday’s song selections featured multiple backing harmonies. That reached a level of distracting on early pick “Stone in Love,” where Pineda’s lead vocals were overpowered by his bandmates’ crooning.

There was a moment in “Escape” where Deen Castronovo added a drum fill that seemed  a smidge out of place. Blame exuberance, perhaps, or the band still locking in its timing early on the tour.

Castronovo and Cain each carried themselves well taking turns on lead vocals, the former — most notably — on “Lights,” which prompted fans to wave aloft illuminated cellphones as the stage’s huge video screened showed San Francisco Bay scenery.

Cain began his introduction of 1983’s “Faithfully” explaining it was written about striving to hold a family together as the band headed off on the road. But in this modern context, amid America’s 250th anniversary, he dedicated it to U.S. veterans, dating back to Colonial shop owners taking up arms against the British, noting the lyrics also can convey the notion of troops leaving behind spouses and children to embark on freedom-preserving military missions. The song’s swelling, heart-tugging power ballad chords absolutely worked in that lyrical manner for an audience on its feet.

Another highlight, and surprise, was “Wheel in The Sky” taking an unexpected heavy metal turn. Pineada even did a metal horns salute with his right hand as Schon shredded guitar notes and Castronovo bashed away on his drums with a heaviness befitting fellow Bay Area rockers Metallica.

Schon’s fretwork earlier had achieved the requisite screams and bluster to make “Who’s Crying Now” another standout.

Several dozen white T-shirts emblazoned with Journey’s logo were hurled from backstage as far as 16 or so rows into the crowd for a raucous “Lovin,’ Touchin’ Squeezin.'”

A little after 10 p.m., this “Evening With Journey” ended, giving local fans one last memory of a top-notch Journey concert.

How soon till they play the Sphere in Las Vegas?

Meanwhile, for anyone reading this review from a city further on in Journey’s swan song tour, still pondering if you should buy a ticket… my answer, is yes.

(Scott Tady is the mid-day deejay at 97.7 The Rock Station in Butler, Pa., and hosts the morning show at WBVP-WMBA in Beaver County.)