Hugo Valenti once auditioned to replace Steve Perry in Journey. The band’s response, as the story goes, was that he looked too much like Perry himself — a rejection that functions, in hindsight, as the most backhanded compliment in tribute-act history. It is also the clearest possible argument for why Hugo – The Ultimate Journey Tribute works as well as it does.
About the Show
Valenti returns to Penn’s Peak on Saturday, October 10, 2026, for his second consecutive fall appearance at the Jim Thorpe venue — he played the same room in October 2025. The band operates under the tagline “The Voice. The Look. The Legacy,” and the résumé behind that claim is more substantial than most tribute acts bother to build. Before Hugo, Valenti fronted Voyage, identified by his booking agency as one of the country’s most successful Journey tributes. Further back, he was the lead singer of Valentine, a melodic rock outfit from the early 1990s whose self-titled debut appeared on Warner Bros. Records and still carries a following among fans of that era. The fact that Valenti came this close to being in the actual band, and then spent decades performing that band’s catalog anyway, gives the whole enterprise a strange, almost poignant logic.
The current lineup has been playing together for over 40 years: Valenti on lead vocals, Adam Holland on guitar, Gerard Zappa on bass, Craig Pullman on keyboards, and Adam Augeri on drums. The Penn’s Peak date is one of four confirmed stops on Valenti’s 2026 calendar, a run spanning Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania. Audiences have described the experience as “that holy shit moment when you feel like you’ve been transported back to seeing Journey in 1981 for the first time.” That either resonates with you immediately or it doesn’t. But it tells you something about what the room is likely to feel like at 9:30 on a fall Saturday in the Poconos.
Venue & Logistics
Penn’s Peak is a mountaintop venue in Jim Thorpe, PA, drawing from the Hudson Valley and mid-Atlantic region, with a 50-mile panoramic view and a rustic interior that suits rock shows considerably better than most civic theaters. The 1,800-capacity room has a proper dance floor, lofty ceilings, and Roadies restaurant on site. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.; showtime is 8:00 p.m.
Tickets
Reserved seating is tiered: regular reserved $27, premium reserved $32, super premium reserved $37. General public tickets go on sale Friday, August 7, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Sneak Peak Club members get early access beginning August 4 at 10:00 a.m. Buy tickets.