Members of rock group Journey are heading onto the open road again, leaving fans wondering if this is their final outing together. The final leg of what is being promoted as their farewell tour launches this September in Los Angeles, culminating with what will likely prove to be a deeply emotional homecoming at the end — in San Francisco in November. "I’m sure it’s going to be somewhat emotional because that’s where it all started," says co-founder and lead guitarist Neal Schon.
"I know the audience is going to be off the hook." Prior to that finale, the band will play dates in Phoenix, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, Denver and Las Vegas, among other city stops. The tour's closing performance in San Francisco will round out more than 100 concerts this year, with the group frequently playing for more than two hours, adding deep cuts — like the spacy, melodic early ‘70s song "Of a Lifetime" and tracks from the ‘80s album "Raised on Radio" — alongside their most reliable crowd hits like "Faithfully." "I’m loving it because it’s the type of show I’ve been wanting to do with Journey," explains Schon, who feels frustration when the group is grouped alongside other '80s bands such as REO Speedwagon, Styx or Foreigner. "I always felt like even though all those bands have contributed something that a lot of people like, we were much different.
I thought musically we could go any place that we wanted to. And so now we’re doing that, finally." Journey has had six Top 10 hits on the singles chart — including “Open Arms” and “Who’s Crying Now” — and eight albums in the Top 10 of the 200, including the 1981 No. 1 “Escape.” Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Fans can expect to hear those hits as well as Journey's enduring anthem, “Don’t Stop Believin,’” which Schon wrote with keyboardist Jonathan Cain and then-lead singer Steve Perry. It has shown up in the Broadway show “Rock of Ages,” the cut-to-black finale of “The Sopranos,” the TV show “Glee,” Brad Pitt’s “Moneyball,” the movie “Monster” and the Democratic National Convention roll call in 2024. Journey returns to the road this fall after a summer in which “Don’t Stop Believin’” was heard at the World Cup and as the New York Knicks won the NBA crown.
So, I guess that’s our ‘Hey Jude’ calling card. So we’ll take it.” In addition to Schon and Cain, the current Journey lineup includes singer Arnel Pineda, keyboardist Jason Derlatka, drummer Deen Castronovo and bassist Todd Jensen. Cain, Derlatka and Castronovo pick up the mic to give Pineda a break on some songs.
Band members say they look out and see five generations attending their shows. Schon, who cut his teeth playing with Carlos Santana, remembers Journey in the early days opening for Kiss, Jeff Beck and Cheech and Chong Touring seems to be the only way for most bands to make any money since each streaming song earns them a fraction of a penny. Journey has leaned into the tour, sometimes hitting three cities in one day.
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