Storied classic rock battleship Journey has finally reached the end of its… wait. Shit. How do I get out of this one? Its… journey. Fuck! I fucked it up! Whatever. No time to stop now. Let's just keep going. I bet nobody noticed anyway.
Journey formed in San Francisco in 1973, and they went on to huge success in the late '70s and early '80s. They actually went on extended hiatus in 1987, but they reunited in 1995, and they've continued since then with an ever-changing lineup. Next year, they'll head out on a 60-date farewell tour -- an ambitious run for a band operating in the way that Journey currently operates. The tour will end on July 2 at Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas. You know what they should do at the end of that show? They should just stop playing suddenly in the middle of "Don't Stop Believin'," and the whole arena should go dark.
In a press release, Neal Schon says, "As its founding member, I carry the Journey torch to this day, wherever I go. The sentiment and spirit of the band will always remain. While this marks a farewell to one powerful chapter of the Journey we’ve shared, I want everyone to know I’m not done. Music is still burning strong inside me, and there are new creative horizons ahead. This tour is both a thank-you and the beginning of what’s next." See, he did the "Journey" thing, too. Mine was better. It wasn't good, but it was better.
The end of Journey isn't exactly a surprise. Things have been… acrimonious with that band for a while now. In 2022, longtime bandmates Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain sued each other over, among other things, access to the band's corporate credit card. After a two-year court battle, a legal custodian was put into place to help them work together. After a Rock In Rio set went badly last year, Arnel Pineda, the band' singer since 2007, invited fans to kick him out of the band. (Neal Schon blamed Avenged Sevenfold for that issue, as one does.)
Journey has been a moneymaking institution for a very long time, continuing to play arenas long after the departure of lead singer Steve Perry. I'm not fully convinced that the band will end after this farewell tour. At the very least, we've got a whole lot of "Neal Schon celebrates the music of Journey" or whatever ahead of us. Nevertheless, I don't know, it might be fun to see Journey on their farewell tour. Check out the dates below.
TOUR DATES:
2/28 - Hershey, PA @ GIANT Center
3/02 - Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
3/04 - Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
3/05 - Trenton, NJ @ CURE Insurance Arena
3/07 - Ottawa, ON @ Canadian Tire Centre
3/09 - Hamilton, ON @ TD Coliseum
3/11 - Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
3/12 - Quebec City, QC @ Vidéotron Centre
3/14 - Hartford, CT @ PeoplesBank Arena
3/16 - Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
3/17 - Indianapolis, IN @ Gainbridge Fieldhouse
3/19 - Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum
3/21 - Memphis, TN @ FedExForum
3/22 - Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
3/25 - N. Little Rock, AR @ Simmons Bank Arena
3/26 - Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
3/28 - New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
3/29 - Bossier City, LA @ Brookshire Grocery Arena
3/31 - Austin, TX @ Moody Center
4/03 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
4/04 - Wichita, KS @ INTRUST Bank Arena
4/06 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
4/08 - Des Moines, IA @ Casey's Center
4/09 - Lincoln, NE @ Pinnacle Bank Arena
4/12 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center
4/14 - Boise, ID @ ExtraMile Arena
4/15 - Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
4/17 - Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum
4/19 - Eugene, OR @ Matthew Knight Arena
4/21 - Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
4/22 - Bakersfield, CA @ Dignity Health Arena
4/24 - Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center at Fresno State
5/15 - Tampa, FL @ Benchmark International Arena
5/16 - Jacksonville, FL @ VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
5/18 - Columbia, SC @ Colonial Life Arena
5/20 - Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
5/21 - Greensboro, NC @ First Horizon Coliseum
5/23 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall
5/27 - State College, PA @ Bryce Jordan Center
5/28 - Charlottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena
5/30 - Knoxville, TN @ Food City Center
5/31 - Savannah, GA @ Enmarket Arena
6/03 - Hampton, VA @ Hampton Coliseum
6/04 - Roanoke, VA @ Berglund Center Coliseum
6/06 - Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
6/07 - Manchester, NH @ NHU Arena
6/10 - Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center
6/11 - Allentown, PA @ PPL Center
6/13 - Cincinnati, OH @ Heritage Bank Center
6/14 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
6/17 - Evansville, IN @ Ford Center
6/18 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
6/20 - Champaign, IL @ State Farm Center
6/21 - Green Bay, WI @ Resch Center
6/24 - Moline, IL @ Vibrant Arena at the MARK
6/25 - Springfield, MO @ Great Southern Bank Arena
6/27 - Tupelo, MS @ Cadence Bank Arena
6/28 - Lafayette, LA @ CajunDome
7/01 - Corpus Christi, TX @ illiard Center
7/02 - Laredo, TX @ Sames Auto Arena
The Journey farewell tour has an "official card," which is pretty funny. The card is Citi, and Citi members will be able to buy presale tickets 11/11 at 10AM local time if they sign up for the Citi Entertainment Program. Everyone else gets to buy tickets 11/14 at 10AM local time. In other news, when the lights go down in the cit-aaay and the suuuun shaaaahns awn the baaaaay, oooh I wawwwna be thaaaahhh-ayyyyeeaaaah in maaah cit-aaay bah the bay. Ohhhhh whuuuuuh owooohoh.
