Legendary rockers JOURNEY have announced a 2022 North American tour with Billy Idol and TOTO.
The 40-date “Freedom Tour 2022” will kick off on February 22 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and wrap on May 11 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Billy Idol will open the first leg of the tour, with TOTO taking over as the support act starting on April 7 in San Diego, California.
JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon said in a statement: “It’s that time — time to get back to where we are used to being — on stage! We are looking forward to shifting into high gear and bringing you the best show possible. The band is running on all 12 cylinders and very excited! Please come and join us once again for an evening full of rocking stage connection fun. See you soon, friends.”
Idol added: “Touring next year with JOURNEY is going to be great fun! An epic night you won’t want to miss. I’m excited to get back to so many wonderful cities and I’m bringing Steve Stevens and the rest of the Billy Idol band with me!”
TOTO‘s Steve Lukather said: “On behalf of myself and the band, we are very honored and excited to do this tour with our old and dear friends JOURNEY. Gonna be a great night of music, and as all the guys are lifelong friends… a blast off stage as well.”
Tickets go on sale Friday, November 19 via Ticketmaster. A fan pre-sale will start on November 16 and end on November 18.
JOURNEY “Freedom Tour 2022” dates:
Feb. 22 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena *
Feb. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center *
Feb. 25 – Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena *
Feb. 27 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center *
Feb. 28 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden *
Mar. 02 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena *
Mar. 05 – Quebec City, QC @ Videotron Centre *
Mar. 07 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena *
Mar. 08 – Albany, NY @ Times Union Center *
Mar. 12 – Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum *
Mar. 14 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center *
Mar. 16 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center *
Mar. 17 – Oklahoma City, OK & Paycom Center *
Mar. 19 – N. Little Rock, AR @ Simmons Bank Arena *
Mar. 21 – St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center *
Mar. 24 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Arena *
Mar. 27 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center *
Mar. 28 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena *
Mar. 31 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center *
Apr. 01 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center *
Apr. 04 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center *
Apr. 05 – Los Angeles, CA STAPLES Center *
Apr. 07 – San Diego, CA @ Pechanga Arena ^
Apr. 09 – Glendale, AZ @ Gila River Arena ^
Apr. 11 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena ^
Apr. 13 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center ^
Apr. 15 – New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center ^
Apr. 20 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena ^
Apr. 21 – Orlando, FL @ Amway Center ^
Apr. 24 – Cincinnati, OH @ Heritage Bank Center ^
Apr. 25 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena ^
Apr. 27 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena ^
Apr. 28 – Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center ^
Apr. 30 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center ^
May 02 – Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena ^
May 04 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena ^
May 05 – Indianapolis, IN @ Gainbridge Fieldhouse ^
May 07 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse ^
May 09 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena ^
May 11 – Hartford, CT @ XL Center ^
* With Billy Idol
^ With TOTO
As previously reported, JOURNEY will return to Las Vegas for a brand-new six-show residency at the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, part of Curio Collection by Hilton, from December 1 through December 11.
JOURNEY made its return to the live stage on July 29 during a special “aftershow” at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. The concert took place just two days before JOURNEY‘s appearance at Lollapalooza on the Bud Light Seltzer stage at Grant Park.
JOURNEY‘s lineup for the above-mentioned shows included the return of drummer Deen Castronovo, who shared the drum duties in the band with Narada Michael Walden. Walden, bassist Randy Jackson and keyboardist/backing singer Jason Derlatka all joined JOURNEY last year following the band’s acrimonious split with drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory. Jackson — who previously played with JOURNEY during the mid-1980s — was forced to miss all the recent gigs because he was scheduled to undergo back surgery. Filling in for him was Marco Mendoza, who previously played several shows in 2019 with Castronovo and JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon under the “Neal Schon’s Journey Through Time” banner.
In June, JOURNEY shared a new single, “The Way We Used To Be”. The song was the multi-platinum band’s first new music since 2011’s album “Eclipse”, and the first track released by the band’s revamped lineup. “The Way We Used To Be” marks Walden and Derlatka‘s first studio recordings with the band, and Jackson‘s first since 1986’s “Raised On Radio”. The song was produced by Narada Michael Walden at his Tarpan Studios, with co-production by Schon and Cain.
Since the group’s formation in 1973, JOURNEY has earned 19 top 40 singles, 25 gold and platinum albums, and has sold nearly 100 million albums globally. Their “Greatest Hits” album is certified 15 times-platinum, making JOURNEY one of the few bands to ever have been diamond-certified, and their song “Don’t Stop Believin'” has been streamed over one billion times alone.
JOURNEY was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017, and 2018’s co-headlining tour with DEF LEPPARD was the band’s most successful tour to date, landing them in the Top 10 year-end touring chart with more than 1 million tickets sold, and earning them the prestigious Billboard “Legends Of Live” touring award. March 2019 saw the release of “Escape & Frontiers Live In Japan”, a live DVD/CD set from their concert at the Budokan in Tokyo featuring the band’s first-ever performances of the albums “Escape” and “Frontiers” in their entirety. JOURNEY has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and were inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall Of Fame. Additionally, the band is the subject of the award-winning documentary “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” about the band’s resurgence upon adding Arnel Pineda as lead singer after founding member Neal Schon discovered the Philippines native on YouTube.
