By John Johnson, photos by Jeffrey Moellering

Initially this concert was supposed to be covered by my usual cohort Chaz and I, then something came up and it was handed over to Jeffrey. I was a little bummed due to the fact that it’s to be the bands last go around and they have always delivered. At the eleventh hour, I was generously given four tickets by Mike O from the Bone and was once again elated to see the band from the Bay (San Fran obvi, not Tampa). Not expecting to cover it I imbibed accordingly beforehand and was proportionally primed by the time we got to our seats. Texting with Jeffrey to check in and say hi, he confided in me that not only did he have some administrative issues at the arena but that he’s never been that into Journey. What kind of person isn’t a Journey fan? Even low-key? Well, I took the not so subtle hint to assist and offered to write the review whilst he photographically captures the action. I didn’t really need to point all this out, but felt the urge to convey the order of things in case it feels as though I come across “blurry”. See the primed statement above. Regardless of manmade intoxicants, or the fact that I was going to probably my tenth, or maybe fifteenth Journey show, I was “feeling that way”.

Friday night in downtown Tampa has apparently become a clusterfuck on the regular. Add several thousand middle-aged (and above) concert goers and the area around the Benchmark, just plain SUCKS. But once inside the Bench, it’ll always be the Ice Palace to me, it felt less like a concert and more like a giant class reunion. There was definitely a slightly somber nostalgia in the air, or maybe it was Bio-Freeze and Old Spice. Whatever the vibe was, Journey, on what’s to be their aptly named Final Frontier, was a full blown arena rock time machine.

The tour kicked off back in February and is scheduled to wrap up in late November, and judging by the setup, there’s a couple dozen busses and trucks involved. If this really is the band’s last major run, sometimes bands flip flop (KISS, Motley Crue, etc), they clearly decided they’re going out with every guitar solo, every soaring chorus, and every cellphone flashlight blazing in outstretched arms. The show was slated to start at 7:30, but the countdown clock on the giant monitor above stage kept adding time, but I’m not sure the majority of the masses even noticed. The two screens flanking the main one projected something that gave me the ick, although I realize it’s still a business at the end of the day. Rows of merchandise samples, a QR code and a friendly reminder to hit a merch booth before the night was over or simply purchase it from your seat. What amazing times we live in.

The digital clock hit zero, the lights dropped, and the crowd erupted like Tampa had just won another Stanley Cup (we didn’t. Suck it Montreal). The gentlemen of Journey sauntered on stage with confidence, and oldest active member Neil Schon had a strut of a guy that knows exactly how many memories are tied to these songs. From the opening notes of “Be Good to Yourself”, the arena gradually became one giant karaoke party where literally everybody somehow knew every word. If I had one negative critique, and I did only have one, it’s that for such a major production, the sound just wasn’t up to snuff. Running into Galvin from the Bone, he noticed the same low-end issue and quipped that “the sound is set for old people”. Maybe I’m spoiled by the amount of shows I attend, or it could be that my ears hadn’t adjusted from Wednesdays Mammoth Bush show. Whichever, it was a minor “issue” that wasn’t directly the band’s fault and certainly didn’t affect how epic the extravaganza of ear-worms turned out to be. Of course when I say ear-worms I’m referring to how many hook driven songs this band has that stick in your head no matter how you might try to fight them off. As Jeffrey put it when he was persuading me to write this review, it wasn’t always cool to like Journey and they were the band that girls listened to more. I didn’t disagree, but pointed out that, along with the masterfully written songs (love them or hate them), I personally, and intentionally, went to the shows girls liked. Duh.

I’ll include the setlist at the end of this so you can reminisce on your own. There were 27 (solos included) of said masterful tunes, ranging from the exceedingly memorable to a few not performed in 40 plus years, from albums that predated all but one member on stage. For instance, from my personal favorite Infinity, “La Do Da”, “Anytime”, “Wheel in the Sky” and “Lights”, had me on my feet and singing along. Much to the chagrin of the curmudgeons behind me. Beautifully sung by drummer Deen Castronovo (the Steve Perry parts), with Jonathan Cain taking the original keyboardist Greg Rolie’s vocal duties. The latter, “Lights”, Cain dedicated to the bands home town of San Fransisco but gave my hometown of Tampa it’s props due to it’s similar geographic location next to a bay. They even performed deeper cuts, that even I wasn’t completely aware of, from albums WAY back when Schon and Rolie had just left Santana to start this group. Cain joined, when Rolie departed after Departure, before the group recorded their biggest selling album Escape (Greatest Hits Compilations don’t count). Cain dedicated “Faithfully” to the men and women of the armed services which deservedly prompted a standing ovation in their honor. Even the stiffs behind me stood and cheered. Cain tiptoed near the edge of getting preachy but thankfully didn’t fully commit. His Mrs. spews quite enough of that insincere, delusional pablum pertaining to “he who shall not be named” ad nauseum. Ugh. Look it up. Anyway, I digress.

Having attended many a Journey show, what struck me most was how massive these songs still feel live. “Separate Ways” absolutely “thundered” through the arena, the aforementioned “Faithfully” had couples wrapped around each other swaying like it was prom night in 1987, and “Open Arms” sounded just as sharp and cinematic as ever. And although Steve Perry will forever be missed up there, Arnel Pineda carries that weight on his shoulders with amazing confidence. Although a few times during the massive audience participation moments, and there are many, he changes the cadence which can trip people up. I personally give him a pass for switching up some severely ingrained melodies because even though he was hired to recreate Perry, he’s still a performer with an amazing voice of his own and should be allowed to share that gift as he feels it in the moment. Pineda was discovered by Schon sometime in 2007, while playing in a Journey cover band, was brought on in December of that year and the rest is history. Joining Schon, Cain, Castronovo and Pineda on this tour are Todd Jensen on bass and Jason Derlatka second keys (while Cain occasionally plunks on a guitar). Delatka also took over vocal duties on “Girl Can’t Help It”, “Suzanne” and “Of a Lifetime”. The latter being the oldest number of the evening, coming off of the bands very first, self titled album from 1975. I only know this because the two super fans sitting in front of me, hipped me to that tidbit of trivia.

And yes — when “Don’t Stop Believin’” finally arrived (surprisingly not the last song), the place completely lost its collective mind. Beer cups in the air, strangers hugging, people filming vertically despite decades of warnings not to — it was beautiful, ageless chaos. The band itself looked genuinely happy to be there, too. Even Cain and Schon who have a pretty public tension thing the last few years, still played elbow to elbow. There was a celebratory vibe instead of a sad farewell vibe. Nobody was acting like this was a funeral for the classic rock crew. It felt more like Journey throwing one last giant party and inviting everyone who’s ever blasted their songs in a car with the windows down. And honestly, slight sound issues aside, that’s what made the night so special. Journey’s music has always lived somewhere between heartbreak and triumph, and hearing thousands of people sing those songs together reminded me why these arena rock bands mattered so much in the first place. Big hooks, bigger emotions, and absolutely zero shame about either, even if in the past they’ve been labeled a “girl’s band”. It was a love fest existing of six dudes on stage, countless crew members and a horde of roughly 17,000 in the choir.

By the end of the night my voice was more wrecked than I was, my ears were ringing, and my crew of four stumbled out into the streets still singing the show’s ender “Any Way You Want It” all the way to the parking lot. If The Final Frontier truly is the end of the road for Journey, Tampa got one hell of a farewell performance.

Below is the promised setlist, and remember to Go See, Hear, and Feel Live Music

Be Good to Yourself
Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
Just the Same Way
(Jonathan Cain & Deen Castronovo on lead vocals)
Girl Can’t Help It
(Jason Derlatka on lead vocals)
Only the Young
Lights
(Deen Castronovo on lead vocals)
When You Love a Woman
Of a Lifetime
(Jason Derlatka on lead vocals)
La Do Da
(10 minute jam with snippet of “How Many More Times” by Led Zeppelin)
Drum Solo
(with pyro)
Escape
Chain Reaction
(with extended jam)
Dead or Alive
Anytime
(Jonathan Cain & Deen Castronovo on lead vocals)
Piano Solo
Who’s Crying Now
(with extended jam)
Open Arms
Suzanne
(Jason Derlatka on lead vocals)
Guitar Solo
Wheel in the Sky
(with extended jam/pyro)
Keep On Runnin’
(Deen Castronovo on lead vocals; tour debut)
Faithfully
Don’t Stop Believin’
Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin‘
(with extended blues jam)
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Any Way You Want It