Journey Japan Tour 2017 Flyer

Here's an excellent flyer used in Japan for the Japan Tour 2017...

Journey Japan Tour 2013 Flyer

Here's a great flyer used in Japan for the Japan Tour 2013...

Journey Tours America in 2018

Journey Classic Rock Band Poster printed on not ordinary paper, Looks Extraordinary!

I found this Ad for an extraordinary Journey Poster on Amazon.com.

You don't want to miss out on this one, as you can see it's the entire band on a vivid color 24X36 inch, or millimeter, or feet, or whatever Journey poster! This poster of Journey is not counterfeit or made from cheap material, in fact the quality is so good that it's not even printed on real paper.

Journey's line-up has changed over the years, so it's anyone's guess as to who is who in this poster. Hurry and get yours now, before they take this down off Amazon.

ORDER HERE

Journey Escape Tour Poster for Labor Day, September 1981!

Journey played the Alpine Valley Amphitheater in East Troy, Wisconsin with Point Blank on September 5 and 6, 1981!

WLS Radio promoted Journey in East Troy, WI during The Escape Tour. This stop in East Troy was still very early in the Tour. Journey would go on to play until December 22 and then again the next year, 1982. The opening band was Point Blank.

East Troy, Wisconsin had a population of just under 2400 in 1981. The village has a total area of 4.51 square miles. It is a very small Historic Town that is easy to get to from any direction. People from all over were able to get to East Troy very easily.

In 1991, Steve Perry, Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain of Journey reunite for Bill Graham

Bill Graham is a Producer and Concert Promoter that worked with Journey in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Bill was responsible for the extended 1982 Escape Tour in huge Stadiums and Arenas.

He was killed in a helicopter crash on October 25, 1991. 

In tribute, on November 3, 1991, a free concert called "Laughter, Love and Music" was held at Golden Gate Park to honor Graham. An estimated 300,000 people attended to view many of the entertainment acts Graham had supported including Journey.

Concert Promoter Bill Graham was killed in a helicopter crash on October 25, 1991. The Bell Jet Ranger flew directly into a 223-foot high-voltage tower near Highway 37, which runs between Vallejo, California and Marin County, California. The helicopter burst into flames on impact. The charred remains of the helicopter hung eerily in the tower for more than a day.

Escorted by motorcycle police, more long black limousines than had ever before been seen at a private funeral in the city of San Francisco formed a phalanx for the procession to the cemetery. Bill was to be buried in Colma, a small town south of San Francisco.

Following his death, his company, Bill Graham Presents (BGP), was taken over by a group of employees. Graham's sons remained a core part of the new management team. The new owners sold the company to SFX Promotions, which in turn sold the company to Clear Channel Entertainment. The BGP staff did not embrace the Clear Channel name, and several members of the Graham staff eventually left the company. Former BGP President/CEO Gregg Perloff and former Senior Vice President Sherry Wasserman left and started their own company, Another Planet Entertainment. Eventually Clear Channel separated itself from concert promotion and formed Live Nation, which is managed by many former Clear Channel executives.

In tribute, the San Francisco Civic Auditorium was renamed the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. On November 3, 1991, a free concert called "Laughter, Love and Music" was held at Golden Gate Park to honor Graham, Gold and Kahn. An estimated 300,000 people attended to view many of the entertainment acts Graham had supported including Santana, the Grateful Dead, John Fogerty, Robin Williams, Journey (reunited), and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (reunited). The video for "I'll Get By" from Eddie Money's album Right Here was dedicated to Graham. Graham's images and poster artwork still adorn the office walls at Live Nation's new San Francisco office. With the band Hardline, Neal Schon of Journey composed a piece entitled "31–91" in 1992 in Graham's honor.

Journey Raised On Radio Tour Book 1986 Concert Program, part 8

The next four pages of the "Raised On Radio" Tour Book comprises two posters. The first is a collage of all the Staff and Crew that put this Tour and Live Show together. This included Nightmare Inc., Nocturne, and the entire Journey Road Crew, and all other companies owned by Herbie Herbert. This was Journey's biggest and most ambitious tour yet.

The "Raised On Radio Tour" began on August 23, 1986 at The Calaveras County Fairgrounds. This was billed as "Mountain-Aire Festival". The opening act for Journey during most of the tour was "Glass Tiger" although it was "The Outfield" who opened up the early shows. I never saw this Tour as I wasn't that interested and it never came to Los Angeles which I'm sure would have changed my mind.

The Tour ended abruptly on January 17, 1987 in Honolulu, Hawaii when Steve Perry needed to stop. The actual end of the Tour is really anyone's guess as the event has been erased from history, there isn't anything readily available that documents it. We'll see if a 1987 Journey Force Newsletter mentions it at all.

By now, Journey had an extensive catalogue of albums. The next 2 page poster shows all Journey Albums to date, but also Steve Perry's "Street Talk" album as well as both of Neal Schon's "Schon and Hammer" disks. For the first time "Dream, After Dream" is included in Journey's USA Discography...

Continued next week...

The Journey Force Newsletter for September and October 1986

This week I am including the entire Newsletter as one post. This week is only a photocopy or Xerox of the original Newsletter. What must have happened is I probably moves at this point and missed this issue. I think someone I met online sent me the copies that I scanned. I really wished he would have made color copies but we only have what we have. If anyone has this Newsletter original, please let me know at ronsouth@earthlink.net.

This Week's Newsletter dated September, 1986 first announces how late it is. It contains the Tour Itinerary for the first leg of the Raised On Radio Tour. As soon as the second leg began it also ended.

The next exciting thing is the 2 vacation give-a-way's with Journey! One prize is a week with Journey in Hawaii and the other prize is a week with Journey in Japan! How great that would have been had the Tour continued...

The next couple of pages include a Journey Force interview with Benny Collins, he seems to be in charge of the Tour Arrangements. There are many pictures of the members of the Band (all three members) which were probably originally color. There's also a trivia quiz to test your knowledge of Journey lyrics...

This one here would have made an excellent color poster of the three man band we call Journey....

The merchandise page works in any color! There's only limited "Raised On Radio" items so far, but that will change. There is also many "Frontiers" items still for sale in 1986.

The Pen pal page and "questions answered" page is all that's left since I don't have the last page, the outer mailing label. Please enjoy the paragraph about mailing with department codes as that is a fan favorite...

Journey Raised On Radio Tour Book 1986 Concert Program, part 5

Jonathan Leonard Friga, better known as Jonathan Cain, the Keyboard player in Journey. His addition to the band was the first signal that the band might not be all from San Francisco. This line-up definitely severed the tie between San Francisco and Journey.

Jonathan first toured with Journey as part of their opening act during the 1980 Departure Tour. The group was called "The Baby's" and was headed by John Waite. Journey founding member, keyboard player and original lead singer, Gregg Rolie chose Jonathan as his replacement when he decided to leave Journey after the 1980 Departure Tour.

Jonathan cowrote every song for the "Escape album and helped Journey receive stratospheric success with the "Escape" and "Frontiers" albums, as well as "Raised On Radio". Jonathan and Steve Perry became great friends and wrote almost every Journey song together beginning in 1981 and endiing in 1997.

Jonathan has also been involved with other bands throughout his career including "Bad English" with Neal Schon, and his ex-wife's, Tane´ Cain, music career.

Steve Perry got 4 pages in this TourBook, Neal Schon technically got 4 pages. Jonathan only gets 3 pages, unless you count the band photo, then he technically gets 4 also.

Continued next week...

Journey Raised On Radio Tour Book 1986 Concert Program, part 4

Neal Schon has played guitar his entire life. Playing with Santana at 16 years old and the only founding member of "Journey" still left in the band.

Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Ross Valory, and Herbie Herbert set out to create a jazz fusion "San Fransisco Sound" band in 1973 and by 1986 was not that at all. If it wasn't for Neal Schon probably fighting tooth and nail every step of it, this wouldn't actually sound like Journey much. This band was built around the guitar abilities of Neal Schon. Journey lost a lot of it's sound with the loss of Gregg Rolie, If Neal were not there the band would be doing Motown and easy listening slow rock by this time.

Neal Schon has always been in many other bands and playing guitar for other bands. That's what he does. He feels most comfortable with a Guitar in hand, it's what kept him from selling "Italian Ladies Shoes". Neal created his own Guitar before the "Raised On Radio" Tour, called "The Schon Guitar". The Guitar is a redesigned Gibson Les Paul . The Guitars were available to the public for a short time.

Continued next week...

Journey's Concert Ticket Evolution Through Time part 10, Onward

Journey's latest Tour, "The San Francisco Fest 2016", has started off with a Bang! First we get Journey's main drummer back! Steve Smith rejoins Journey after his departure in 1998. He joined the band in 1979 after drummer Aynsley Dunbar left the band.

Steve Smith's drumming is so identifiable to the Journey sound that it's a huge improvement. This tour is the closest Journey has come to sounding like Journey than they have since 1997. The Tour kicked off on April 13, 2016 at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. The following is a ticket stub from April 16, 2016 at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA. The poster for these first three shows can be seen below.

April 16, 2016 at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA with Santana

Next, Journey played the Forum in Inglewood, CA (Los Angeles) with Santana. The the Tour continued on with The Doobie Brothers and special guest Dave Mason  and sometimes Neal "Vortex" Schon starting on May 5 2016 and going through at least September....

Here's a ticket stub from May 20, 2016 at GEXA Energy Pavillion in Dallas Texas. This ticket and video comes courtesy of Brian at bootradr.blogspot.com...

May 20, 2016 at Gexa Energy Pavillion in Dallas Texas

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 3:00PM comes the "San Francisco Fest 2016 On The Green" at AT&T Park in San Francisco where all bands including Santana, Journey, The Doobie Brothers, and The Steve Miller Band all on one Stage! There will also be a special guest, maybe even "Neal 'Vortex' Schon"...

I think it's seriously time for Journey to get back in the Studio and record a new album. It would be released in 2017 which would be 6 years since "eclipse" was released. Steve Perry has said on radio that he will be releasing an album in early 2016. Hopefully one way or another we will hear some new music soon.

Rumors still fly about Steve Perry getting back with the band. Of course that's what we need. To come back permanently would mean letting go of Arnel Pineda and releasing a new album, because Steve wouldn't want to sing anything from any album after "Trial By Fire". It seems more likely he could come back for a tour or some shows except for the fact that Steve has made it completely clear that he doesn't like touring. That only leaves a new album to record with the band. I'd go for that, a new Journey album with Steve Perry, yea I could get into that.

Journey and Santana begin the San Francisco Fest 2016 with three dates together!

When Journey kicks off their San Francisco Fest 2016 Tour they play three dates with Santana!

Journey's new line-up with Steve Smith, Neal Schon, Ross Valory, Jonathan Cain, and Arnel Pineda with first be heard in new York at Madison Square Gardens on April 13, 2016.

Santana is adding original members Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon to their line-up for these special three shows. Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon left Santana to form Journey in 1973 so this is a great combination of bands.

Santana in 2016 with Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon

The big hopes is that Gregg Rolie also plays with Journey. It would be great to hear "Feeling That Way" and "Just The Same Way" if Arnel can keep up with Gregg. It would be especially great to hear "Next", or "On A Saturday Night".

After Madison Square Garden Journey and Santana play together in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena and finally in Allentown, PA at the PPL Center.

Journey's 1983 Frontier's Tour Book Part IV with Centerfold Poster

There are two posters from the 1983 Frontiers Tour Program featured this week. The Frontiers Tour was a grueling 8 months around the World and back again. When the Tour was over Steve Perry started working on his first solo album, "Street Talk" while Steve Smith went back to record with his other band "Vital Information". Neal always had side projects and he really expanded on them during this time. 

This is the first time "Journey" didn't work on new songs during their Tour, they concentrated on the solo projects which kept delaying any work on a new album for far too long.

The first poster is a great shot of the band on Tour. It doesn't even matter that Steve Smith is just an added shot in the corner. Way back in the dark, Ross Valory ended up having the least flattering shot of the group.

This next one is the Centerfold Poster. It's an excellent shot of the band playing. There are also insert shots of each member of the band. It would seem that Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain never change their shirts on Tour.

Continued next week...

Journey Frontiers 1983 Tour Program Book Cover

Journey's Frontiers Tour began on February 22, 1983 in Nagoya Japan. That same night the Frontiers Album was released in the U.S.A. The first U.S. Date was on March 28, 1983 in Seattle Washington. The tour continued until September 6, 1983 where the last date was played in Honolulu Hawaii at the Blaisdell Arena.

The Cover of the giant Tour Book is a solarized blue and red version of the Frontiers Album Cover depicting Elmo's Head.

The next two pages included this week are combined so that it can also be used as a poster. If possible I'll create a text file of what's printed on the left and post it next week.

For the next few weeks I will be posting the entire tour book, so stay tuned....

Journey's Escape Tour 1981-1982 Tour Book Program part 10; The Crew

Journey has always had one the greatest Road Crews and band could ever want. This week's pages from the Escape Tour Book is all about Journey's Management and Road Crew.

Walter "Herbie" Herbert started out as a rodeo so he knows what it takes to keep a band on the road and on schedule. He started Journey as manager after working with the road crew with Santana.

John Villanueva was Journey Road Manager for many years was also the one who thought of the name "Journey". Pat Morrow sat in Road Manager chair this time around while John was more in charge.

There have been a couple documentary movies made about Journey's Road Crew. In 1984 NBC films made an excellent documentary titled "Frontiers And Beyond". In 1986 there was another called "The Raised On Radio Tour". They can be found on YouTube.

As the shows were getting bigger and bigger during the Escape Tour is when the road crew started using video projection. The 1982 leg of the tour had huge video projection screens so no matter where you sat, you could see the faces of the band.

Concluded next week...

Journey's Escape Tour 1981-1982 Tour Book Program part 8; More Posters

This week in the Escape Tour Book we have 2 great posters. Combining 2 pages creates the posters. These posters are a huge 14 X 24 inches, big enough to be framed. The first poster is self explanatory while the 2nd one is a great shot from a concert at Calaveras County Fairgrounds, Angels Camp, CA at the Mountainaire Festival where they played with 415, Billy Squire, and Hall & Oates.

The 2nd leg of The Escape Tour started on April 9, 1982 in Fukuoka, Japan at the Sun Palace Hall. This was when the tour was huge. Concert Promoter, Bill Graham, convinced the band to do another round of shows at huge arenas so even more people could experience Journey live! The 1982 leg of the tour ended in July in Honolulu, Hawaii, which seems to be where they like ending the tours.

This was the first year Journey did not go into the studio and record an album, instead everyone was caught up in the huge success of the album. This is when their heads might have started to get a little too big for their britches. The grueling 8 1/2 month tour had taken it's toll on the band...

To be continued next week...

Journey's Escape Tour 1981-1982 Tour Book Program part 5; The Band

A great shot of Steve Perry made into a Poster. Steve Perry joined the band in 1978 when they were trying to extend the vocal range of the band. The balance between Steve Perry and Gregg Rolie's voices is what Journey so special and something was definitely lost when Gregg left the band in 1980. What was gained was one of the greatest song writing teams ever assembled, Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain. You put that with Neal Schon's Guitar playing and you simply have magic.

Steve was main reason reason the band started gaining more success. His flawless voice combined with his excellent song writing abilities made him the star of the band. Being told how great you are can play tricks with your head and so this tour was last time we would hear that impeccably perfect voice the way we've come to love it again. It was this tour, especially with Bill Graham's 1982 big arena leg of the tour that strained his voice beyond repair. Starting with the "Frontiers" album you'll notice a slightly raspier voice coming through, still unmistakably Steve Perry, but yet not quite the same. Still to this day, the greatest singing voice the World has ever seen!

INSERT TEXT;

Lead Vocals. A range that would astound an opera fan and an unsurpassed rapport with every person in the audience. He's a man in love with his craft. The consummate composer, singer and entertainer.

Journey's Escape Tour 1981-1982 Tour Book Program part 4; Posters

This week in the Escape Tour Book we have 2 great posters. Combining 2 pages creates the posters. These posters are a huge 14 X 24 inches, big enough to be framed. The first poster is a very well known picture of the band used by almost every magazine at the time.

The 2nd Poster is a great shot of the band playing live! I love the Departure Freebird escaping a volcano. I've never seen this artwork in print. I don't know if it exists that way. I find this one equivalent to the Poster inside the 1979 and 1980 Tour Books. This Poster shows Jonathan Cain on Keyboards but not yet the big red piano known as "The Whale" which comes later.

Six dates were played in California as the "Pre-Escape Tour", but "The Escape Tour" officially started in Japan on July 27, 1981 and ran until December 22 where the tour ended in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Tour started as all Journey tours do, but when the album hit #1 in America the shows started getting bigger and bigger. Six dates were played at the Pine Knob in Clarkson, MI as well as 4 dates at the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles, CA. Little did anyone know this wasn't the end of the tour...

To be continued next week...

Journey at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas for 19 days!

You don't want to miss this event!

For 19 days, you have your chance to see Journey live in las Vegas!

Journey at the Hard Rock!

Evolution Group Photo of Journey, the Sticker and Poster from 1979

My most sought after Journey Poster, The Evolution Group Photo Poster from 1979.

This here is my sticker which is only about 3.5 inches tall.

I sometimes see this poster for sale for around $300.00. Maybe one day.