Journey thanks fans ‘for all the years’ on final tour

WASHINGTON – Journey has endured its share of derision over the decades.

Sometimes popularity fosters an environment for contempt.

But 53 years later, who’s crying now?

Not the band still filling arenas as they wind through a farewell tour that will span the country through July, including a show at the Spokane Arena on April 15 at 7:30 p.m.

At the third stop on their Final Frontier Tour on Wednesday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., Journey dropped a 23-song set that wove the band’s peak-era ’70s and ’80s fist pumpers (“Any Way You Want It,” excitable set closer “Don’t Stop Believin’ ”) with excavated album tracks both welcome (“Mother, Father”) and unnecessary (“La Do Da”).

Of the sextet – guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain, singer Arnel Pineda, drummer Deen Castronovo, keyboardist Jason Derlatka and bassist Todd Jensen – only fleet-fingered co-founder Schon remains from the band’s inception, with Cain the next longest-tenured, having joined for the megaselling 1981 “Escape” album.

What songs are Journey singing on their Final Frontier tour?

The 2½-hour show had a slightly inauspicious start when Pineda’s mic didn’t kick in until the second verse of the self-preservation anthem “Be Good to Yourself.” But that snafu was quickly forgotten once Schon, ageless at 72 in shades and high-top sneakers, stepped forward for the first of many solos, playing notes that live in his bloodstream with a combination of technical precision and guitar hero flash.

To help Pineda preserve his pipes, a combination of Cain, Castronovo and Derlatka handled lead vocals on several songs to varying success. Cain’s warm tones highlighted “Just the Same Way,” while Derlatka offered a reasonable Perry impersonation on “Suzanne” and a beautifully nuanced vocal on the soul-dusted “I’ll Be Alright Without You.” Drum maestro Castronovo, a fluid, robust sticksman, pitched in on “Lights” – Journey’s valentine to its San Francisco roots – and the crunchy “Mother, Father.”

Pineda, who joined Journey in 2007 and has admirably imbued the band’s most memorable hits with reminders of Steve Perry, isn’t as flexible a vocalist at 58, but still possesses the capability to hang onto a note. He seesawed between crazily impressive wailing (“Stone in Love”) and wobbly shrillness (“Faithfully”), his voice sometimes betraying him, but his enthusiasm undimmed. (Perry, for the record, has stated he has no intention of rejoining Journey for this goodbye swing.)

Journey takes

well-deserved bow

A highlight arrived about halfway through the set with “Wheel in the Sky” from 1978’s “Infinity” album (aka the first one with Perry as front man). The song was coated with a heavy rock glaze as lights spun frantically, sheaths of pyro sparked in the background and Pineda bounced and clapped with fervor.

Schon, meanwhile, played like a man who didn’t take it for granted that this was likely the last time he’d play this city with this band as he tilted his head back and smiled through his riffs.

The band kept chitchat to a minimum, though Cain, 76, introduced the wistful “Faithfully” – a song written about the sacrifices that come with a lifetime on the road – by dedicating it to military veterans. He also wore an “America 250” pin on his red and black striped suit, in recognition of the country’s upcoming anniversary.

“We’re forever yours, faithfully,” Cain told the sold-out crowd at the close of the ballad. “Thank you for all the years.”

Those years have been rife with changing band members and interpersonal drama (there is a tenuous truce between Schon and Cain, who mostly stayed in their respective corners of the stage all night). But there is no arguing the durability of Journey’s catalog, and this (likely) goodbye offered a fulfilling travelogue of the band’s career.

Sure, many of their songs are formulaic and their music was often branded as corporate rock because of the apparent sin of writing songs with exuberant choruses and velveteen melodies.

But that’s also a recipe for longevity – and this well-deserved bow.

This article originally appeared on USA Today

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