Journey's 'Final Frontier Tour' delivers epic goodbye

Small-town girls, city boys and probably a few smoky-room singers poured into Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 21 to see Journey, the legendary rock band behind the song that has encouraged generations of dreamers to never give up.

And Nashville was still believin'.

About an hour before showtime, "Don't Stop Believin'" spilled out of Rippy's honky-tonk on Lower Broadway as two singers performed the global hit for Broadway bargoers.

It was a fitting scene in Music City, where aspiring musicians arrive every day hoping to turn their dreams into careers.

Across the street, the band that gave the world that 1981 anthem was preparing to say goodbye.

Journey brought its "Final Frontier Tour" to Bridgestone Arena for two and a half hours of soaring vocals, screeching

guitar solos, pyrotechnics and the arena-rock hits that have filled stadiums, soundtracked television shows and connected generations of fans.

"Welcome to an evening with Journey, the Final Frontier," keyboardist Jonathan Cain told the crowd early in the show. "We're here to celebrate over 50 years of music."

The band opened the Nashville concert with "Be Good to Yourself" as three enormous screens displayed swirling planets and distant galaxies. Above the musicians, four intersecting rows of lights formed an illuminated asterisk.

Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, discovered through YouTube videos, has fronted the band since 2007. Guitarist Neal Schon, the sole remaining original member, keyboardist Jonathan Cain and drummer Deen Castronovo continue to anchor its sound.

The legends of arena-rock euphoria welcomed a packed audience with open arms, including those honoring loved ones.

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A father's music lives on

Emily Walden came to Bridgestone Arena with her mother, Brianna Walden, wearing one of her late father's shirts.

Her dad, Jeff, died in 2013 from a heart condition.

"He went to a lot of concerts," Walden said. "We never got to go with him, but he was a drummer, and he played every one of these songs."

Emily's girlfriend bought the tickets as a birthday gift. For Emily, the concert was an opportunity to hear the songs her father loved, including three of his favorites: "Separate Ways," "Any Way You Want It" and "Faithfully."

Those songs were among the night's biggest crowd-pleasers, with Pineda bounding around the stage like a teenager rocking out in a bedroom covered with band posters. Wearing black leather pants, a short-sleeved black shirt and pearl jewelry, Pineda swung his microphone like a helicopter blade, hoisted it above his head and extended it toward the crowd, inviting fans to sing along and flash their rock horns.

Before "Lights," the band asked the audience to raise lighters before suggesting cellphone lights. One fan on the floor — in section 3, row 9 — flicked open a metallic lighter as thousands of cellphone lights illuminated the arena.

Castronovo handled lead vocals on the song. Cameras later captured him sweating behind his drum kit, tattooed arms exposed beneath a sleeveless vest and two silver crosses hanging around his neck.

One last time, faithfully

Throughout the concert, cinematic camera operators roamed the stage and captured audience reactions, separate from the footage displayed on the arena's three enormous screens leaving fans to wonder if they were documenting the performance for a bigger project.

The band mixed familiar hits with songs from its earliest albums. Schon introduced "Of a Lifetime," from Journey's 1975 debut, with Nashville musician Jason Derlatka handling vocals.

"Let's hear it for one of your hometown boys living right here in Nashville, Tennessee," Cain told the crowd as he reflected on 45 years with the band. "I want to thank you all for your love and support. I'm going to miss you all."

Before "Faithfully," Cain dedicated the song to members of the armed forces and their families as images of men and women in uniform filled the backdrop.

Journey saved the biggest hits for the final stretch, including "Don't Stop Believin'," "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" and "Any Way You Want It."

The "Final Frontier Tour" may mark Journey's farewell to the road, but the hits that refuse to fade will go on and on and on and on.

Setlist:

1. "Be Good to Yourself"
2. "Stone in Love"
3. "Ask the Lonely"
4. "Only the Young"
5. "Just the Same Way"
6. "Lights"
7. "Send Her My Love"
8. "Of a Lifetime"
9. "La Do Da"
10. "Escape"
11. "Girl Can't Help It"
12. "Precious Time"
13. "Chain Reaction"
14. "Dead or Alive"
15. "Anytime"
16. "Who's Crying Now"
17. "Open Arms"
18. "Never Walk Away"
19. "Keep on Runnin'"
20. "Suzanne"
21. "Wheel in the Sky"
22. "Faithfully"
23. "Don't Stop Believin'"
24. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"
25. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)"
26. "Any Way You Want It"

Bryan West is a music reporter at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Journey's 'Final Frontier Tour' delivers epic goodbye

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