Evolution Tour (Journey)

Evolution Tour

Tour by Journey
Location	Europe Asia North America
Associated album	Evolution
Start date	March 1, 1979
End date	September 2, 1979
Legs	3
No. of shows	118
Journey concert chronology
Infinity Tour (1978) Evolution Tour (1979) Departure Tour (1980)

The Evolution Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Journey. The tour was in support of their 1979 album Evolution which peaked at #20 on the Billboard 200 like the previous album Infinity. ^[1]

Background

From this tour, the band would further commit themselves to more touring, they would perform shows in Japan after having made a considerable dent in the music scene there. Following that was a lengthy tour in the United States, with ticket and album sales at their highest ever. The tour also included the show at the 1979 World Series of Rock on July 28, 1979 in Cleveland, Ohio, where they would perform with headliners Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC and Scorpions. The show was notable for the violence with the rowdy audience, as well as the death of one person before the show started. ^{[2] [1] [3]}

At the August 5 show in Chicago's Day in the Park festival, security was much tighter for the band as they performed alongside Santana. The festivities were peaceful, nearly 200 people were arrested for a variety of minor infractions. ^[4]

At the conclusion of the tour on September 2, 1979, the band would take a bit of a rest before beginning work on their next album Departure . Despite the album and ticket sales they have made, the band were more received by British critics than the American critics. ^[1] The band had expanded its operation to include a lighting and trucking operation for their future performances as the tour had grossed more than $5 million, making the band as popular as it had ever been in five years. ^[5]

Reception

John Quayle, who attended the Pittsburgh performance, stated in a review for the Observer-Reporter: "Primed by a hot Graham Parker and The Rumour, a near capacity crowd greeted Journey with open arms at the Stanley Theater and Journey responded very well, giving Pittsburgh a night of driving rock, sweetsung harmonies and a truly unforgettable performance." He concluded his review by stating that it was a 'fine concert', praising the setlist and noting on the approval of the audience. ^[6]

Setlist

Songs played overall "Majestic" "La Do Da" "Somethin' to Hide" "Next" "Feeling That Way" "Anytime" "Lights" "Lady Luck" "Can Do" "Too Late" "Kohoutek" "Topaz" "Winds of March" "Karma" "Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin'" "City of the Angels" "Do You Recall" "Daydream" "Of a Lifetime" "When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy)" "Just the Same Way" "Lovin' You is Easy" "Moon Theme" "On a Saturday Night" "Wheel in the Sky" "She Makes Me Feel Alright" Encore "Patiently" "Opened the Door" "Precious Time"

Typical setlist "Majestic" "La Do Da" "Next" "Feeling That Way" "Anytime" "Lights" "Too Late" "Kohoutek" "Winds of March" "Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin'" "Do You Recall" "Just the Same Way" "Lovin' You is Easy" "Wheel in the Sky" Encore "Patiently" "Opened the Door"

Tour dates

Date [7]	City	Country	Venue
Europe
March 5, 1979	London	England	Hammersmith Odeon
March 6, 1979
March 8, 1979	Hamburg	West Germany	Audimax
March 9, 1979	Cologne		Sartory-Säle
March 10, 1979	Neunkirchen am Brand		Hemmerleinhalle
March 12, 1979	Munich		Deutsches Museum
March 13, 1979	Mannheim		Rosengarten
March 15, 1979	Würzburg		Frankenhalle
March 16, 1979	Offenbach		Stadthalle
March 19, 1979	Paris	France	Le Stadium
March 21, 1979	Manchester	England	Manchester Apollo
March 22, 1979	Glasgow	Scotland	Apollo Theatre
March 23, 1979	Newcastle	England	Mayfair Ballroom
March 24, 1979	Sheffield		Sheffield City Hall
March 26, 1979	London		Hammersmith Odeon
March 27, 1979	Leicester		De Montfort Hall
March 28, 1979	Birmingham		Birmingham Odeon
April 2, 1979	The Hague	Netherlands	Congresgebouw
April 3, 1979	Sittard		Stadsschouwburg
April 5, 1979	Copenhagen	Denmark	Tivoli
April 7, 1979	Stockholm	Sweden	Konserthuset
Asia
April 12, 1979	Nagoya	Japan	Nagoya Kokai-do
April 14, 1979	Osaka		Koseinenkin Hall
April 15, 1979	Tokyo		Shibuya Kokai-do
April 16, 1979	Osaka		Koseinenkin Hall
April 18, 1979	Tokyo		Shibuya Kokai-do
United States
May 2, 1979	Medford	United States	Jackson County Fairgrounds
May 3, 1979	Eugene		McArthur Court
May 4, 1979	Seattle		Seattle Center Arena
May 5, 1979	Portland		Paramount Theatre
May 6, 1979	Boise		Fairgrounds Exposition Building
May 8, 1979	Salt Lake City		Terrace Ballroom
May 9, 1979	Denver		Rainbow Music Hall
May 10, 1979
May 11, 1979	Kansas City		Memorial Hall
May 12, 1979
May 13, 1979	St. Louis		Kiel Auditorium
May 14, 1979	Bloomington		Metropolitan Sports Center
May 15, 1979	Milwaukee		Milwaukee Auditorium
May 16, 1979	Chicago		Aragon Ballroom
May 17, 1979
May 18, 1979
May 19, 1979
May 20, 1979
May 22, 1979	Toledo		Toledo Sports Arena
May 23, 1979	Detroit		Cobo Arena
May 24, 1979
May 25, 1979	Port Huron		McMorran Arena
May 26, 1979	Toledo		Toledo Sports Arena
May 27, 1979	Columbus		Veterans Memorial Auditorium
May 28, 1979	Flint		IMA Auditorium
May 29, 1979	Detroit		Cobo Arena
May 30, 1979	Cleveland		Public Auditorium
May 31, 1979	Cincinnati		University of Cincinnati
June 1, 1979	Buffalo		Shea's Performing Arts Center
June 2, 1979	Pittsburgh		Stanley Theater
June 3, 1979	Syracuse		Onondaga War Memorial Auditorium
June 4, 1979	Henrietta		Dome Arena
June 5, 1979	Buffalo		Shea's Performing Arts Center
June 6, 1979	Albany		Palace Theatre
June 7, 1979	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center
June 8, 1979	Boston		Orpheum Theatre
June 10, 1979	Passaic		Capitol Theatre
June 12, 1979	Binghamton		Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
June 13, 1979	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 14, 1979	Croton-on-Hudson		Croton Point Park
June 15, 1979	Saratoga Springs		Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 16, 1979	Boston		Orpheum Theatre
June 17, 1979	Shelton		Pinecrest Country Club
June 19, 1979	Baltimore		Baltimore Civic Center
June 20, 1979	Fort Worth		Tarrant County Convention Center
June 21, 1979	Austin		Municipal Auditorium
June 22, 1979	San Antonio		HemisFair Arena
June 23, 1979	Houston		Sam Houston Coliseum
June 24, 1979	Corpus Christi		Memorial Coliseum
June 26, 1979	Albuquerque		University Arena
June 27, 1979	Phoenix		Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 29, 1979	San Bernardino		Swing Auditorium
June 30, 1979	Long Beach		Long Beach Arena
July 1, 1979
July 2, 1979	Oakland		Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (Day on the Green 1979)
July 3, 1979
July 4, 1979
July 6, 1979	Reno		Centennial Coliseum
July 12, 1979	Valley Center		Kansas Coliseum
July 13, 1979	Tulsa		Tulsa Assembly Center
July 14, 1979	Oklahoma City		Myriad Convention Center
July 15, 1979	Little Rock		Barton Coliseum
July 16, 1979	Kansas City		Municipal Auditorium
July 17, 1979	Joplin		Joplin Memorial Hall
July 18, 1979	New Orleans	The Warehouse
July 19, 1979	Shreveport	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
July 21, 1979	St. Petersburg	Bayfront Center
July 22, 1979	Miami	Miami Jai-Alai Fronton
July 24, 1979	Atlanta	Fox Theater
July 25, 1979	Nashville	Nashville Municipal Auditorium
July 26, 1979	Memphis	Mid-South Coliseum
July 28, 1979	Cleveland	Cleveland Stadium (Worlds Series of Rock 1979)
July 29, 1979	Grand Rapids	George Welsh Civic Auditorium
July 30, 1979	Saginaw	Wendler Arena
August 1, 1979	New York City	Wollman Skating Rink (Dr. Pepper Summer Music Festival 1979)
August 2, 1979	Springfield	Hammons Center
August 3, 1979	Indianapolis	Indiana Convention Center
August 4, 1979	St. Louis	Checkerdome
August 5, 1979	Chicago	Comiskey Park
August 6, 1979	Kalamazoo	Wings Stadium
August 7, 1979	Madison	Dane County Coliseum
August 8, 1979	East Troy	Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 10, 1979	Lansing	Lansing Civic Center
August 11, 1979	Detroit	Cobo Arena
August 12, 1979
August 13, 1979	Shelton	Pinecrest Country Club
August 14, 1979	New York City	Central Park
August 17, 1979	Las Vegas	Convention Center
August 28, 1979	San Antonio	HemisFair Arena
August 29, 1979	Corpus Christi	Memorial Coliseum
August 30, 1979	Houston	Sam Houston Coliseum
September 2, 1979	Oakland	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references

Date (1979)	City	Venue	Attendance	Gross	Ref(s)
May 11	Kansas City, United States	Memorial Hall	6,528	$55,488	[8]
May 12
May 13	St. Louis, United States	Kiel Auditorium	10,586	$88,695
July 4	Oakland, United States	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	—	$632,684	[9]
July 28	Cleveland, United States	Cleveland Stadium		$834,690

Personnel

• Steve Perry – lead vocals, keyboards
• Neal Schon – guitars, backing vocals
• Gregg Rolie – keyboards, backing vocals
• Ross Valory – bass, backing vocals
• Steve Smith – drums, percussion

References

1. Daniels 2011, pp. 40–41.
2. Daly, Joe (October 17, 2019). "The wild and deadly story behind the 1979 World Series of Rock". Louder.
3. "Rowdy Crowd Leaves 1 Dead Before Concert". Cleveland: The Sunday Star-News. Associated Press. July 29, 1979. p. 4-A. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
4. "Tight Security At WLUP-FM Concert". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 45. Chicago: Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 1, 1979. p. 24. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved May 23, 2021.
5. Kozak, Roman (November 3, 1979). "Lighting And Trucking Areas Attract Journey". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 44. New York: Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 36. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved May 23, 2021.
6. Hazlett, Terry (June 13, 1979). "Disc Talk". Observer-Reporter. p. B-5. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
7. "Journey's Past Tour Information". www.journey-tribute.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
8. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 20. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 26, 1979. p. 41. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved May 23, 2021.
9. "Top Box Office Of The Year". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 51. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 22, 1979. p. 50. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved May 23, 2021.

Sources

• Daniels, Neil (2011). The Untold Story of Journey. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-1-84938-657-9.