Journey‘s newly revamped lineup will perform at the 2021 edition of Chicago’s annual Lollapalooza festival, according to guitarist Neal Schon.
Saying he was “dying to get on stage again,” Schon first broke the news to Eddie Trunk (as transcribed by Blabbermouth) back in December, declaring that the band has “our first date booked for Lollapalooza, and we’re headlining in Chicago.”
The festival’s lineup is expected to be officially announced later this morning.
He reconfirmed the news this morning, with a tweet saying, “Chicago it’s on!! See you there at Lollapalooza.” In addition, an official video from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot confirmed that the festival would return to the city’s Grant Park this year, after being forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to convert to online performances in 2020.
After Dave Grohl appears in the video to confirm that the Foo Fighters will be performing at the event, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” plays as the July 29th to August 1st dates are revealed, strongly hinting at if not outright confirming the band’s participation.
When Trunk mentioned that Journey was an unusual choice for the largely alternative, hip-hop and electronic music-minded festival during their December interview, Schon replied: “I have not seen the bill. Alls I know is that we’re headlining it. I can guarantee you that with the new blood in the band, when we get together for two weeks of rehearsal before that show, we will be the new alternative. We’re gonna add a lot to the show. We’re gonna bring some new dynamics and open things up a bit and show people what the musicianship is really like in this band.”
Journey’s most recent concert took place on Jan. 31, 2019 in Las Vegas. It turned out to be the last Journey show to feature drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory, who were fired in March 2020 after what Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain described in court documents as an “ill-conceived corporate coup d’état” designed to take control of the band’s name.
Two months later, Schon announced that bassist Randy Jackson, who briefly performed with Journey in the mid-’80s, had returned to the group, joined by new drummer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist / vocalist Jason Derlatka.
During his conversation with Trunk, Schon expressed optimism about the imminent arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, and the return of live performances. “Hopefully they start dispersing it very quickly so everybody can get back on their feet and can get out and hear music, ’cause that’s what heals the world, I think.”