
Journey are veteran professionals when it comes to throwing entertaining concerts, and the fans upfront knew that from experience.

Thousands of people seized the moment and hung onto the feeling, their voices flooding the festival grounds as they sang along and fireworks exploded above the stage. Journey sandwiched “Faithfully,” “Any Way You Want It,” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” into the final moments of their set and Pineda, who was pitch-perfect all night, never missed a note. When Pineda asked the crowd how they were doing after the one-hour mark, a man in his 20s barked at him to play “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Instead, they bounced back with “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’.” By then, thousands of younger attendees were sprawled on the ground around the stage’s perimeter, impervious and content to lounge until the two songs they wanted to post on social media popped up.Įventually, the wait paid off. The majority of people gathered around, however, were clearly waiting for Journey to break out the hits. Journey Lollapalooza Sacha Lecca for Rolling Stone While kids at other stages were busy rapping along to Post Malone or breaking out a sweat to internet phenomenon Marc Rebillet, those watching Journey with their parents were experiencing some good old fashioned bonding time. After turning it over to the rest of the band for a brief jam, he couldn’t help but rock out, jumping and clapping, lost in the moment of their musicianship.Īs it turned out, Journey was the ideal band to do the impossible at Lollapalooza: Draw complete families to the festival on an otherwise youth-oriented lineup day. Later, older fans erupted into cheers when Journey launched into “Wheel in the Sky” where Pineda got to show off the depth of his vocal range. The same was true for bassist Marco Mendoza and drummer Deen Castronovo when they stole the spotlight on the gritty “La Do Da,” despite a dull call-and-response that fell flat before their respective solos. Watching him play, it’s obvious why Guitar Center hopefuls pass the time trying to effortlessly whip out 100-note solos people like Schon make it look easy. He unfurled a dozen brimful solos across their set. It helps that they let Schon take the steering wheel early on. The fact the ‘90s rap-rock band was once an unstoppable force on the charts is a mind-boggling phenomenon of its own, and yet, one could argue, they’re coming back in vogue as a sarcastic favorite among millennials following the Woodstock ’99 documentary. At the same time, Limp Bizkit was performing on the same stage immediately before them. Two hours before their set began, Journey sold around 500 shirts at the merch table in total - a “rough” turnout according to the store manager. Only three other acts also got their start before this century: Jimmy Eat World, Limp Bizkit, and Foo Fighters.

There’s a 19-year age gap between the formation of Journey and that of Modest Mouse, the next oldest band on Lollapalooza’s bill this year. Lollapalooza is known to cater to underage suburbanites and 20-somethings from the Midwest.

Although their legendary career needed no introduction, their inclusion at this particular festival did. As soon as Lollapalooza’s lineup was announced this year, fans online found themselves ogling, confused, at one band in particular: Journey.
