Journey's Neal Schon hints band may not be done touring after all: 'IT'S NOT OVER'
· Toronto Sun
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It’s been a real Journey for musician Neal Schon.
The co-founder and lead guitarist for Journey, who play Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night , is the band’s last original member since the Don’t Stop Believin’ hitmakers formed in San Francisco in 1973.
“I’ve been here for 53 years,” says Schon, 72, speaking down the line from Detroit on Monday night.
“I don’t like to refer to myself as the last man standing ‘cause then I feel like a fossil that’s waiting to crumble,” he added with a laugh. “The coolest thing I think that I can tell you about being here for 53 years is I’ve been on every recording, at every rehearsal, and every show. I’ve never missed a show in my life in 53 years. I’m pretty tough.”
Final Frontier tour
And while this current Journey trek had been called The Final Frontier, suggesting it would be the last tour for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, who have sold more than 100 million album worldwide, Schon said in a Facebook post on Monday that might not be the case after all.
“Playing two and a half hours each night — the longest shows we’ve ever played — has brought us closer together, both musically and personally,” he wrote.
“What began as The Final Frontier now feels more like The Long Goodbye. We’re letting our hearts — and the connection we feel with you (the fans) every night — help guide what comes next.”
Schon told the Toronto Sun on Monday night: “I think it’s not over. We’ve had such a great experience this year. We’ve had five generations of fans out. Little kids come with their folks, people coming who are older than myself, which is pretty old, but we are having a great time. And all the legal stuff (multiple lawsuits) that (keyboardist and rhythm guitarist) John (Cain) and I were (involved) in, we’ve put aside, got rid of all the attorneys, and everything started coming together.”
Journey’s 2026 tour is scheduled to end Nov. 28 in San Francisco, with one date so far for 2027: An April 27 performance at the Stagecoach festival in Indio, Calif.
Otherwise, Schon says Journey drummer Deen Castronovo, 62, has bounced back nicely from a medical emergency he suffered on stage during the Oct. 8 show in Tulsa, Okla. The incident forced the band’s drum tech to take over for a shorter-than-normal show before Castronovo returned for the next full-length gig on Oct. 10 in San Antonio, Tex.
Drummer feeling better after medical emergency
“He’s feeling very well,” said Schon. “I think he’s rundown and needed a little break for a second. He came firing back after one day. He didn’t really miss another show. And his drum tech finished that show, that night, and the audience loved it so no problems. You know, you’ve just got to adapt and move forward and pray a lot.”
As for singer Arnel Pineda, a native of the Philippines whom Schon discovered on YouTube as a replacement for Steve Perry, he’s hanging in there, too, at age 59.
“He’s done extremely well,” said Schon. “He’s been here 19 years. Arnel has been extremely strong — like a warrior. Steve Perry was monstrous, like Paul Rodgers (Bad Company, Free) is monstrous. I worked with Paul for two years and he’s one of the greatest singers I’ve ever worked with. So is Steve Perry. But when first heard Arnel, I was like, ‘Wow. Not many people have that timbre and sing from the chest.’ Not a lot of guys who can sing from the diaphragm, and I knew that he had that. He had quite an instrument. He still does. This tour has been pretty relentless but we all give it our best.”
Turns out Toronto and Canada hold a special place in Schon’s heart, particularly when it comes to music.
“We’re excited about playing in Toronto,” said Schon, who has “great memories of playing in all of Canada.”
“Even outside of Journey as a guitar player, I mean I’ve gotten a lot of rave reviews in Canada. The people are wonderful. They kind of remind me of, like, a European audience. They remind of when I was in the Santana band. They like the progressive music and they’re not afraid to have some improv thrown at them. Actually, they love it.”
Schon was Santana sensation
Journey’s Neal Schon, who got his first guitar at age 10, has come a long way from the 16-year-old self-described “badass” who met guitar legend Carlos Santana in San Francisco in 1970.
“You know when you’re young, you just have no fear,” he said of playing in front of Santana for the first time.
“When I was younger, I was a little more cocky than I am now. I thought I was a little badass. I won a lot of (blues guitar) contests. Elvin Bishop took me under his wing when I was really young, when I was about 15.”
In fact, it was Bishop who took him backstage at the Fillmore West to meet B.B. King for the first time, and the two “had an amazing experience on stage.”
Schon joined Santana when he was 17, playing on two albums, Santana (1971) and Caravanserai (1972), before forming Journey, whose first gig was on New Year’s Eve 1973 at San Francisco’s famed Winterland Ballroom.
“I had a record player and if I couldn’t figure out what someone was playing, I turned the speed down,” said Schon.
“By the time I was 12, I was pretty deep into the blues, learning from the best guys. I learned from B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters and Junior Wells and all that old, old, stuff. And then the whole English invasion at that time from London — (Eric) Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix — that really took me to another level. Their version of American blues. It was a phenomenal time.”
Schon still stays in touch with Santana and hopes for another collaboration following their 2016 reunion album, Santana IV , which featured the early-‘70s band lineup.
“Absolutely, about every week we talk,” he said. “We’re probably tighter than we’ve ever been. Him and I were always buddies when I first joined the band and he accepted me. The rest of the band wanted me in and Carlos wasn’t sure, but then when I got in the band, we hung out every day. Honest to God. We played a lot. We laughed a lot. Drove together wherever we were going that day. I mean, we were just buddies and we’re still like that, and I still hope that we do something together again.”