WARMINGTON: Journey drummer leaving Final Frontier tour latest drama in legendary band's long goodbye

· Toronto Sun

The Deen Machine’s motor was certainly operating at full capacity just ten days ago in Toronto with no sign of slowing down.

In fact, despite leaving the stage at a show in Oklahoma a few weeks earlier, just two songs into the concert, Journey drummer Deen Castronovo’s ‘Keep on Running’ engine was firing on all cylinders backstopping the legendary band through a two-and-a-half hour show at the Scotiabank Arena Nov. 4.

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It was a thunderous performance in which he hit those drums with the ferocity he is famous for and also sang some iconic songs like Lights and Keep on Running . But then on Friday the 13th came the nightmare news that Castronovo will not finish the Final Frontier tour.

“After careful consideration and an extensive year of touring, our talented, longtime drummer Deen Castronovo has decided to step away to focus on personal health matters that require his attention,” band leader and guitarist Neil Schon posted to his X account. “He has our full support during this time and extends his heartfelt thanks to the fans for the love, encouragement, and kindness he has received.”

The band will finish the tour with New Yorker Steve Murphy, who Schon said “comes to us from working with bands such as Alan Parsons Project, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Christopher Cross and Jack Bruce” and “will be joining us for the remainder of November.”

Journey on monstrous tour

Journey was set to play Saturday night in Greenville, South Carolina, with stops in St. Louis, Houston, Dallas and Denver in the next week. They’re expected to finish up this year-long, 120-show tour in San Francisco on Nov. 28.

For Journey fans, this Deen news came as a shock in one way but no surprise in another. With Castronovo’s up and down past – including admitted drug and alcohol abuse that led to him being kicked out of Journey in 2015 after 17-years following a jail stay for a domestic violence conviction, and his re-instatement in 2021 after a full apology and vow to clean up his act – his story has been one of comebacks.

There have been, however, loud clues there is trouble behind those skins and cymbals. As the Toronto Sun ‘s Denette Wilford reported, Castronovo went to hospital Oct. 8 in Tulsa after just two songs and then on Nov. 10 he had to leave the stage halfway through the show in Boston. In both cases, his drum tech Steve Toomey bravely stepped up to finish off the shows.

But Journey has decided they don’t want to risk there being a third time and have, for now at least, decided to go their separate ways with Deen The Drummer.

‘Pray for Deen’

It’s not clear if old demons have kicked in again or if its a health breakdown after a long tour in which the 62-year-old has been consistent in his performances and has given it his all, but Journey fans love Deen and have great affection for him.

“Deen Castronovo has been the backbone of Journey as a drummer, vocalist, and true bandmate,” wrote one fan on X. “Wishing him time to rest, heal, and recharge.”

As keyboardist Jonathan Cain said from the stage when Castronovo went to the hospital in Tulsa, it’s time to “pray for Deen.”

The hard-hitting basher has been like a cat who has had many lives and has come back from insurmountable odds to get behind that kit once again. But this may also be the end of the line since it’s unclear what happens next with Journey.

In an interview with the Toronto Sun’s Jane Stevenson , Schon said the Final Frontier tour has been so successful that he’s no longer thinking of it as a finale but more as a “long goodbye.”

So, does that leave the door open for more Journey concerts in the future?

Whether that would see Castronovo once again keeping the beat is up in the air, but Journey fans would welcome the drummer back with open arms.

Same goes for singer Arnel Pineda, 59, and 76-year-old Cain himself – both of whom have hinted they are ready to retire from Journey. But it’s hard to leave when you are on top, and that’s where Journey has been this year.

The tour has been widely successful. As Stevenson said in her concert review, Pineda has been strong on vocals throughout the grueling tour, and Cain and Schon are putting on Hall of Fame performances night after night.

But even though the music is rarely the problem, as both Jane and I have written in the past, with this band there is always highly covered in the media drama. Like a rock ’n’ roll soap opera, Journey has seen the split after a legal fight for control of the band between original drummer Steve Smith and original bassist Ross Valory and court battles over tour spending between Cain and Schon.

But these things seemed to have been all worked out and in the past.

At the Toronto concert, my favourite moment of the night was when Schon and Cain were seen jamming together with their guitars – which was quite a moment since in the previous tour they would not only each stay on their own side of the stage but would not even look at each other or travel on the same bus or jet.

All of that seems to have been in the past. Things were going so well for Journey and they were all traveling in the same direction. And then Deen Castronovo’s health is a reminder that everything can change quickly.

Prayers for Deen. Get well soon. Don’t stop believing, change those spark plugs and keep on running.

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