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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
Tour dates + List of 1979 concertsDateCityCountryVenueMarch 5, 1979LondonEnglandHammersmith OdeonMarch 6, 1979March 8, 1979HamburgWest GermanyAudimaxMarch 9, 1979CologneSartory-SäleMarch 10, 1979Neunkirchen am BrandHemmerleinhalleMarch 12, 1979MunichDeutsches MuseumMarch 13, 1979MannheimRosengartenMarch 15, 1979WürzburgFrankenhalleMarch 16, 1979OffenbachStadthalleMarch 19, 1979ParisFranceLe StadiumMarch 21, 1979ManchesterEnglandManchester ApolloMarch 22, 1979GlasgowScotlandApollo TheatreMarch 23, 1979NewcastleEnglandMayfair BallroomMarch 24, 1979SheffieldSheffield City HallMarch 26, 1979LondonHammersmith OdeonMarch 27, 1979LeicesterDe Montfort HallMarch 28, 1979BirminghamBirmingham OdeonApril 2, 1979The HagueNetherlandsCongresgebouwApril 3, 1979SittardStadsschouwburgApril 5, 1979CopenhagenDenmarkTivoliApril 7, 1979StockholmSwedenKonserthusetApril 12, 1979NagoyaJapanNagoya Kokai-doApril 14, 1979OsakaKoseinenkin HallApril 15, 1979TokyoShibuya Kokai-doApril 16, 1979OsakaKoseinenkin HallApril 18, 1979TokyoShibuya Kokai-doMay 2, 1979MedfordUnited StatesJackson County FairgroundsMay 3, 1979EugeneMcArthur CourtMay 4, 1979SeattleSeattle Center ArenaMay 5, 1979PortlandParamount TheatreMay 6, 1979BoiseFairgrounds Exposition BuildingMay 8, 1979Salt Lake CityTerrace BallroomMay 9, 1979DenverRainbow Music HallMay 10, 1979May 11, 1979Kansas CityMemorial HallMay 12, 1979May 13, 1979St. LouisKiel AuditoriumMay 14, 1979BloomingtonMetropolitan Sports CenterMay 15, 1979MilwaukeeMilwaukee AuditoriumMay 16, 1979ChicagoAragon BallroomMay 17, 1979May 18, 1979May 19, 1979May 20, 1979May 22, 1979ToledoToledo Sports ArenaMay 23, 1979DetroitCobo ArenaMay 24, 1979May 25, 1979Port HuronMcMorran ArenaMay 26, 1979ToledoToledo Sports ArenaMay 27, 1979ColumbusVeterans Memorial AuditoriumMay 28, 1979FlintIMA AuditoriumMay 29, 1979DetroitCobo ArenaMay 30, 1979ClevelandPublic AuditoriumMay 31, 1979CincinnatiUniversity of CincinnatiJune 1, 1979BuffaloShea's Performing Arts CenterJune 2, 1979PittsburghStanley TheaterJune 3, 1979SyracuseOnondaga War Memorial AuditoriumJune 4, 1979HenriettaDome ArenaJune 5, 1979BuffaloShea's Performing Arts CenterJune 6, 1979AlbanyPalace TheatreJune 7, 1979PortlandCumberland County Civic CenterJune 8, 1979BostonOrpheum TheatreJune 10, 1979PassaicCapitol TheatreJune 12, 1979BinghamtonBroome County Veterans Memorial ArenaJune 13, 1979ColumbiaMerriweather Post PavilionJune 14, 1979Croton-on-HudsonCroton Point ParkJune 15, 1979Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Performing Arts CenterJune 16, 1979BostonOrpheum TheatreJune 17, 1979SheltonPinecrest Country ClubJune 19, 1979BaltimoreBaltimore Civic CenterJune 20, 1979Fort WorthTarrant County Convention CenterJune 21, 1979AustinMunicipal AuditoriumJune 22, 1979San AntonioHemisFair ArenaJune 23, 1979HoustonSam Houston ColiseumJune 24, 1979Corpus ChristiMemorial ColiseumJune 26, 1979AlbuquerqueUniversity ArenaJune 27, 1979PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial ColiseumJune 29, 1979San BernardinoSwing AuditoriumJune 30, 1979Long BeachLong Beach ArenaJuly 1, 1979July 2, 1979OaklandOakland-Alameda County Coliseum(Day on the Green 1979)July 3, 1979July 4, 1979July 6, 1979RenoCentennial ColiseumJuly 12, 1979Valley CenterKansas ColiseumJuly 13, 1979TulsaTulsa Assembly CenterJuly 14, 1979Oklahoma CityMyriad Convention CenterJuly 15, 1979Little RockBarton ColiseumJuly 16, 1979Kansas CityMunicipal AuditoriumJuly 17, 1979JoplinJoplin Memorial HallJuly 18, 1979New OrleansThe WarehouseJuly 19, 1979ShreveportHirsch Memorial ColiseumJuly 21, 1979St. PetersburgBayfront CenterJuly 22, 1979MiamiMiami Jai-Alai FrontonJuly 24, 1979AtlantaFox TheaterJuly 25, 1979NashvilleNashville Municipal AuditoriumJuly 26, 1979MemphisMid-South ColiseumJuly 28, 1979ClevelandCleveland Stadium(Worlds Series of Rock 1979)July 29, 1979Grand RapidsGeorge Welsh Civic AuditoriumJuly 30, 1979SaginawWendler ArenaAugust 1, 1979New York CityWollman Skating Rink(Dr. Pepper Summer Music Festival 1979)August 2, 1979SpringfieldHammons CenterAugust 3, 1979IndianapolisIndiana Convention CenterAugust 4, 1979St. LouisCheckerdomeAugust 5, 1979ChicagoComiskey ParkAugust 6, 1979KalamazooWings StadiumAugust 7, 1979MadisonDane County ColiseumAugust 8, 1979East TroyAlpine Valley Music TheatreAugust 10, 1979LansingLansing Civic CenterAugust 11, 1979DetroitCobo ArenaAugust 12, 1979August 13, 1979SheltonPinecrest Country ClubAugust 14, 1979New York CityCentral ParkAugust 17, 1979Las VegasConvention CenterAugust 28, 1979San AntonioHemisFair ArenaAugust 29, 1979Corpus ChristiMemorial ColiseumAugust 30, 1979HoustonSam Houston ColiseumSeptember 2, 1979OaklandOakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDate (1979)CityVenueAttendanceGrossMay 11Kansas City, United StatesMemorial Hall6,528$55,488May 12May 13St. Louis, United StatesKiel Auditorium10,586$88,695July 4Oakland, United StatesOakland-Alameda County Coliseumrowspan="2" $632,684July 28Cleveland, United StatesCleveland 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
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