Journey and The Pretenders touring together? Believe it, Florida
Journey and The Pretenders are touring together on an extensive 60-plus date North American Tour.
And Florida has three dates in August 2020.
Classic rock fans have come to expect such pairings these days. Stevie Nicks headlined a solo tour with The Pretenders as her opening act at a Sunrise show in November 2016. Peter Frampton and the Steve Miller Band came alive together recently in South Florida. Heart and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are currently touring together.
But somehow Journey and The Pretenders seem an odd pairing.
Sure, both are classic rock acts with a bounty of hit songs including Journey’s evergreen “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)“ and The Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” and “Middle of the Road” sharing space on classic rock stations like South Florida’s Big 106.
But in another era, like 1980 when the edgier Pretenders first exploded on the scene, the music of Chrissie Hynde and her bandmates seemed an antidote to the middle of the road, radio-friendly music Journey sent to proms and pop charts like “Open Arms” and “Faithfully.”
Believe it, though. The Journey-Pretenders tour could be a hot ticket in 2020 as classic rock fans itch for one more fix of old favorites.
Journey, featuring founding member and lead guitarist Neal Schon, bassist and co-founder Ross Valory, longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain, drummer Steve Smith and lead singer Arnel Pineda, and the Pretenders open the tour on May 15 in Ridgefield, Washington, through Sept. 12 in Bethel, New York.
The Florida dates are:
Aug. 21 at Tampa’s MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the Florida State Fairgrounds.
Aug. 22 at West Palm Beach’s Coral Sky Amphitheatre on the South Florida Fairgrounds.
Aug. 24 at Jacksonville’s Star Veterans Memorial Arena.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8.
