Classic rock icons coming to Columbia for concert

Classic rock icon band Journey is coming to Columbia for a concert, promoters said Monday.

Members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band will bring their “Freedom Tour 2023” to Colonial Life Arena on Feb. 10, 2023.

Journey will be joined by fellow classic rock stars Toto, promoters said in a news release.

“Excited to perform for our fans as we tour next year with Toto,” Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain said in the release. “The combined hits of both bands represent a couple of decades of excellence that have become a soundtrack for people’s lives.”

Tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, but a presale will begin Tuesday at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.com. Any tickets that are still available after Friday can be purchased the next business day online or at the Colonial Life Arena box office.

Information on ticket prices was not available.

The Columbia show is one of the first concerts the band will play in 2023 as it continues its 50th anniversary tour, according to the release.

It’s the only scheduled stop in South Carolina for Journey, which will perform in Greensboro, North Carolina, the following night in its only other show in the Carolinas.

Journey was most prominent in the 1970s and 80s, but hit songs like “Don’t Stop Believin,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Faithfully,” “Lights,” and “Wheel In The Sky,” among others, have sustained the group’s popularity for decades and introduced it to new generations of fans.

Journey has 19 top-40 singles, 25 gold and platinum albums, and has sold more than 100 million albums globally, according to the release. Journey’s “Greatest Hits” album is certified 15 times-platinum, making the group one of the few bands to ever have been diamond-certified, and the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” has been streamed over one billion times.

The group that was formerly fronted by Steve Perry was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017. Current lead singer, Arnel Pineda, is a native of the Philippines who was discovered on YouTube by Journey’s founder and lead guitarist Neal Schon, promoters said.

“On behalf of myself and the band, we are very honored and excited to do this tour with our old and dear friends Journey,” Toto’s Steve Lukather said in the release.

Toto has streamed more than 3.3 billion plays on Spotify based on hit songs “Rosanna,” “Africa,” and “Hold the Line,” promoters said.