This concert was initially scheduled for last year, but Covid-19 had other plans and Journey had to reschedule a few dates for this year. After a long wait, fans were finally going to celebrate the 50th Anniversary Freedom Tour with Journey and Toto at the Bell Center on March 8 at the Bell Center

As expected, many were still getting to their seats when Toto started playing. The first thing I noticed when I got to my spot was the duct tape outlining the aisles on the floor. Thought this was a new security measure to avoid fans from clogging the aisles and nothing more. Toto does not play in Montreal very often and they were well received as soon as the band started their set with “Afraid Of Love”. But when the first notes of “Hold The Line” were played, everyone jumped to their feet and started signing. Steve Lukather immediately realized that this was going to be a great night for the band and aptly said that they should play in Montreal more often. The only other time that I can remember was when they played here in 2017. Steve showed everyone what he could do with a guitar on the rocking “White Sister” and fans were loving every second of it. 

The band rearranged “Georgy Porgy” and gave it a jazzier feel and it was exactly what that song needed to make it more modern.  As expected, we can see Steve and singer Joseph Williams move all over the stage in opposition to the other band members. “I'll Supply The Love” is another song that got the party going and you could see how much fun the musicians were having on stage as they saw the fans sing along. This party vibe carried on during their rendition of “With A Little Help From My Friends”. Everyone was waiting for those two huge hit songs, and the wait was worth it. There is something magical about these two songs and the fans were on their feet singing and dancing throughout “Rosanna” and it was crazy to see so many fans filming during the mighty “Africa”. I really hope that Steve will keep up his word and will come play in Montreal more often in the future to recreate this magical atmosphere.

After a sold hour of great songs, it was now time for Journey to celebrate their 50th anniversary with the packed Bell Center. They started things off strongly with the hit “Only The Young”. Arnel Pineda was on top of his game and spot on with his powerful vocals. He is easy to spot on stage with his shiny pants and bomber jacket and if you can’t spot him from his flashy clothes, he is the one always on the move on stage and going to the makeshift stage extension that was in the security area to get closer to the fans. Neil Schon shows off his skills on the guitar with a guitar solo early in the set before the band follow with “Don't Stop Believin’” and “Who's Crying Now” where the fans sang almost as loud as Arnel. The Bell Center lit up with phones during “Lights” and the emotion was at its maximum when the band played “Send Her My Love”. Deen Castronovo is not only a beast on drums, he showed that he could also sing during the powerful “Mother, Father”. The band has terrific lighting and takes advantage of their huge screen in the back of the stage to show images that accompany the songs or to show close-up of musicians.

The crowd was fired up as the band played bigger and bigger hits one after the other during the second half of their set. We are talking about songs like “Open Arms”, “Faithfully” and “Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'”. Arnel gives a new meaning to that last song as he hugs as many fans as possible. We all know that there is a lot of tension within the band, but I must say that none of this is really showing on stage, besides the fact that Neil and Jonathan Cain stay on the opposite end of the stage and don’t even look at each other. Jason Derlatka gets his five minutes in the spotlight when he sings “Girl Can't Help It” just before Neil showcases his guitar skills again with another solo that morphed into “Wheel In The Sky”.

Remember when I mentioned that the aisles were outlined with a glow in the dark tape? I understood the reasoning behind this as Arnel decided to do his daily exercise during Neil’s solo and ran into the crowd, giving hugs and high fives to everyone along the way before returning to the stage. Everyone jumped to their feet as soon as we heard the keyboard introduction of “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” and everyone was singing their lungs out. The band followed with “Be Good To Yourself” and the iconic “Any Way You Want It”. During these, Arnel was taking the phones from the fans in the front row and taking pictures with them. This is something you really don’t see every day and fans loved every second of it.

This 50th Anniversary tour is truly a celebration for the fans and for the band as well as we can see how much these guys still enjoy playing after all these years. Talk about an awesome set list that highlights every portion of their career. This is simply a fan’s dream and other bands should take notes!