The Escape Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Journey in support of their seventh studio album, Escape.

Background The tour included six consecutive sold out dates at the Pine Knob Theatre in Detroit, and four straight sold-out shows at the Los Angeles Forum, and Chicago's Rosemont Horizon. Journey also made an appearance on July 2, 1982, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California with Blue Öyster Cult, Triumph and Aldo Nova. The -month tour took Journey through Japan and North America.

Point Blank, Billy Squier, the Greg Kihn Band and Loverboy were the opening acts during the tour.

Reception Deborah Deasy, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Press, who attended the sold out October 2, 1981 performance, gave criticism toward the band on their deliverance of fast and furious noise, even noting that there was too little 'danceable rock 'n' roll'. The reporter noted on Perry's vocals being grating and overworked, but praised the other members of Journey individually. Deborah cited on the uninspired songwriting and the chemistry, criticizing the band as 'generic rock'. She concluded her review, praising the stage work done by the technical, set and sound designers as well as the surprise fireworks, but also noted on the opening act Point Blank had, criticizing the lackluster lead singer who she claimed was "too impressed with himself". A warmer reception was reported by press in the band's hometown of San Francisco, where Chronicle writer Joel Selvin gushed effusively about the band's video monitors, sound and pyrotechnics, adding that Journey delivered a "masterful triple stroke" that "set a new standard in the rock concert arms race" that makes "all that came before" it, "as old fashioned as a Model T."

Tour dates

Over the course of the tour, Journey played the following dates:

Date City Country Venue Tickets sold / Available Revenue Asia July 27, 1981 OsakaJapan Festival Hallrowspan="6" July 28, 1981 Nagoya Kokai-do July 29, 1981 Tokyo Koseinenkin Hall July 31, 1981 August 1, 1981 Nakano Sun Plaza August 2, 1981 North America August 15, 1981 TorontoCanada Massey Hallrowspan="21" August 22, 1981 Montreal Montreal Forum August 23, 1981 OttawaOttawa Civic Centre August 25, 1981 PortlandUnited States Cumberland County Civic Center August 27, 1981 Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Performing Arts Center August 28, 1981 ColumbiaMerriweather Post Pavilion August 29, 1981 YarmouthCape Cod Coliseum August 31, 1981 Cuyahoga FallsBlossom Music Center September 1, 1981 September 3, 1981 Hoffman EstatesPoplar Creek Music Theatre September 4, 1981 September 5, 1981 East TroyAlpine Valley Music Theatre September 6, 1981 September 8, 1981 ClarkstonPine Knob Music Theatre September 9, 1981 September 11, 1981 September 12, 1981 September 13, 1981 September 14, 1981 September 15, 1981 St. PaulSt. Paul Civic Center September 16, 1981 AmesHilton Coliseum September 18, 1981 Kansas CityKemper Arena31,373 / 34,331 $316,591 September 19, 1981 September 20, 1981 WichitaLevitt Arena 10,500 / 10,500 $105,000 September 21, 1981 OmahaOmaha Civic Auditorium 12,000 / 12,000 $114,000 September 23, 1981 St. LouisCheckerdome 17,517 / 17,517 $172,206September 28, 1981Terre HauteHulman Center September 29, 1981 RosemontRosemont Horizon September 30, 1981 ChampaignAssembly Hall October 1, 1981 CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum October 2, 1981 PittsburghCivic Arena October 3, 1981 LexingtonRupp Arena 17,652 / 17,652 $179,726October 6, 1981BostonBoston Garden October 8, 1981 HartfordHartford Civic Center 16,198 / 16,198 $171,975 October 9, 1981 SyracuseCarrier Dome October 10, 1981 UniondaleNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum October 11, 1981 ProvidenceProvidence Civic CenterOctober 12, 1981PhiladelphiaThe SpectrumOctober 13, 1981HamptonHampton Coliseum October 15, 1981 JacksonvilleVeterans Memorial Coliseum 11,512 / 11,512 $114,530October 16, 1981BirminghamBJCC ColiseumOctober 17, 1981AtlantaOmni ColiseumOctober 18, 1981ColumbiaCarolina Coliseum October 20, 1981 CharlotteCharlotte ColiseumOctober 21, 1981SavannahMartin Luther King Jr. Arena October 22, 1981 LakelandJenkins Arena20,000 / 20,000 $199,318 October 23, 1981 October 24, 1981 Pembroke PinesHollywood Sportatorium October 27, 1981 KnoxvilleKnoxville Civic Coliseum October 28, 1981 NashvilleMunicipal Auditorium 9,900 / 9,900 $98,460 October 30, 1981 MemphisMid-South Coliseum 11,632 / 11,632 $122,136 October 31, 1981 MobileMunicipal Auditorium November 1, 1981 Baton RougeLSU Assembly Center November 3, 1981 Oklahoma CityMyriad Convention Center 14,735 / 14,735 $159,357 November 5, 1981 HoustonThe Summit34,904 / 34,904 $377,577 November 6, 1981 November 7, 1981 DallasReunion Arena38,025 / 38,025 $453,719 November 8, 1981 November 10, 1981 AlbuquerqueTingley Coliseum November 11, 1981 AmarilloCal Farley Coliseum November 13, 1981 Las CrucesPan American Center November 14, 1981 TucsonTucson Arena November 15, 1981 PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum November 21, 1981 San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena November 22, 1981 InglewoodThe Forum70,000 / 70,000 $729,018 November 23, 1981 November 24, 1981 November 25, 1981 November 29, 1981 FresnoRatcliffe Stadium November 30, 1981 Daly CityCow Palace41,710 / 41,710 $443,346 December 1, 1981 December 2, 1981 December 3, 1981 PocatelloMinidome December 4, 1981 SeattleSeattle Center Coliseum44,910 / 44,910 $538,920 December 5, 1981 December 6, 1981 December 7, 1981 PortlandMemorial Coliseum December 8, 1981 December 10, 1981 OaklandOakland–Alameda County Coliseum December 11, 1981 Daly City Cow Palace December 12, 1981 December 21, 1981 HonoluluNeal S. Blaisdell Arena December 22, 1981Asia April 9, 1982 FukuokaJapan Sun Palace Hall April 11, 1982 KyotoKyoto Kaikan April 12, 1982 Osaka Festival Hall April 13, 1982 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium April 14, 1982 Nagoya Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium April 16, 1982 Tokyo Nippon Budokan April 17, 1982 YokohamaYokohama Cultural Gymnasium North America April 23, 1982 VancouverCanada Pacific Coliseum April 25, 1982 EdmontonNorthlands Coliseum 17,178 / 18,117 $214,787 April 26, 1982 CalgaryStampede Corral 7,500 / 7,500 $101,105 April 28, 1982 WinnipegWinnipeg Arena 14,646 / 17,230 $172,116 April 30, 1982 TorontoMaple Leaf Gardens 12,792 / 19,307 $151,146 May 1, 1982 BuffaloUnited States Memorial Auditorium 17,293 / 17,293 $176,046 May 3, 1982 BostonBoston Garden31,000 / 31,000 $371,242 May 4, 1982 May 6, 1982 East RutherfordBrendan Byrne Arena41,224 / 41,224 $482,646 May 7, 1982 May 8, 1982 LandoverCapital Centre 18,896 / 18,896 $200,109 May 10, 1982 PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum37,226 / 37,226 $441,203 May 11, 1982 May 13, 1982 RichfieldRichfield Coliseum37,221 / 37,221 $465,262 May 14, 1982 May 15, 1982 DetroitJoe Louis Arena39,900 / 39,900 $461,316 May 16, 1982 May 18, 1982 LouisvilleFreedom Hall 19,400 / 19,400 $217,548 May 19, 1982 IndianapolisMarket Square Arena 18,178 / 18,178 $197,945 May 21, 1982 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon 73,080 / 73,080 $865,833 May 22, 1982 May 23, 1982 May 24, 1982 May 27, 1982 DenverMcNichols Arena33,900 / 36,000 $424,301 May 28, 1982 May 29, 1982 Salt Lake CitySalt Palace26,259 / 26,318 $244,222 May 30, 1982 June 2, 1982 Portland Memorial Coliseum June 3, 1982 June 4, 1982 June 12, 1982 Dallas Cotton Bowl 64,945 / 70,000 $1,199,310 June 13, 1982 Houston Astrodome 65,000 / 65,000 $1,160,504 June 26, 1982 Oakland Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 57,500 / 57,500 $957,851 July 2, 1982 PasadenaRose Bowl 83,214 / 90,000 $1,373,031

Personnel Steve Perry – lead vocals, keyboards, piano Neal Schon – lead guitar, backing vocals Ross Valory – bass, backing vocals Jonathan Cain – keyboards, piano, rhythm guitar, backing vocals Steve Smith – drums, percussion

Notes

References