The Infinity Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Journey. The tour was in support of their 1978 album Infinity which peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200.

Background Sales for the album and the band's stature began to grow upon the beginning of the tour on January 20, 1978. Throughout March and April, the band would tour with both hard rock bands Van Halen and Ronnie Montrose who was touring with his first solo instrumental album, Open Fire. Steve Perry remembered: "Van Halen was the opening act for the tour, they were a brand new band back then. We were doing 3,000-seat auditoriums and they were killing us every night. It was eye-opening. We were keeping up with them, but they were certainly making us be a better band. They were so musically simple." Tom Broderick, a sound mixer for Van Halen recalled that the members of Journey were off-put by Van Halen's meteoric performances on tour with them and began to undermine them by sabotaging the PA.

The members of Journey would eventually end up meeting Montrose's drummer, Steve Smith, which released reports that there was tensions between Aynsley Dunbar and the band due to the change in music direction from the jazz fusion sound. Aynsley was also noted to have started playing erratically and talking derogatorily about the other members of Journey according to the band's manager Herbie Herbert. Reflecting on the tensions between Dunbar and the band, Neal Schon commented: "We would talk about it, and he'd say he'd be willing to simplify things. But we'd get out there, and after five shows he wasn't doing that at all."

The band would fly over to Europe to perform at the Pinkpop Festival in Holland. Critics who had watched the performance criticized the unfamiliar stage equipment, and called the performance 'shallow', commenting that Steve Perry's vocals were barely audible, and Aynsley's drum solo was 'clumsy' and 'boring'. Following the show in the Netherlands, the band embarked on a three-month tour, where they performed as headliners for the first time. As part of an artist development program by Columbia Records, the band would later perform a free concert to 33,000 fans at the performing arts center in Saratoga Springs on June 9.

The tour ended on September 2, 1978, which was the last time Aynsley Dunbar performed with the band. Montrose's drummer, Steve Smith, joined the band following Dunbar's departure. His first performance with Journey was in November at Super Jam II. The band later finished the year with a hometown gig on New Year's Eve with Blondie and Stoneground as supporting acts. It is one of their most successful tours to date, with notable performances like the show in Chicago with The Rolling Stones, the 1978 World Series of Rock Festival with Electric Light Orchestra and Foreigner, and the show in California with Ted Nugent and AC/DC.

Reception Reviewing the January 27–29 performances at the Old Waldorf, Jack McDonough noted the band as one of the most exciting English-influenced bands in San Francisco which was becoming extremely popular. He praised the band's sound as melodic, with an "enveloping rainbow feel", sounding almost a lot like both Queen and The Beatles, with a variety of songs from the album Infinity and the albums before. He took notice on the audience, which each show drawing out 3,600 fans.

Tour dates + List of 1978 concertsDateCityCountryVenueJanuary 20, 1978ChicagoUnited StatesRiviera TheatreJanuary 27, 1978San FranciscoThe Old WaldorfJanuary 28, 1978January 29, 1978February 10, 1978DavisFreeborn HallFebruary 12, 1978ConcordConcord PavilionFebruary 17, 1978ArcataEast GymFebruary 18, 1978SalinasSherwood HallFebruary 19, 1978FresnoSelland ArenaFebruary 21, 1978StocktonStockton Memorial Civic AuditoriumFebruary 24, 1978Santa BarbaraArlington TheatreFebruary 25, 1978Los AngelesBurt Sugarmans' Midnight Special(TV appearance)February 26, 1978FresnoSelland ArenaMarch 1, 1978RacineRacine Memorial HallMarch 2, 1978DavenportRKO Orpheum TheatreMarch 3, 1978ChicagoAragon BallroomMarch 4, 1978SpringfieldNelson CenterMarch 5, 1978IndianapolisIndiana Convention CenterMarch 7, 1978MadisonShuffle InnMarch 9, 1978MilwaukeeRiverside TheaterMarch 10, 1978DetroitMasonic Temple TheaterMarch 11, 1978TrotwoodHara ArenaMarch 12, 1978HomesteadLeona TheaterMarch 14, 1978TorontoCanadaMassey HallMarch 15, 1978ClevelandUnited StatesCleveland Music HallMarch 16, 1978ColumbusColumbus Veterans Memorial AuditoriumMarch 17, 1978LouisvilleLouisville GardensMarch 18, 1978EvansvilleEvansville ColiseumMarch 19, 1978South BendMorris Civic AuditoriumMarch 20, 1978SchaumburgB'GinningsMarch 21, 1978UticaUtica Memorial AuditoriumMarch 22, 1978AlbanyPalace TheatreMarch 23, 1978BuffaloNew Century TheatreMarch 24, 1978Upper Darby TownshipTower TheaterMarch 25, 1978New York CityPalladiumMarch 26, 1978HempsteadCalderone Concert HallMarch 27, 1978BostonParadise TheaterMarch 29, 1978DuluthDuluth AuditoriumMarch 30, 1978Saint PaulSt. Paul Civic Center TheaterMarch 31, 1978Kansas CityMemorial HallApril 1, 1978St. LouisKiel Opera HouseApril 2, 1978OmahaOmaha Music HallApril 3, 1978WichitaPogo'sApril 4, 1978TulsaCain's BallroomApril 5, 1978IndianapolisMurat Temple TheaterApril 6, 1978FlintIMA AuditoriumApril 7, 1978NashvilleWar Memorial AuditoriumApril 8, 1978MurrayMSU Field HouseApril 9, 1978BirminghamBoutwell Memorial AuditoriumApril 11, 1978Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi Memorial ColiseumApril 12, 1978AustinAustin Municipal AuditoriumApril 13, 1978ShreveportShreveport Memorial AuditoriumApril 14, 1978Fort WorthWill Rogers Memorial AuditoriumApril 15, 1978HoustonHouston Music HallApril 16, 1978New OrleansThe WarehouseApril 18, 1978MemphisEllis Memorial AuditoriumApril 20, 1978TallahasseeRuby Diamond AuditoriumApril 21, 1978Pembroke PinesHollywood SportatoriumApril 22, 1978TampaCurtis Hixon HallApril 23, 1978AtlantaFox TheatreApril 25, 1978Virginia BeachRogues' GalleryApril 26, 1978April 27, 1978NorfolkThe ScopeApril 28, 1978New York CityPalladiumApril 29, 1978Johnson CityFreedom Hall Civic CenterApril 30, 1978HuntingtonHuntington Civic CenterMay 1, 1978ToledoToledo Sports ArenaMay 3, 1978ClevelandCleveland Music HallMay 5, 1978RochesterRochester Community War MemorialMay 6, 1978BostonOrpheum TheatreMay 10, 1978Salt Lake CitySalt PalaceMay 11, 1978CasperJ Flag Indoor ArenaMay 13, 1978BoulderFolsom FieldMay 15, 1978GeleenNetherlandsBurgemeester Damen Sportpark(Pinkpop 1978)May 18, 1978TucsonUnited StatesTucson Convention CenterMay 20, 1978Long BeachLong Beach ArenaMay 23, 1978SeattleSeattle Center ArenaMay 24, 1978PortlandParamount TheatreMay 25, 1978SpokaneSpokane ColiseumMay 27, 1978MedfordMedford ArmoryMay 29, 1978ConcordConcord PavilionMay 30, 1978San DiegoCalifornia TheaterJune 9, 1978Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Performing Arts CenterJune 10, 1978PassaicCapitol TheatreJune 14, 1978Upper DarbyTower TheatreJune 15, 1978PittsburghCivic ArenaJune 16, 1978SaginawWendler ArenaJune 17, 1978LansingLansing Civic CenterJune 18, 1978CincinnatiRiverfront ColiseumJune 24, 1978TorontoCanadaMaple Leaf GardensJune 30, 1978MilwaukeeUnited StatesMilwaukee County StadiumJuly 1, 1978DallasCotton Bowl(Texxas Jam 1978)July 2, 1978HoustonThe SummitJuly 4, 1978Orchard ParkRich StadiumJuly 5, 1978MilwaukeeHenry W. Maier Festival ParkJuly 8, 1978ChicagoSoldier FieldJuly 9, 1978Aragon BallroomJuly 11, 1978ClintonRiverview ParkJuly 12, 1978DetroitCobo ArenaJuly 13, 1978NashvilleMunicipal AuditoriumJuly 15, 1978ClevelandCleveland Stadium(World Series of Rock 1978)July 16, 1978DavenportCredit Island Park(Mississippi River Jam 1978)July 17, 1978La CrosseMary E. Sawyer AuditoriumJuly 18, 1978SeymourOutagamie County FairgroundsJuly 20, 1978TulsaTulsa Assembly CenterJuly 21, 1978JacksonCivic CenterJuly 23, 1978LouisvilleKentucky Fair and Exposition CenterJuly 25, 1978JacksonMississippi ColiseumJuly 27, 1978SpringfieldSpringfield Civic CenterJuly 28, 1978New HavenNew Haven Veterans Memorial ColiseumJuly 29, 1978BinghamtonBroome County Veterans Memorial ArenaJuly 30, 1978PortlandCumberland County Civic CenterAugust 3, 1978IndianapolisMarket Square ArenaAugust 5, 1978TiffinSt. John's HollowAugust 6, 1978East RutherfordGiants StadiumAugust 8, 1978ChicagoNavy Pier(ChicagoFest 1978)August 9, 1978St. LouisKiel AuditoriumAugust 12, 1978HonoluluNeal S. Blaisdell ArenaAugust 18, 1978SacramentoCalifornia Exposition & State FairAugust 26, 1978AnaheimAnaheim StadiumSeptember 2, 1978OaklandOakland-Alameda County Coliseum1(Day on the Green 1978)San MateoMonitro StudiosOctober 1, 1978San FranciscoThe AutomattDecember 31, 1978OaklandOakland-Alameda County Coliseum(Bay Area New Year's Eve 1978)

Information Aynsley Dunbar's final performance with Journey.

Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDate(1978)CityVenueAttendanceGrossFebruary 21Stockton, United StatesCivic Auditorium3,669$25,109July 13Nashville, United StatesMunicipal Auditorium9,900$70,364July 15Cleveland, United StatesCleveland Stadium60,505$672,964July 25Jackson, United StatesColiseum10,116$62,213July 27Springfield, United StatesCivic Center9,789$67,836July 28New Haven, United StatesColiseum10,590$76,580July 30Portland, United StatesCumberland County Civic Center9,100$67,950August 9St. Louis, United StatesKiel Auditorium8,050$59,607December 31Oakland, United StatesOakland-Alameda County Coliseum12,988$136,887

Personnel Steve Perry – lead vocals Neal Schon – guitars, backing vocals Ross Valory – bass, backing vocals Gregg Rolie – keyboards, lead and backing vocals Aynsley Dunbar – drums, percussion Steve Smith – drums, percussion

References

Sources