Journey and Def Leppard Announce Summer Tour Dates

Press release
Source: ABC Public Relations

Def Leppard and Journey--along with VH1 Classic and Live Nation--are pairing up for one of the most rockin' tours to hit the U.S. this summer with both bands heading out together starting June 23 in Camden, NJ and concluding August 31 in Seattle, WA.

Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen said of the tour, "Only six months between tours for Def Leppard...this is amazing...WOW. I think we're getting the hang of this! Usually, we always have to redefine and reorient ourselves to touring as we are used to a three year gap between tours because of the recording process. This time, we had the album in the can so we are good to go. We're really psyched to be hitting the road this summer and are looking forward to seeing all of our fans again."

Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain is especially excited about the opportunity to tour with another of rock's heavyweights this summer. "It's a band I've admired for a long time," he says. "We're honored to be performing with a band that received their Diamond Award (an award given for 10,000,000 albums sold) at the same ceremony when we received our Diamond Award. So it seems fitting that we go out together after all these years and celebrate a lot of good years of rock and roll."

With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide, Def Leppard--Joe Elliott (vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick "Sav" Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums)-- is one of the most continuously exciting and important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career, the band has produced a series of classic groundbreaking albums that set the sound for generations of music fans and artists and is without a doubt Great Britain's premiere arena rock band. Their spectacular live shows filled with powerful melodic rock anthems have become synonymous with their name and they are an institution in the touring industry as they continue to sell out arenas worldwide. Additionally, Def Leppard has been honored in the U.S. by the RIAA with two prestigious Diamond Awards for their albums HYSTERIA and PYROMANIA. The Diamond Award recognizes sales of over 10 million, a feat not many bands and only a handful of British artists have been able to achieve (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Eric Clapton).

Journey's legacy has spanned over 30 years with 19 U.S. releases, most recently the critically acclaimed GENERATIONS (Sanctuary Records, 2005). Four albums landed in the Top Ten of Billboard's "Top 200 Albums" chart, including 1981's ESCAPE which reached #1. Overall they've sold over 75 million albums worldwide making them the 29th best-selling music group of all time. They were honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last year. The band was founded in 1973 in San Francisco by Santana members Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie, with the assistance of Ross Valory, George Tickner and Prairie Prince. The current line-up- which has been together since 1998--includes Neal Schon (guitar), Ross Valory (bass), Jonathan Cain (keyboards), Steve Augeri (vocals) and Deen Castronovo (drums).

Below is the first batch of confirmed tour dates, with more to be announced in the coming weeks: DATE CITY VENUE ON-SALE Fri 6/23 Camden, NJ Tweeter Ctr at the Waterfront 4/1 -- 10am Sat 6/24 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach Theater 5/6 -- 9am Tue 6/27 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center 5/6 -- 9am Wed 6/28 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Casino TBA Fri 6/30 Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion at Montage 4/1 -- 10am Sat 7/1 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel & Casino TBA Mon 7/3 Hershey, PA Hershey Pavilion 4/1 -- 10am Tue 7/4 Raleigh, NC Alltel Pavilion 4/1 -- 10am Fri 7/7 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion TBA Sat 7/8 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amp 4/1 -- 10am Mon 7/10 West Palm Beach, FL Sound Advice Amphitheatre 4/1 -- 10am Tue 7/11 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre 4/1 -- 12pm Thu 7/13 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park Amphitheatre 3/25 -- Sold-Out Sat 7/15 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amp 4/1 -- 10am Sun 7/16 Nashville, TN Starwood Amphitheatre 4/1 -- 10am Tue 7/18 Minneapolis, MN Target Center 4/1 -- 10am Wed 7/19 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre TBA Fri 7/21 St. Louis, MO UMB Bank Pavilion 4/1 -- 12pm Sat 7/22 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center 4/1 -- 11am Mon 7/24 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre TBA Tue 7/25 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center 4/1 -- 10am Fri 7/28 San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre TBA Sat 7/29 Dallas, TX Smirnoff Music Centre 4/1 -- 10am Sun 7/30 The Woodlands, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 4/1 -- 10am Tue 8/15 Denver, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre 4/1 -- 10am Fri 8/18 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Center TBA Tue 8/22 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Pavilion 4/1 -- 10am Wed 8/23 Chula Vista, CA Coors Amphitheatre TBA Fri 8/25 Concord, CA Chronicle Pavilion TBA Sat 8/26 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre TBA Sun 8/27 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre TBA Wed 8/30 Portland, OR Clark County Amphitheatre TBA Thu 8/31 Seattle, WA White River Amphitheatre TBA * All dates are subject to change.

For more information please go to www.defleppard.com or www.journeymusic.com.