Journey and Toto Bring Classic Hits to Vivint Arena on the Freedom Tour

The best moments of the March 24 concert at Vivint Arena came from hearing familiar songs in a room full of people ready to sing along. My wife and I finally got to see Journey and Toto, two bands I’d wanted to catch since growing up with their music. The night brought the pleasure of those radio staples, along with a few personal surprises that sent me back to albums I hadn’t heard in years.

There was one change from the concert we thought we’d be attending. When we bought tickets in late 2021, Billy Idol was listed on the tour. Recent surgery kept him from performing, so the evening became a chance to see Journey and Toto without him. I still hope to catch Idol another time. Seeing the bands I missed when I was younger has become a personal project; back then, a “no” from home or some other complication could put a concert out of reach.

That history gives these shows a little extra weight for me. Music was a steady part of growing up: the radio, the era when MTV played music videos, songs that helped on a rough day, and comedy from Weird Al Yankovick and Dr. Demento. Music also made scenes in films and television stick with me, or helped me wind down at night. I don’t make music myself, but I’ve always enjoyed listening. Getting to see these groups in person felt like returning to a part of that experience.

Toto opens with a discovery

Toto opened with “Orphan,” from the band’s 2015 album “Toto XIV.” It was an unexpected way into the set for me: I liked the song enough to add it to my streaming playlist, then started exploring more of the album while writing about the show. That’s a nice bonus from a concert built around songs many listeners already know. A deep cut can send you home with something new to hear.

The set also included the hits I’d hoped to hear, among them “Rosanna” and “Hold The Line,” as well as Toto’s cover of The Beatles song “With A Little Help From My Friends”. The crowd’s chance to sing “Africa” with the band was the moment I’d anticipated most. It’s easy to imagine the whole arena joining in, and the song has the kind of shared familiarity that makes a live performance feel larger than the stage.

My longtime personal favorite from Toto sits outside that run of radio hits: the 1984 Dune Soundtrack. For years, finding a copy of the CD at a convention meant facing a price I couldn’t manage. Once I finally got one, I made it my bedtime soundtrack, putting it on as I turned out the lights. I didn’t hear music from it at the concert, but the album remains closely tied to my memories of the band.

Journey turns the room into a singalong

After an intermission and a set change, Journey launched into its portion of the show with “Only the Young” and other familiar songs. A few people seated near us seemed unsure when the band began. Some reached for their phones to look up the fact that Steve Perry hadn’t been Journey’s lead singer for quite some time. Arnel Pineda was at the microphone, moving energetically around the stage and drawing the crowd into the performance. He delivered the songs with the confidence and force they call for.

The video backdrop helped give the set its own visual character. At times it showed scenes; at others, it displayed the action onstage. That live image could multiply into a pinwheel or a hall of mirrors, making the band appear to ripple across the screen. It was a playful effect that gave the stage another layer without taking attention away from the songs.

“Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” was the Journey song I most wanted to hear. It was the first one I remember watching on MTV, so it has stayed with me as a particularly vivid entry point to the band. Journey played it, along with “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Wheel in the Sky,” “Stone in Love” and other well-known tracks. I’d also been hoping for “Only Solutions,” from the 1982 Tron soundtrack, and “Rubicon,” from the 1983 Frontiers album. Neither appeared in the set. “Rubicon” was never released as a single, so it’s an understandable omission among a night’s worth of better-known material.

Those missing tracks didn’t take away from the pleasure of hearing the songs that defined my picture of Journey. I remember classmates wearing Journey shirts after concerts I couldn’t attend, and I remember the band having its own arcade video game. At the time, those details made Journey feel like part of a world I could only glimpse. Seeing the band live, alongside Toto, finally brought that long-held wish into the present.

One last moment came as Journey left the stage. Pineda switched his microphone back on and sang a couple of lines from Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” a quick nod to another legendary band. It was a small, spontaneous-feeling touch at the end of a set packed with anthems. Between that surprise, Toto’s newly discovered opener and the arena-wide familiarity of the hits, the night offered more than a trip through old favorites: it gave me a few new listening threads to follow, too.