Journey‘s ongoing internal issues aren’t limited to American Express cards. Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon are even arguing over who should play drums.
Deen Castronovo missed Journey’s Aug. 2 concert in Toronto for unexplained reasons. (According to setlist.fm, “Journey’s drum tech Steve Toomey filled in due to a family incident.”) He returned a few days later when the group’s ongoing tour with Def Leppard reached Fenway Park in Boston; Castronovo was at the drums again on Aug. 7 at Citi Field in New York for Journey’s most recent show.
Lawyers mentioned the substitution while laying out a range of disagreements during an initial hearing in a Delaware court after Cain’s most recent lawsuit. He wants to restructure Journey’s tour management company to help resolve their financial issues. Schon has called the allegations “BS.”
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Chancery court judge J. Travis Laster wasn’t willing to wade into personnel issues. “I’m not qualified to decide who the drummer ought to be,” he said during the hearing.
It’s unclear why anyone would object to Toomey as a replacement since he’s previously sat in for Castronovo, most recently during Journey’s appearance on the 2022 broadcast of ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, after Castronovo tested positive for COVID. Toomey is also the son of longtime former Journey tour manager John “JT” Toomey.
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Toomey obviously has Castronovo’s implicit trust: He also serves as a touring drummer with Revolution Saints, the side project that showcases Castronovo as a singer.
“That guy knows my playing inside out – all of my chops and all of my modules,” Castronovo memorably enthused as Revolution Saints geared up to release 2017’s Light in the Dark. “It’s like watching a little mini Deen. … He’s a beast! He’s a better drummer than he is drum tech.”
Meanwhile, the Delaware judge said he aims to resolve Journey’s management deadlock before the next leg of their tour. They’re set to play four October shows in Japan; subsequent concerts in the U.K. and Ireland were abruptly canceled this week. Laster has named a discovery appointment to sort through submissions from the opposing legal teams ahead of Journey’s next hearing, scheduled for the first week of September.
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Singers may come, and singers most certainly may go, but some great songs remain.
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