Ten dates of Journey‘s summer tour with Def Leppard have been successfully completed, and it appears that the ongoing legal shenanigans between keyboardist Jonathan Cain and guitarist Neil Schon have not taken a break, even as the pair continue to perform together.
The latest round of activity is detailed in court dockets filed in the state of Delaware on July 30, and finds Cain petitioning the court to appoint a third director of the pair’s Freedom 2020 company. Currently, Cain and Schon both own 50% of the voting stock but allegedly disagree on many aspects of the business. Hence the deadlock and the apparent need for a custodian.
The 22-page document claims that Schon considers such an appointment unnecessary and that his role as President of Freedom 2020 authorizes him to make decisions unilaterally, on behalf of the company. The document goes on to claim that Schon’s actions “pose a severe threat of harm to the Company and to Journey’s storied history of musical greatness.”
Cain claims that Schon has exceeded a previously agreed nightly limit of $1,500 for hotel accommodation, and has spent up to $10,000 per night for hotel rooms for him and his wife. Cain also alleges that Schon has allowed Journey’s road crew to fly business class and to book hotel rooms in their home cities, despite such expenses not being authorised by Cain.
Similarly, Cain causes Schon of “excessive expenditures relating to private jets” and of failing to explore more reasonably priced transport options. He also claims that Schon has used the company Amex card to cover unapproved personal expenses, maxed out the card, and failed to approve scheduled balance payments.
The documents also reveal that “it is common that one director will terminate an employee or crew member, and hours or days later, the other director will rehire that same individual”, and that Schon has hired “a close personal friend who has no experience in security to serve as the Band’s ‘Venue Security Liaison’.
The documents also reveal that Freedom 2020’s current business manager was hired just two months ago and is the seventh person to hold the position, but has still managed to outlast many of the preceding business managers. The documents also claim that the company “faced such tight cash constraints that it was compelled to skip paying the Band’s crew members.”
Journey’s next show takes place this evening (August 5) at Fenway Park in Boston, MA.
In the current issue of Classic Rock, Cain is asked how the apparent difficulty of his relationship with Schon affects Journey’s live show.
“We take all of that down a notch for the sake of the band,” he responds. “The music is louder [than the negativity]. No matter who has said what, or anything that’s going on in the background, it’s all about bringing the best show that you can bring.
“It doesn’t mess with our chemistry. I have stood on stage during some difficult situations. But once you get up there and start playing those songs, all of us in the band are where we are supposed to be. It would be selfish [to let personal issues] affect the show. We owe our fans more than that. Our fans are everything.”
Def Leppard 2024 tour dates
Aug 05: Boston Fenway Park, MA*#
Aug 07: New York Citi Field, NY*#
Aug 12: Arlington Global Life Field, TX*#
Aug 14: Houston Minute Maid Park, TX*#
Aug 16: San Antonio Alamodome, TX*#
Aug 19: Minneapolis Target Field, MN*#
Aug 23: Phoenix Chase Field, AZ*#
Aug 25: Inglewood Sofi Stadium*, CA#
Aug 28: San Francisco Oracle Park, CA*#
Aug 30: San Diego Petco Park, CA*#
Sep 04: Seattle T-Mobile Park, WA^#
Sep 08: Denver Coors Field, CO^#
Oct 19: Osaka Sunb Arena, Japan
Oct 21: Yokohama Convention Hall, Japan
Oct 23: Tokyo Budokan, Japan
Oct 24: Tokyo Budokan, Japan
Oct 30: Cardiff Utilita Arena, UK^
Oct 31: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, UK^
Nov 02: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK^
Nov 04: Belfast SSE Arena, UK^
Nov 05: Dublin 3Arena, Ireland^
Nov 08: Manchester AO Arena, UK^
Nov 09: Leeds First Direct Arena, UK^
Nov 11: Liverpool M&S Bank Arena, UK^
Nov 13: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK^
Nov 16: Newcastle Utilita Arena, UK^
Nov 17: London The O2, UK^
#with Def Leppard
*with Steve Miller Band
^with Cheap Trick