When the lights go down in the city, it could simply be that Journey‘s Neal Schon is about to shred the National Anthem for a global viewing audience. In fact, that’s exactly what happened last night as the lights dimmed while Schon took center court before Game 1 of the NBA finals, delivering a shredtastic version of the National Anthem.
As Journey hail from the Bay Area and one of their most famous song “Lights” was penned about their home base, Schon was a perfect selection to represent the hometown Golden State Warriors at Chase Center ahead of the Game 1 tip with the Boston Celtics.
As seen in the video below, Schon adds his own touches to the oft-performed pre-game standard, throwing in some wicked, distortion filled licks to the delight of the crowd.
Unfortunately for Schon and many other Warriors fans in the building, the home team lost as the visiting Celtics rallied late to take Game 1 on the NBA Finals 120-108. Game 2 will take place Sunday at 5PM PT back at Chase Center, airing on ABC.
This isn’t Schon’s first go-around performing the National Anthem for a sports crowd. In fact, he’s actually done it twice in the past year, playing the anthem for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders in an October game against the Chicago Bears last year. Though they relocated to Las Vegas in recent years, the Raiders longtime home was in the Bay Area city of Oakland.
Journey are back in the spotlight this year, as their Freedom album is en route for a July 8 release. The album has already yielded the songs “The Way We Used to Be,” “You Got the Best of Me” and “Let It Rain.” Pre-orders are being taken here. And you can find Schon putting his guitar talents to use onstage during the band’s summer touring. See all their scheduled dates and get ticketing info here.
Journey’s Neal Schon Shreds National Anthem at 2022 NBA Finals Game 1
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Doing time on Hollywood and Vine.
