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Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon extend tour into August

The first leg of the "Classic Rock's Main Event" triple-bill tour is over, but Journey , Styx and REO Speedwagon return to the road next week for another round of U.S. dates.

The three arena-rock acts--best known for their respective arsenals of '70s- and '80s-era hits--have been on the road together since late May. Their latest batch of dates kicks off on July 8 and runs through early August.

The last stop on the tour's first leg took place in Wilkes-Barre, PA, on Sunday night (6/29), and was preceded by Saturday's stop in Pittsburgh. While there, Styx hooked up with a local film crew that shot footage of the band for use in promotional clips for the upcoming Steelers football season. Guitarist Tommy Shaw talked about the band's connection to the team in a message that he posted on Styx's website the day after the Pittsburgh show.

"[The Steelers] have adopted our song 'Renegade' as their rallying cry, playing it in the stadium every time they score a touch down," he wrote. "[The film crew] brought with them a video they put together using our original recording of the song, showing [the Steelers] sacking opposing quarterbacks and running backs in time with beats in the track. It was so inspiring that our manager had the Main Event video crew rack it up to use during our show.

"We played it on the big screen after 'Come Sail Away' as we were backstage changing for our encore," he continued. "When we emerged, dressed in Steelers jerseys, the uproar was so loud we each had to turn down our in-ear monitor packs and simply wait for them to get it out of their systems."

Styx is touring in support of a new album titled "Cyclorama," which surfaced in February. The group's website is streaming the album in its entirety.

REO Speedwagon's most-recent release is 2001's "Live: Plus." That same year, Styx and REO Speedwagon--who have toured together frequently in recent years--co-released the live set "Arch Allies."

Last November, Journey released a four-song EP titled "Red 13." The set followed the band's most-recent full-length album, 2001's "Arrival."

On Monday (6/30), Journey's publicist announced that the group next year will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Meanwhile, the band is mapping out plans for a headlining tour that will follow its current joint run with Styx and REO Speedwagon.