[1] Sales for the album and the band's stature began to grow upon the beginning of the tour on January 20, 1978.
Steve Perry remembered: "Van Halen was the opening act for the tour, they were a brand new band back then.
"[2] Tom Broderick, a sound mixer for Van Halen recalled that the members of Journey were off-put by Van Halen's meteoric performances on tour with them and began to undermine them by sabotaging the PA.[3] The members of Journey would eventually end up meeting Montrose's drummer, Steve Smith, which released reports that there was tensions between Aynsley Dunbar and the band due to the change in music direction from the jazz fusion sound.
Aynsley was also noted to have started playing erratically and talking derogatorily about the other members of Journey according to the band's manager Herbie Herbert.
[4] Reflecting on the tensions between Dunbar and the band, Neal Schon commented: "We would talk about it, and he'd say he'd be willing to simplify things.