RNC 2012: Creative Coalition Takes Tampa On 'Journey' At Liberty Plaza

TAMPA, Fl. -- Just shortly after Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney concluded his acceptance speech of the 2012 GOP nomination on Thursday, fellow convention attendees spilled out into neighboring Liberty Plaza for a celebratory concert by American rock band Journey.

Hosted by The Creative Coalition and held inside the Citizens Helping Heroes Theater, which had featured a raucous Kid Rock show the previous day, the late night performance left conservatives energized after a week-long schedule of events.

Original band member Neal Schon kicked the concert off with a solo rendition of the national anthem on guitar, before lead vocalist Arnel Pineda and the rest of the group appeared on-stage for a nearly hour-long set.

Journey’s first song of the night as a group, “Any Way You Want It”, was the opening track from their sixth studio album and soundly caused the crowd to erupt in a volley of cheers.

The five-person band then proceeded to rotate through its catalog of hits, including the massively popular “Don’t Stop Believin’” as their pre-encore closing act.

While the concert was the primary focus of the night, the subtext behind the occasion was to highlight The Creative Coaliton’s role as one of today’s premier nonprofit (and nonpartisan) social and political advocacy organizations.

To such an end, several of its members, including President Tim Daly and CEO Robin Bronk were in attendance to introduce the organization before Journey took the stage.

And the crowd most definitely ate it up with “Open Arms”.