Journey Band Revitalized by Pinoy Talent
Journey band, the multi-platinum rock band of the 70’s has just got a massive shot in the arm: it’s got for itself a new lead singer. Arnel Pineda, a Filipino veteran of music gigs in clubs in the Philippines and Japan, was literally plucked out from the Zoo band (as seen in YouTube) in Quezon City, Philippines, and flown to Marin County to have him auditioned. The rest is the beginnings of a modern Cinderella story.
Arnel Pineda just had two months to let this change of fate sink in and barely two weeks to “acclimatize” himself with the music gods that is Journey Band, and off he went to his baptism of fire: the unforgiving “Monster” of Via del Mar, Chile Festival. 15,000 strong audience who also serve as judges is a tough deal for any seasoned singer. And here comes Journey band’s new and un-acclimatized lead singer, this could be nerve-wracking. The result, however, was more than phenomenal.
At first, the crowd was a bit less receptive, and Arnel Pineda of the Journey band seemed to be having the jitters too. Some would even say he seems to have forgotten the lyrics that he seems to be reading them from a teleprompter (if there ever was).
As the show went on, Arnel and the band started to show the flow in their performance. And it’s just about right when things just got into the right groove and mood when Arnel Pineda belted out the popular song, “Open Arms”. Arnel Pineda just know how to answer Latinos passion for music and he did such an awesome job. After that number, just about everyone got comfortable and the Monster got silent.
Arnel’s version of the song “Faithfully” just melts everyone’s heart. All the doubts looming about this Pinoy talent just disappeared. The “Monster” was brought to Arnel and the rest of Journey band, finally the band regained their position to be among one of the best rock bands of all time.
It was encore number one after the other that was asked of the Journey band. Their final song even took a little bit longer to get going since most of the equipment have been turned off. And it was still so memorable! Arnel Pineda have finally proven that he could deliver what is expected of him to be a part of Journey band.
Neal Schon was like the over-proud father of a son he introduced to the world, Jonathan Cain (rumored to be not so sold-out with Arnel Pineda) now mouths AP “is the real deal,” Ross Valory constantly flashes that otherwise so rare grin, and Deen Castronovo vows to Arnel Pineda at the end of the show.
Isn’t this just material for a mushy Cinderella story?
It’s a Cinderella story for Arnel Pineda and it’s complete opposite for Journey band where they take the place of Lazarus who came back from the dead.
Experts started to say that Journey has turned to “Greatest Hits” band. Schon, Cain, Valory, and Castronovo are savoring from Journey’s past glory days. The crafted new songs but none of them seems to hit it like the earlier days. They might have some of the original fans or followers but these folks could either go or stick around supporting Journey’s music and talents.
Steve Augeri, and Jason Scot Soto are both outstanding performers, but they just want to have Journey’s popularity to go for another mile. Adding Arnel Pineda, Journey band just got retrofitted without changing its old persona. Arnel Pineda’s clear high voice, and soulful version of the the songs keeps the old fashion “Journey” atmosphere.
Arnel Pineda’s contribution to the band as a lead singer doesn’t end there. His Asian energetic personality of his own “rock” version could pave the way for the admiration of the younger music fan base both from the USA and internationally.