By Nickie Wang/ Manila Standard Today
Our old pals can still rock, and the inclusion of Filipino rocker Arnel Pineda provided new energy to the band that has been entertaining fans across the globe for more than three decades now.
Last Saturday at exactly 8:30 p.m., rock aficionados had a dynamic auditory and visual experience. It’s a kind of concert that some Filipinos have been missing all these years because it was the Journey’s first-ever concert in the country. The Philippine concert was also the band’s first pit stop in Asia to promote the new album Revelation.
Before the band hit the stage, there was an announcement that the concert is being filmed for a special DVD. The cooperation of 20,000 people was needed to show how the band was received in the hometown of its new lead vocalist.
Right after the announcement, the band composed of Neal Schon (guitars), Jonathan Cain (keyboards), Ross Valory (bass), Deen Castronovo (drums), and Pineda immediately started the show with the upbeat “Never Walk Away.” Pineda moved like a torpedo on the concert platform as if he was trying to familiarize himself with the stage while belting “Only The Young.”
The opening salvo and the succeeding few songs were ripped from the band’s latest album. Indeed, the concert served as a launch pad to introduce the band’s latest offering that features Pineda as its new vocalist. Pineda had crowd stand up with the rock ballad “After All These Years.” It was enough to keep the crowd standing in the succeeding numbers “Change For The Better and “Where Did I Lose Your Love.”
The spirit was high until the five-piece band performed the classic records “Ask The Lonely,” “Stone In Love,” and “Separate Ways.”
For not so avid followers of the band, some of the songs appeared to be unfamiliar. When Pineda went backstage and changed his outfit, the pint-size rocker dished hard rocking performance of hits the band is known for. As Pineda reappeared on the stage, majority of the audience stood up and sang along with him as he belted “Open Arms,” which was introduced by a genius play of the piano. Pineda furthered with “Faithfully” and dedicated the song to all the women present at the concert ground, including his wife.
Did the band live up to the expectation of the audience?
There was no element of surprise in the three-hour rock concert but it was long enough to squeeze in all the songs that the band wanted to share to its audience. Unfortunately, that was the very downside of the whole show. Not everybody who visited the Journey at the Mall of Asia concert ground was a die-hard supporter.
Although the band has established its sound and can brag about numerous hits tucked under its belt, most of its songs do have the same melody. If you would just close your eyes, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish if the band had started performing the next song. It was also noticeable that the band wanted to leave an impression that its musical talent is beyond outstanding. Every number was actually a showcase of each member’s musical flair. Most performances were prolonged to give way for the drummer to do a little exhibition and for the six-string master to do complicated guitar.
Majority of the concert attendees packed tightly onto the standing-only Silver and Bronze areas and the more affluent concertgoers with Gold and VIP tickets sat comfortably fronting the stage seeing the band in action. But these people seemed to have enough of the long performance that the encore appeared to be bland and people started moving to the exit not minding what Pineda would have to say.
One discernable showcase in the concert was the way technical staff played with the lights. The professional and creative lighting system excitingly transformed the stage and the whole venue in producing different visual treats. But the real spectacle in the concert was Pineda who has been fronting the band for two years now.
Pineda, who frequently shouted “Proud to be Pinoy” and waved small Philippine flag throughout the concert, earned some loud cheers from the audiences, which did not just include his countrymen because there were ample numbers of expatriates among the crowd.
If people would ask if Pineda sounded like Steve Perry (Journey’s best-known lead vocalist), the answer is yes. In fact, his genuine energy was outshined by the similarity of vocals to Perry’s.
No comments:
Post a Comment