Edith Noriega | Staff Writer
May 29, 2014
The most popular American rock band of all time was first formed in the San Francisco Bay area in 1973 and they instantly grew to fame.
Columbia Records signed the five at the time that included: vocalist Steve Perry, guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain, bassist Ross Valory, and drummer Deen Castronovo in November 1974.
Since the group’s formation in 1973, Journey has gone through many changes. The biggest of all was in 1996 after almost 20 years, Steve Perry left the band, many thought that that would be the end of their journey.
For more than ten years Journey struggled to find a singer, someone who could recreate the magic Perry had left behind.
Finally in 2006, Neal Schon found who would be Journey’s new singer, Arnel Pineda, a Manila native when he discovered a YouTube video of Pineda singing a wide variety of material, including a couple of Journey classics with a Filipino cover band “The Zoo.”
Since joining the band, Pineda has recorded two studio albums with Journey: Revelation in 2008 and Eclipse in 2011.
Although Pineda became Journey’s new lead singer only eight years ago, many American fans still have not gotten to experience his live performances with Journey and many of their hit songs of the seventies and eighties. This was finally proven at the sold-out Hollywood Bowl show May 16.
Fans rose to their feet, when the veteran band opened it’s rock-solid 90-minute, 16 song set with “Be Good to Yourself.”
Pineda, at the age of 46, surprised the fans with his remarkably agile moves from leaping, splitting to fist pumps making him look like a teenager more than half his age.
Schon’s electrifying guitar solo amid “Any Way You Want It” also pumped a raving response.
Quieter more dramatic ballads like “Faithfully,” “Send Her My Love” and “Open Arms” gave Pineda a chance to really show the true power of his vocal abilities.
Still, no one forgot that Schon, the master guitar shredder that he is, provided a solo of “The Star Spangled Banner” but also provided a more earth-tone, less frantic vibe when he played “Wheel in the Sky”.
Los Angeles’ very own “Don’t Stop Believin” brought the Bowl down to close the main set, an extended “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” capped the concert with a fun sing-along that found us singing all the way to our homes.
