Concert Review: Crowd wowed by re-energized Journey

Travis Shinn

Eighties rock band Journey includes (from left) Jonathan Cain, Arnel Pineda, Deen Castronovo, Neal Schon and Ross Valory.

Don't stop believin', indeed.

At this stage of their career -- almost 40 years in, down to two original member, and 15 years without a new hit -- the rock band Journey should, quite frankly, be playing casinos and county fairs. But through an unlikely series of events, including the resuscitation of their 1981 single "Don't Stop Believin'" as a "Glee"-era anthem and the recruitment of a new vocalist whose rise is like Horatio Alger ghostwritten by Benetton, the band finds itself playing venues like the FedEx Forum, which they filled with about 10,000 fans Wednesday night for one of the better local concert showings of the summer.

Undoubtedly one of the things that brought out the throngs was the sheer curiosity of seeing "new" lead singer Arnel Pineda. (He's actually been with the band since 2007 and has recorded two albums with the group, including the new Eclipse.) Since being discovered by founding guitarist Neal Schon on YouTube, Pineda, who as a youth was once homeless on the streets of Manila, has become a star here and in his homeland. And it was interesting to see pockets of Asian fans in the crowd Wednesday night snapping pictures whenever he came up stage. Could his addition open up a whole new market for the band?

With only a rudimentary grasp of English, Pineda is clearly not comfortable assuming the sort of ringmaster duties lead singers are often asked to assume. (See Foreigner below.) But as a vocalist, he is quite a find.

The reason Journey remains so popular with vocalists today is the challenging vocals, as established by former lead singer Steve Perry. Pineda seems to have mastered them though, easily commanding the mountainous dynamics of a song like "Faithfully," though the diminutive singer did seem to lack Perry's sheer power in the higher registers.

Of course, the other draw on the night was Journey's impressive catalog of arena rock anthems. From opening number, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," through the encore closer, a rendition of the bluesy "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" that had the entire venue waving their arms in the air and singing "Na, na, na-na, na, na," the band brought out its entire array of hits in a relatively brief 90-minute set. (This was a school night after all; the whole show was over by 11 p.m.)

Except for the occasional instrumental intro by Schon or multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Cain, the band played it straight, Cain's strange harmonica solo on "Wheel In the Sky" aside. And it was testament to the band, which also included Ross Valory on bass and Dean Castronovo on drums, that the few newer tracks they stuck in -- like "City of Hope" and "Edge of the Moment" from Eclipse -- while unfamiliar did not sound out of place.

(For the record, though news broke Wednesday that married reality TV star Michaele Salahi had run off with Schon and was with him in Memphis, there was no sign of the former real housewife of Washington, D.C., and White House party crasher.)

Journey had plenty of support with two of their '80s rock contemporaries filling out the bill. Fellow Bay Area band Night Ranger -- still living the dream in tight leather and ripped black T-shirts -- kicked things off with a brief but satisfying set that hit all the expected notes, including the monster rock ballad "Sister Christian" and party anthem "(You Can Still) Rock In America."

Sandwiched in between, however, was a strange appearance by Foreigner. With guitarist and sole remaining original member (and band mastermind) Mick Jones absent due to illness, it was hard not to look at the assembly of strangers playing the hits-only set -- and rather shamelessly pushing the band's new Wal-Mart exclusive three-CD set -- as little more than a tribute band. This was despite the best efforts of new lead singer Kelly Hansen (himself a former member of the obscure '80s band Hurricane) to make you forget the players' tenuous relationship to the material.

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