Journey keeps the wheel turning
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The classic-rock namestay takes the MGM Grand Arena to the eighties and back
Performing to a sold out crowd at the MGM Grand Arena this past Saturday, Journey, with the absence of their former success lead singer Steve Perry, left listeners none the wiser.
Filipino YouTube sensation Arnel Pineda wowed the audience by singing the classic rock band’s hits and three songs from their new album Eclipse.
The voice differences between Pineda and Perry are without a doubt indistinguishable.
Standing in the arena and closing your eyes would instantly take you back to 1981, as Pineda belted out “Wheel In the Sky” and “Faithfully.”
Cell phones and almost extinct lighters were fired up for the San Francisco inspired song “Lights” which led to the concert finale. When Journey’s famous piano riff pounded through the speakers, every sitting body and voice rose to shout out the lyrics to “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
Knight Ranger started out the night by playing their power ballads, “Sister Christian” and “When You Close Your Eyes.” The warm up act to Journey came in the form of the equally successful Foreigner.
Despite having many replaced lead singers in the band’s history, Kelly Hansen did a great job of sounding and performing “Juke Box Hero” and “Hot Blooded,” as if he’d been touring with the band since 1976.
Hansen spent time running through the crowd during a few songs, then mellowed out the audience with 80′s prom favorite, “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
The only disappointment seen across faces of the concertgoers was because of the outrageous price of $30-40 T-shirt.
Recession? Luckily the very dependent T-shirt bootleggers still waited outside the doors of the arena.
For $20, a nice colorful shirt with the Journey scarab beetle could be purchased, washed once, and turned into a vintage 80′s shirt as the cheap printing faded away.
Definitely a worthwhile keepsake from a memorable evening.
Respeto mucho sus opiniones pero para mi Steve es el mejor, Arnel hace su mayor esfuerzo, pero no lo puede igualar. Soy fans fiel de Steve Perry y se pueden distinguir las voces por que Steve pone todo el corazon en cada interpretacion, para mi la diferencia en las notas altas es notable.Un beso para ti Steve con mucho amor.
I actually saw this Oct. 8 concert at MGM Grand Garden Arena and my observations are:
- It was definitely NOT a sold-out concert; there were a lot of empty seats especially in the lower boxes.
- Night Ranger was OK and Foreigner was great.
- Arnel’s vocals were awesome as usual but were mostly drowned out by Neal’s vying-for-attention solos which were unnecessarily frequent, L-O-N-G, and L-O-U-D.
- A lot of people left (walked out!) about 2 or 3 songs before the Journey set ended.
- Neal Schon ruined his band’s overall performance with his all-about-me antics and I wouldn’t be surprised if Journey disintegrates after this tour.
Some youtube blends 2 singers’ voices together and I even think the new lead singer has more powerful tone.