LOS ANGELES - Walking towards the Greek Theatre the night of Sept. 30, the cool air blew against my face while I heard sounds of music from afar.
“Sold Out” flashed across the neon lights while groups of people stood outside like a herd waiting to be ushered.
Cheap Trick started while Heart warmed up in between. Apparently, people came here to see one band—Journey, and one man—Arnel Pineda, the 41-year-old singer from Sampaloc, Manila in the Philippines, who went from Zoo cover band to Journey rock star.
Arnel owes YouTube his fame. yet he lives up to Steve Perry’s name.
From the moment Journey went on stage, the crowd reacted with exuberance. More than 5,800 people stood and screamed in unison in the open-air venue. Cameras flashed like lightning from the distance while red and green sticks glowed in the dark night.
Never Walk Away blared on the speakers, the band’s opening song for the evening. But who would dare walk away from this concert? Journey rocked the house.
Chills climbed up the back of my spine when Neil Schon performed the Star Spangled Banner with his electric guitar riffs. Deen Castronovo banged the drums with rhythmic poetry, Ross Valory played the bass coolly and Jonathan Cain did double duty on keyboard and guitar. But it was Pineda who stole the show.
Dressed in tight red jeans and a black blazer jacket, Pineda zigzagged across the stage, beads of sweat profusely crawled down his face.
He changed shirts three times. His hair whipped under the moonlight.
For an hour and a half and two encores, the short Filipino with a big voice jumped. He performed scissor kicks. He interacted with the crowd. He pointed at a lady waving a Philippine flag in the front row.
When he sang Open Arms, women held their arms in similar fashion. Couples spooned closer.Others watched him make love to the mic.
When he sang Don’t Stop Believing, the crowd held up their phones like makeshift lighters.
They swayed their arms from left to right, back and forth.They joined in the lyrics. People danced along the aisles.
After years of replacements, Journey is complete, and Pineda will never stop believing. g
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