Minneapolis Review

[epoy]

Pineda passes; Journey delivers the nostalgia
By Rob Hubbard
Special to the Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 09/16/2008 11:40:24 PM CDT


Does the current economy make you nostalgic for the late '70s and early '80s? Well, then Minneapolis' Target Center was the place for you Tuesday night. That's where 8,200 people were gathered to immerse themselves in a premium-grade nostalgia bath: a Journey concert.

This San Francisco band has a sound that screams "the early '80s," with its wailing high tenor vocals, piercing guitar solos and steady thundering drum beat. There's a reason Journey songs continue to make a daily appearance on "classic rock" radio stations, and it was on display Tuesday in all of its anthemic glory.

The current incarnation of Journey has many of the same parts from back in the day. Neal Schon's wailing guitar solos are as explosive as ever, climbing ever upward on the scale, embodying a sense of seeking that always ends just short of transcendence. And Jonathan Cain's floral piano fills still tug heartstrings on ballads.

Ah, but the singer's not the same. Even more than those other ingredients, the high tenor voice of Steve Perry was Journey's trademark back in its multiplatinum heyday. But Perry went underground a decade ago, leaving Schon, Cain and company searching for a mint-condition '82 Steve Perry. And they've found a pretty good one in Arnel Pineda, whom they discovered on YouTube doing Journey covers.

Pineda passes for Perry quite well, hitting all of the big, spine-tingling high notes when it counts and bouncing around the stage in attire and a hairstyle that echo
Perry's Carter-administration look, sometimes creepily so. While one can't begrudge the other members of Journey wanting to reconnect with their fan base, there were times Tuesday when Pineda seemed just a little too much of a Perry knockoff, leaving one wondering if it might be more fulfilling to find a singer with a style not quite so nakedly derivative. But the band nevertheless pushed all the right buttons for this audience, delivering the "more more more" ethos of the '80s in spades. A heartbroken ballad can't get more syrupy than "Open Arms." A power-pop tune can't thunder much more relentlessly than "Separate Ways." And an optimistic anthem can't get more buoyant than "Don't Stop Believin'."

So, was it satisfying? Well, that all depends upon how rewarding you find a dive into the past. But the longtime members of the band still seem to be giving it their all, and, if they're still interested, that goes a long way toward engaging an audience. Throw on a pretty strong opening set by a band that peaked around the same period, Cheap Trick, and this was a decent trip into the time machine.

Rob Hubbard is an associate producer for American Public Media's "Performance Today."

[T-Bone]

Sounds just about right... It was a great show and just like last year, It was cool to see many younger generation fans singing along to the songs as well as the older ones. One comment I heard from a guy after the show was "Man! Could that little fucker sing!" And the other that was a favorite was a guy that was a little disappointed that it wasn't the original band and was wondering if Steve Perry had died, because he hadn't heard anything about it A friend that came with us is VERY skeptical when bands change singers and often does not like the newer ones. Journey opened up with Never Walk Away, and I literally watched her jaw drop and utter the word "Wow".

[Saint John]

Never Walk Away should be re-recorded to capture some of the true sound that it conveys live (though it's probably too late to do that). It comes across somewhat flat and lifeless on the album but is absolutely brilliant live.

[Don]

Never Walk Away should be re-recorded to capture some of the true sound that it conveys live (though it's probably too late to do that). It comes across somewhat flat and lifeless on the album but is absolutely brilliant live.

Ii thought I was the only one who noticed that. It sounds like it was produced completely apart from the rest of the album, it's almost muffled sounding.