Journey keeps the wheel turning MGM Grand Arena

[tater1977]

Journey keeps the wheel turning

October 10, 2011 by Jesse Barrios

The classic-rock namestay takes the MGM Grand Arena to the eighties and back
http://unlvrebelyell.com/2011/10/10/jou ... l-turning/

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.

[Don]

Too many mistakes to count in this review..

[tater1977]

Too many mistakes to count in this review.

I LOL...esp liked the "Knight Ranger"... new band.....

[steveo777]

cough! My bullshit detector went of big time.

Let's get something straight.....Pineda is a good singer, but he is not Steve Perry, doesn't interchange with him, and anyone who says otherwise simply doesn't know shit from shine-ola.

[Maui Tom]

3 songs from Eclipse? Wrong.....

[Don]

My friend who is a casual fan didn't know SHML. Looking around me, quite a few people in my section seemed pretty lost with it also.
With the exception of one goober who seemed to have an epileptic seizure when they played La Do Da, most didn't seem to know that song either.
LDD should have been replaced with AIP or even Resonate. If you are going to baffle the audience, at least do it with a new song. SHML could have easily been replaced with Tantra or at the very least WCN which gets played in SoCal about ten times a day anyway.

ATL is another song that could have been replaced (it never even made the Top 40). Either an Eclipse tune or even something like NWA from Revelation.

[jrnyjetster]

3 songs from Eclipse? Wrong.....

OK, what'd they play then?