by brywool » Wed Oct 09, 2024 5:19 am
Man, what happened to AP here was incredibly sad. I refrained from commenting on it here. But to see people kind of go "He should get over himself, grow some balls, etc." - That's also sad to read from 'fans' of the band.
Arnel has faced heavy heavy criticism, a lot of it racial (from ignorant f*ckers that need to go back to whatever hole they crawled out of). "You're not Steve Perry!", "No Steve, No Journey", "Karaoke singer!", "Journey tribute band", and on and on. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. since he started with Journey. He will never be able to please those fans. And yet, HE is keeping that band alive and the dude goes out and brings whatever he's got in the tank every night.
"Oh, have Deen to sing!" - yeah, let's see Deen do what AP does for 2+ hours every night and not start to get a bit less pristine with the wear and tear. And Deen's a great singer. That's not to take away from Deen, but it's a different deal when you are the guy the band depends on every night or a few in a row over and over and over. I wouldn't wish that gig (ESPECIALLY this gig) on anybody.
From the peanut gallery here- Being a singer can be brutal business. You're putting all of you out there and sometimes (and I know all the voice experts will disagree) your pipes just won't cooperate. But you still gotta get through the show. Especially at that level when entire crews and venue staff are dependent on that income. Now, factor in the Journey drama that's going on with the primaries. Now add the lack of sleep, different environments, bad mixes, etc. Now, you have to go out and perform at 110%. THAT is a TON of pressure and stress. Nothing hurts a singer more than Pressure and Stress. You get tense, you tighten up, and then your voice won't cooperate. If you're an uptight, type A- that stuff'll screw ya.
I saw some videos and press the day after it happened and they were brutal. He really was having issues, but what was he supposed to do, just walk off? Nope, he soldiered on and he entertained the hell out of the majority of the audience from what I saw.
Finally (yay! sorry, too many Mt. Dews...), for those of you still readin'- Arnel seems a very sensitive cat. Sensitivity is important in a singer. Perry was totally sensitive, though they were different guys. Arnel's also humble as hell and he gives a lot back to fans both on stage and off. It's a lot of the reason I like him so much. He's just a cool guy who has earned the right to be there. Remember not so long ago when everyone didn't have a friggin' cell phone to record every gig, post it online, then complain about it within minutes of the gig? Ah, those were the days!
NO. He's NOT Steve F'ing Perry. But he's Arnel F'ing Pineda and I'm okay with that.