Review: Journey fun, and really familiar at Riverbend
Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:07 amReview: Journey fun, and really familiar at Riverbend
Review: Journey fun, and really familiar
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The first time you see Arnel Pineda open his mouth and hear Steve Perry’s voice, it’s a bit of a shock. The Filipino singer, who has been with Journey since 2007, sounds just like Perry, the band’s former singer, when he’s singing Perry’s ’80s anthems.
Five years after Pineda joined the band, that initial novelty is gone. What remain are the hits, which he and Journey performed at Riverbend Friday night in versions nearly exactly similar to the originals.
It was fun to hear some of those old tunes. Beyond that, Pineda doesn’t add much, other than a vapid enthusiasm: he can smile, he can run around the stage, and he can sing like a million bucks, but he hasn’t really put his stamp on the band. The only times he could be credited with doing his own thing was when he sang a couple of new songs. But the new ones didn’t measure up to the old, and he still sounded like Perry.
Maybe he doesn’t want to reveal his personality, or maybe the long-term band members – guitarist Neal Schon, keyboard player Jonathan Cain and bassist Ross Valory – don’t want him to, either. One song began right where another ended, making for a rapid fire show and eliminating any opportunity for Pineda stage chatter. The only time he addressed the crowd with more than one or two words was when he instructed fans to hold their cell phones in the air during “Lights,” which he then went on to sing just like Perry did.
The result was a very good 95-minute Journey’s-greatest-hits live show, barring the new tunes. The band played as well as ever, with drummer Deen Castronovo propelling the group with hard-rock power and precision.
Highlights of the concert – which closed out the Riverbend season and also featured opening acts Pat Benatar and Loverboy – included Journey’s performance of “Feeling That Way”/“Anytime,” with Cain handling former keyboard player Gregg Rolie’s vocal parts and Pineda, of course, handling Perry’s.
The end of the show ramped up to then encore with several classics, going from “Wheel in the Sky” to “Be Good to Yourself” to “Don’t Stop Believin’” (with confetti and streamers raining down upon the crowd at the end) to “Separate Ways.”
Not so great – other than the aforementioned new songs – was the Schon-Cain rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Schon played roughly a half-million notes during the song, providing the guitar-player’s equivalent one of those overblown versions of the national anthem as performed by some pop singer at a big sporting event.
Benatar’s and Loverboy’s respective sets were great, because neither had any new-song filler – just the old hits. Backed by a three-piece band that included her husband and longtime guitarist Neil Giraldo, Benatar played an hour’s worth of hits, including her biggest ones like “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “Love is a Battlefield” and “We Belong.” Loverboy knocked out a quick seven-song set with favorites like “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “Turn Me Loose” and the ultimate ’80s Friday-night jam, “Working for the Weekend.”
Review: Journey fun, and really familiar
http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/ar ... nav%7Chead
The first time you see Arnel Pineda open his mouth and hear Steve Perry’s voice, it’s a bit of a shock. The Filipino singer, who has been with Journey since 2007, sounds just like Perry, the band’s former singer, when he’s singing Perry’s ’80s anthems.
Five years after Pineda joined the band, that initial novelty is gone. What remain are the hits, which he and Journey performed at Riverbend Friday night in versions nearly exactly similar to the originals.
It was fun to hear some of those old tunes. Beyond that, Pineda doesn’t add much, other than a vapid enthusiasm: he can smile, he can run around the stage, and he can sing like a million bucks, but he hasn’t really put his stamp on the band. The only times he could be credited with doing his own thing was when he sang a couple of new songs. But the new ones didn’t measure up to the old, and he still sounded like Perry.
Maybe he doesn’t want to reveal his personality, or maybe the long-term band members – guitarist Neal Schon, keyboard player Jonathan Cain and bassist Ross Valory – don’t want him to, either. One song began right where another ended, making for a rapid fire show and eliminating any opportunity for Pineda stage chatter. The only time he addressed the crowd with more than one or two words was when he instructed fans to hold their cell phones in the air during “Lights,” which he then went on to sing just like Perry did.
The result was a very good 95-minute Journey’s-greatest-hits live show, barring the new tunes. The band played as well as ever, with drummer Deen Castronovo propelling the group with hard-rock power and precision.
Highlights of the concert – which closed out the Riverbend season and also featured opening acts Pat Benatar and Loverboy – included Journey’s performance of “Feeling That Way”/“Anytime,” with Cain handling former keyboard player Gregg Rolie’s vocal parts and Pineda, of course, handling Perry’s.
The end of the show ramped up to then encore with several classics, going from “Wheel in the Sky” to “Be Good to Yourself” to “Don’t Stop Believin’” (with confetti and streamers raining down upon the crowd at the end) to “Separate Ways.”
Not so great – other than the aforementioned new songs – was the Schon-Cain rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Schon played roughly a half-million notes during the song, providing the guitar-player’s equivalent one of those overblown versions of the national anthem as performed by some pop singer at a big sporting event.
Benatar’s and Loverboy’s respective sets were great, because neither had any new-song filler – just the old hits. Backed by a three-piece band that included her husband and longtime guitarist Neil Giraldo, Benatar played an hour’s worth of hits, including her biggest ones like “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “Love is a Battlefield” and “We Belong.” Loverboy knocked out a quick seven-song set with favorites like “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “Turn Me Loose” and the ultimate ’80s Friday-night jam, “Working for the Weekend.”
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