These Dreams
Last night we went to my wife’s first concert here in the States, and first one for me in a long, long time. Three big names – Cheap Trick, Heart & Journey – all long past their hay day, or so it seemed going in. The real purpose was to please my wife, who has been infatuated with Journey since she learned that they are now fronted by a Pilipino.
If you don’t know the story behind this, you are really missing out on one of the more fascinating “dream come true” stories.
Arnel Pineda was discovered by Journey guitarist and founder Neal Schon via YouTube. It seems Journey was in need of a new singer and with no leads in the business, Neal turned to spending hours viewing videos on the internet. Arnel was living and playing in and around Quezon City with the group The Zoo, and while they covered many groups, he really nailed Journey. Arnel’s passion and feeling really came across in those videos to Neal. Neal got in touch with Arnel, a visa was arranged and the rest, as they say, is history.
When I first learned of this from my wife, I thought it was a nice touching story, good publicity for a Pilipino, and a chance for Journey to continue to make some bucks on the Geezer Rock tour. Seems it’s much more than that. Their new album, not really to my tastes, has done very well for them. Arnel has brought a new energy and following. The sound system in the Spokane Arena sucked, at least where I was sitting, but it couldn’t keep you from seeing the absolute soul and talent that Arnel brought to each song. The ballads were where he really shined, and thankfully the sound system wasn’t overloaded on those.
Being the jaded old fart that I’ve become, I wasn’t expecting anything other than making my wife happy by going along to the show. I mean, while I liked songs from each of these groups, I never liked any of them enough to own their albums or CDs. But as I was sitting there watching this show, with the terrible acoustics, I couldn’t help but be inspired by this 40 year old bouncing around the stage with a grin from ear to ear. If he wasn’t the epitome of happiness, then I’m sure I’ve never seen it.
While this story should be a real inspiration to all Philipinos, to me it was even more. It is an inspiration to all those who follow their dreams. Nancy Wilson of Heart (which by the way was surprisingly outstanding) dedicated their song, “These Dreams“, to Arnel. Seems I wasn’t the only one to be taken in.
