For a while Journey band have in dormancy state not until they got a boost from Pinoy talent who would be their front line lead singer. This Pinoy talent is Arnel Pineda who is already a veteran when it comes to club performances whether it will be in the Philippines or Japan. His popularity is also shown by his showings in Youtube and eventually lead him to get flown straight to Marin county to audition for the vacant lead singer position. And the rest is just like a Cinderella story.



Arnel Pineda hardly had enough to get used to his instant challenges and getting used to international status quo being with the Journey band. This added the extra pressure in getting ready to perform and please 15,000 Chilean Journey fans. This extra ordinary experience for Arnel Pineda just added the fire in his first international concert performance that was just nothing but exceptional.

It's been a little rough start for Arnel Pineda of the Journey band. Some even mentioned that he seems like forgotten the lyrics of the song or he's almost like reading them from a teleprompter.

As the concert progressed, everyone just got cozy and comfortable. But it went really exciting and electric when the Journey's singer sang the popular number "Open Arms". Chileans are warm and passionate people and so does Arnel Pineda that he sang passionately. What an awesome performance. Everybody just gotten comfortable once he finished that song..finally putting "The Monster" into silence.

Arnel Pineda's singing of "Faithfully" just caught everyone's heart with excitement. What used to be doubts of his capability to be with Journey finally disappeared. The "Monster" was transformed to Arnel and the rest of Journey band, claiming their long lost position of the greatest rock bands of all time.

It was unbelievable that Journey could do their finale since they were asked for encore number one after the other. There comes a time that their finale even took longer to get going since most of the equipment is turned off or disconnected. Even with those issues it was still such a memorable atmosphere. Finally, Arnel Pineda has shown beyond any doubts that his talent is nothing short of the best to be a part of Journey band.

Neal Schon was acting like a proud father to a son he presented to everyone, Jonathan Cain (who was not so pleased with Arnel Pineda) now is preaching Arnel "is the real deal", Ross Valory keeps flashes that nothing else with rare smile, and Deen Castronovo gestured to Arnel Pineda that he's the man!

Almost like a stuff for a soft Cinderella story, isn't it?

While this is a Cinderella story for Arnel Pineda, this is also a "Lazarus, rise from the dead" story for the Journey band.

Some musical big wigs coined Journey band has become a "Greatest Hits" group. Schon, Cain, Valory, and Castronovo are riding the wave of Journey's past glorious moments. They attempted some new materials but they did not seem to hit the sales records. They might still posses the admiration of the original fan groups, but this fans base could either go for other bands or genre, or they could just rot and die of being old.

Steve Augeri, and Jason Scot Soto are both great singer and performers and they are just trying to extend the lifespan of Journey. Getting Arnel Pineda into Journey, the band got its new version without changing the old package of Journey's identity. Arnel Pineda's tenor sounding voice keeps the feel and touch of the what is used to be "Journey".

However, Arnel Pineda, as Journey band's lead singer, doesn't end his contributions to the band there. His being Asian, his youthful energy, his really "rock" rendition of the fast ones provide Journey band a chance to be discovered by the younger generation not only from continental USA but globally.