I was lucky enough to see Journey on Aug. 21 (my birthday) at Freedom Hall. They played about a two-hour set. The played such classics like “Separate Ways,” “Lights,” and “Open Arms,” not to mention their biggest hit, “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
Their singer, Arnel Pineda, sounds like Journey’s most famous vocalist, Steve Perry. Pineda invigorated the band and had the most identifiable stage presence.
The opening act, Heart, did better than I originally expected. Heart opened their set with their classic song “Barracuda” and went through a repertoire of hard rock, classic tunes and love songs.
They closed out their set with “Crazy on You” and then came back on and played a Led Zeppelin song, the classic “Going to California.”
After about 15 minutes the lights of Freedom Hall dimmed, and the crowd was taken back to 1981, Journey’s heyday.
Journey ripped into their song “Separate Ways,” which was complete with synthesizers, lights, smoke and Pineda jumping around like a mad man.
Then, without missing a beat, they went straight into “Forever Young,” which was full of energy, again, complements of Pineda’s movements.
Neal Schon then played a five-minute guitar solo. The night continued on like this, with Journey playing their classics, and they ruled the stage like they would have with Steve Perry 30 years ago.
The highlight of the show was when they played “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
You could hear the crowd singing along with the band, and there was a part when Pineda encouraged the crowd singing along, saying, “Sing after me! Don’t stop…” He did this for several minutes, and each time the crowd responded with an even louder, “Believin’!”, before launching into the final chorus.
They ended their set with “Anyway You Want It.” After they left the stage, the crowd yelled “Journey! Journey! Journey!” and begged for an encore. Journey obliged.
They came back on, and Schon and keyboardist Jonathon Cain engaged in a duel. They ended the duel with the opening piano melodies of “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’.”
This, however, would be their last song. After the song, the lights came back on, and we returned to the year 2009.