Journey back in time

THE CROWD was woefully small for a concert featuring a band of international artistes.
That was the first thing that struck me at Stadium Malawati Shah Alam last Saturday night during the concert by American rock band Journey.
I always believed that we needed the energy of a huge crowd to fuel the fire at a concert; definitely, more than the few hundred in attendance that night.
But this legendary rock band, which was formed in 1973 in San Francisco, proved me wrong. The five members – comprising Arnel Pineda, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory and Steven Smith – gave an entertaining performance.
And the energy level was infectious once they got started, even without the benefit of a huge crowd.
You could see the audience singing along, clapping their hands, dancing, and waving their handphones in the air.
They all had a good time, and were left begging for more at the end of the concert.
Prancing on stage aggressively, lead singer Pineda entertained the crowd with his powerful vocals.
The Philippine-born singer even got down from the stage to shake hands with some members of the audience, though his coterie of bodyguards ensured they didn’t get too close to the singer.
Each member of the band also had a chance to showcase his musical skills in solo sets – Schon with his guitar, Cain on his piano, Valory with his bass guitar, and Smith on the drums.
The band’s opening act was the explosive track, Separate Ways, from its Frontiers album released in 1983.
The song peaked at No.8 for six consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and spent four weeks at No.1 on the Top Tracks chart.
One of the most memorable moments that night was when Pineda sang one of the band’s biggest hits, Only the Young, a touching song which the band recorded in the mid-80s, when its members were young and chasing their dreams.
His voice was in top form when he sang this particular number.
The song itself has an interesting story behind it. It seemed that one of the band’s biggest fans in its early years was 16-year-old Kenny Sykaluk of Rocky River, Ohio, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
His mother had written a letter to the band, telling the boys about her son’s terminal condition, and how big a fan he was.
The band flew in to visit Kenny at his hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and presented him with a Walkman featuring one of its new tracks. Kenny died the following day, with the Walkman still in his hand.
The teen’s death affected the band members greatly, causing them to reevaluate how they lived their lives.
Journey closed the concert with arguably its most recognised hit song, Don’t Stop Believing, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Of course, the audience was not ready to say good night after that. They kept chanting for an encore and happily, the band returned to the stage and performed two more songs, the Latin number La Raza Del Sol, followed by an early hit, Lovin Touchin Squeezin’.
In the end, the size of audience didn’t matter, as everyone had a great time and left smiling. And that’s what I saw as I made my way out of the stadium.
It cannot be denied that Journey was the one responsible for all the smiles on those faces that night.