Hearing is believing at Journey concert at amphitheater

If you closed your eyes, crossed your fingers and hoped Arnel Pineda lived up to the hype as Journey’s new singer, you probably weren’t alone Tuesday evening at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater.

Well, hearing is certainly believing, and without a doubt Pineda was the best replacement Journey has ever had for its most famed vocalist, Steve Perry.

As the story goes, guitarist Neal Schon was scouting for a new singer last year and accidentally came across a video posted on YouTube. The clip featured Arnel Pineda of the Filipino band The Zoo. He was singing cover songs from some of his favorite rock bands like Queen and Journey. Impressed by Pineda’s voice, Schon had the singer flown to America for an audition.

In December 2007, Pineda was announced as Journey’s new frontman and he immediately joined the band in the recording studio for a new album, “Revelation,” which sold 196,000 copies in its first two weeks and debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

For many Filipinos around the world, Pineda has become a hero.

“It’s a Cinderella story,” said Jay Sanchez, who was shooting video Tuesday of the live performance. “He’s an inspiration.”

Over and over, Pineda wowed the Virginia Beach audience. His voice had an uncanny resemblance in tone to that of Perry, and it soared, hitting the high notes with ease, which was a challenging effort on passionate ballads like “Faithfully” and “Open Arms.”

Journey’s repertoire featured most of its biggest hits ranging from the high energy FM radio staples such as “Stone In Love” and “Don’t Stop Believing” to mid-tempo favorites that included “Wheel In the Sky” and “Any Way You Want It.”

Throughout the performance, Journey’s longtime members Schon, Ross Valory (bass), Jonathan Cain (keyboards) and Deen Castronovo (drums)(cq) delivered effortlessly. They’ve been doing these songs for years, after all. The real focus was on Pineda, who, unlike most of the members, except Schon, was full of enthusiastic energy and acrobatic jumps. Journey couldn’t have been better.

Pineda was the only exceptional singer on this night. Heart vocalist Ann Wilson raised the roof on the amphitheater several times, including on “Alone” and “Crazy On You.” Sister Nancy Wilson (guitar) and the rest of the musicians kept the music fairly true to the original recordings, most noticeably on “Magic Man,” the synthesizer and guitar licks were note for note. The harmonics parts on the guitar made “Barracuda” a pure delight.

Brett Gardner, 20, of Hampton attended the concert specifically for Heart.

“All I listen to is classic rock,” he said. “All the new stuff that’s coming out today sucks.”

Michael Cox, 45, brought is 15-year-old son, Jonathan, to the concert, his first-ever.

“He’s amazed,” said Cox, a proud dad. “He knows good music when he hears it.”

Cheap Trick was first to hit the stage. The quartet, featuring all original members, wasn’t as mobile as it used to be but, still, Robin Zander hit all of his notes perfectly and guitarist Rick Nielsen was as always the consummate showman. Cheap Trick’s best of the night: ”Dream Police,” “Surrender” and “I Want You to Want Me.”

Jeff Maisey (757) 222-3934, jmaisey@pilotonline.com