Singer Arnel Pineda’s bandmates in Journey have come to his defense after Pineda received criticism of his vocal performance during the band’s recent set at Rock in Rio.
As previously reported, clips of Pineda missing some high notes during “Don’t Stop Believin’” at Rock in Rio circulated online, eventually reaching Pineda himself. He then shared the clip in a Facebook post and wrote that he was “so devastated” by his performance, asking fans to vote on whether he should remain Journey’s lead singer.
Wrote Pineda: “i am offering you a chance now (especially those who’s hated me and never liked me from the very beginning) to simply text GO or STAY right here.. and if GO reaches 1 million… i’m stepping out for good..are you game folks? let’s start…”
Nearly all the visible comments implored Pineda to “STAY” — and his bandmates Deen Castronovo (drums) and Neal Schon (lead guitar) have adamantly seconded those calls. The latter also called out Avenged Sevenfold for limiting Journey’s sound production at the Brazilian festival.
Castronovo took to Facebook to blast the trolls, circumventing his social media manager for a rare personal post:
“Arnel has RISEN to the challenge of Journey’s catalog, NIGHT after NIGHT, YEAR after tiring YEAR! He gives to YOU ALL and Journey, the best that he can give you. Out of maybe a handful of shows in 17 years, Arnel has faced the facts. The voice is a BIOLOGICAL INSTRUMENT, subject to weather, fatigue, virus, bacteria, jet lag etc. Sometimes it DOES NOT, CANNOT or WILL NOT cooperate when needed. So, what’s the point of hammering a human being over something they have no control over??”
Schon also posted on Facebook, accusing Avenged Sevenfold — who performed later in the evening — of compromising Journey’s sound and sharing clips from the same Rock in Rio concert in an effort to prove that the vocal/sound issues still had little impact on the crowd’s enjoyment of the show. In a separate post, he accused “owed and bought blogs” for fabricating the original story.
The guitarist wrote:
“This clip is from Rio, even though we found out much later that we got extremely limited by Avenged Sevenfold that means that hardly any sound can get out of the PA to the audience. It’s a bullshit move. Check out the audience. They loved it the rest of its fabricated crap.”
The new drama surrounding Journey comes after a messy legal spat between Schon and Jonathan Cain. The two recently reached an agreement regarding the management of their shared business subsidiary. Cain previously sued Schon for mismanaging the business and overspending at the band’s expense — all this coming while Cain and Schon were actively sharing the stage for Journey’s now-wrapped summer North American tour with Def Leppard.
Below you can see the social media posts by Castronovo and Schon defending Arnel Pineda.