Journey BMO Harris Show Features Core Members of the Band

When Journey comes to the BMO Harris Bradley Center in November, it will be without Steve Perry. Perry has long since left the band, and the three remaining members have put their faith in Arnel Pineda. How many key members of a band have to remain in order for fans to respect their efforts to continue working under their original name? Which members, as in high or low profile, will still move on and hope to draw an audience?  In the case of Journey, it seems that three core members are what is needed for that band to go on.  Who remains in Journey are certainly the "core" members. Ross Valory and Neal Schon are truly the last original members still playing the hits. Jonathan Cain is also part of the current lineup, but cannot be labeled an "original" memeber, even though he was part of the band for the past 31 years. (Thanks to all those who commented on how much I messed up on the lineup, past and present.) 
It’s been done before. A very famous band loses a drummer, keyboard, or bass player. The core (or possibly the most popular members) of the band remain, so they move on with new blood. In some cases, very few fans complain, and the band manages to continue to do great things. In other cases, such as Van Halen, the fans divide into two groups. As hard as it was to see The Who reunite, could anyone fault them for the success that they achieved after picking themselves up and moving on? It is one thing to try to revive Queen without Freddie Mercury, but let’s face it, some bands will have no problems finding success after certain members are out. (This is coming from a drummer, mind you.)

Steve Perry Joins Journey

It must be noted that Journey didn’t start out with Steve Perry as their vocalist. In the early years, the band was a hard rock outfit that Greg Rolie led on vocals and keyboards. Perry was pretty much forced upon the band by their manager, but their success would not have come without him. Perry and Neal Schoen wrote the song titled Patiently during what was to be a weekend where the band could get to know their new singer. A bond was formed, and the band never looked back. Yes, the core members were very tight. Perry was an outsider. Still, it worked.
What are fans to make of the Journey lineup now? Take a moment to listen to Arnel Pineda sing one of their most famous songs. Can you tell the difference? I would say that it’s almost a mirror copy of Perry’s style. Still, it’s not the same. You just can’t replace the face, and voice of a band. For those of you who have no problem closing your eyes and pretending, the new lineup will probably just do fine for you. I’m not a Journey fan, but I have to stand behind Perry on this one. This is not Journey. When all that you have are the original guitar and bass player (and Cain on keys,) you basically what some would call a tribute band. It’s fitting that Arnel Pineda was busy fronting tribute acts when he was tapped to play the role of Steve Perry.