Arnel still rockin’ after leg injury

ALL HEALED UP: Arnel Pineda in Rockville. pocholo concepcion

There was no trace of his injury when Arnel Pineda performed recently at Rockville, his club on Timog Avenue.

The place was packed. Even well-heeled fans jostled their way to the stage to see Arnel up close.

The show was a sendoff to the Filipino rock star, who flew to New York the next day for the premiere of Ramona Diaz’s documentary on him and his band Journey at the Tribeca film fest.

Too dark

Arnel fell off the stage while performing on tour in the United States in July 2011. “Sobrang dilim, I overshot the 7-foot stage,” he told the Inquirer.

He didn’t suffer any fracture, but the tendons in his right leg were damaged. He couldn’t rest; the three-month tour had just started. “I was in constant pain, both of my knees hurt,” he recounted.

He opted for massage therapy when he got back to Manila. “Dinaan sa hilot. Nag-heal din naturally.”

At the Rockville gig, Arnel worked up the crowd with the rock repertoire that led to his discovery on YouTube by Neal Schon, Journey co-founder and lead guitarist.

Old times

His vocals faltered slightly on a few songs, but the audience couldn’t have cared less—it was rock ’n’ roll and they loved every minute of it.

Arnel was confidence personified—belting out the high notes and leaping on the last beat. His longtime guitarist Monet Cajipe was at his side; it was like old times in Olongapo and Hong Kong.

Arnel and his backup band, Ammo, played note-for-note covers of The Beatles, Billy Joel, The Knack, The Police, Deep Purple, U2, Bon Jovi, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith and even Adele.

The covers stood out because of Arnel’s gung-ho attitude and his dynamic voice that alternated between honey and sandpaper.

Puzzler

He did Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” and incredibly, made it sound hip.

“I have a flight to catch tomorrow,” he told the throng at the end of a non-stop, 20-song set.

Journey is doing another US tour in mid-July, he told us. “It will open in San Bernardino and finish mid-December in Hawaii. We’re working on a Manila date in February 2013.”

Arnel looked happy and eager to flex those legs again.