Arnel: Journey gig halted by Easter, elections

JOURNEY

The return concert of rock band Journey, scheduled on March 21 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, has been canceled.

A statement from Journey front man Arnel Pineda, which was posted on smtickets.com and confirmed by MOA Arena marketing head Nicole Mariz C. Deato, explained the reasons for the show’s cancelation.

Pineda’s statement read: “Due to the extreme importance of the Easter holiday in my home country, as well as the deserved widespread media attention on the upcoming election in Manila, the ticket sales for Journey’s upcoming show have understandably been somewhat slow. We have decided it is best for everyone to postpone the Manila concert until the next time Journey tours in Asia. We are very sorry that we won’t be able to see our fans this year, but we will see you again soon. You know we all love to play in Manila!”

Journey performed in Manila on March 14, 2009, to introduce Arnel Pineda as its new front man. That concert drew in a crowd of over 30,000 at the SM MOA concert grounds.

2 more aborted shows

The Journey concert cancelation came on the heels of two other aborted performances this month—the “Smash Project 2013” scheduled on March 8 also at the SM MOA Arena, and the “Adam Lambert Live in Manila” set on March 1 at the SM North Edsa Skydome.

“Smash Project 2013” would have been a gathering of nine popular punk rock and rock bands such as Sum 41, Woe, Is Me, Of Mice & Men and headlined by All Time Low. Lambert’s concert would have been his second in the Philippines, after his “Glam Nation Tour” in October 2010 at the Mall of Asia open concert grounds.

Inquirer Entertainment asked SM MOA Arena management the reason for the cancelations. MOA Arena then e-mailed a letter from Diego Pineda, owner of the two concerts’ organizer Dayly Entertainment. Part of his letter read: “We are going through some things in our company and we hope to resolve it soon. We are making sure everything will be [settled] … as well.”

ADAM Lambert

SM Tickets is refunding all tickets sold for the three canceled shows. For more details, call 4702222 or log on to www.smtickets.com.

Experimental music

Canadian musician and music video director Grimes will perform at the Hard Rock Café in Makati City on March 14. The 25-year-old Vancouver native, whose real name is Claire Boucher, has released three albums since 2010. The third one, “Visions,” has been acclaimed by the New York Times as “one of the most impressive albums of (2012).” Grimes’ music has been noted by critics for its atypical combination of vocal elements, as well as a wide array of influences ranging from industrial and electronic to pop, hip-hop, R&B, noise rock and even medieval music.

The show, which starts at 8 p.m., will also feature Baltimore-based singer and sitarist Ami Dang and electro-pop band Eyedress.  “Grimes Live in Manila” is presented by Kindassault. Tickets are available at Gweilos Makati and Eastwood, Odyssey Greenbelt and Rockwell, Dr. Martens and Route 196.