MANILA, Philippines?For Filipino fans of the pop-rock band Journey, the song ?Don?t Stop Believing? captures what they are probably feeling as the band members arrive today for a concert on March 14.

The band?s arrival, two weeks prior to its scheduled performance at the SM Mall of Asia open-air concert grounds, is very unusual. Most foreign acts who have booked shows in Manila, fly in a day before their gigs, if not on the day itself.

But there?s something very special in Journey?s case.

Renowned worldwide for its string of hit songs known as ?power ballads,? the group will be playing with a new lead vocalist who happens to be Pinoy?the Sampaloc-born Arnel Pineda.

The band, expected to fly in today at 5:40 a.m., will have a press conference tomorrow, followed by a closed-door rehearsal at the Aliw Theater.

Discovered by Journey?s lead guitarist Neal Schon on the video-sharing website YouTube, Pineda is keenly aware of the significance of this Manila show. He calls it a ?homecoming concert,? something that has kept him so ?excited? he ?can?t sleep.?

Likewise, this marks Journey?s first ever concert on Philippine soil since forming in 1973.

One of its founding members, Schon, was originally part of the Latin rock group Santana. But although Journey already had a talented lineup during its inception?including former Santana keyboardist Greg Rolie and drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who had worked with John Lennon and Frank Zappa, among others?it struggled for several years before achieving popularity.

Journey at its peak

In 1977, Journey hired a new lead singer, Steve Perry, whose clean, high tenor finally gave the band a distinct, audience-friendly identity. A year later, its fourth album, ?Infinity,? was certified platinum (1 million copies sold) and contained the hit singles ?Lights? and ?Wheel in the Sky.?

From 1979 to 1983, Journey was consistently at the top of the billboard charts, with albums that were critically panned, yet attracted legions of fans for their emotionally charged songs?later dubbed as power ballads.

At its peak, Journey had three Top 10 hits (?Who?s Crying Now,? ?Don?t Stop Believing? and ?Open Arms?) in one album and 1981?s ?Escape,? which became the No. 1 record of that year. To date, it has sold 9 million copies.

Moving on

For 10 years, starting in 1984, Journey took an extended sabbatical as Perry and Schon pursued solo projects. A reunion in 1995 ended two years later when Perry broke his hip while hiking in Hawaii.

When Perry refused to undergo hip replacement surgery, the band decided to look for another singer.

Journey remained active as a touring band but was rather unlucky with its vocalists. In 1998, it hired Steve Augeri who was eventually replaced by Jeff Scott Soto in 2006. A year later, Soto himself left the band.

Public interest in Journey was renewed when one of its songs, ?Don?t Stop Believing,? was used as the soundtrack in the final scene of the long-running American TV drama series ?The Sopranos.?

Comeback year

With another tour coming up and still without a vocalist, Schon as bandleader became desperate?until his girlfriend reportedly told him about a guy she chanced upon, singing Journey songs on YouTube. The guy turned out to be Pineda.

2008 was a comeback year for Journey. With a new lead vocalist, the band released ?Revelation,? a double CD containing 22 tracks, 11 of which are new compositions, while the rest are the band?s greatest hits. That same year, the album turned platinum.

What?s special about it? Pineda sings in all of the songs.