#silverdocs 2012

Don't Stop Believin': An Everyman’s Journey

According to the end credits of director Ramona Diaz’ rockumentary, you can hear at least one Journey song on the radio every day. So how does one of the most listened to bands in the us go about replacing their lead singer? For Journey, lead guitarist Neal Schon turned to YouTube. The film follows Pineda as he is hand-picked by the band and struggles with becoming a rock star and dealing with a stressful life on tour. Pineda is a great lead character; his strong voice and tons of energy make him fun to watch as he leaps around the stage. Especially in relation to the rest of Journey, who are definitely getting old (though still good musically). With Pineda’s talent and a soundtrack full of hits, it’s odd that the film, as someone remarked to me afterwards “seemed kind of boring.” While I don’t agree, I feel like the doc hit all the things you expected, to the point of some scenes feeling like they could have been staged. I’m not accusing the filmmakers, but when Pineda walks around backstage trying to find a signal, and accidentally ends up outside where a mob of fans awaits, something about the scene bothered me. Pineda remarks constantly how much his life seems like a fairy tale, and it starts to get old eventually. I also wish the camerawork could have been a bit more creative, but if you like Journey, classic rock, or “rags-to-riches” stories, you’ll probably at least smile some during this documentary. It's a crowd-pleaser, but not much deeper than that.