Pregaming.

I got an IM from Baby Bear a couple of weeks ago to rejoin Kawayan Folk Arts for one special show. After the initial “Hey! How ya doin’?,” it didn’t take a lot to twist my arm: Friday is Filipino Heritage Night when the Golden State Warriors take on the LA Clippers (You know I luh my Pilipinos.), AND Arnel Pineda, the current lead singer for JOURNEY, will be there!!

Pineda replaced (Steve Augeri who replaced) Steve Perry in 2007. And you know how they found him? YOUTUBE. At the time Pineda was lead singer in the Journey cover band The Zoo, and guitarist Neal Schon just happened upon a long-haired man from Manila who could really belt it out. Here’s Pineda’s debut performance in Chile:

Sadly, I’ve been informed that Pineda will not be singing on Friday, which is crazy lame sauce since the Warriors had that Bay-rallying “We believe” movement and it’d be stupid fitting to get all of Oracle up on their feet singing to “Don’t Stop Believing,” but hey, what do fans know about performance rights and prime opportunities for epic singalongs?

At any rate, come out if you love basketball, Warriors, Pilipinos, or Journey. Kawayan will be performing during the pregame show and Likha will be performing at half-time. Click here for information and tickets.