January 2002-April 2003: Behind the Weekend: Journey Past & Present and the Bammies Walk of Fame (part 2)

The Planning Begins
October-December 2002

After the show in Konocti, we had to really kick it in to gear. The plan was to have the plaque ceremony occur the same weekend as the California Music Awards. Traditionally, the awards (formerly known as the Bay Area Music Awards or "Bammies") were held in April, but the plan for 2003 was to move them to May -- during Memorial Day Weekend. Journey was still on the "Under the Radar" tour while we began figuring out when the event would take place and what we hoped to see happen.

By mid-November we had a rough plan, but we needed to talk to the band and their management directly. Fortunately, the band was playing a show in Reno that (naturally) we were planning on attending. The best thing about shows at casinos is it's easy to find the right people at the right time.

We held our second planning meeting in the lobby of the Silver Legacy in the afternoon before the concert. We already knew that the band had arrived at the hotel, so maybe we would get lucky and John Toomey (JT) or one of the guys would walk by and we could snag them for a minute to let them know we'd like to discuss what we were planning. We lucked out. About 15 minutes in to our meeting, Jonathan Cain walked by! We asked him if he had a minute to talk and reintroduced ourselves and told him what we were working on.

This is when our idea of having a plaque installed before the California Music Awards and then having the band show up at the award ceremony went from something small and simple to the beginnings of a major production. Jonathan's first comment was that he wasn't sure if the band would be available Memorial Day weekend -- they might be on tour by then. Then, thinking out loud, he mentioned possibly doing a benefit concert -- something similar to what they had done a few years earlier for suicide prevention. Naturally, we were very receptive to that idea. (Like we'd actually turn down a Journey concert!) Jonathan's next suggestion was something that would never had occurred to us though.

He mentioned having gone into the Hard Rock Café with his kids and not seeing one piece of Journey memorabilia on the walls. The Hard Rock had just moved from its long time location on Van Ness Avenue to Pier 39 and in the move, the memorabilia that had been in the old site was shipped off and new items were sent for the new restaurant. We agreed with Jonathan that it was just wrong for there to be no memorabilia of Journey in the San Francisco Hard Rock Café. So we added trying to find out what had happened to Neal's guitar that had been in the old site and how to get something placed in the new site to our "to do" list. Jonathan then suggested the band might do a meet and greet at the Hard Rock. How we all managed to keep our jaws from hitting the floor over THAT suggestion, I'll never know!

Jonathan needed to leave, but before he did he invited us to sound check so we could chat a little more and check in with JT about whether or not the Memorial Day date was possible. We met up with the guys a few hours later and followed them over to sound check where we met JT. We told him who we were and what we wanted to discuss and he was very receptive but also very busy so he said we could chat a little after sound check. When we did, we learned that indeed the guys had a show planned for Memorial Day weekend. We said we'd bring that back to Dennis and get to work on figuring out an alternative plan.

The holidays began shortly after that and most of our planning was put on hold. We knew the band and management were taking a much-needed break after the long tour, so we just focused on what we could do for our fan gathering. We hoped we could double our attendance from 45 in 2002 to 90 in 2003 and began brainstorming what would be needed to accommodate a group of that size.

January 2002-April 2003: Behind the Weekend: Journey Past & Present and the Bammies Walk of Fame (part 1)

Where It All Started
Journey Past and Present 2002

"Hello Michelle, this is Officer Roth from Northern Station. I was just calling to let you know that we will be waving the fee for the barricades - another event is happening the next day and will be absorbing the costs." 

That was the message on my voice mail Friday afternoon. An unbelievable stroke of luck -- a fee we hadn't anticipated at the outset had been miraculously eliminated. We were down to the wire and one more obstacle was out of the way. Now, if we just knew where the plaque was.

It was a week before the Bammies Walk of Fame installation and all of the major hurdles had been cleared. The permits obtained, fees paid, all the parties contacted and responses received, now we just needed a call from Don Rich to tell us the plaque was ready to go. How we had gotten to this point was truly mind-boggling. This was just a little idea that popped up over lunch one day in January 2002.

Darla, Cheryl, Leslie, and I were sitting around planning our second annual fan gathering for that coming summer and were brainstorming ideas about what we could do that would be "cool." Cheryl had suggested a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the cost was prohibitive. I suggested the Bammies Walk of Fame -- it was a San Francisco thing and would be great to do for the band. The key was finding out HOW to get it done.

Cheryl took the lead and started making the calls to various agencies in San Francisco to see how they had been done in the past. This led her to Nick Elsner at the Department of Public Works, with out whom none of this would have gotten off the ground. Nick had been involved with the previous 7 plaques. Better yet, Nick was a huge music fan and loved our idea and put Cheryl in touch with people at the California Music Awards who were now responsible for the plaques! After much discussion with the California Music Awards organizers, it was determined that installing a plaque in 2002 was not going to be feasible -- the time needed to get everything done wasn't going to be enough. So we started looking ahead to 2003 and turning it in to a 30th anniversary celebration. (Sometimes fate works in strange ways.)

Once we got the California Music Awards involved, we were able to reach Dennis Erokan - the founder of BAM Magazine and the Bammies (and the associated Walk of Fame.) After a few phone calls and a meeting with Cheryl, we managed to get Dennis to agree to come to the Journey show at Konocti Harbor where we were holding Journey Past and Present 2002 that August. The original plan was to have Dennis announce the Bammies Walk of Fame at our luncheon -- something small and simple. As we quickly learned, small and simple isn't the normal modus operandi. Dennis contacted Journey's management and now instead of announcing the Walk of Fame at our luncheon in front of 45 people, the announcement was going to be made from the stage during the concert! 5,000 people were going to be a part of this moment! It also meant that Darla, Cheryl, Leslie, Mary Ann, and I had to figure a way to get out of the JPP luncheon and make our way to sound check in time to meet with Dennis and Journey management with out any one knowing where we were going or why.

Once the plan was in place, all we had to do was wait for the concert. No one outside the JPP organizing committee and the band (and their crew) knew what was going to happen after the band finished playing "Liberty." Cheryl, Leslie, and Mary Ann were sitting in the third row on Neal's side of the stage, while Darla and I were in the fourth row on the other side in front of Jon. We knew that Dennis would be coming out by Neal, and about mid-way through "Liberty" Darla and I snuck out from our seats and headed over to where the other girls were sitting. When the song ended, Darla and I were crouched in the aisle next to Cheryl and had to convince the usher that we were supposed to be there and would be heading back to our own seats in less than 3 minutes. Dennis walked briskly out on stage and introduced himself and made the announcement -- Journey will be receiving a plaque on the Bammies Walk of Fame in 2003! The roar from the crowd was deafening and at that moment we all felt that we had really accomplished something. We pulled it off. We didn't realize that it was only the beginning.

April 26, 2003: JPP2003 and the Bammies Walk of Fame

San Francisco, CA
Warfield Theater

I'm dead on my ass tired right now, but this weekend in San Francisco was totally unbelievable. If you haven't seen the highlights from the Journey Forums yet (which I've barely glimpsed myself so far)...

Bammies Walk of Fame Induction -- probably 300 people on the street in front of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to watch the boys (including Aynsley Dunbar, Gregg Rolie, & Herbie Herbert) receive their plaque! In a light rain no less!

Journey and Friends concert -- Indescribable! Aynsley Dunbar took over Deen's drum kit for "Wheel in the Sky" three songs in and it just kept getting better. Set list included "Mother, Father", "Precious Time" (with Jon on harmonica!) a medley of "La Do Da", "Dixie Highway", and "Line of Fire"... and that's just the beginning -- I heard more songs that I HADN'T heard them play before than songs I had!

First encore -- "Where Were You" and "We Will Meet Again"

Second encore -- SANTANA SET -- the guys were joined by Chepito Areas and Michael Carabello and performed "Black Magic Woman" (Neal on lead vocals), "La Raza del Sol" (with a triple drum solo -- Carabello first on congas, Chepito next on the timbales, and then Deen goin' wild on what looks to be a much larger kit than he's had in previous years!) and "Everybody's Everything" (Jon on lead vocals)

THIRD encore -- Sammy Hagar joined the boys for a final blow out and took the lead on a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll."

When I regain consciousness I'll try to fill in some of the gaps here, but man this was the most unforgettable weekend!

Set List:
(cribbed from multiple sources, may not be 100% accurate)

State of Grace
Separate Ways
Wheel in the Sky (Aynsley Dunbar on drums)
Stone in Love
Medley: La Do Da, Dixie Highway, Line of Fire
Lights
Open Arms
Mother, Father
Precious Time
Rubicon
National Anthem
Don't Stop Believin'
Higher Place
Faithfully
Escape

First Encore:

Be Good to Yourself
We Will Meet Again

Second Encore
(joined by Michael Carabello & Chepito Areas of the original Santana band):

Black Magic Woman [Neal on lead vocals]
La Raza Del Sol
Everybody's Everything [Jon on lead vocals]

Third Encore
(joined by Sammy Hagar):

Rock 'n' Roll [Zep cover]