I crawled out of bed around
9:00 Monday morning, fully rested and almost ready to go. Cheryl was due at
noon for the drive up to Clear Lake and the show at Konocti Harbor Resort. That
meant doing something about the results of Hurricane JPP that was left in my
living room. I had just dumped everything in the middle of the floor and said
“I’ll deal with it later.” This included 3 loads of laundry I had left on the
couch unfolded.
I managed to get the place somewhat presentable (at least I wouldn’t be embarrassed to open the door) in fairly short order, and since I’d at least managed to pack for the rest of the week before I went to bed, I plopped myself down on the couch to wait for Cheryl. The phone rang shortly before noon—Cheryl was stuck on the approach to the San Mateo bridge! Drat! She finally arrived around 12:30 and we hit the road ever so slightly behind schedule. The drive up to Clear Lake is a long one, taking us through San Francisco, all of Marin and Sonoma Counties—it’s a looooong way. Not to worry, we had plenty of tunes and the conversation was fun. The last bit of the drive, however, took us along a very windy mountain road...I don’t think I ever went faster than 30 m.p.h. and I was in 2nd gear half the time. Thank goodness I was driving or those curves would have made me very car sick!
We pulled into the parking lot shortly before 4:00—still 30 minutes behind schedule—but in plenty of time to meet folks for lunch. Peter Frampton was just finishing up his sound check when we pulled into the lot, so we got to hear a bit of it while we waited for the shuttle to take us over to the restaurant. When we arrived, we discovered that everyone was already there—Michelle A., Angie, Leslie F. and her kids, Ana Marie and her mom, and a couple of folks from the Journey Forum. Cheryl and I waved at everyone as we came in to sit down, me on one side of the table, Cheryl on the other. That’s when I did a double take—who was that sitting next to Ana Marie?? Oh my god—it’s Deen!! I try to catch Cheryl’s attention so she can see who’s joined us for lunch, but I guess I was too subtle because she didn’t see him until Ana Marie interrupted the conversation he was having to introduce us. I’m not entirely sure who it was that ran into him and convinced him to join us for dinner, but way to go! Ana Marie then asked Deen to tell Cheryl and I what he had told her earlier about his copy of the Journey Day Proclamation. He told us he had taken it and put it up on the wall by his bed in the bus, and that he told the driver to leave his bed alone because he didn’t want anyone to accidentally wreck his Proclamation. I don’t know about Cheryl, but I felt about 10 feet tall then—it was one thing to hear from Cat that the guys had loved the Proclamation, but to hear it straight from the mouth of one of them...well that was just very special.
Lunch proceeded as you would expect, with a zillion conversations going on at once. I don’t think Deen sat still for more than 30 seconds, but hey, he’s a drummer, what do you expect! Heck I caught him drumming his fingers on the table more than once—the guy is just bursting with nervous energy. Towards the end of dinner, he was showing Leslie’s kids his hands—tons of blisters and callouses. There isn’t enough hand lotion in the world to improve that wreck! I wondered to myself why he didn’t wear gloves when he played, but figured it was probably a “feel” thing and left it at that.
Somehow or another, the conversation turned to Steve Augeri’s red leather pants. Earlier in the year, Ana Marie, Darla, Mary Ann, Cheryl and I met Neal, Ross, and Jon after they had appeared on “Rockline.” We made it a point to tell them (well, Ana Marie did actually) to lay off the red leather pants. We ladies liked them, so stop giving poor Steve such a hard time. Since Deen missed that day, we felt obligated to share the same information with him. He laughed and said “I realize you ladies like the red leather pants, but I can’t stand them. They’re distracting! All I see all night long is red butt, red butt, red butt. Red butt grabbing my cymbals, red butt running by, red butt spinning. Red butt, red butt, red butt.” Naturally, this had us all in hysterics, and I did a mental calculation—Steve had worn the white leather pants in Sacramento...that meant tonight was the red leather pants! Oh this was going to be amusing.
Everyone headed out to get ready for the show, and Cheryl and I waited for our bill, only to learn that the fellow from the Journey Forum (known only as msdrums*) had picked up the tab! Wow! Aren’t Journey fans the greatest?? Cheryl and I left as well and decided not to wait for the shuttle—there were too many people and standing in the 90 degree sun wasn’t something I looked forward too, I’d rather walk, and it wasn’t all that far, just seriously up hill.
*I now know the "couple of folks" from Back Talk were the wonderful CJ & Mark Shilts and Mark was the one who picked up the tab for lunch. Lots of fun and fond memories up at Konocti with those two!
We get to the amphitheater in plenty of time for the 5:00 start and reconnected with everyone from lunch. It’s hot as all get out and there is virtually no shade. I was in desperate need of a hat, which, of course, I had neglected to bring. Off to the merchandise booth, and plopped down $25 for a Journey 2001 baseball hat, as did Cheryl. Three more bucks for a bottle of water, and we tromped over to the front row to watch John Waite’s set. 5:00 came and went and no John Waite. Now this is odd, for every other show he’d started on time, if not a few minutes early. He only had about 30 minutes of stage time, I couldn’t imagine he’d be late...But late he was, and it was 5:30 before he hit the stage. We learned later that the curfew was 10:00, which explained the 5:00 stated time, but also allowed for the 30 minute delay.
With 6 of us sitting in the front row (not our actual seats, but no one was in them so...) we were bopping along quite nicely and since we were the only people in the front row, Waite played to us quite a bit. It was fun, and in such a small venue, it felt more like a club than an amphitheater. Early on in the set Neal Schon came out and was sitting on the side of the stage—plainly in our view. We all snapped pictures of Neal trying to be cool, but obviously amused by the cameras.
For Peter Frampton’s set, Cheryl, Ana Marie and I headed off to the side where the vendors were along with moderate shade, and stayed there for his entire set. Probably not the best plan since it meant standing for 75 minutes before Journey’s set, but oh well...it was shady, and that’s what mattered!
Once more Journey played and time flew by—though it was an odd set since it started while the sun was still up and didn’t have the usual staging. Of course, when Steve walked out in his red leather pants Cheryl and I started giggling—the same thoughts running through our head “red butt, red butt, red butt....” Of course, unlike Deen, we didn’t find that distracting in the least! (well, at least not in the same way!) About mid-way through the set (probably about the time red-butt was grabbing the cymbals) I noticed that Deen was wearing gloves! Well, dang, I must be psychic now too!
Now it was time for the 3+ hour drive home. Ouch. It’s a long dark drive from Clear Lake to San Mateo, and if it weren’t for the fact that Ana Marie and I had a 1:30 flight to catch to LA, we sure as heck wouldn’t have done it! We grabbed Ana Marie’s things from her mother’s car and loaded them into mine and hit the road for home. Cheryl napped in the back, while Ana Marie and I chattered most of the way home. Ana Marie dozed off about the time we hit the Golden Gate Bridge, but by then we were close enough to home that I wasn’t worried about getting lost or hitting some wild animal on the freeway. Alas, letting Ana Marie get a 20 minute cat-nap wasn’t the best of ideas either...
We finally arrived back at my apartment around 2:00, and Cheryl got in her car and headed for home. Meanwhile, Ana Marie had gotten her 2nd wind, and decided that 2:00 in the morning was the perfect time to start assembling the “guest book” from JPP2001. We had taken Polaroids of everyone in attendance and given them a 5 x 7 card to write a message to the band. The plan being we’d assemble them all into a nice book and get it to the guys after the event. Now, I had thought that we were going to mail it to the guys after the tour was over along with a copy of the video taped reactions of our attendees watching the videotaped hello. Ana Marie thought it would be better to try to deliver it to the guys in person (if possible) or via Cat while we were all in So Cal. We also realized that we had promised to scan a copy of the Journey Day proclamation and send it off to Michael, the webmaster for Journey’s official website. So while Ana Marie assembled the guest book, I got on my computer and started goofing around with the scanner. Trying to get a 8.5 x 14 inch piece of paper reduced to a manageable sized file was just far beyond my abilities at that hour (and after that drive!) so I sent it off to Michael with a note “you’re the pro—you fix it!” We finally crashed around 4:00, with me wondering if I’d survive the rest of the week.
to be continued...
I managed to get the place somewhat presentable (at least I wouldn’t be embarrassed to open the door) in fairly short order, and since I’d at least managed to pack for the rest of the week before I went to bed, I plopped myself down on the couch to wait for Cheryl. The phone rang shortly before noon—Cheryl was stuck on the approach to the San Mateo bridge! Drat! She finally arrived around 12:30 and we hit the road ever so slightly behind schedule. The drive up to Clear Lake is a long one, taking us through San Francisco, all of Marin and Sonoma Counties—it’s a looooong way. Not to worry, we had plenty of tunes and the conversation was fun. The last bit of the drive, however, took us along a very windy mountain road...I don’t think I ever went faster than 30 m.p.h. and I was in 2nd gear half the time. Thank goodness I was driving or those curves would have made me very car sick!
We pulled into the parking lot shortly before 4:00—still 30 minutes behind schedule—but in plenty of time to meet folks for lunch. Peter Frampton was just finishing up his sound check when we pulled into the lot, so we got to hear a bit of it while we waited for the shuttle to take us over to the restaurant. When we arrived, we discovered that everyone was already there—Michelle A., Angie, Leslie F. and her kids, Ana Marie and her mom, and a couple of folks from the Journey Forum. Cheryl and I waved at everyone as we came in to sit down, me on one side of the table, Cheryl on the other. That’s when I did a double take—who was that sitting next to Ana Marie?? Oh my god—it’s Deen!! I try to catch Cheryl’s attention so she can see who’s joined us for lunch, but I guess I was too subtle because she didn’t see him until Ana Marie interrupted the conversation he was having to introduce us. I’m not entirely sure who it was that ran into him and convinced him to join us for dinner, but way to go! Ana Marie then asked Deen to tell Cheryl and I what he had told her earlier about his copy of the Journey Day Proclamation. He told us he had taken it and put it up on the wall by his bed in the bus, and that he told the driver to leave his bed alone because he didn’t want anyone to accidentally wreck his Proclamation. I don’t know about Cheryl, but I felt about 10 feet tall then—it was one thing to hear from Cat that the guys had loved the Proclamation, but to hear it straight from the mouth of one of them...well that was just very special.
Lunch proceeded as you would expect, with a zillion conversations going on at once. I don’t think Deen sat still for more than 30 seconds, but hey, he’s a drummer, what do you expect! Heck I caught him drumming his fingers on the table more than once—the guy is just bursting with nervous energy. Towards the end of dinner, he was showing Leslie’s kids his hands—tons of blisters and callouses. There isn’t enough hand lotion in the world to improve that wreck! I wondered to myself why he didn’t wear gloves when he played, but figured it was probably a “feel” thing and left it at that.
Somehow or another, the conversation turned to Steve Augeri’s red leather pants. Earlier in the year, Ana Marie, Darla, Mary Ann, Cheryl and I met Neal, Ross, and Jon after they had appeared on “Rockline.” We made it a point to tell them (well, Ana Marie did actually) to lay off the red leather pants. We ladies liked them, so stop giving poor Steve such a hard time. Since Deen missed that day, we felt obligated to share the same information with him. He laughed and said “I realize you ladies like the red leather pants, but I can’t stand them. They’re distracting! All I see all night long is red butt, red butt, red butt. Red butt grabbing my cymbals, red butt running by, red butt spinning. Red butt, red butt, red butt.” Naturally, this had us all in hysterics, and I did a mental calculation—Steve had worn the white leather pants in Sacramento...that meant tonight was the red leather pants! Oh this was going to be amusing.
Everyone headed out to get ready for the show, and Cheryl and I waited for our bill, only to learn that the fellow from the Journey Forum (known only as msdrums*) had picked up the tab! Wow! Aren’t Journey fans the greatest?? Cheryl and I left as well and decided not to wait for the shuttle—there were too many people and standing in the 90 degree sun wasn’t something I looked forward too, I’d rather walk, and it wasn’t all that far, just seriously up hill.
*I now know the "couple of folks" from Back Talk were the wonderful CJ & Mark Shilts and Mark was the one who picked up the tab for lunch. Lots of fun and fond memories up at Konocti with those two!
We get to the amphitheater in plenty of time for the 5:00 start and reconnected with everyone from lunch. It’s hot as all get out and there is virtually no shade. I was in desperate need of a hat, which, of course, I had neglected to bring. Off to the merchandise booth, and plopped down $25 for a Journey 2001 baseball hat, as did Cheryl. Three more bucks for a bottle of water, and we tromped over to the front row to watch John Waite’s set. 5:00 came and went and no John Waite. Now this is odd, for every other show he’d started on time, if not a few minutes early. He only had about 30 minutes of stage time, I couldn’t imagine he’d be late...But late he was, and it was 5:30 before he hit the stage. We learned later that the curfew was 10:00, which explained the 5:00 stated time, but also allowed for the 30 minute delay.
With 6 of us sitting in the front row (not our actual seats, but no one was in them so...) we were bopping along quite nicely and since we were the only people in the front row, Waite played to us quite a bit. It was fun, and in such a small venue, it felt more like a club than an amphitheater. Early on in the set Neal Schon came out and was sitting on the side of the stage—plainly in our view. We all snapped pictures of Neal trying to be cool, but obviously amused by the cameras.
For Peter Frampton’s set, Cheryl, Ana Marie and I headed off to the side where the vendors were along with moderate shade, and stayed there for his entire set. Probably not the best plan since it meant standing for 75 minutes before Journey’s set, but oh well...it was shady, and that’s what mattered!
Once more Journey played and time flew by—though it was an odd set since it started while the sun was still up and didn’t have the usual staging. Of course, when Steve walked out in his red leather pants Cheryl and I started giggling—the same thoughts running through our head “red butt, red butt, red butt....” Of course, unlike Deen, we didn’t find that distracting in the least! (well, at least not in the same way!) About mid-way through the set (probably about the time red-butt was grabbing the cymbals) I noticed that Deen was wearing gloves! Well, dang, I must be psychic now too!
Now it was time for the 3+ hour drive home. Ouch. It’s a long dark drive from Clear Lake to San Mateo, and if it weren’t for the fact that Ana Marie and I had a 1:30 flight to catch to LA, we sure as heck wouldn’t have done it! We grabbed Ana Marie’s things from her mother’s car and loaded them into mine and hit the road for home. Cheryl napped in the back, while Ana Marie and I chattered most of the way home. Ana Marie dozed off about the time we hit the Golden Gate Bridge, but by then we were close enough to home that I wasn’t worried about getting lost or hitting some wild animal on the freeway. Alas, letting Ana Marie get a 20 minute cat-nap wasn’t the best of ideas either...
We finally arrived back at my apartment around 2:00, and Cheryl got in her car and headed for home. Meanwhile, Ana Marie had gotten her 2nd wind, and decided that 2:00 in the morning was the perfect time to start assembling the “guest book” from JPP2001. We had taken Polaroids of everyone in attendance and given them a 5 x 7 card to write a message to the band. The plan being we’d assemble them all into a nice book and get it to the guys after the event. Now, I had thought that we were going to mail it to the guys after the tour was over along with a copy of the video taped reactions of our attendees watching the videotaped hello. Ana Marie thought it would be better to try to deliver it to the guys in person (if possible) or via Cat while we were all in So Cal. We also realized that we had promised to scan a copy of the Journey Day proclamation and send it off to Michael, the webmaster for Journey’s official website. So while Ana Marie assembled the guest book, I got on my computer and started goofing around with the scanner. Trying to get a 8.5 x 14 inch piece of paper reduced to a manageable sized file was just far beyond my abilities at that hour (and after that drive!) so I sent it off to Michael with a note “you’re the pro—you fix it!” We finally crashed around 4:00, with me wondering if I’d survive the rest of the week.
to be continued...
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