Yet another trip to Denny’s,
this time for a pre-show lunch with still more Journey Forum folks I
hadn’t met (well, at least most I hadn’t met). Cat met us there, and had
brought an old friend of hers who watched in amazement as 30 adults yammered on
and on for an hour about Journey past, present and future. It wasn’t until we
were leaving the restaurant that I learned one of our late arrivals sitting at
a different table was Matt, the fellow who had done the interview with Herbie
Herbert! I managed to catch him later in the night to congratulate him on his
coup and ask when the next bit would be going up. The best news was that he
planned to keep it up indefinitely unless he heard from some lawyers!
We get to the show and I pick
up my fan club seat, but sadly no after-show pass. Oh well, some other time.
Once inside, Rose and I found Cat and sat and chatted with our fellow fans. At
a lull in the conversation, Cat leaned over and said “come with me”, and we
went off to the side of the seats. Cat said that since I had been to so many
shows this summer and hadn't gotten back stage once, she was giving me her
extra after-show pass! Happy dance for me!! After 13 shows in 5 states, I
finally get a chance to say thanks to the guys for a great summer! What a way
to end the night.
The concert came and went much
too quickly, and I had a huge lump in my throat at several different points—my
summer was coming to an end, and after all the fun I had had, it was a serious
let down. During the encore when everyone was singing the “na na” part of “Lovin’
Touchin’ Squeezin’”, Steve pointed out in the audience and said “Hi Mark!”—yes,
“our” Mark, who was sitting two rows behind me, center stage. What a great guy!
After the show ended, I found
Cat and Rose and headed over to the after show line. Cat left us for a bit to
say good bye to her friend, and I made sure Rose stuck close to me since she
didn’t have a pass. When Cat returned, she grabbed us out of line and took us
over to where the “official” people were waiting—Michael and his wife and
friends, Miles and his wife. Cat said Rose would be her guest, and with that,
we were the first batch in for the meet and greet.
When we got inside we saw a
long table set up, and only Ross was ready and waiting. We knew that Neal
wouldn’t be making it, but where were the rest of the guys?? The group of us
bantered with Ross for a bit until Steve, Deen and Jon arrived, then the line
kicked in gear. While we were waiting we tried to figure out how to get the
pictures we needed...alas, due to the rushing of the guards, that proved to be
difficult! Rose went ahead of me, and I managed to snap a picture of her and
Steve before I was pretty much forced to take my turn in line! No more
pictures!
I introduced myself to Steve
and handed him my Arrival liner notes—thank goodness I’d been toting the darned thing
around all week. All I needed was his signature and Deen’s and I’d have all 5!
I was able to thank him on behalf of the JPP gang once again for all they had
done for us. At this point, Ross looked up at me and said “I know you!”
I laughed and said, “Yeah, I’m sure you do.” (Hanging outside of radio stations
in the freezing cold does pay off sometimes!) I had handed Ross my ticket stub
to sign, and in one of the most obvious cases of habit, Ross grabbed my Arrival notes and signed away. I
laughed and pointed out to him that he’d already signed it! He saw that he had
and said “Well, okay, I signed for Jon!” He laughed again when I said “Jon’s
done too!”
Deen was next and said “Hey!
You made it!” and proceeded to introduce me to his wife Julie as he signed my
ticket stub and the liner notes. I said “See, I told you that I show up, even
if you don’t always see me.” He then looked around and asked me where Cheryl
and Ana Marie were. I told them that they were back home, and I would be
joining them tomorrow, which was extremely disappointing. At this point Jon
leaned over and said “So, do you want to go to Lubbock Texas for me then?” I
laughed and said no thanks, one trip to Texas this summer was enough for me! He
then grabbed my Arrival notes, which were closed by this point, and signed the back!
Great...now I’ve got both Ross and Jon’s signatures twice on the same
set of notes!
Rose and I were rushed out at
this point, and had to wait a few minutes for Cat to finish her turn through
the line. When she came out, she was in tears. I told her she had to stop or
I’D start crying...It had been such a great summer, and now it was over! Waaaaahhhh!!!
The three of us headed back
to the hotel and had a wonderfully nutritious dinner of Diet Pepsi, pretzels
and Cheez-Its. None of us wanted to go to sleep since we knew in the morning it
would really be over as we all went our separate ways and headed back home. Cat
tried to talk me into changing my flight the next day and going with her to see
Gregg Rolie up in Orange County where he was doing an in-store appearance. I
was sorely tempted, but knew I couldn’t, so Sunday morning came and I headed
out for my flight home.
I arrived home safe and
sound, if somewhat down. What an incredible summer it had been. So many friends
and places, such good times...I was sorry to see it all end. But as the song
says...
On my heart it’s written, we
will meet again....
No comments:
Post a Comment