Hard Rock Café
Friday, April 25, 2003
Friday, April 25, 2003
Leslie had gone ahead to the Hard Rock Café with Emerson and Rob so that they could videotape the arrival of the band and the fans -- I don't think they expected us to arrive almost simultaneously! The scene at the Hard Rock was organized chaos. Fans who had heard the band would be at the restaurant had descended upon Pier 39 and the JPP Committee had the unenviable task of telling them they couldn't come past the barricades that had been set up for the JPP group. This was not set up as we had hoped -- our original plan was to have the donation of the guitar in a private room. That The Bone had been announcing that the "fan club" was going to be at the Hard Rock didn't help matters either. I had to turn away at least four people who said, "I'm a member of the fan club" (at least one of whom produced their fan club membership card) and explain that while the organizers of the event were members of the fan club, it was not a fan club sponsored event. People were running everywhere and I looked around and hoped things would go off smoothly.
About 2:15 Dennis appeared on the small stage that had been set up in the restaurant and re-introduced the band who then joined him on the stage. Neal presented manager Dan Godfrey the autographed guitar and boom; it was over in a flash. Hmm… not quite what I had anticipated. Then suddenly I heard the microphone come to life again -- one of our attendees, Vincent Price had asked Dennis for the microphone to say a few words of thanks to the band. It happened so quickly and unexpectedly that no one managed to get it on videotape! The guys then scattered about the restaurant and started mingling with the fans. This was the meet and greet to beat all meet and greets!
 |
| Neal donates a guitar to the Hard Rock Cafe photo courtesy of Toni Peterson |
In the original scheme of things, we had planned to raffle off the guitar from Gibson at the Hard Rock Café and have the winner get the autographs personally and a photo with the band. This was obviously not going to happen in the scenario as it played out. That meant the JPP Committee had to get that guitar signed before the guys disappeared for rehearsal! Holding a fistful of silver Sharpies and trailed by Emerson and his video camera, Cheryl and I set off to get this guitar signed! First up was Ross, and while Cheryl was having him sign the guitar I was able to talk briefly with his wife Mary. She had been very impressed with the event and the program that Rob had put together for us and asked for more copies. I told her to check with JT, since he was supposed to have extras, but if he didn't have enough for her we'd be glad to get some more to her. (Which we eventually did when the tour began in Las Vegas a few weeks later.)
Finding the rest of the guys was like a life-sized game of "Where's Waldo?" -- they were scattered all over the restaurant surrounded by fans. Gregg and Herbie were half hiding in an alcove near the kitchen, Jonathan was cornered by the bar, Deen was pressed up against the stage, Steve was surrounded by people, Neal was over by the entrance, and no one could seem to find Aynsley! One by one they signed the guitar, some with confusion about why and what it was for, others with big smiles and hugs.
We'd gotten the guitar signed by everyone but Aynsley, so I stopped for a few minutes to grab a couple of the appetizers that were being passed around and to grab a sip of champagne. It was amazing watching the crowd mix with the band-everyone was all smiles and chattering away over the blaring music of the Hard Rock. When someone finally put on Arrival the place erupted. Singing and dancing from corner to corner.
Someone had finally spotted Aynsley in a booth eating lunch with Neal and Michael Carabello, so I grabbed the guitar once again, found Emerson and made my way over to the table. I apologized for interrupting their meal and asked Aynsley to sign the guitar. Neal looked at me rather puzzled and said he'd already signed the guitar. I told him I knew that and that it was Aynsley we were looking for.
Mission accomplished, I went and sat down for a few minutes to catch a breather and just watch the chaos unfold in front of me. Things had settled down a little, though Steve and Deen seemed to still be surrounded by fans and they had to be starving. Cheryl took it upon herself at this point to find one of the servers and told him to make Steve take a break to eat. (That would be all we need-Steve faints from hunger and can't perform the next night!)
We had told the buses to return by 4:00 so we could depart by 4:30, but it was now only 3:30 and other than grabbing a few nibbles to eat, there really wasn't much else to do at the Hard Rock. We tried to find the buses and did manage to get one back a little earlier than planned, but in the end we all wound up leaving Pier 39 on the same schedule we had started with. The ride back to the hotel was more subdued than when we had left-everyone was just a little overwhelmed and wiped out from all of the events of the day. And we weren't finished yet!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
After all was said and done, I went back to the Hard Rock Café and got pictures of the guitar mounted on the wall.
 |
| Close-up shot of the guitar hanging on the wall |
 |
| Plaque under the guitar. Text reads: "This Gibson Les Paul Guitar was donated to the San Francisco Hard Rock Café by Journey after their induction to the Bay Area Rock and Roll Walk of Fame." (Hey, close enough) |
No comments:
Post a Comment