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

The Ultimate Journey Concert!
Saturday, April 26, 2003

 

Saturday morning we moved in slow motion. We didn't have anywhere to be until the concert at 7:00, so we were going to enjoy a quiet day. Our attendees were off seeing the city, on what turned out to be a spectacular day (finally!) and we took our leisure and pretty much hung around the hotel. I took care of a little business by taking much of the money we had raised and depositing in the bank, but other than that it was just a day of reliving the previous two days over and over. We were all so proud with how things had happened and completely amazed by the reactions of the attendees.

During the reception Friday night, Michael Carabello had asked Darla if she could give him a massage prior to the concert, so she left and went over to the Warfield a few hours earlier than the rest of us. A short while after Darla had left, my cell phone rang -- she had seen a copy of the set list and called to let me know that my favorite Journey song was part of the set, "Mother, Father" would be played immediately after "Open Arms."

We knew many of the fans were going to get in line by 5:00 so they could be right down on the front of the floor when the doors opened at 7:00, but none of us particularly wanted to stand in line for 2 hours (or longer) so we didn't head to the theater until shortly before 7:00. We stood in line and were harassed by the usual batch of homeless people selling newspapers and the like -- a sad but typical fact of shows at the Warfield. Once we got inside we found that Darla had grabbed a table for us right above the main floor. A perfect spot for me with my photo pass -- no heads to shoot through! And was I ever glad to have that table -- the place was packed and I was too wiped out from the previous two days to even consider doing battle on the jam packed floor.

We had known for weeks who the special "friends" for the Journey and Friends show would be. I had been amused by the speculation that had abounded on the Back Talk forums -- most of which concluded that "Journey and Friends" would be like the "Friends and Family" show in Santa Rosa the previous year, where the "Friends" were the fans. Boy, was everyone in for a treat!

If you look closely, that's Aynsley Dunbar on drums

The concert kicked off and everyone went nuts as "Red13/State of Grace" opened the show. Three songs in, Deen got up from his drum kit to allow Aynsley Dunbar take over the skins for "Wheel in the Sky."
 
The crowd went wild. I did my best to take pictures of this historic moment -- Journey's original drummer back on stage with the band for the first time in over 20 years! Alas, the drum kit was huge and Ross kept getting in my way (yo, Ross -- Move OVER!) so all the shots of Aynsley are fleeting at best.

Steve Augeri singing his heart out

After Deen resumed his position behind the drum kit the show kept rolling on and hit the audience with another amazing surprise -- a medley of tunes that hadn't been heard live in years. "La Do Da"opened and then it faded into "Dixie Highway" which morphed into "Line of Fire." My jaw just hit the floor and the crowd ate it up. Things slowed down a bit then as the band went into "Lights" (always a huge favorite in San Francisco.) Then Jonathan started his solo that warned me that "Open Arms" was next. Time to grab the Kleenex and take the deep breath to prepare for what was coming next.
 

Jonathan Cain on the harmonica for "Precious Time"

When the first note of "Mother, Father" hit, my eyes welled up immediately. Cheryl had placed her hands on my shoulders, and that was about all that was holding me up at that point. As the song continued I was just overwhelmed by emotions. This is a song that has long had a very deep personal connection for me and to hear it live was completely beyond my ability to cope. Singing along was next to impossible and tears were just streaming down my face as I sobbed through the song. Towards the end of the song, when I was at a point near dissolving into complete hysterics, a shoving match broke out on the floor in front of me. It was over quickly, but distracted me long enough to get some composure while I sobbed through the finale of the song.
 
I have seldom been such an emotional wreck in public, much less at a concert, and had to recompose quickly as Jonathan Cain picked up a harmonica and Journey launched into "Precious Time." Talk about a gear strip! I went from sobbing to shock to excitement in about two seconds! Drying my eyes quickly so I could actually see to take pictures, I hopped up and fired off a round of film.

Chepito Areas and Michael Carabello join in

The set list continued to surprise and amaze with "Rubicon" and, during the first encore, "We Will Meet Again." When the band left the stage after that first encore, Neal said to the crowd "Stay where you are, we'll be right back." This is when we looked around at each other -- we knew what was coming. Michael Carabello and Chepito Areas were going to join the band and cover a couple of Santana tunes and "La Raza del Sol," just as they had done eight months before at the show in Konocti where the Bammies Walk of Fame plaque was announced. It made for a very circular moment for us. As had happened at the earlier show, the crowd went wild as the band launched in to "Black Magic Woman" with Neal on lead vocals. "La Raza del Sol" was percussion perfection as Deen got to jam with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Michael Carabello and Chepito Areas. Closing out the second encore with "Everybody's Everything" with Jonathan on lead vocals was an amazingly energetic jam.

And they weren't done!

Sammy Hagar joins the fun

We were on our feet throughout the encores, and when the band left the stage after "Everybody's Everything," I looked at Darla and said, "Oh my god, this is the best show I've ever seen AND we know what's next!" What was next shook the walls and blew the roof off the Warfield -- Sammy Hagar came out on stage with the band as they launched into a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll." The place went nuts. It was truly one of the most amazing things I had ever witnessed -- after over two hours of high-energy rock and roll, everything went up a notch and the magic was palpable.

Take a bow boys

After the concert no one wanted to end, we trooped back to the hotel and after closing down the bar in the hotel with a bunch of the attendees, we invited people upstairs for more talking and reliving an amazing weekend. This was another one of my personal highlights because again I was able to sit and visit with people in a way I hadn't during the chaos of the weekend. Stories and histories and memories poured out of everyone and we talked ourselves raw.

Mary Ann had a ridiculously early flight, so we stayed up with her until it was time for her shuttle to the airport and so we said our final farewells around 3:00 in the morning. Sunday morning broke and it was time to pack up and head for home. We met what attendees there were for brunch in the lounge of the hotel and talked some more about what a magical weekend it was.

In the end though, the one thought that kept running through my head, and still does, was "We really did it!"