Kelseyville, CA
Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa
Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa
This report is going to be somewhat different than my previous ones. It is also going to be longer than usual, but there is a lot to cover.
As some of you know, for the past 8 months, Darla Ellis, Leslie Forsythe, Cheryl Simien and I have been organizing a fan gathering called Journey Past and Present 2002 (JPP2002.) The focal point of which was Journey's concert at Konocti Harbor in Kelseyville -- the closest home town date.
Way back in January, we began brainstorming ideas to make the event special. What could we do to make it an event the attendees would never forget? Cheryl suggested a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, but that idea died on the vine when we learned that a fee of $15,000 was required along with a long bureaucratic process. That's when I suggested that we focus on the Bay Area connection and see what we could do to get Journey a plaque on the Bammies Walk of Fame. Darla, Cheryl, and Leslie looked at me with complete confusion. There is a Bammies Walk of Fame??! I guess I'll attribute it to being the only Bay Area native of the bunch, but I was the only one who knew of it's existence.
Dennis Erokan, the founder of BAM Magazine started the Bay Area Music Awards -- better known as the Bammies -- in 1977 as a reader opinion poll and it grew into an annual extravaganza. Back in the early to mid 1980s, the Bammies show was one of the hottest tickets in town. Bay Area bands were all over the radio, and many of the performers would regularly appear a the show -- including our beloved Journey. In 1997 the first selections for the Bammies Walk of Fame were chosen and bronze plaques were embedded in the cement in front of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. When BAM Magazine went out of business in 1999 the Walk of Fame fell to the wayside. (The Bammies continue, but now are known as the California Music Awards.)*
*2014 Update: The Bammies no longer exisit, but BAM Magazine has returned as an on-line magazine. You can check it out at http://bammagazine.com
*2018 Update: There was a "Bammies Reunion" concert held in March 2018 which included Neal Schon on the bill of performers (I believe he played with Sammy Hagar.) It's possible the Bammies may resurface in some form in the future.
Currently there are 7 members of the Bammies Walk of Fame -- Bill Graham (1997), Carlos Santana (1997), Jerry Garcia (1997), Janis Joplin (1998), John Lee Hooker (1998), Jefferson Airplane (1999), and Metallica (1999.) We wanted to see if we could get Journey included as part of our JPP2002 event. Cheryl set off on path to find out how this was done, the cost, and any other issues that might need to be addressed. We soon learned that this would be possible, but not in the time frame we were hoping. Cheryl was eventually put in contact with Dennis Erokan, who was extremely pleased with our idea and eager to help us get the process started.**
**2018 Update 2: As part of the Bammies Reunion Concert mentioned above, two new inductees were added to the Bammies Walk of Fame -- Sammy Hagar and local DJ, Steven Seaweed. (For those who attended JPP2003, "The Weedman" was one of the featured speakers inducting Journey.) I believe these were the first inductees since Journey in 2003.
Having gotten that ball rolling, we turned our attention to the rest of JPP2002 with the intention of having Mr. Erokan announce Journey's soon to be induction to the Bammies Walk of Fame at our luncheon. As we thought it over, we realized that the timing had actually worked out in our favor. By not having the plaque done this year, it meant that it was going to happen in 2003 -- the 30th anniversary of the foundation of Journey!
Then we learned that Mr. Erokan would not be able to make the luncheon as we had hoped, but would arrive in time for the concert. That set off a series of events that still leaves me dazed and confused. The details of how the following came about are too numerous and confusing to mention here, so I will skip ahead to what happened today.
The JPP2002 gang had a pre-show luncheon that flew by much too quickly. We had heard rumors of some special guests for the show, and when we had a brief visit from Neal's mom and step-dad they brought along one of them - Michael Carabello (the former conga player from Santana and currently playing in the Gregg Rolie Band.)
Then it was off to the show where there were two major highlights. One being the Latin set, where Journey was joined on stage by Michael Carabello (congas), Chepito Areas (timables), and Adrian Areas (timables.) They played "Black Magic Woman" with Neal doing dual duties as lead guitar AND lead VOCALIST. That was followed by an extended version of "La Raza del Sol" and then "Everything is Everything" with Jon on vocal. After the acoustic set, came the other major highlight.
While they were preparing for the Latin set, Dennis Erokan appeared on stage and announced that next year in honor of their 30th anniversary, Journey would be getting their own plaque on the Bammies Walk of Fame. After praising the band and announcing the award, which got an enormous response, Dennis told the football players (there for a golf tournament) in the front row to sit down because the JPP2002 committee which had originated this idea were sitting in the third row! (We learned later, we were on the video screen!)
Due to the chaotic nature of my evening, I was unable to obtain a copy of the set list, much less jot one down!
In closing, thanks to the attendees for making the event what it was, and special thanks to Mary Ann Bohne and Emerson Dong for their assistance in planning this event and to Caryn Sinagra for all of her work on our behalf.
