February 27, 2005: National Center for Youth Law Benefit

Oakland, CA
Paramount Theater

The Paramount Theater in Oakland was a wonderful place to see my 50th Journey show. (Yeah, the number kind of shocks me too!) Last night's show was a make up date for a rained out event back in September. The show benefited the National Center for Youth Law, and Mary Valory was among the organizing committee for the event.

Those of us who held tickets for the original show and the people who purchased the $150 tickets when the date was rescheduled, were invited to attend a pre-show reception at the theater. When I arrived at 4:00 for the reception, I was given an envelope with a raffle paddle and a ticket for a free wine glass that could be picked up after the show. (Very nice -- it has the scarab on it in a turquoise blue color.) I wandered around and checked out the silent auction items, bidding only on the iPod that I figured I'd get out bid on considering the well-heeled of Blackhawk were in attendance. (I was.)

About 5:30 the whole gang who had gathered at the show went in to the theater for the auction -- complete with a real auctioneer. It was an incredible experience -- and WOW I was in a crowd with some serious money. There were all kinds of memorabilia, and the Journey stuff went very well ($3,000 for a platinum GH; $4,800 each for 2 autographed guitars, $1,000 each for 3 pairs of after show passes, $2,300 for a VIP package to any show on the 2005 tour.) The BIG ticket item was a custom motorcycle designed by Arlen Ness. It was in the lobby before the show and all the guys had signed it. A VERY cool bike, even to someone who couldn't care less about motorcycles like me. That went for $45,000! shew!

Because of the auction, the show started a little bit late, but it was well worth it. We'd all hoped for a little something new, but alas, it was not to be. The set list was much as they'd been doing the last year. Of course, being a hometown crowd, "Lights" got a huge reception -- particularly from the fans in the balcony, who were truly fans and not the hoi-palloi of the East Bay. The crowd was a bit yo-yo-ish, up and down all night, but there was a good representation of the die hard fans who were on their feet all night. Towards the end of the show things got a little interesting when I had a moment straight out of Frontiers and Beyond when, during "Separate Ways" I saw a bottle come flying out of one of the front few rows sailing straight towards Neal! Fortunately, it sailed past him and landed on the stage behind him, but wow, it was a scary moment. Fortunately, someone made up for that moment, by hanging a birthday present on Neal's guitar during "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'."

The theater is a 1930s art deco wonder, and both the lobby and the theater itself were dramatic. Watching the band in that environment was really just wonderful, and the place was full to the gills (about 3,000 people.)

After the show I picked up my wine glass, got my coat out of the coat check and started heading back to BART for the hour long train ride home. As I was saying my good-byes, I was handed an after-show pass. Well, okay, guess I'm staying a bit later than I planned! The after-show was held in the mezzanine of the theater and was packed with all kinds of people -- auction winners, VIPs who'd paid considerably more than $150 for their seat for the original date, friends and family of the band -- and, being a hometown show, it was a bit chaotic. Ross was buzzing about since this was Mary's event, but I did eventually manage to grab him for a few minutes to say hello. Deen and Steve were easier to grab for a brief chat, which was cool. Deen is looking and feeling much better (he said he feels normal again, so that was great to hear.) I tried to get a few minutes to say hi and happy birthday to Jonathan, but he was constantly surrounded by people talking his ear off, so I eventually gave up after a small group of us got things signed. I never did see Neal, but I'm sure he was there since others did.

I headed home MUCH later than I'd expected and am VERY grateful that my boss is on travel this week, so I can have a slow start to the week.

Guess this is it until summertime!

How long until the tour???

Set List:

Intro
Be Good to Yourself
Only the Young
Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Wheel in the Sky
Higher Place
Suzanne - Deen vox
Lights
Walks Like a Lady - Ross vox
Chain Reaction
Voodoo Chle - Neal vox
-- Jon's solo --
Open Arms
Feeling That Way - Jon/Steve vox
Anytime - Jon/Steve vox
Rubicon
Escape
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
Separate Ways
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

February 23, 2005: Smitty's Sheer Genius

Oakland, CA
Yoshi's at Jack London Square

Okay... I just HAD to post after last night's show at Yoshi's... Wow wow wow wow wow. I always love the opportunity to see Steve Smith play and even more the rare chances to see Vital Information because they're just such an amazing group, and last night was no exception.

Unknown to me, Vital released a new CD last August, so lots of the stuff they played was from that new CD. (Off to buy another new CD!) The whole hour and 15 minute set was incredible, but of course the highlights were Smitty's solos. The first solo happened about half way through the set when he got up from his kit and walked over to the center of the stage, sat down on the stage, and started beating on a clay pot with his hands. From my vantage point, it was virtually impossible to SEE what he was doing, but it sounded amazing. The second solo towards the end of the show just reaffirmed why he is one of the most respected drummers in the world. He did a bit of the hi-hat solo he'd done the last time I saw Vital and then went on to do some serious gymnastics on his kit. Hands and sticks were just a blur.

Towards the end of the show, I was thinking about just how amazed I'd been in Hollywood when he joined the guys for three songs (that, according to his on-line diary, he played for the first time in years that afternoon in sound check!) and why it was so impressive. His performances with Vital are much more complex than those 3 songs were, but watching Vital is such sensory overload for me that it's hard to focus on any one thing. With Journey tunes, I know those backwards and forwards, so I know what I'm supposed to see and hear which therefore made it much easier to focus on Smitty's playing in Hollywood. THAT was what made it such a "WOW!!" experience.

Alas, only had enough time to say "Hi" and "Great show" after the set last night and REALLY wished Yoshi's wasn't a 45 minute drive from my house and/or that it wasn't Wednesday night or I would have stayed for the second set at 10.

JPP Meeting Minutes

August 22, 2014: So, you saw the agenda for our final Journey Past & Present 2005 meeting. What was the end result? Well, here are the minutes from that meeting. (Yes, we took minutes and recorded them. This was serious business folks!) You'll notice several tasks for Cheryl to do upon her trip to LA and the House of Blues. At the time, there were several Soul SirkUS concerts the week before JPP2005 in Hollywood. Cheryl was planning to attend the one at the House of Blues and thus able to do some advance work for us. Deen Castronovo got seriously ill and the Soul SirkUS concerts had to be postponed. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. While it was disappointing that we didn't get to go to those shows when we planned and Cheryl was unable to do the final LA scouting, we had so many things to do before that trip to LA that two or three concerts probably would have put all of us in the hospital. (That's not a particularly large exaggeration either, every member of the committee was sick upon returning from Hollywood!)
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Shew... long meeting, lots of notes. I've put a To Do list at the end, but I may have forgotten some things so feel free to add to it. Rob, in particular the program notes -- I was busy flipping pages around and didn't jot too many notes. As always, comments, changes, and additions welcome.

Sunday, January 2, 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (PST); Teleconference 

Committee members present: Mary Ann Bohne, Emerson Dong, Darla Ellis, Leslie Forsythe, Michelle Murray, Rob Rennert, Cheryl Simien, & Leslie White

I. JPP Agenda
     A. Wednesday -- prep work
          1. Who arrives when?
               -- Mary Ann: lands 11:30 a.m. LAX
               -- Cheryl: Approx 1:00 p.m. via Burbank
               -- MNM: Approx 2:00 p.m. via car
               -- Darla & Emerson: Approx 2:00 p.m. via car
               -- Leslie W.: Approx 5:00 p.m. via car/Anaheim
               -- Rob: lands 10:15 p.m. LAX (pending attending)
               -- Leslie F.: Arrives Thursday morning via Burbank
           2. What needs to be done?
               -- Assemble goodie bags
     B. Thursday -- registration 4-10 p.m.
          1. Schedule committee members to work reg table
               -- 2-hour shifts, 2 committee members per shift.
               -- Informal dinner at many restaurants at H&H complex
          2. How to handle auction/raffle
               -- Recruit volunteers to sell raffle tickets at registration table (2-hour shifts)
               -- MNM post-meeting thought: Need to be there to set up BEFORE 4:00.
               3:00 for committee??
               -- Cheryl & Darla to investigate "big ticket" item for silent auction
               (extra $$ for overhead?)
     C. Friday -- BIG DAY
         1. Overall Timeline
               -- 8-9:30 a.m. = Continuing registration (if necessary)
               -- 10-11 a.m = Travel to Star Ceremony (on their own)
               -- 11:30-12:30 = Star Ceremony (length approx.)
               -- 12:30-1:00 = Travel to Star Party (on their own)
               -- 1-4 = Star Party at the Highlands
               -- 4-6:30 = free time
               -- 6:30-6:45 = load buses
               -- 6:45-7:15 = Travel to House of Blues
               -- 7:15-11 = Concert (end time approx.)
               -- 11-11:30 = Return to Renaissance Hotel
           2. How to handle star ceremony
               a. Getting Fans to/from
                    -- Fans are on their own getting to the ceremony
                    -- MNM still concerned about losing people. While I know it will be
                    impossible to troop everyone down at once AND knowing people
                    are going to go early since we don't have a reserved spot, something
                    bothers me about this scenario. Also, like the idea of having the whole
                    group in one spot like in SF.
               b. Getting good spots for 145 people
                    -- Unless Hollywood Chamber of Commerce changes their mind about a
                    roped off area, hope for the best.
          3. How to handle reception
               -- We didn't address this (at least not in my notes) MNM concerned about
               getting fans in to club on time. Band may not be there long and late
               arrivals will not be happy if the band leaves before they arrive.
               -- We need to have a committee member (or two) at the door checking
               people in as they arrive.
               -- Any committee members arriving early to check on set up?
          4. Travel to HOB
               -- If attendees miss the bus, they will not get in with the rest of the group.
               -- Item not discussed = assigning bus numbers to attendees so we can
               track them. MNM to do using roommate list as basis for grouping people.
               No other concerted effort to keep specific groups together -- part of the
               objective is to meet new people! Committee members will be split up by
               room = MNM/Leslie W./Mary Ann; Darla/Emerson/Rob;
               Cheryl/Leslie F./Cat to track bus loads.
          5. Concert
               -- HOB expecting us to arrive no later than 7:15
               -- We should be let in approx 7:40
               -- Main doors open 8:00
               -- Concert starts approx 9:00
          6. Return from HOB
               -- 5 hours of bus time, period. Let attendees know if they miss the return
               bus (or want to stay late) they will be responsible for their own
               transportation back to hotel.

II. Reception Issues
     A. Speech(es) at the Reception
          -- MNM to do Welcome to JPP. Committee members on dais (or near mic stand
          as the case may be) at same time
          -- Present band with gifts. (Might help with that photo op we must have.)
     B. Menu
          -- Polls closing today. Run-off for desserts
     C. Band & Band Guests
          -- Design/print tickets for band and band guests. Give to Cat and/or JT to give
          to band to give to friends and family they want at the reception. 50?

III. Budget Issues
     A. Budget status report
          -- Good news! Found another tweaked number when I looked at it again when
          I got home. We now have a $30 surplus rather than a $150 shortfall.
          -- Only budget items available to "tweak" are program, passport, & video and
          not much wiggle room there
          -- I calculated today's teleconference at $108 (4 participant numbers x 180
          minutes x $0.15 per minute). Including the $55 from the last teleconference
          that's $163.00 on my Visa bill. Applied the $55 towards my deposit, but we
          may be cash strapped if that's the case. Will transfer full $215 registration
          from my personal account into JPP Checking account today and will apply
          the $163 to my "eat it" funds. If we have enough cash at the end of all
          expenses, I will ask for at least partial reimbursement.
     B. Band Gifts
         -- Cost is approximately $400 ($371 including tax, but adding one additional
          and may have some name overage costs.) MNM will come up with estimate
          for fundraising.
          -- MNM to post to attendee list fiscal scenario for band gifts and ask for
          donations to the cause. Include link to photo of star and text to be printed on
          front.
          -- Add a gold foil sticker to front that says "Presented by Journey Past &
          Present Committee & Attendees" (or words to that affect). HOW to do this??
          -- MNM thought on the way home -- buy gift bags & tissue paper to pack.
          Small gift cards?

IV. Status Reports
     A. Program
          -- Reviewed page by page. Rob has notes.
          -- Emerson to get captures of Rolie, Dunbar, Jackson & Baird for film strips
          page.
     B. Passports
          -- Change 1 autograph page to map/directions page
          -- Add Schon Girls bowling & Rock Walk field trip times
     C. T-shirts
          -- Waiting to sign off on proof. Delivery on time expected
     D. Goodie Bags
          -- Purchased goodie bags look like Hefty bags. Leslie F. to investigate
          alternatives
     E. Lapel pins & magnets
          -- Magnets arrived safe and sound in So. Cal. No horrendous problems
          -- Lapel pins on order
     F. Buses
          -- MNM to send payment/confirmation this week
     G. Highlands
          -- MNM to confirm with Margaux -- menu, band access, etc.
          -- Cheryl to take Cat to see club in LA next weekend
     H. Hotels
          -- Room requirements met
          -- Leslie F. to make final arrangements on signage, registration, & bus pick up

V. Other Issues
     A. Minors and the concert?
          -- No flexibility on the 18+ rule
          -- Cheryl to investigate diligence of ID check next weekend
     B. Videotaping
          -- Ceremony: Need/want press pass(es) for camera set up. Emerson to call
          Hollywood Chamber of Commerce re: details and technical requirements.
          -- Highlands: Have permission to film
          -- House of Blues: Ask permission from band AND HOB to film for posterity. If
          band says OK, see if they'll pick up some of the video tape expense.
          -- Emerson to confirm equipment rental costs
     C. Things to do on Saturday
          -- Schon Girls Bowling
          -- Field Trip to Rock Walk. (Walking Tour?? -- just a post meeting thought. Find
          an interesting route.)
          -- Cheryl to find out what's happening in LA that night if possible while at
          Soul SirkUS.
     D. Rock Walk
          -- See above
     E. Tasks for Cheryl's trip to LA
          1. HOB scout out
               -- ID
               -- Soundboard set up
               -- Where to line up/pre-show access
               -- Where to have bus pick up/drop off (MNM thought on drive home)
               -- Dress code, general environment
          2. What's happening in LA on Saturday?
               -- Who's playing at clubs?
               -- Other items of interest?
     F. What to wear when.
          -- Registration = JPP T-shirts and ID badges ("Committee" on badge)
          -- Star Ceremony/Reception = business casual
          -- Concert = Comfy!
     G. Requests for goodies from cancellations -- specifically DVD.
          -- Only 2, so go for it.
     H. New Business (dear god, no!)
          -- Include Randy Jackson in star award, just in case he shows.

TO DO LIST
1. Prepare registration table schedule
2. Prepare flier of miscellaneous information (e.g. Schon girls bowling, entrance to the Highlands, bus loading procedures.)
3. Recruit volunteers for raffle table
4. MNM to prepare welcome speech
5. Design & print guest passes for "reception only" people (band guests)
6. Finalize menu/Reception issues
7. Order band gifts, pray for funds
8. MNM to send email for donations
9. Purchase/design gold foil stickers for band gifts
10. Finalize program & order by 1/9/05
11. Finalize passports & order by 1/9/05
12. Receive pending orders (T-shirts & lapel pins)
13. MNM to confirm buses
14. Prepare bus assignments
15. Notify those traveling with minors of possible complications (pending Cheryl's investigation at HOB)

JPP Meeting Agenda

August 21, 2014. More fun from the computer archives. Planning our Journey Past & Present events was like taking on a second job, and we treated our meetings as we would meetings for our paying jobs. Leading up to the events was always the busiest time and finalizing the details was crucial; here's the plan and agenda for our final team meeting before JPP2005 in Hollywood.
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Meeting is scheduled to happen 10:00 a.m. PT on Sunday, January 2. Darla, Emerson, Leslie F., & I will meet at my office and use the conference room. Cheryl & Mary Ann have confirmed call ins. Leslie W. is probable call-in. No response from Cat or Rob. Here's what we're looking at for an agenda based on the notes from the last few days. Some of these will obviously overlap one another, but I think I've grouped things in a reasonable order.

I. JPP Agenda
     A. Wednesday -- prep work 
          1. Who arrives when?
          2. What needs to be done? 
     B. Thursday -- registration 4-10 p.m.
          1. Schedule committee members to work reg table
          2. How to handle auction/raffle
     C. Friday -- BIG DAY
          1. Overall Timeline
          2. How to handle star ceremony
               a. Getting Fans to/from
               b. Getting good spots for 145 people
          3. How to handle reception
          4. Travel to HOB
          5. Concert
          6. Return from HOB
 
II. Reception Issues
     A. Speech(es) at the Reception
     B. Menu
     C. Band & Band Guests

III. Budget Issues
     A. Budget status report
     B. Band Gifts

IV. Status Reports
     A. Program
     B. Passports
     C. T-shirts
     D. Goodie Bags
     E. Lapel pins & magnets
     F. Buses
     G. Highlands
     H. Hotels

V. Other Issues
     A. Minors and the concert?
     B. Videotaping
     C. Things to do on Saturday
     D. Rock Walk
     E. Tasks for Cheryl's trip to LA
          1. HOB scout out
          2. What's happening in LA on Saturday?
     F. What to wear when.
     G. Requests for goodies from cancellations -- specifically DVD.
     H. New Business (dear god, no!)