Part One: Journey Gets a Star

On Friday, January 21, the group Journey was presented a star on Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, CA. This was an event that the Journey fan club (called Journey Past and Present) has been working on for some time... and it finally paid off!

My longtime partner Diane and I drove from San Francisco to LA on Thursday, January 20, and checked into the LA hotel where all the band members were staying. Friday morning the entire entourage of about 50 people were loaded into vans and limousines and driven to the location where the star would be unveiled at 12 noon.

It was great to see all the members of Journey and catch up. Neal Schon, Ross Valory, Jonathan Cain and Steve Perry were all there as well as members past and present: George Tickner, Aynsley Dunbar, Robert Fleishman, Deen Castronovo, and Steve Augeri. I was amazed at the turnout of over a thousand fans who attended the event and cheered as the mayor of Hollywood gave a speech and unveiled the star.

It has been a long time since I’ve been treated like a "rock-star." I don’t miss it at all, but it was fun to step into that world and get a little dose of the "star treatment."

Just after the unveiling, the Journey fan club held a very nice lunch/reception for the band and we all gave thank-you speeches. Journey had a gig at the Hollywood House of Blues that night. I was invited to sit in with the band, so after lunch we all went to the HOB for a soundcheck/rehearsal.

I haven’t listened to or played any Journey tunes for about nine years, so I couldn’t remember any of the tunes they asked me to play. Deen reminded me of some the parts and then they came back to me. I played "Walks Like A Lady" and "Chain Reaction," and then we really stretched out on the Jimi Hendrix tunes "Voodoo Child" and "Third Stone From the Sun." I had a great time jamming with the band and hanging out with everyone.

After the show Diane and I drove to Anaheim, and checked into our hotel for the Winter NAMM show, where we would spend the next two days.

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