We collared DB at Deighton to petition (again!) for Who's Crying Now. At East Dene (31 May 2009), we got some idea of what he meant when he said he didn't want to become just a Journey covers band.
Higher Place, Faithfully, Separate Ways, Anyway you Want It, Don't Stop Believing, Be Good To Yourself, Lights, Stone in Love.
That's quite a set by anyone's standards and with the usual Bon Jovi, GnR, Floyd and what have you, it made for a thoroughly enjoyable night.
Where that was fun, the next week's show at Waterloo had a real sense (for me at least) of occasion; a true alpha to omega event.
You'll recall my first encounter with Jagged Edge was when the then soon-to-be-Lady-DGNR8 dragged me along to a Sunday afternoon show at the bowling club; it seems appropriate that this chapter should close at the same venue.
Higher Place is cut short by the Waterloo's infernal volume limiter but DB leans on his electrical background to "overcome" that problem and the boys keep it hard, tight and loud through the show.
Well, until half-way through It's My Life when the kitchen circuits (for that, gentle reader, is where the juice is being pulled from) are overloaded by someone putting the kettle on.
I really want it to have been Polly.
Here's an exclusive picture of Ozzy's audition for DB's role. He didn't get the job after failing to outdrink Big Dave.
Time passes. Tick. Tick. Tick.
What’s that noise? I’ve got a new bit; it ticks with the regularity of Alan’s drums.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Things have changed.
Six months ago, Don’t Stop Believin' was my song. Journey was my band. Had been since 1983 when my schoolmate Jim Robertson came back from a visit to the States with copies of Escape and Frontiers.
Wow.
Sure, I shared them with a few of you, but it didn’t stop them being mine.
When last we spoke, all 99% of the British population knew about Journey was Don’t Stop Believin’. Half of them didn’t even know who it was by; it was just that awesome song from the end of The Sopranos. That’s probably where Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole heard it, anyway. They gave it to the little Geordie with the crooked teeth and the axe-murderer’s smile. He sang it on The X-Factor and it was obvious from that moment that he was going to win.
It’s not like Simon to miss an opportunity, but he took his eye off the ball; Joe’s attempt at the Christmas number one wasn’t the song we all expected; they gave him a Smiley Virus number instead. The rest is history; Rage Against the Machine got the Christmas number one.
Poor Joe.
Journey finally got UK chart success a quarter of a century after it was deserved and a cover – by the Kids from Fa... the Cast of Glee – meant that Don’t Stop... was a top ten hit twice, at the same time.
Suddenly, Don’t Stop Believin' is everybody’s song. Journey is everybody’s band. I don’t suppose Steve Perry or Neal Schon is complaining and I’m pleased to have been proved right (again), but I feel as if I’ve lost something.
Things have changed in Jaggie Land as well. Finally, ...Miss a Thing has gone, to be replaced by Home Sweet Home. Bowling For Soup asked it and no-one answered, so I’ll ask again; when did Motley Crue become classic rock?Certainly not in 1986...
Some things never change, though; the Rock Cafe sound was woeful and the women there can’t hold their drink.
