http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=44151&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

[Ed]

http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=44151&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

I can elaborate on this if you all want. I was there. Nothing anti-Dean or anything or even anti-Journey for that matter. I was his guest though and was around at the time.

[Saint John]

Fire away.

[Ehwmatt]

Please do

[Ed]

Ok, well here goes. Let me do the Atlantic City story the night before Boston first. I will obviously leave certain things out because I still am bound by the "circle of trust" to this day. But the Atlantic City/Boston trip was a very interesting time and I see no reason now why it can't be discussed.

Dean hooked me up and NealisGod to go to Atlantic City to see Journey. JSS was a pm friend on melodicrock as well so I was amazed when I was told to come on up to A.C. to see the band and was comped.

Picked Dean up at BWI airport in Baltimore the night before Atlantic City. (Boston wasn't in the plans yet). Fun night of drinking and I was still wondering if this was all going to go off as planned.

Next day NealisGod picks us up and we drive to A.C. Dean was a fucking mogul on the phone. Man that guy's cell is ringing 24/7. LMAO. He rang up Soto because we were running late. Originally Jeff wanted to shoot some hoops. He and Dean are basketball fans. I am a good athlete but the one sport I fucking suck at is basketball - so being late was cool with me.

We joined Jeff for lunch. Really down to earth guy. Niggy asked for a pic, in the restaurant, and Jeff said we have plenty of time for all that. He just wanted to get to know us all and sprang for the meal (and my beers)

Next up was soundcheck. Leppard did theirs without Elliot and it was fake as hell. Dean had an audience with Schon and Co. that Nig and I were not privy too, but that's understandable. Jeff came out and b.s'd with us for awhile.

Then we did the Journey soundcheck with unprecidented access. Journey playing Message of Love and I'll Be Alright Without You in front of 3 of us. Believe me, Neal, Cain and Co. were happy to have us there. No issues whatsover. Tim was recording it and they knew it. Wish he wouldn't have deleted MOL. IBAWY still exists on tape though.

Dean then told us that Neal would be providing him with a soundboard of the show that evening. Pretty fucking cool. I have it, and still am not sure if Dean or I have ever released the entire thing, but most of it is out there.

Post show, I think Dean was supposed to ride on the bus to Boston. JT (not my online friend Journeytroll, but the tour manager) was being an ass. So we all crashed at my hotel room. Dean invited me to take the train to Boston with him the next night knowing that Journey were off for a week and the band could hang out all night after the show. Niggy drove home, and I agreed to take the trip up to Mansfield, Mass.

Part 2 to follow. Hope it isn't too boring or rehash for the old MR vets.

[Ed]

Boston story next - that was the one that was insane.

[Ehwmatt]

Well let's go, you're givin us blue balls

[Ed]

Well let's go, you're givin us blue balls

I'll go on if your still interested in a bit. Watching Nip/Tuck right now though. Boston is where I went to the bar with Schon and Co and we all partied at the Marriott.

[Ehwmatt]

nice, i'm interested.

I'll prolly have to catch it when I get up though, gotta get up at 5 am and I'm beat. Don't wanna get run down this time of year with all the shit goin around

[Saint John]

gotta get up at 5 am and I'm beat. Don't wanna get run down this time of year with all the shit goin around

Which, when translated, amounts to ... you're gay.

[Ehwmatt]

Yes, I love it

[Ed]

Tim, if you are reading and want to add anything else about A.C. feel free.

[Ed]

One thing I just remembered about A.C. is that Friga was sitting at the bar by himself watching golf while we were eating with Soto.

[Ed]

Rough day all. Will go into the Boston story tomorrow.

[Ed]

Ok, I have a few minutes.

Boston.

Dean tells me the next morning in A.C. that if I want to go to the Mansfield show (legendary on Google groups), we can hang with the band before and afterwards, not just bullshit meet and greet. The access in Atlantic City was great, but Boston turned out to be much more.

NealisGod had a prior commitment and I was tired and hungover as a motherfucker myself the next morning. Dean does fucking know trains though and found a way for us to get from the Jersey shore to close to the Boston area show.

Called my wife, she told me I would be crazy not to go up there. So we got the tickets and off we went. The drink car on the train opened, and AR and RockinDeano started up early afternoon. Wild wide. It was a blast.

We got to Providence, R.I. late afternoon and took a fucking LONG ASS cab ride to the Mansfield, MASS venue.

Ok, that's the setup. The juicy shit follows. Sorry for the delay. Long week.

[Ed]

Sorry for the delay. Lots of crap going on. I'll waste some time at work and talk about the Boston (Mansfield, Mass thing) tomorrow.

[Saint John]

Hey, Steve Perry, are you gonna finish the fucking story or not?!

[Behshad]

Hey, Steve Perry, are you gonna finish the fucking story or not?!

maybe he is waiting for Dean to approve the story before publishing it

[Saint John]

Hey, Steve Perry, are you gonna finish the fucking story or not?!

maybe he is waiting for Dean to approve the story before publishing it

I got a PM from Ed and he's quit WTF. Something about he never felt like a part of the board.

[Ehwmatt]

LOL

[Ed]

I hurt my hip.

(Been dealing with some shit, sorry. This will be a long post once I write it)

[Ed]

Tomorrow morning EST I will get into it. I've been a fucking slacker - totally admit it. Here's a continuation - call it Pt 2.

As for Dean, I once told this story with all guns blazing. He did
deserve it at the time. But not now, he had too much to do with it
all, and I'm sure I did some fucked up things then too. Keeping it as
I remembered it then.

We get to Mansfield, Mass after a long fucking cabride. Cost us I
think $100 bucks from the Providence, RI train station. Still better
than the original plan of going in all the way to fucking Boston. Good
thing I am a GIS pro (digital mapping).

We tried to find some chick to give the ticket too, but we ended up
flipping it to some radio dude who would drive us out of the venue
afterwards and it was worth it.

We did the oblig meet and greet. Kind of laughable and we just said hi
and waited it out. After everyone was out Jeff took us to the Journey
backstage area and we hung out. I should mention that I looked like an
idiot. I barely showered and wore Niggy's way too small Notre Dame hat
to cover my messed up hair. THANK GOD no cameras were around.

We hung out in the Journey dressing room for a long time. Jeff was extremely into giving up the solo thing and becoming part of a band he had loved for a long time. What has angrered me since then is seeing how much enthusiasm he had get extinguished. This guy was ready to do battle and that is the fucking truth.

Of course Dean and I raided the beer stash, but there was a ton of it. No one cared and it was totally fucking encouraged. I went for it first but did wait for the ok.

Now this is something I remember and if Dean or anyone else wants to shoot it down - go right ahead. I can't place if it was before or after the show, and admittedly we were partying. Neal told Jeff he was the man and this was his gig permanently. Said to never doubt it, I remember those words VERY clearly. Thought to myself that was a pretty cool thing to hear. I was sitting on the couch right next to them as it was going on. Just thought it was cool to hear, the beer was more important. Had to recognize that the band was comfortable saying shit around us though. No question about it.

After the Journey set a few of us yawned at Def Leppard for a few minutes then found our rides to the Boston Marriott. That is how the infamous AR fart found Neal Schon's nose. The dude from the radio station rode Me, Jeff, Neal, Deano to the hotel.

More tomorrow, it's late. Nowhere near done. Hope that was semi interesting.


And on tomorrow's issue - Hitting the Boston bars with Journey. Bringing a cooler to the hotel rooms and drinking with them all night. A lie about Arrival and Augeri by Neal.

[Saint John]

Neal told Jeff he was the man and this was his gig permanently.

This confirms what I've said all along. They wanted to to shut Dean up about Tapegate long enough for it to go away so they used him against himself. They buddied him up to the lead singer, gave him carte blanche to something phony and then pulled the rug out from under him when the coast was clear. By giving him all access to everything and having him rave about the new lineup (they knew he'd do that) it would later destroy any credibility he had if he wanted to reignite the Tapegate allegations. They could simply paint him as a jilted fan who, not even a month or two prior, was partying with the band and on record as saying how great they are. Everyone knew Soto was not longterm, but no one really knew the "angle" the band was taking. It's all become crystal clear since.

And I think Soto would have been given a proper face to face sendoff, but he blew any chance of that by leaking information, whining about Neal getting the Soul Sirkus CD money from sales (how much could that have been??? The album was horrible...and Neal lost a few hundred thousand dollars on that deal.) and trying to sue them. Additionally, it is rumored that he disclosed the Augeri settlement amount. Whether or not that's true I have no idea. But Soto was given the same courtesy he showed the band...none. Seems fair to me.

[3DG]

Neal told Jeff he was the man and this was his gig permanently.

This confirms what I've said all along. They wanted to to shut Dean up about Tapegate long enough for it to go away so they used him against himself. They buddied him up to the lead singer, gave him carte blanche to something phony and then pulled the rug out from under him when the coast was clear. By giving him all access to everything and having him rave about the new lineup (they knew he'd do that) it would later destroy any credibility he had if he wanted to reignite the Tapegate allegations. They could simply paint him as a jilted fan who, not even a month or two prior, was partying with the band and on record as saying how great they are. Everyone knew Soto was not longterm, but no one really knew the "angle" the band was taking. It's all become crystal clear since.

This is one conspiracy theory I might actually believe because it COMPLETELY shows the the character of the jack-hole(s ) who came up with the whole thing, and how there is no qualms about throwing ANYONE under a bus. As for the fallout for Jeff - he was just yet another pawn that got used and tossed aside. I don't think the partying with fans, "leaking" anything, bitching about SS payment..any of that stuff had anything to do with anything. I believe that all along the plan was to dump his ass when his 'usefulness" was exhausted to them.

[Saint John]

I sure wish I could sing worth a fuck! I'd take the several million and ability to retire early that Augeri got or the several hundred thousand that Soto got for a few months work and be happy! And I wouldn't even need whiny-assed fans to bitch about me gettting thrown under fictitious/proverbial buses either!

[Ed]

Storytelling will resume on Saturday. Tonight I have VIP tix to....(don't laugh, well too hard anyway): Hall & Oates with Todd Rundgren and The Hooters in one of the final shows ever at the old Philadelphia Spectrum.

VIP's get a post show party with complimentary BEER and food for 3 hours. And we get a brick from the Spectrum after it's demolished next months, seats in the first 20 rows, a poster, did I mention that it's FREE BEER for 3 hours?

$150 per ticket. I can drink that much.

They are just keeping a couple lower level consession stands open after the show ends, so it will be arena type food I suppose. The Spectrum is sold out too because non VIP tix are only $4, 5, 6.

[Sponsored content]