Ape Culture - Journey, John Waite and Peter Framptom in New Jersey 2001

Boomers: Come Alive!

Journey / Peter Frampton / John Waite
Tweeter Center; Camden, NJ
June 30, 2001

Gen X-ers Julie Wiskirchen and Mary Ladd chat about the Journey, Peter Frampton, John Waite extravaganza on June 30, 2001. They decided to see the show at Camden's Tweeter Center and take in a weekend of Philadelphia Freedom. On the Saturday before the show, they visited the Edgar Allan Poe House and National Museum in north Philly (because they are writers and former English Majors and obsessed with the homes of other people who also lived lives of literary futility and/or poverty). They then went to the infamously strange Mutter Museum of Medical Oddities. During the concert, they couldn't get these experiences out of their heads.

[Julie] I'm trying to decide if there are more Edgar Allan Poe songs about being buried alive or more Journey songs about being lonely on tour?

[Mary] Edgar Allan Poe didn't write songs...that we know of.

[Julie] Stories, I mean.

[Mary] Besides, his songs wouldn't be about being lonely on the road except when he was lonely and died in a ditch.

[Julie] The smell of wine and cheap perfume, or was it a dead body because someone was buried in the wall.

[Mary] You make me wish I wanna die but then I realize I'm already dead and buried in somebody's wine cellar lovin' touchin' squeezin' a cask of Amontillado.

[Julie] When the lights go down in the city, and a shadow of a black cat with a noose around its neck shines on the wall...

[Mary] Highway run under the midnight sun...the raven flies round and round my chamber door.

[Julie] When the pendulum finally fell on me in the pit, the two halves of my body went their separate ways.

[Mary] Now I come to you with my arms falling off after the Masque of the Red Death... hoping you see what this plague's done to me...Open Sore Arms.

[Julie] Let the review begin. Enough of these shenanigans.

[Mary] I would just like to start by saying how utterly heartbreaking it was...literally painful to be so far from the object of my haiku crush. It was a real drag to be up on the lawn, so far from John Waite-age.

[Julie] It was really a drag to see that he shops at Mothercare for his concert outfits.

[Mary] The "Down in Front" Wars surrounding us were pretty exciting. I noticed the beefy bouncers using savvy psychological techniques on the gang next to us. "I'm not telling you you can't stand up. I'm just talking about being courteous." But truth be told, isn't it the responsibility of the front line to get the complacent turkeys up on the lawn to stand up?

[Julie] I think Jurassic rock fans are lazy, sedentary creatures who have forgotten the days when they rushed the stage.

[Mary] When I last saw Journey back in the 80s, I was in my late-teens and the crowd was an average of 20-year olds. They were much more fun back then. One guy came up and shook me, screaming "Isn't this a fucking great show?" We also successfully rushed the stage, as an Arena-unit, thanks to the persistence of the groupie contingent harassing the bouncers up front.

Now that I'm in my 30s, these 40 year-olds are much more sedate. Unless I'm at a Jimmy Buffett concert where I am body slammed to the ground by an out-of-control conga line. To think the money I spent on crappy binoculars could have been funneled into better seats. You can't clap and hold binoculars at the same time....the binoculars fall in your lap! I should have built a binocular apparatus such as that nerdy kid had in Sixteen Candles. Then I would have been able to register my approval at the intervals between numbers from back where I significantly added to the general horde by one iota.

[Julie] Sometimes binoculars come with a cord for your neck, if you pay more than $10. John Waite was very gracious, thanking the 125 early-arriving people that were sitting there watching him...which was significantly more than saw him at Six Flags.

[Julie] He's British... they have good manners. I missed Missing You. I was in the beer line. That was unfortunate.

[Mary] Too bad you didn't get drunk enough to finagle a complimentary Ape-shirt or two backstage. You weren't drunk enough... and I wasn't brave enough. With those alcohol prices, who could be?

[Mary] I liked "Fly", personally. Would be happy never to hear "When I See You Smile" ever again. When I see you smile....I see the back of your skull....oh yeah...because your skin has decomposed. It's like a ray of light...that ray of light shining through your eye socket.

[Julie] Something different about me: I like "When I See You Smile". It helps me face the world. John would have rocked harder if he still had that Ozzy bassist, Phil Soussan in the band.

[Mary] I didn't really hear anything from Peter Frampton that would help me face the world. But now I can say I've heard "Show Me the Way" and "Baby I Love Your Way" live.

[Julie] Peter Frampton needs to get over the voice box thing. He was like a 3 year old. Isn't he sick of it after all these years? It served its purpose in "Show Me the Way", but give it a rest, man!

[Mary] Right...after one song it was like my nephew who won't stop with the kazoo.

[Julie] I was bored by Peter, although he seemed in good humor, but possibly insane.

[Mary] He did have a strange look in his eye although he seemed to have showman skills. But sandwiched between John Waite and Journey...it felt like filler. I know John Waite songs and most of the Journey songs...I knew 2 Frampton songs.

[Julie] I think the whole world just knows 2 Frampton songs.

[Mary] And two intermissions tries my very slim patience. I can't mullet watch all day.

[Julie] I can count Jimmy Buffett t-shirts all day... and wonder about the connection: Jimmy Buffett...Journey...Poe...

[Mary] To what do we attribute the proliferation of Buffett t-shirt representation? Ever since the aforementioned body slam at the last Buffett show, I wouldn't have thought this type of show would appeal to the violent parrot heads.

[Julie] I guess both Buffett and Journey fill this age demographic with warm fuzzy nostalgia. "The Friends of Frampton" were out in force and he acknowledged them. Its nice to see a celeb who appreciates his legion. If I could turn back time, I wouldn't have poked out that black cat's eye.

[Mary] Let us not drag Cher into this menagerie unless we're going to talk about her remake of "Back on My Feet Again". Adding that synthesizer in was a mistake or improvement: discuss amongst yourselves.

[Julie] She changed the title to "Back on the Street Again" -- dumb and pointless.

[Mary] She was adding a hooker element to it.
(listen to the mp3 or Windows Media)

[Julie] Let's talk about Journey now. They covered all the basics: "Only the Young", "Stone in Love", "Send Her My Love", "Lights", "Open Arms", "Don't Stop Believin'", "Faithfully", "Wheel in the Sky", "Be Good To Yourself", "Anyway You Want It" and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'".

[Julie] The wheel in the sky keeps on descending. It's got a sharp blade. Honestly, I can't get away from it and don't know where I'll be tomorrow.

[Mary] You needed so much more...than I could give. We had no cure for TB back then. Annabell Lee, my love...roses never fade...but you did because you had the walking death.

[Julie] He's tearin' you apart. Every, every, every day. He's tearin' you apart. Oh girl what can you say? Cause he's lovin', touchin', choppin' you in the head with an axe.

[Julie] Send her my love. Memories remain, and so does the smell because your corpse is rotting under the floorboards.

[Mary] Let's talk about cock rock and that rendition of the national anthem by Neal Schon.

[Julie] Let's talk about Neil Schon's big unit. You know, I've seen the Monterey Pop video and Neal Schon, you're no Jimi Hendrix.

[Julie] My theory is that having a big electric guitar does not equal having a big dick, yet some losers think it does and they stand on stage with their guitar in front of them, like they're all that.

[Mary] I would have to agree...but it's an 80s thing. The 21st Century: their hair has acclimated but their schtick has not.

[Julie] He's not Eddie Van Halen. Journey is not really about guitar virtuosity, but he had a spotlight on him the whole night and stood by himself.

[Mary] I can't defend Mr. Schon because I don't know him personally, but maybe the Schon persona had a little to do with my theory of Schon/Cain contrast. Good cop/bad cop.

[Julie] Jonathan Cain seems like a nice boy you could take home to mom. He's the "lovin' touchin' squeezin'" type, whereas Schon is the "get down on your knees, any way you want it - that's the way I need it" type.

[Mary] What about the Steve Perry impersonator, Steve Augeri...besides his physical ability to also do Kenny G impersonations?

[Julie] Some fans call him "the fake Steve".

[Julie] You would think Steve A. would want to put his own stamp on the material. But at least he can hit all the notes. On the lawn, where you can't see, you can easily tell yourself it's the real Steve. He had a lot of energy and tight pants. (I'm talking about Steve #2, not Ben Franklin...who had a lot of energy, baggy pants, and gout). The 4th of July fireworks were a nice freebie.

[Mary] One lawn perk, I'll give you that...plus fake Steve obscurification. Two perks. More personal space...another perk. Dancing room for Journey. We were wrong. You can dance to Journey...or at least people try. Always touchin' to see people makin' the attempt to dance to rock and/or roll.

[Julie] Cheesesteak rock. But I'm still left with the question: what are the lovin' things?

[Mary] What...are...the lovin' things?

[Julie] All night...all night...oh every freakin' night. Something else that wasn't answered: what's the deal with the beetles on the album covers? They disturb me.

[Mary] Will ask friendly boomers to decipher cryptic beetles. I have to agree with David Spade though...I don't shell out the bucks to sing the songs myself. It only makes a magical moment for the superstah. Not for me. If I wanted a sing-a-long, I'd go to a drum circle.

[Julie] I don't mind it, in moderation. It's community. I feel collective lovin' touchin' and squeezin' during those moments.

[Mary] I don't buy it. It's all about the cold cash. Me relinquishing it...them spending it on models and cars.

[Julie] ...and ludicrous solo videos set in medieval times. You're cynical. I think its been too long since you've had the lovin' things.

[Mary] Well honestly, my last lovin' things did not involve sing-a-longs, I can tell you that. There was no singing-a-longing. I do sing along, on occasion...I just don't like to be told to do it.

[Julie] The concert and the 24 oz beers made me feel as if I was stone in love. It was the perfect summer show: three bands with hits...all the feel-good anthems, the nostolgia of seeing a woman with a comb in her back pocket, remembering when I was the girl with the comb in my back pocket, saving my allowance to buy "Escape" at Camelot Records.

[Mary] My first job was at Camelot Records. I think the show was a great energy rush. Good for this poe-ette to get outside.

[Julie] There was a good mix of all the hits and new stuff...not new stuff at the expense of old hits.

[Mary] Rock anthems to live by if deep thoughts aren't working.

[Julie] Don't stop believin' that people's hearts can beat when they've been axed and are buried under your floorboards.

[Mary] And lovin' a short story poet aint always what it's s'posed to be. Oh girl, you stand by me...because I've propped you up and haven't buried you yet. I'm lazy.

[Mary] As I'm bricking your drunken ass into this wall, I have one piece of advice for you while you die a slow death: Be good to yourself...because nobody else will.

Defend the theory of Schon/Cain Contrast or Cock Rock or Cher's version of Back on My Feet Again or other non sequiturs such as Edgar Allan Poe here; because anything you want to discuss, that's what you need to discuss!