Mandi wrote:Hello Dean,
After seeing your photo posted I am feeling pretty confident that you aren't really an ogre or some kind of freakish monster. You look very human, and to me that translates into "decent and reasonable". So, I am going out on a limb here, knowing I am not a favorite of yours, and knowing that I risk embarressment and humiliation.
I don't post very much, and when I do my posts lack the expertise and musical insight that most of the other posters here display. I am not a Journey expert. I am only someone who happened to catch a Journey concert in 1998, and fell instantly in love with the music, the band, and yes dare I say it, the lead singer. I became a die-hard Augeri fan, and a Journey fan all at once. I bought every single cd of theirs they have ever made, every one. I was a casual fan, I liked Steve Perry's voice, but that was it. That changed for me in 98.
Why am I boring you with this? OK, I will get to the reason for this letter.
I hated you at first, (sorry, I know that is a very strong word) for what you claimed about Steve Augeri. I resented your obvious gift for getting your point across and making people feel belittled. I read every thing you posted. Everything. Then I began to doubt. Not you, but the band. And your claims began making sense, and I hated you for that as well.
I was there at the first show of the tour, in Camden. It was one of at least two dozen concerts I attended since 98. I could tell something was wrong with the band. They were mechanical, unsmiling, lacked energy and it was easy for a die-hard fan to see that something was very wrong. I was also at Mohegan Sun a few days later. Things were a little better, but Steve could hardly sing, could barely speak. The sound was clearly rigged to drown out the vocals. I thought about you. I thought about everything you had claimed so vehemently. You were relentless in your claims of taped vocals, and sure enough in Raleigh, everything you said fell into place. I thought about you alot during that time. I thought about one concert back in 2005, where I was in the second row, and how for one fleeting moment it seemed like Steve wasn't really singing. I thought about how I pushed that out of my mind, and soon forgot all about it. Until you brought up "tapegate". And I started to see you in a very different light.
Have you ever had your heart broken, Dean? I would guess you have. Well, it sounds stupid to most, but I was heartbroken over what happened to Steve Augeri and to Journey. Everything you said came true. You were right all along. I now believe it. I know you are thinking "big deal". But I just wanted to let you know that I have a new respect for you. I think you were heartbroken over Journey, too. And you got angry and you did something about it. That is something many people wouldn't do and I have to admire and respect you for having such deep convictions. You are a man of character, and a truthful one. Very colorful at times, but still truthful.
I don't ever agree with the Augeri bashing you do, however. And I will never change my mind about Mr. Augeri's contributions to the band. I am grateful for what he gave us, I continue to love his work on Arrival and Generations. I still like him, just not so much, if you know what I mean. I guess I am disappointed. And I don't hate you anymore. In fact, I have enormous respect for your courage, and conviction to do what you did. To believe in something so strongly and to stand up for that belief is something I wish I had more of in myself. Maybe we could all use a little more of that quality.
And now, Journey has JSS! Thank you, Dean. You stuck to your guns. I would ask you to go a little easier on Steve Augeri once in awhile but I don't want to incurr your wrath! I have a million questions, but I won't ask. I will just wait and see what happens next. I was not going to post this publicly, because I don't want to start this debate all over again. We have all had enough of that, and should leave it in the past. We have the future to look forward to, and it is looking very bright for Journey fans.
I am so sorry to everyone that this is so long. I just felt I needed to say it. Thank you Dean, for reading.
Regards,
Mandi
Hey Mandi,
Just wanted to jump in here to say "Bravo"
Great job; very well thought out.
