Before I continue on, I want to talk about something that sometimes happens on these cruises. Here’s a sliver of today’s newsletter:
I originally had the interview session with Autograph on my personal calendar. But they snuck in the autograph session with Lou Gramm and the auction at the very last minute. I’m interested in those too and now I’m torn.
There’s less than an hour to go, so I had to choose quickly. I should note that most of the rest of the time onboard doesn’t stack events like this.
We continued on our way to Ensenada. We’re a few hours away.
My final decision was to skip out on the Autograph Q and A session to stand in line for Lou Gramm’s autograph. And quite a line it was. It moved and I eventually got my signature. His siggy is actually clearer than mine, and I’m sure he’s done many more than I have. I bought a t shirt because I didn’t really have anything suitable for him to sign.
Mr. Gramm is a very nice man. He was nice to me and nice to others I overheard in line.
BTW, no pictures were allowed anywhere in the autograph area. It was held on deck 5 in the MDR.
As for Vixen and Lori Majewski, well, they weren’t Maytag repairmen lonely, but their lines were a lot shorter. I wasn’t interested in their autographs.
Living Colour had an autograph session in a different location that was so last minute that it wasn’t even on the newsletter. JT had to announce it.
After doing that, I had some time to watch the nearby auction. I saw auctions for paintings of famous album covers for Guns and Roses, the J. Geils Band, and Duran Duran. This latter painting sparked some lively bidding between two people. One surrendered to the other after a bid of $3300. That was far too rich for my blood, but I don’t judge others on what they decide to do for fun.
Later on I went to the Lou Gramm Q and A session. It was held in their smallest theater and it was PACKED. I got there 10 minutes early and I could barely find a seat. It was standing room only by the time things started.
Mark Goodman hosted and put poor Mr. Gramm on the defensive right away with a discussion about the Foreigner that’s on their farewell tour with no original members left. Then he kept up the pressure by talking about Mick Jones, his former writing partner and Foreigner bandmate.
On Mr. Gramm’s relationship with Mr. Jones, I have some bad news. They haven’t talked to each other in a decade. His desire to talk to him ever again is weak. Even Mick’s manager is discouraging contact, so a reunion of any kind is unlikely.
He also didn’t think much of the idea of joining the current Foreigner in any capacity – as a guest or anything more permanent.
In more positive news, we should have some new Lou Gramm songs released this year. Most were based on solo material that was shelved for various reasons back in the 80s and 90s.
This Q and A was very informative and I’m glad I went.
I didn’t do anything else if note yesterday. No concerts for the first time since I left town! Can you believe it? Today I definitely have a concert. Guess who I’m going to see? 🤩