Good friend and fellow comedian Mike Stankiewicz and I were hanging out at the Silver Legacy Casino lounge in Reno, after our show at Catch A Rising Star, and in walked the band, Journey. The group just finished working in the main room and were still dressed in their stage attire, so it looked like they walked off the set of one of their 1980s videos. It was the Fall of 2000. I pointed the Journey guys out to Mike, naming each one, explained lead singer Steve Perry’s absence, and gave him a little “Behind The Music’ backstory, but he couldn’t care less (Stank is a blues guy, has great musical taste, and we were probably in the middle of a Tom Wait’s discussion). Even though I never owned a Journey album, I understood their success, and thought it was pretty cool we were breathing the same oxygenated casino air. The future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers held court at the bar, and in no time, the place got more crowded, more attractive, and we had fun chatting up their “spillover”.
Mike and I befriended a tall, gorgeous, whackadoodle blonde, who came all the way from Virginia to see Journey, and much to my dismay, she was dying to meet Steve Perry’s replacement, Steve Augeri. The only problem was, this girl was shy (or acting it) and claimed she didn’t have the nerve to approach him. I told her, “Look, it’s 11:45, and if you don’t go over there soon, you’re going to miss the midnight train going anywhere.” She was not amused.
It was a bit much after a while to hear her go on and on about this dude, so Mike took her to where the band was sitting, and even though I pointed Steve Augeri out, mistakenly introduced himself to Neal Schon, thinking HE was Steve, the singer. “Hi”, Mike said, “I’m performing here, and I don’t mean to bother you, but this girl was at your show and wanted to meet the new singer.” The founder of Journey looked pissed and said, “I’m Neal Schon, the guitar player—not the singer.” Mike says, “I’m Mike Stankiewicz, the comic—not a fan”, and escorted her to the right guy.
I don’t know what happened that night, but I do know—that girl—Michaele Sahali, went on to be in the TV show, ‘Real Housewives Of D.C.’, became an infamous White House party crasher, and married… Neal Schon, the guitar player—not the singer.
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