Steele Recounts An Evening With The Late Jimi Jamison At An Intimate Show In Cedar Rapids

I've been a fan of the band Survivor since the early 80's.  Move ahead to the summer of 2010 and Misty and I were at one of the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival concerts.  This one had headliner Peter Cetera (from the band Chicago) and Jimi Jamison (from the band Survivor.)  We had our seats positioned in the parking lot at Kirkwood.  Then the storm rolled in.  I was nearly toppled by a gyro stand, and the concert was cancelled....or was it?  We found out while huddling in a classroom waiting for the storm to pass that Jimi Jamison would still perform if anyone wanted to see a show in the gymnasium.  So there, in the gymnasium at Kirkwood, me, my wife, and about 300 others who stuck around got to see a 90 minute set by Jimi with a band playing instruments and using PAs from local people who ran home to get them.

Just before they started the show, Jimi was walking around the crowd talking about the storm, his new cd, basically anything you wanted to.  He took pictures with anyone who asked.  Then someone yelled, "there's a double rainbow outside!"  I headed outside with a few others and as I was standing outside admiring the double rainbow, I noticed I was standing next to Jimi.  He said, "you don't see one of these very often...this is awesome."  We both returned to the gym.  He sang and I sang along and loved every song.

Jimi Jamison passed away over the weekend.  He was 63 and suffered a heart attack.  He had played the night before with Survivor.  I am guessing he can see as many double rainbows now as he wants.  Godspeed Jimi.