Jem…Chapter 144

*Before…

Summer you have no idea who you left and who you hurt and how just breathtaking and amazing she is.

And I play and I cry and I don’t wipe the tears away as I’m playing, it’s my keyboard I know where everything is even when it’s blurry and we end it fading off into the end of the show.

My voice is a little tight with emotion and I lean ahead and I talk into the mic. “Well that’s the first show girls and guys we’re going to take a thirty minute break now while we get refreshed and the staff here can get ready for the bonus show. And if I don’t see some of y’all in thirty then have a great night and don’t forget we’re on Facebook and Youtube and Twitter.”

I look to where they’re leaving and the guys are helping out and Dad’s folding up the goods table and he mouths. “We’re all out.”

Wow…I give him the thumbs up and head out back to get really refreshed this time.

*And Now…

We just played like close to twenty songs and there was a lot of energy and there was a lot of emotions and we still have a whole other second show to do and I can hear the organized chaos of the kitchens as they’re firing more orders for the tapas foods for tonight and then rest of the people are cleaning and Mike and Molly are like totally geek twinning with the whole tappitty tap super-fast of keys and of then doing all sorts of cool stuff that I’ll find out about later.

I love the fact that what had happened to Molly that it’s not a thing between her and Mike while they’re really into it.

I see Brooklyn watching them and she’s smiling. “Kinda cool huh?”

She nods. “I like Molly she’s really decent but it’s stuff like this and the other stuff with what you’re doing with him that really sort of gets me smiling. I mean Mike’s a really smart guy, he knows a lot of stuff and I really didn’t think that a smart guy like him would be the kind of guy that I’d end up going steady with.”

I wrap an arm around her. “Yeah well I didn’t doubt it you’re pretty frigging amazing y’know.”

We head out back and there’s more food and there’s drinks and we grab a few bites of the stuff ant wow it’s good with those little hamburger bbq things and then there’s these tiny little focaccia breads with lots of like thyme and pepper with these little bits of braised duck with some apple glaze sauce that goes with the herbs and then there’s these potato balls with smoked fish in them like a brandade but it’s deep fried and inside which might sound gross there’s fish roe called botargo and there’s a plate of them and a dish of aioli which they have for dipping and last there’s apricot halves that are cooked but have been rolled in Spanish paprika and just a little dollop of whole grain mustard in the pit hole and have been wrapped in proscuttio.

And fries, fries that are cooked in duck fate and sprigs of herbs and covered in salt and pepper and have aioli too as a dipping sauce.

Tapas and it’s serious tapas and the food is selling really well I guess but it’s not a surprise with them starting to do these things for the night menus here on Tuesdays and Wednesdays we’re the only game in town that does this.

Okay not us or we’re but The Pine Tree is the only place outside of Toronto that does this I’m pretty sure and that’s counting places like Thunder Bay and Sudbury.

And word’s spreading especially since Kimmie’s taking pictures of it all and putting it up on our stuff as well as Instagram.

I’m the only one that likes the brandade in the band.

I get cleaned up fast and have a pee and sit with dad and we’re eating them and some of the fries while Kimmie makes faces calling them “fish-nuts.”

Brooklyn with her family doesn’t eat fish, she ate way too much of it as a kid that she doesn’t care for it and her and Kim are fighting over the apricots and I do get one myself rescued by Raven for me and it’s good.

There’s that whole braised fruit thing and then there’s all that paprika that takes it someplace else but that’s cut by the mustard and the proscuttio is actually cooked until it’s nice and crisp giving it meatiness and crunchy stuff.

There’s some sort of hummus mini thing vegan deal too but they didn’t have any left or the mini baklavas either.

Some absolute treasure made us all these green teas but iced with lime and coconut milk and they’re really cold and we’re drinking them and we’re sipping them and Carmen’s actually right back at doing us up and stuff.

Totally earning her pay tonight honestly with there being four of us to keep looking decent and fresh and this is like the third time that we’ve had her doing this tonight and she gets really focused and stuff when Kim and then Dad’s recording this as all sort of behind the scenes stuff with us being relaxed and candid and eating and drinking and just being our non-perfect selves.

We all sort of like the idea of us being there and present with the band stuff and doing stuff like this because it’s almost like reality TV but not, we’re more real than reality TV.

I drink but I don’t eat too much just enough for me to get my energy back and enough protein to have it last and I just sip at my cold drink and soothe my pipes. I’m not getting sick but it’s just a good habit to get into doing.

Those thirty minutes goes by really, really fast and they’re letting people in and I’m looking past the little sort of curtain divider between the front and the back.

There’s people from outside that did stay and they are here now and they’re getting drinks and they’re eating having had waited and I see some of the first crowd there including some of the blogger looking types still around and stuff.

It’s packed again.

Roxy is out first and she waves and there’s cheers for her and whistles too and camera flashes and she bounces back to her drums and she looks at the crowd and she grins and she starts to warm up without us and she start drumming out *Jackhammer* By Paul Gilbert.

She knows this in her sleep.

It’s jackhammer drumming and that’s rapid but it’s also a tune and it’s a solo tune and the crowd is into it and she’s into it and like I said not too many girls that drum and Roxy Moogle in my opinion is just as kick ass talented as Meg White from The White Stripes.

I see K&T’s drummer out there and he’s head nodding to the beat with his hands twitching in that whole want to air-drum along and he looks pretty together and then I see all the rest of them including Summer.

I look at Raven. “K and T’s here and they look like they just came from a gig. They look good too.”

Raven looks out at them and she takes a breath. “It’s okay, we might be working with Summer and them on Halloween for the thing at The Cat this is just practice for dealing with that right?”

I nod. “Right, we’ve played in front of them before.”

Brooklyn’s walking out with her jaw set. “Oh fuck that lets blow their skirts up.”

I look at Raven and she’s looking out there and she looks at me and I smile at her and raise an eyebrow. She nods. “Why the hell not, this show’s not for her anyways?”

She heads out and I smile and I follow bouncing actually out on the stage as the applause for Roxy is coming down and we shift right from that into.

The Crowd knows the song and as we’re just getting into the notes they’re starting to dance all over again and are singing along with the. “NA, NA, NA, NA…NA, NA…NA, NA!”
“NA, NA, NA, NA…NA, NA…NA, NA!”
“NA, NA, NA, NA…NA, NA…NA, NA!”

*So What* By Pink is a really good tune to get them all hopping and dancing and started up.

And it’s a great song to greet Summer and Kisses & Thorns.

Just a happy coincidence right?

And then we start into one of our early gig covers and that. *Boots of Chinese Plastic* By The Pretenders and that’s got such a fast groove to it that there’s people that are dancing to it right away and I can see actually two of the K & T girls bopping away and then this skinny little blonde girl with killer hair and a Hannalore T-shirt on dragging Summer out to dance and she actually goes.

Hmm…well okay, let’s actually just rock the hell out of this place.

We break into doing *Raise Your Glass* By Pink and then we drift over from that to *Raise A Little Hell* By Trooper.

Trooper does well with this mixed crowd and it does really well where it’s here in Ontario and this is the kind of rock that’s playing at a lot of good stations.

Then we shift from that into *Forever and Always…*With Raven singing it.

I want to be heard.
But I scream without sound.
I keep myself hidden.
But I want to be found.
I want to cry on a shoulder.
I want to be held tight.
Oh I want my always!
I want my forever!
(Chorus)
Oh! Will it be you!?
My Eternity!
Are you the one that can hear me!?
Are you the one that can see me!?
Oh do you love me!?
Can you love me!?
I want to know I’m not worthless.
I wanna know how to smile.
I want to feel normal!
I wanna feel something!
(Chorus.)
(1rst verse again.)
(Chorus.)
(2nd verse again.)
(Chorus.)
Oh my Forever and always!
My Eternity….

And we go from that into *Whole Lotta Love* By Led Zeppelin and that’s a really great song for a girls singer either and you can actually take the lyrics really easily and the style as being girl on girl.

Vocally it’s actually a serious challenge to pull it off right and then there’s the guitar and the drums are awesome too.

I’m super into it and the crowd’s doing the bounce dancing and when I hit those long cry vocals they’re fan screaming and there’s a whole barrage of camera flashes.

*Bleed like me* By Garbage is actually a nice lead off of this with that whole song drift thing and the way that whole-lotta dies off gives us great synch to slide into doing the song.

And that’s a great point for me to stop and call out to the crowd. “Yeah1 so how was that for a little bit of late night rocking it out and dancing it the middle of the week!?”

There’s some cheers and there some more camera flashes.

“You wanna hear some more!”

Lots more cheers and “Yeah’s!”

“Well how about something brand new!”

“This here’s Tingle and it’s written by Rayne LeBlanc of Starlight Butterfly.”

*Tingle* By Starlight Butterfly

Little ballerina’s running on my skin.
Your fingers are heaven…your touch is music.
There’s little ballerina’s dancing in my brain.
When you kiss me, when you kiss me…

I hear little bells in my ears when you laugh.
Sweet breathless feelings, you make me happy.
There’s that sound of love there that lingers on and that makes me breathless
You make me breathless….

(Chorus)…I never thought I’d feel like this!
Never thought that I’d be kissed!
Couldn’t happen, It’d never happen!
I never thought I’d feel this way!
I never thought I’d feel the real thing!
Oh!...You make me Tingle!
Baby you make me tingle…Baby.(Breathy)

(Repeat chorus)… (Breathy)…Uh…oh yeah…

All I had was two left feet and yet you groove me.
Oh baby you move me.
Never thought that I could dance!
Never thought that I’d be asked!
But you like braved me!
Reached out and saved me!

(Chorus X2)

It starts of light sort of like a Feist song sort of soft and breathy and it reminds me of that sort of light music box kind of music and then we hit the chorus and it gets more intense and I’m singing it a lot more like Jesse J. would when she really hits it and there’s some breathy parts that throwback to the first part of the song and people are rocking at the last two chorus repeats there’s people that are starting to sing along.

I go with that energy and the feel of that song I go into another song that did a whole lot of justice for us as a cover and we start going into our cover of *Who You Are* By Jessie J.

That’s a really good tune and yeah it’s sort of in the middle but it’s definitely girl rock. And we’ve a very girl centered and heavy crowd here.

And from that one I go into *Who’d Ever Think* By Starlight Butterfly and we end this part of the set with *Fortune favors The Bold* By Starlight Butterfly.

That’s eleven songs and that’s an hour right there.

I’m hot and sweaty and we’re all sort of on that edge of tired and energized and I stop and I look out at the crowd.

“We’re going to take a little break and when we come back we’re going to give you all the chance to have a few drinks and some more of the killer food and maybe a little dancing with whoever’s closest as we’re just sort of going to play this all relaxed and loose.”

We’re cheered and we head off the stage and I head for the bathroom and the place is busy and I can see through our little space Summer and her crew actually heading over to the counters led by Summer’s date and they’re eating and drinking and Summer’s actually like behaving herself and not headed our way.

I look at Raven and she’s looking too and she looks at me. “I’m okay.”

“You sure, they look close.”

“Yeah I’m fine but I kind feel like warning her about Summer and how she treats people.”

“You could.”

“I’d look like the jealous ex and Summer and I are like kind of public record and all that now with things.”

I just nod and look out at the girl and she’s kind of got this really long ash blonde hair and it’s got that sexy sort of crimped way in most of it and she has these braids and a top knot too and she’s as tall as me and she’s skinny too which kind of makes me feel good about like not being the only girl that skinny.

I don’t know, there’s something in her face even though she’s having a good time that almost says older than she looks.

Maybe she’ll be okay.

I don’t have time as I need to use the bathroom again this is going to be the final set so I get most of the make-up off and I get a quick wash too as we’re taking turns. I’m not like getting undressed and stuff but washing my face and the back of my neck and washing off my arms and just getting cooled off.

Then I switch out with the other girls and I get some more to drink and this time it’s a nice hot coffee because we’re going to have lots to do after the show is done and everything.

And then because it’s getting late and especially for a Wednesday night we head out from our break earlier than usual and we sort of talk about it as we’re going out and there’s a little bit of people not noticing at first we’re back out and then they start to come over and pay attention as we start up again with Roxy coming up to the mic stand and she starts to sing.

*True Colors* By Cyndi Lauper

It’s sort of interesting to see the lock on Summer’s face as it’s Kim singing and I’m smiling because Summer is the only front for her band and she was mostly the front for SLB before she broke it.

Then I get my guitar and play back up for Brooklyn as she takes a turn and she does her cover of *Steve McQueen* By Sheryl Crow.

Like I said she and Roxy have been and they do sort of have their own thing and they can actually sing the pair of them and they just need the chance.

Needed the chance actually.

Then Raven does her cover of *One and Only* By Adele and then she goes from that into doing *Billy Holiday* By Starlight Butterfly.

Then it’s me and I’m getting my folding chair and the keyboard as I do *Carousel* By Starlight Butterfly and there’s some shouts again for Invisible so I go into that while I’m there and play and sing *Invisible* By Starlight Butterfly and there’s people singing along with that song too this time again and it’s still really moving and surprising that so many people are into this song and it’s this popular.

It’s sort of my take on a kind of SLB song if someone like Cobane wrote it.

Then Raven gets close and Brooklyn gets closer and brings my mic stand from the front of the stage over and lowers it and she racks her electric and she gets her acoustic guitar that Mike had rescued and she gets another folding chair and she sits and I pull the mic from the set up for the keyboard and I’m just going to do vocals for this next one and we start off and a few of the older folks or the big music fans are clapping as we start into.

*Me and Bobby McGee* By Janis Joplin.

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
And I's feeling nearly as faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained,
It rode us all the way to New Orleans.

I pulled my harp from my dirty red bandanna,
I was playing soft while Bobby sang the blues.
Windshield wipers slapping time, I was holding Bobby's hand in mine,
We sang every song that driver knew.

And we come to the course and the girls are singing it with me but they’re keeping it steady as I’m actually going all out and I’m belting out the chorus trying to get that same sort of soulful vibe as when I saw Pink cover this same tune.

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free, now now.
And feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues,
You know feeling good was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.

From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun,
Hey, Bobby shared the secrets of my soul.
Through all kinds of weather, through everything that we done,
Hey Bobby baby kept me from the cold.

One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away,
He's looking for that home and I hope he finds it,
But I'd trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding Bobby's body next to mine.

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing, that's all that Bobby left me, yeah,
But feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues,
Hey, feeling good was good enough for me, hmm hmm,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.

And this part we all sort of join together again with me still singing the main but it just sounds so nice with three female voices all singing this together.

La la la, la la la la, la la la, la la la la
La la la la la Bobby McGee.
La la la la la, la la la la la
La la la la la, Bobby McGee, la.

La La la, la la la la la la,
La La la la la la la la la, hey now Bobby now Bobby McGee yeah.
Na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na na na na
Hey now Bobby now, Bobby McGee, yeah.

And now it goes back to just me singing it and it’s a great song to cover and this really might play well at The Amsterdam. There’s people out there that have been doing that old concert sway and when they’re there with someone they’re mostly holding each other and they’re doing that.

Lord, I'm calling my lover, calling my man,
I said I'm calling my lover just the best I can,
C'mon, where is Bobby now, where is Bobby McGee, yeah,
Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lord
Hey, hey, hey, Bobby McGee, Lord!

Yeah! Whew!

Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lord
Hey, hey, hey, Bobby McGee.

We stop playing for a few seconds and then there’s a swell of applause from the crowd and there’s pictures being flashed and whistles too and lots of cheers too and I smile at all of them and Brooklyn’s already starting to play us out with *One for the money, Two for the show* By Trooper.

I speak into the mic as the cheering is still sort of going on and some folks are leaving knowing it’s the last call or they’re getting ready to.

“I guess that’s it for tonight folks this was a really, really great day and we had such a fun night with all of you from both shows. We’d do more but we’re hitting the legal closing time for a licensed business downtown during the week.”

“Please tip well and drive safe and don’t forget to swing on by online and have a look at the web page for Chapel Street Women’s shelter you can find all of the links to it on our Facebook pages and our Youtube and Twitter.”

I go from all of that to joining in with Brooklyn and Raven as they hit the chorus and we sing our last song of the night.

There’s people leaving and there’s no one staying because we literally closed the place down or damned close to it and it’s close to one in the morning and that’s completely awesome on a Wednesday night really, it’s actually beyond awesome I think and there’s a lot to do yet.

But that might have to wait as I look to see as we’re ending our last notes Summer and the rest of Kisses & Thorns there right in front of the stage and Summer’s looking at us and she looks at the blonde whose holding hands with her and Summer does this cough.

“We need to talk.”