Patsy Power Part 21

Riordan then saw Angela looking at us so she beckoned her over. “Angela” she said “I know that Patsy and her band have to fly to Atlanta tomorrow morning; when does ‘Amazon’ fly to Miami, I know the first show is Thursday?” Angela said they were scheduled out on Monday so Riordan said “I want to reschedule to Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning and I want access to the K Beat studio with Chris here so that the whole band can see some video and audio; it may take some hours to watch.”

Angela nodded and Riordan turned back to Chris “Are you all right with that?” He nodded. She then turned back to Angela and said “Chris here is going to make a documentary of the life and death of Ashley to show what drugs can do to people. He will then make part two of the phoenix rising with the new look band that will be a story about drug-free artists who don’t burn out.”

“I am going to pay for his extra costs but all profit over cost shall go to the care homes. Ashley can do something good with her death if she couldn’t do any good with her life. He will also make an ‘Amazon live’ DVD with footage from the tour and it would be good if it comes out in the speedy fashion that the Patsy double did. I will cover the cost of that as well if need be. Can you get it by Simon and Sarah?” Angela said it would be done and she would see Riordan at the hotel in the morning. She then turned to me and said “You had better get the band together and leave, as you have and early flight in the morning. The limo will pick you up at 7.00am. Tell everyone to pack for a bit over two weeks as we will bring you home for a few days between the Mobile festival and the Dallas dates. Jake and the boys can fly back too as they will not be needed until the Sunday close in Santa Fe”

We gathered together and said our farewells and I gave Riordan a hug and told her she was doing well by her friend for all of the friendly times. We sent the boys to their homes and we went back to the house. Before we went to bed we all gave Nina a group hug and told her she was fantastic. Sunday morning was a rush to be ready but we were packed and set to go when the limo arrived to take us to the airport. There was quite a crowd heading to Atlanta that morning, not only our band but Jock and our festival support crew with lots of baggage. It was a good trip and when we got out of the terminal Alan was waiting for us with the bus. He took us to our hotel and we checked in where we freshened up and had lunch. The festival close was not until 10.30pm but we took the bus out to the site to check out the stage and set-up. Everything was good so we asked Alan, who had been in town for several days, to drive us around and see the sights. We had a good tour and went back to the hotel for dinner.

Following that we changed into our stage gear at the hotel as we would come straight back after the show. Then it was a quick make-over in the hotel salon and back out to the festival site. We were in good time and were able to listen to a couple of other bands before we had to set up for our spot. Come 10.30 we were ready to party and did so with much noise and magic. There seemed to be a sea of moving bodies in front of us as far as we could see with the lights and I think everyone had a good time. At least those who would remember it did. We finished on a high, walked off the stage and left the equipment to the long suffering roadies as usual, went back to the hotel, handed over out outfits for cleaning and dive into bed.

Monday morning we flew to Miami where we were scheduled to play the Thursday, Friday and Saturday. When we got to our hotel Angela was handed a note and she walked off to make a phone call. I gave her a quizzical look when she got back and she said “Tell you all at lunch”. We put our bags in our rooms and went down to the dining room for lunch. We had finished our meal and Angela stood up and said “OK, I had to call our local promoter’s representative this morning and he told me that the demand for tickets to all three shows has been so strong that, as per Simons’ instructions, he has hired a bigger venue for the shows.”

“The only problem being that the only venue he could get bigger than the two thousand seat theatre we had originally booked is a sports stadium that seats six thousand normally but comes back to five thousand after we take up one end with a stage. He has already contracted a stage supplier to erect one. This puts a different dynamic on the whole tour if it continues like this. Even if we don’t fill the sports stadium it will be a different experience.” I said, “We play to those sorts of numbers at the dance festivals so why don’t we get on to Tom and get him to bring the dance equipment here; we only have to get it to Daytona Beach for the next festival spot on Sunday; they can drive overnight. If it looks like we will be getting bigger venues we can get Pierre to ship some big amps directly to New Orleans as the ones that “Amazon’ supplied will not be big enough in a stadium setting. We may need to get another truck on the tour to handle the bigger gear. We will also need a bigger PA so maybe a third truck will be needed”

Angela asked me if I would be the one to ask him so I got a waiter to bring a phone to the table and I rang Pierre. When he was put on I said, “Hello Pierre, it is your own Patsy and she has a problem that may be a little bigger than her VIP card was designed for. We have been bumped to a sports stadium for Thursday evening and it will seat five thousand; our problem is that the equipment that ‘Amazon’ has been supplied is only good for indoor venues and certainly not powerful enough for a stadium. We can possibly get Tom to bring the festival gear here but it will be a problem shifting it between tours if we continue to book big venues. We would need four of your 500 watt amps and a bigger PA if we are going to put on a show plus a couple of trucks to carry them. Can you help, please?” He said that he would do anything for me and to pass the phone to Angela so he could write down the address of the venue. She put the phone down and said the gear would be here on Thursday morning so we won’t have to divert Tom. We will, however, need a bigger road crew so she rang Sarah with the news and Sarah said she would let Riordan know of the venue change and get four more roadies flown in and that Ma would make all of the booking arrangements for them and the extra truck drivers.

After lunch we went and had a look at the venue; it was humungous! The base of the stage was already erected and they were starting to work on the towers. I turned to Angela and asked “Is the tour making enough money for this set-up? It must cost thousands to erect and pull down after?” She told me that if we fill the stadium with five thousand fans we would take between a half and three quarters of a million per night so, yes, it can be afforded. We stood looking out at the now empty seats and I said loud enough for the rest of the band to hear “This is not about us, it is too sudden. It must be the army of ‘Amazon’ fans that have been built up over the last ten years that has caused this shift in demand.” Carl and the boys, who had been around a long time, agreed and Carl said, “It will become the ‘Amazon Revival Tour from here on, we are now certainly the opening act again. They will be the stars again and I am glad for them.” He looked at Nina and said “I am sorry Nina, but I reckon it is time for you to be a full time ‘Amazon’; we can’t afford for you to be burnt out doing two shows a night.” Angela agreed and Nina tearfully said “Thank you all, I will miss being an Innocent Girl and I know I will miss you all after the tour but I think Riordan would be upset if I didn’t keep with them and besides – I know all the words of their songs already.” I rang K Beat and asked to speak to Riordan; when I was put through she said “Patsy, you would not believe how good the video that Chris took is! I listened to the audio of part of a concert and it is good enough to release. I spoke to Sarah and she agreed that we will rush a live album of ‘Amazon reborn’ into the shops in about ten days. This is so exciting we all are jumping out of our skins!”

Part 22

I asked her if Sarah had spoken to her about the venue and she said that she had been told that we had been bumped to a bigger one but that was it. I told her that I was calling her from the stage being erected in a sports stadium and that I was looking out over five thousand empty seats. There was a gasp from the other end. “We only played somewhere that big at the height of our fame about five years ago. This is tremendous!” I told her that we had decided that we would let Nina sing just the ‘Amazon’ set for the future and she thanked me and asked me to hand the phone to Nina. They spoke for several minutes and Nina had tears in her eyes when she gave the phone back so the other girls got her into a group hug while I spoke to Riordan again. “Whatever you said has given her the weepies,” I said. She told me that she had welcomed Nina to the family and that there is a great future for her with the band. I said that we will all have to get together when she; and the rest of the band, arrive, and before I hung up told her that Pierre was sending down four five hundred watt amps for the stadium and if there was anything she, or the other members, wanted added, to get over to the music store and make sure it went on the trucks. “I asked for an outside PA but you, with your experience, may be able to advise him on size and configuration. He is going to send two trucks. Oh! Make sure he puts in enough heavy duty buds for everyone. Ours are with the festival gear.”

While I was speaking to her, Angela was on her phone to Joey. She told me that she had asked Joey to check the presales for the rest of the tour and to adjust venues as soon as he could. That reminded me of something else and got back on my phone to ring Ma. When I was put through I told her about the venue change here and the numbers we would likely be playing to and asked her if she could organise extra merchandise for the rest of the tour. I told her that Nina would now only sing with ‘Amazon’ so the publicist could put together a release when Sarah and Riordan OK it, probably sometime during our Miami dates. She told me to slow down and look after myself. The cheek of the woman!!

When I hung up with a smile on my face the others all looked at me so I said “Ma told me to slow down.” They all had a chuckle. We got back into the bus and went back to the hotel. Gathered together in a meeting room we looked at our playlist and discussed the songs we had. If we took all of the songs that Nina featured on we would be three short. We would also have to take her verse out of the ‘Mall Song’. I suggested that we put all of the quieter ones at the start of the set, so putting ‘Changing’ earlier, maybe even opening with it; and end the set with our three dance numbers that Carl and this band knew well - ‘Bounce’, ‘Maximum’ with ‘Dancefloor’ as an encore. We could bring them back to less than earthquake volume and they would fit well with the second half opening. I told everyone that I had asked Riordan to make sure Pierre put in heavy duty buds for us all. We spent the rest of the day quietly singing the lyrics to the new list so we didn’t make a mistake due to familiarity with the old order. We could not do anything else until the stage was built and the amps had arrived so we had a little holiday in the Miami sunshine and I got less embarrassed wearing a bikini.

Wednesday afternoon the others flew in and we had word that the trucks had arrived so we caught up with everyone over dinner. The crew was going to fit the PA and other equipment over night; I was told that our lighting and sound men were beside themselves with excitement as they were now able to fully utilise their skills in the open air. I think that the lighting man had emptied the K Beat store of strobes and searchlights. What ever happened tomorrow evening it would look and sound absolutely tremendous. Riordan and the others all hugged Nina and welcomed her to the line-up. Riordan took me aside and told me that she was really impressed by the work Chris had done and that she was sure that the documentaries he will make would be a world-wide hit. She also said that they had finalised the mix for a live album and Joey was going to make it happen before the Dallas dates, with an accompanying live DVD a week later.

Thursday morning we all took the bus to the stadium. We all got up on the stage and looked out over the seats. Kurt said “This takes my mind back a few years; it gives me goose bumps just to be here again.” The amps and PA were set and the mixing desk was set up out on the centre line and seats had been put out on the grass. The promotor’s rep was there and told us that they would add about a thousand to the numbers and that he thought we would need them tonight as we were nearly at the five thousand mark already with about four thousand sold for each of the following nights. Riordan pointed out a few guys wandering around and told me they were Chris’ crew. I looked over to the mixer and Ron gave me a wave. I said that they were pulling out all the stops with this one and everyone agreed. We went down the back stairs of the stage and into the changing room area of the stadium. Lucy had organised a set of matching outfits for us and a new set of outfits for ‘Amazon’ including a similar set for me “At Riordans request, she says you are an honorary Amazon for the rest of the tour” she said, “This is the most exciting thing that has happened to me and I can’t wait for tonight.”

We then had a walk around the concession area and were amazed at the size and number of stalls there. I saw Ma and walked over to give her a hug. She said “It’s a good job you gave me the heads-up, Patsy, you can’t do a venue like this with a single stall as the numbers are just too big. We have six each of the band stalls around and there are fifteen food and drink stands who pay a hiring fee and Pierre has sent enough gear and personnel for three music stands. Oh! Come and look at this one.”

She led me to the main entrance and there, on a revolving podium, was the advert Thunderbird with a big picture behind it of the Innocent Girls driving off the dealership lot. She told me that Peter was approached by his supplier to lend it and that it would grace the entry of each venue for the rest of the tour. “I think they have something a little special intended for Detroit” she said, “it seems that their marketing office has taken up the happy concept and has rejigged your advert for other dealerships by simply altering the lot name on the final scene to suit the city it is shown in. I expect you will see some good royalty payments into your account; I know Chris has been walking about the place with some new, and better, clothes on, and that Peter has allowed him to choose a new car.”

We all then gathered back at the stage, kitted up and did a low volume rehearsal of our ‘Party’ set with the new list, followed by a once-through version of ‘Bounce’ at proper volume for our mixer to get a good setting. Then ‘Amazon’ took the stage and did the full set with the final song on full volume for the setting, followed by the encore song quieter. “Don’t want to let the eavesdroppers record this before the show,” Angela said afterwards.

That all done we left the venue to the workers and went back to the hotel for lunch. In the afternoon we all had interviews set up for the local media as well as some national music writers so it was a busy time before we had to call a halt so we could have a light dinner. There was an extra girl at our table that evening and Angela introduced her as her assistant Mary, brought in to lighten her load. Mary said that she was honoured to be with such famous people and we all told her to tell us when she sees some as we collected autographs. After dinner it was the usual hair and make-up in the salon and we went to the stadium, going a back way under the stands. Before we kitted up I took Mary up the back stairs and onto the back of the stage, looking out at people already drifting in. “I’ve never seen anything like it” she said. I answered “Neither have the rest of us.”

Marianne G 2020