Chapter 22

The Saturday and Sunday shows were equally as exciting. Jill told them, on Sunday afternoon, that the sales of the Kansas DVD had picked up, and the ‘Homegrown’ CD had already reached Gold status, but the presentations would be postponed until they reached London.

“Another thing. I’ll send out an email to all the bands that is an alteration in the plans. In the week you have a show in Manchester is now two shows. You have three shows in Liverpool, then two shows in Leeds and two shows in Sheffield. These are too far away to have you travelling up and back. You’ll never get any rest. When the tour was planned, it was thought to only be a show in each place. We’ve booked everyone into hotels in each of those cities. You’ll need to pack for two weeks away. You’ll be back on the Monday after the Sheffield show, and then off to Southampton on the Wednesday morning. You’ll be away six nights there and London. After that, you can sit and relax for a couple of weeks.”

Back home, on the Sunday night, Willow told her parents of the new plan. On Monday morning the email came through to all the band members. It outlined the new plan, and also said that any guests who had been scheduled to go to the four northern shows would have their own transport service. Those going to Manchester for the first show would be going north with the bands, but will be brought back in one, or more of the busses. Those listed for the following shows would be picked up and brought back on the day of the show. Jill wanted a list of those going. Willow forwarded the list to Dianne to sort out. They had not listed any extras for the trip south.

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In Coventry, that morning, Bruce sat at his computer in the newspaper office to compose his article for the next edition.

On the weekend, I saw the ‘Coventry Sound’ show twice. The first was as a VIP, guest of Willow Rose, and the next was as a paying customer, accompanied by my wife. Both were exceptionally uplifting experiences. Those who follow the local scene would already know the three bands. G-Force, Rick Sacks and the Hikers, and Summer Rose have been in the charts for some time now. All have Gold or Platinum Records. I have seen them from their infancy, and have been amazed at their progress, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw and heard. These three bands are not just the new Coventry Sound. What I heard was the advance guard of what may be known as the New British Invasion when the history books are written. They are playing another four venues before taking the show south, with the last show in London. Whatever you do, give yourself a treat and go along to see the show. You’ll also be helping the disadvantaged, as the bulk of every show profit is going to charity.

He added some photos that he had taken and submitted it to his editor. Then, as an afterthought, he sent the complete article to the reporter who had been sent up to Stoneleigh to ‘get a story’ but ended up getting more than one.

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Willow, like the rest of the band, relaxed on the Monday and Tuesday. She rang the doctor and explained that she was due for a B-twelve injection at the end of the following week but would be away that day. She made an appointment for the Monday after. The doctor asked her how her operation was, and she admitted that the feelings were real and amazing. The doctor said that she would give her a booster of the hormones when she came in. When the call was ended, Willow wondered if more hormones would send her boy crazy.

On Wednesday morning, just after her parents went to work, she was picked up to go to Manchester, her bigger case and her roller put into the bus storage. They picked up Gina and Jacob, both with a lot more luggage, then stopped at the Cathedral to collect the guests, followed by getting Xavier, Frank, and Dave with their luggage. Sebastian told them that they could have gone a quick way, which would be on a toll road, but were looping around by taking the M1. Driving time, he said, would be a minimum of three hours, so the guests who were coming home after the show should call their parents to let them know that they would need picking up in the early hours.

They arrived in Manchester at about one, that afternoon. The procedure varied from the previous shows because of the changes. They stopped first at the hotel, where those staying checked in, joining the rest of the band. The other bands were in another hotel. When Gina saw that she was sharing with Willow and Jacob was sharing with Brent, she smiled. They all had lunch in the hotel before going to the stadium. The Manchester City ground was in a precinct named the Etihad Campus, and on property owned by the city council. It was a whole area of sporting complexes.

The situation inside was much the same as before. They had a function room for dinner before the show, the usual vendors in the stadium concourse, and the stage that they had used last in Leicester. Xavier and his friends went to check out the control tent, while all the others wandered the concourse. The stalls with the Club Merchandise all wanted pictures, and several of them ended up with club shirts.

Later, they were asked to do sound checks, so did so before dinner. When they saw Xavier, Willow asked him why the sound checks were needed this time.

“It’s because of the streaming, Willow. It adds a whole new level to what we’re doing.”

“Streaming?”

“Yes. This club is owned by a very wealthy company. They have strong connections with other clubs all over the world. We had to allow the studio here to fine tune the sound and vision that we will feed them before you go on stage.”

“How many ‘other clubs’?”

“About a dozen. They will live stream the show to all of them. Of course, for some of them it will be the middle of the night or the early hours of the morning. In fact, in Melbourne it will be the early hours of tomorrow morning.”

“Melbourne, Australia?”

“Yes. I saw the list. The show will be going there, Japan, China, New York, Uruguay, India, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, and Brazil. It will be in real time, and they told me that there are usually big crowds at the clubs, no matter what time the shows are on.”

“Come with me, young man. Our label needs to know this, if they don’t already.”

She led him to where Clive was sitting and got him to repeat his story. Clive stood.

“That’s interesting. I’ll go and see what it’s all about. If nothing else, we need to know about any feedback from the other countries, and if they will record the show for transmission later. With China, who knows what they’ll do with it!”

He went off to speak to the club management. Willow sat with Xavier to talk.

“This feeding to another studio, does that make things harder?”

“A little. We will have to direct the signal to them as final. It’s lucky that we’ve had the experience with that new software that you got for us. Frank and Dave will be in charge of the vision, while all I have to do is make sure the audio is unbroken. We’ll have headsets like the ones they use in rally cars and will be talking to each other constantly. The other two guys are old hands, but not with the software that we’ll be using here.”

“Make sure you tell this to Clive when he gets back. You three deserve to be on the credits for the technical input. I wonder if this will accelerate the label’s expansion of our market. If so, the sky’s the limit.”

Later on, she saw Xavier and the others talking to Clive and another man. When she saw Clive, she grinned.

“Did that put the cat among the pigeons?”

“Yes and no. They thought that all of the show was theirs to do with as they want. I have pointed out that all three bands are contracted to the label and any vision and audio used is the property of the label, if it’s used for commercial use. I’ll be seeing their legal people tomorrow, to draw up an agreement for them to market the show in the countries that will be taking the stream. I’ve told them that an official show has been properly filmed and that we will be happy to supply that at a discount, allowing them to add a sticker to the case. It could get you all out there in the other countries over our winter, when you’re back at school. Each band will only get a couple of pounds for each of these sent out, but you never know where it will lead. We’ll keep you all, and Peter, posted.”

After the dinner, the bands went down to get ready. After that, it was a repeat of the previous shows. At the end of the night, the band said ‘cheerio’ to their guests and took the lanyards as they left for the long drive home. When they had all changed, Max came to take them to the bus.

“The guests all fitted in one vehicle, so you’re in with us and the others are in another bus.”

Back in the hotel, the girls got ready for bed. There was a knock on their door and both Brent and Jacob were there. They had a group hug and Brent stayed as Willow was taken back to the other room with Jacob.

In the morning, the girls had showers and got ready to face the day.

“How are you after last night, friend?”

“It just keeps getting better, Willow. He now knows where my sweet spot is, and he drives me mad. He’s going to have to get more condoms today. I wonder if we’ll have time to visit the shops.”

“We can ask at reception.”

They went down to the dining room, sitting with Vivienne and Nancy for breakfast. It was a nicer start to the day, nothing to do until they were back at the stadium. Until Jill came in.

“Listen up, gang. We have an interview at the radio station at eleven, and an appointment for the girls in a salon at two. When you’re ready, the bus will take you to the Arndale Centre for a wander in the shops for an hour or so. Please get back to it by twenty to eleven. The radio station is giving you lunch. The boys will be taken to the stadium and the girls will join them after they’ve been prettied up.”

They finished eating, grumbled a bit, but went to freshen up and then met in reception. Gina grinned.

“Looks like we won’t have to ask where the shops are, now.”

When they arrived at the shops, they were all given a map of the centre. Some of the boys went off to see if they could get new shoes, Jacob and Brent headed to the chemist to get condoms, and the girls went directly to Victorias Secret. They dutifully returned to the vehicle and were taken to the radio station. Willow had decided that, somewhere, there was a printed list of all the questions they were likely to be asked, and the station didn’t disappoint.

After lunch, Jill and the four girls were dropped off at a salon, where they had a check-over, a new hairstyle, and a mani-ped before the new make-up. They all looked good when the vehicle came back for them.

At the stadium, they met their new crop of guests who had arrived a little while earlier. They all escorted the excited visitors around the venue, adding to the number of pictures taken of them. When they were back in the function room, Willow went looking for Clive.

“Did you sort things out?”

“We did. The legal department is going to have to organise the paperwork, but the situation is that the club owners have a worldwide web of companies, other football clubs, and links. We have agreed on a figure for them to use the show that was streamed last night. I was told, this morning, that close to eighty thousand were at the various clubrooms around the world to watch. They are going to set up distribution of our label in places we don’t have a market. It's an interesting turn of events, with both sides not knowing each other before last night. The feed, by the way, was commented on as being very professional, those lads have a fine future ahead of them.”

They had dinner, then went to do the show, while their guests had a front row view. They may not have had a getting to know you ride there and back, but none of the guests were complaining.

That night, both the girls wore new nightie and gowns that had come from their shopping trip, with Willow entertaining Jacob while Gina went to the other room. In the morning, they checked out and went into Liverpool. They checked into the Kop View hotel, a stone’s throw from the Anfield Stadium. The four girls shared a room, so fun at night was out for a while.

After checking in, they were taken to see the city, along with G-Force. They went to the riverside area, to see the Beatles statue, the Liver Bird monument, and a visit to the British Music Experience, where there were a lot of fans wanting selfies with history in the making. When they stood beside the ferry headquarters, looking over the Mersey, Willow spoke to Zara, who smiled and nodded. She then went to speak to Herb, who gave her a hug. After that, she had a long talk with Xavier and Frank.

Later, they were taken to the stadium, where they met up with a smaller group of guests. Most parents didn’t want their children driving four hours in a bus to get home just before dawn. These were the last group. They had, between them, given almost all the second and third years the chance of a free show.

They explored the concourse together, had a few laughs, spoke to a lot of vendors and their guests loaded up with goodies. Then it was dinner and the usual preparation for the show. Tonight was the biggest crowd of the tour. With the seating on the covered pitch, they were playing to sixty thousand. G-Force got a great reception, their music reminiscent of the sort of stuff that Liverpool was known for. The Hikers were cheered after every song, and when Summer Rose walked out, the noise was like standing next to a jet engine.

Their set went down very well, with a lot of singing to the songs that more people now knew. At the finale, after ‘Spitter’, all the bands were lined up across the stage. In the control room, the director was ready to call them to leave, but Xavier put one hand over the microphone and the other over the master slider. The director wondered what was going on as Willow stepped up to a microphone and gestured for a bit of quiet. When the sound had abated, she spoke.

“Liverpool, you have been a wonderful audience, and we love you all. We were having a look around the riverside today and realised that we couldn’t end the night without another song. This one is the one you love.”

Zara started singing, with her lovely voice.

“When you walk through the storm, hold your head up high.”

Those who were dashing for the exits stopped in their tracks, the crowd, who had sung this countless times, joined in, and there was sixty thousand singing the iconic song. The director smiled at Xavier and sat back. Herb was playing like Brian May, and the moment became one that no-one would forget.

Clive and Jill, who were standing behind the amps to congratulate the bands, stepped out to look at the scene. There was hardly a dry eye in the stadium when the song ended, and the crowd erupted in a louder cheer than before. The director called for the stage to be cleared, and he brought up the stadium lights as Xavier zeroed the master slider. The stage lights went off and the audience continued their exit. The director told Xavier to never pull a stunt like that again, then smiled and added, “without telling me first.”

Clive and Jill hugged everyone, right there on stage, as they moved to go down. When he hugged Willow, Clive laughed.

“I’m not going to tell you that you’re wicked, but that was the riskiest thing you’ve done so far. It was audacious and shouldn’t have worked, but you may have provided the newspapers with a front-page headline in the morning.”

That night, they waved off their last set of guests and changed while waiting for the crowd to disperse, then walked the hundred or so yards to the hotel and a good night’s sleep.

The Saturday newspapers that were in the dining room didn’t have them on the front page, but on page three. The headline was ‘The Last Song’, and the article went on to say that the show on Friday night was magnificent, but the singing of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ at the very end had turned it into a monumental success. It spoke about every part of the show and ended with a statement that made them all draw breath as Jill read the article out to them.

“This is interesting. It reads, ‘The show may have arrived as the Coventry Sound but will leave as the new sound of British music. The whole show was interesting, the new songs are so catchy that there was strong singing along, especially since the Summer Rose album has only been on the market a few weeks. In all, the next two shows here are not to be missed. If you haven’t got your tickets, see if you can get to Leeds or Sheffield, before they take this spectacular south.”

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In Coventry, Bruce was looking at his laptop, reading the article. He subscribed to an information service and had requested everything on Summer Rose and the Coventry Sound tour. He laughed out loud at the sheer audacity of the moment, knowing that it must have been something that Willow had dreamed up.

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In London, Henry Talbot, who had submitted the same request since Bruce had sent him that article from the Coventry Observer, read this article twice, then looked at the calendar to double check the dates that the show was in Southampton, then sent a request to his editor to reserve space in the paper that would be on the streets the day before the London shows, and then made an on-line booking for a single seat at the Wednesday Southampton show.

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It was now considered too risky for the bands to walk the streets, so the bus was parked by the side entrance of the hotel, and they boarded it unseen. With the two bands on board, Jill announced that she had made a booking for them all for lunch at the Old Victoria, the dining room at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

When they arrived at the seaside mecca, they started at a shop selling beachwear, and all changed into summer outfits, putting what they had worn in the shop bags in the bus. Then, looking like a school outing, they went up to tower, and then to the Winter Gardens for lunch. The venue was nice and modern, the food was good, and they were entertained by a piano trio on a stage that would have been hard to fit the four of the sing-along group onto. Willow and Gina laughed when they realised what a big favour Marcus had done for them with his dummy spit.

After lunch, they walked the new promenade, in small groups, and then went to the Pleasure Beach to enjoy what remained of the rides, including the huge roller coaster. Without the stage dress and looking like a bunch of kids on a day out, they never had any problems, getting back to the hotel about four-thirty. The freshened up and walked to the stadium, as the crowds hadn’t started gathering in big numbers. They went, five minutes apart, in small groups, so to not stand out.

When they were all in the function room, Clive was there and got all the bands together.

“All right, listen up. What you did last night was in the papers this morning, and it’s set off a flurry of activity. Tonight, the club wants you to repeat the last song, just as you did before. The difference will be that tonight you’ll be joined, on stage, by the first team and the subs, in their team shirts. The other thing, and this affects you, Xavier and your two henchmen, is that you will be sending the feed to the in-house TV studio. They will stream it on LFCTV, which is available to fans anywhere in the world. They have already advertised the show, as we came to an agreement this morning. The feed will continue as last night, until the stage lights go out, which should happen about five minutes later than usual.”

Herb wanted to know if he could play his guitar in the style he had done and was told that it was all right. Willow wanted to know if they would do this on Sunday as well and was told that the fans were certainly going to expect it.

“Now, one other thing is that the Dean of the Liverpool Cathedral has asked us if Gina could play their organ tomorrow morning for the service that goes from eight-thirty to nine-thirty, and for Willow to play the Evensong between five-thirty to a bit after six. As you aren’t on stage until nine-thirty, I think that it’s possible. Are you two happy to oblige? The Dean did tell me that the Cathedral organ is the biggest in the country and has eleven thousand pipes.”

“Count us in, Clive. With the morning service, can we have a bus if there are others who want to attend?”

Clive took a show of hands and declared that a bus would be outside the hotel at eight.

“It’s too dangerous to have a lot of you off-site in the evening. The Cathedral will send a car for you and bring you back, Willow. Now, some more news. For those of you running short on knickers and socks, our next hotel, in Leeds, is one of the Ibis chain and has laundry service, so sort out your smelly stuff when you arrive on Monday, and you’ll have it cleaned by Tuesday. Now, have a wander and be back here for dinner at a quarter to six.”

As they were heading for the concourse to see the vendors, Ashley and Wendy arrived with an older man and woman.

“Willow, darling, how have you been?”

“Busy, Mum. But it’s been great. It’s lovely to see you.”

“Sweetheart, this gentleman is your father’s section manager and his wife. They have family here and it was an opportunity to come and see them. We’re staying for two nights in the city and will be bringing their two granddaughters with us tomorrow and heading home on Monday.”

“That’s great, Mum. You both got a day off?”

“It’s wonderful what bringing your workmates to the shows has done for our standings at both workplaces, love. What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Gina’s playing at the Cathedral in the morning, but we can get together during the day. I’m set to play Evensong until just after six, and then I’ll be brought back here to get ready for the show.”

“What did you do today, you all look like a school outing in those summer outfits.”

“We’ve been to Blackpool for a look and a ride on the really big dipper.”

She walked around the vendors with her parents and their guests, then they all went for dinner. Ashley was amazed that he was in the room with the whole Liverpool team.

“Why are they here?”

“We sang the club song last night after the show and it raised the roof. They’re all joining us on stage after our encore and we’re doing it again. It will be going world-wide on the club TV show. In the week, our Manchester show also was live streamed to a dozen countries, including Australia.”

After dinner, the guests went off to mingle with the paying customers in the concourse until it was time for the show. The players went off to the corporate boxes to mingle with the supporters until it was time to come back, and the bands all went down to the marquee to get themselves ready for the show.

Marianne Gregory © 2025