Jem… Chapter 83

Chapter 83

 

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Author's Note: Picture used with permission from *lavonia on deviantart.

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Chapter 83
 

What a great way to start a show…a rock anthem, my own little shout out for the pub…I knew that’d go over good. Everyone loves their little own watering holes, everyone loved the idea of a Cheers of their own.

I’m smiling as I pull my guitar into place and start playing.

*Rock this Joint.* By Alannah Myles is a great rocker chick tune for us to slip into after all of that.

And that is a good song to let us slip over to a song like. *Raise a little Hell.* By Trooper always a good choice if you’re looking for something classic to play. I signal the change over to the next song and we go into our song.

*Raise Your Fist.* By Starlight Butterfly.

Then a quick pop over to my wheel house and we get into serious girl rock as we crank out the guitar and as soon as we do there’s a mini-rush of girls up dancing. It’s a great tune and one of the best girl rocker jams ever in my opinion.

And as soon as I’m singing so are some of the girls and the women all too… *I Love Rock and Roll.* By Joan Jet.

I love it when they yell and shout it out along with me…. “Hey…yeah…hey…!”

And they’re screaming…and they’re singing… “I Love Rock and Roll!”
“Put another dime in the jukebox baby!”
“I love Rock and Roll!”
“So come and take your time and dance with me!”

This opens us up to do a rendition all our own of *Loving every minute of It.* By Loverboy. It’s a good old rocking tune with a heavy kind of 80’s sound that seems to work really great with this crowd and with the feel that that song has we slip back into another tune from that time.

And you know my high pitched girl power voice that I use to do covers for The Dollyrots? I can do a great cover girl power vocal for AC/DC tunes. It just fits like I’m a skinny punk rock high pitched Bon Scott.

And AC/DC is really still popular with the Ontario blue collar crowd and especially anyone over the age of thirty. And the girls with the guitars and those familiar riffs and I get right into it as we do. *It’s A Long Way to The Top!.... if Ya Wanna Rock and Roll.*

The girls can kick in with the main line lyrics and the older part of the crowd are singing right along with me especially when I’m Mic’ing the crowd and there’s that “shake it” effect that goes on when girls that like rock…women that like rock get going on.

Older women showing the younger girls both trying to keep it going and the guys getting in on it because the girls are shaking and dancing and people are singing and partying along….

And that rush of playing live with a really awesome house is kicking in and honestly…this stuff is tickling my Jase side…not all macho guy stuff but when I just thought that Jase was just me I was into old rock as much as I knew the money and styles went other ways and I loved listening to it and I loved air guitaring and air drumming along to it then and I had dreams as Jase of getting to play gigs like this.

So its way, way cool that I’m getting to do something I’ve always dreamed of. The cool thing is that now…now I’m getting this charge from doing AC/DC really good that I can almost imagine how Joan Jett felt when she got to do Dirty Deeds.

And speaking of Joan Jett we go right from the AC/DC song into her or rather my take on her doing *Bad Reputation.*

Then *Please Don’t Go.* By Starlight Butterfly.

And *Bleed like Me* By Garbage always a great tune and a crowd pleaser too…this band has never gotten the credit it’s deserved in my opinion.

Right into *I Need You Tonight* our sexy cover but by INXS.

That’s kind of slower and right now I’m not going for that so I kick it up with us covering *Oh Love* By Greenday which is a good song for our regular fans in the crowd as it’s much more the college generation kind of tune and that let’s me take us to some faster but fun music to rock to and dance to like.

*I’m a Believer* More us doing a cover of Smashmouth then the Beatles but it’s still a good tune and let’s me bring in the older set again by going from that into.

*Twist and Shout* By The Beatles though really in my head I’m channelling Ferris Bueller at the parade for this.

(Okay I’m so going to sing Danke Schoen like that to Rayne sometime.)

*Can’t stop* By The Red Hot Chili Peppers slips nicely into that with it’s faster younger vibe and it’s just another tune I like to sing and sort of spaz dance to which gets the fans going.

Then we go into *Because I’m Awesome* By The Dollyrots and that’s one of our power tunes with our fans and they get right into it and the dancing gets pretty fast and even the older people that are still dancing are getting caught up in that too.

*Love Shack* By The B52’s is next and it’s not strictly rock but it’s the older era and it’s just a really fun song that you can play really loud and dance to and almost as importantly it’s got just that fun and funky edge to it that lets us play into…

*Soul Sister* By Train and The crowd goes pretty nuts with the first strums of the ukulele and they’re singing along really loudly.

We’ve been playing really hard and really intensely since we’ve pretty much got her and after almost twenty tunes we’re beat and soaked in sweat and stuff and we need a breather.

I step up to the mic and smile and wave at everyone. “Hey everyone!”

There’s a swell of “Hey Angel…” from the crowd mostly from our fans. Mike’s tossing juices to all of us and I catch mine and tale a long drink right there.

“Everyone having a good time?!”

There’s some yells and a lot of whistles for us.

“We’re going to take a breather and wash off and stuff but get ready for us to come back and we’ll slip it into another gear and let all you romantics have a chance to pull out your better halves and do some slow dancing and cuddling to some really great tunes.”

There’s some more cheers and whistles coming from the crowd and I signal to the girls and I lean into the mic and grin at the crowd. “One more song…?”

More whistles and cheers.

What would you do if I sang out of tune? (Me)
Would you stand up and walk out on me.?

Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song… (Rayne)
And I'll try not to sing out of key.

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends, (All of us)
Mmm; I get high with a little help from my friends,

Mmm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends. (I mic the crowd and they slip right in and sing along with that line and it’s loud. This is such a good bar tune.)

Do you need anybody? (All of us.)
I need somebody to love.
Could it be anybody?
I want somebody to love.

What do I do when my love is away. (Brooklyn.)

Does it worry you to be alone? (The rest of us.)

How do I feel by the end of the day (Brooklyn.)

Are you sad because you're on your own? (The rest of us.)

No, I get by with a little help from my friends (Brooklyn.)
Mmm, get high with a little help from my friends. (All of us.)
Mmm, gonna to try with a little help from my friends (I mic the crowd again.)

Do you need anybody? (All of us.)
I need somebody to love.
Could it be anybody?
I want somebody to love.

Would you believe in a love at first sight? (Kimmie.)
Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time.
What do you see when you turn out the light?
I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends (Kimmie.)
Mmm I get high with a little help from my friends. (All of us.)
Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends. (I mic the crowd.)

Do you need anybody? (All of us.)
I just need someone to love.
Could it be anybody?
I want somebody to love

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends (All of us.)
Mmm, gonna try with a little help from my friends (I mic the crowd.)
Ooh, I get high with a little help from my friends (All of us.)
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends
with a little help from my friends

We finish the song and there’s whistles and really loud cheers and we clap and applaud the crowd and whistle and cheer back because that was awesome.

I’m actually vibrating…the entire place was shouting those words and that was just so frigging cool…I knew that was a good song…I just knew that it was….two hundred plus voices all singing out.

“With a little help from my friends….” From like nineteen to like in their sixties or more…yeah there were some older rockers out there in spots and they were just us how to do it the right way…

Just amazing…just…

We get backstage and it degenerates to this four girls screaming and squeeing and hugging and jumping up and down and then…

Thump…Rayne pins me to the wall and she leans in pressing her body to mine and she starts kissing me.

It’s hands all over each other and sweat and her hands touching me…feeling me all over and the little scrape of nails and then her fingers sinking into my back pockets and cupping my bum as she’s is kissing me in that french way she has where my tongue is not my tongue.

We some how make it into the bathroom and we let Brooklyn and Kimmie use the facilities first while we make out and then Brooklyn’s out and her and Mike are making out and As soon as Kimmie’s out we slip into the stall and it’s so strange…Rayne’s taking a pee and we’re still kissing and vice versa but then again our mouths aren’t involved in that…

Well not here.

I get out and Mike stands guard for us as we all peel out of our tops or peel them down that far and its cold water and wash clothes with some soap from home to cool our bodies down. And drink water. Lots of water as we talk about the last set and how cool it was.

Or they’re doing most of the talking me I’m taking sips of the coldest water we have and holding it in my throat until it warms and then I swallow. It’s actually about twenty past nine after doing all those songs. That’s twenty songs, twenty live songs which always seem to play out longer than the recorded versions.

I’ve also go my shirt off and soaking in some cold water to one get some of the sweat out, two to have something cooler to wear, three…my “boobs” they don’t sweat so I was getting a dry spot compared to the rest of the shirt.

There’s a knock from Mike. “Jake’s here.”

“We’ll be right out.” I call and I wring my shirt out and we head out. Jakes there with one of the waitresses and they have some drinks in pitchers and fries and various odds and ends.

Jake’s staring at me super intently…yeah wet tee-shirt staring. He’s blushing and smiling at the same time.

“I…I really don’t know what to say girls…the show’s really great and the place is packed and people are raving about the show…and then there’s that…that thing you did that drinking salute the for the pub…”

I smile at him. “Hey I told you we’d do a jingle thing for here like the commercial we did for Lucky’s.”

He stops and gives me this look like oh…yeah. “That’s right you did.”

“Woman of my word.” I smile and take a few fries. You’d be surprised at the calories you burn off playing and dancing and singing under those lights.

Jake nods still staring at me. “Yeah…yeah you are…” It’s intense and it’s a little wistful? And maybe in my head…I mean I know he thinks I’m cute and well he’s a guy so there a kind of a given there right? But Jake’s staring at me with this…I don’t know it’s scary intense but not creepy intense…but over me?

And jeeze I’d be dead if he knew the truth though.

But I can admit it’s really heady and very…I don’t know exactly hoe to describe the odd feeling of power that being pretty has. Maybe that’s the actual scary part.

But there’s this whole other thing there too that I do like, and that’s the look of respect I’m getting from him.

I really like that feeling a whole lot. And it’s a different feeling the way I feel with Mr. Walker. With Mr. Walker he makes me feel competent, Jake…Jake’s making me feel like a woman…not sexually…well not totally but like I’m…older…different.

“We’ll pull that segment out from our recordings Jake and we’ll send it to you so you can clip in onto your website for the Pub.”

He actually blinks. “We don’t have a website.”

“You don’t?” I look at him. “You should get one, you’ve got great food and you host live bands and that’s a draw.”

“A draw?”

“Heck yeah there’s a lot of music fans that just go to clubs and small places like this for the shows, there’s tours even with some of the travel agencies that do tours of the province just to go around seeing bands.”

“Okay…”

“Get some one in to do your web page and then get them to get you connected to some of these band venue sites. You can get people in all over the place and even draw some in.”

“Some in?”

“Bands, say you want a band to come and play here you and The Pine tree and Lucky’s and The Wild Cat could all offer gigs to draw in some bands. Some bigger ones might actually take a look at town as a tour choice then and bands like Starlight Butterfly size wise would definitely pack up and travel for a spot in a town where they have three or for gigs.”

“You’ve thought about this a lot.”

I can’t keep the big smile off my face as Rayne wraps her arms around me and presses into me. “Yes she has, my girl is all kinds of awesome.”

I lean into her lips which are on my neck and sucking on it. With kisses and nibbles.

“Mmm….yeah…I actually have but all this stuff’s new to me like idea wise. I…mmm…I’ve got this idea that we could get something like this growing and Harper’s point for all it’s small might be a good place to come and see music…it’s be cool if we were the town around here that people come into on the weekends because we’re the place to see great shows.”

Rayne pulls off my neck with a soft pop sound. “Yes and there’s the added bonus of us having lots of work and maybe even the town getting spin off too.”

Me I could go on a lot about this and honestly I think not only will it work as a general idea but it’d be a great way to get garage bands all over to work with guys like Jake and Mr. Walker and get back to that 80’s thing where there were hundreds of little bands all over the country.

Maybe even start the trend of it being so non-commercial that it’ll be much cooler to see bands live as much as possible and link that to all of us not doing the labels but putting out all our own indie stuff.

There’s a few more minutes of talking and eating then back to the bathroom for another pee and a make-up redo and then we head back out on stage and there’s a bunch of cheering and we wave and grab our instruments and tap the mic.

“Hey all we’re back and I think it’s just about that time of the night to grab your friend or your sweat heart and snuggle together into some sweet romantic dancing.”

There’s a lot of tune we could open with but The Beatles have been working really well tonight and this’ll get young and old…get them slow dancing and singing along and once I’ve got that going then the rest will just flow.

*All you need is Love.* By the Beatles is what we open with and then we go from that into these really great slow dance with your partner songs.

*Right here waiting for You* By Richard Marx.

*Billy Holiday.* By Starlight Butterfly but with Raven singing.

*Heaven* By Bryan Adams.

*Forever* By KISS another pretty good song by a much maligned bad of the era.

*Have I told you lately.* By Rod Stewart and that’s really just a lovely song.

*Washed Away.* By Starlight Butterfly.

*Everything* By Starlight Butterfly.

*Faithfully* By Journey and of that one goes over here really well too with this crowd and the few sort of holding out from dancing couples kind of get up and start to slow dance with the rest of the people.

It’s really something to watch.

Rayne takes over for a couple of songs as we go into. *Lover of Mine.* By Alannah Myles which is a great song and perfect for Raven’s voice.

Then she goes into one of my faves and a bit more of a current song with *One and Only* By Adele. My God my girl can belt out that deep power voice. Me I can do some power stuff but I’m more that Whitney Houston at me lower ranges and well upward I’m not sure my limit yet with that but it’s pretty high.

Then she slips back into another Alannah Myles song as we jam the dancing crowd out with *Love Is.*

That’s got a bit more step to it and lets me bring up a song that I really liked for a long time and it’s a song made for a movie. Eddie and The Cruisers 2…it’s John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band and it’s called *Just a matter of time.*

There was a time…
You had no need for rhythm
or rhyme

And the world seemed so wild
and so free…
You just wrapped yourself up
in a dream…

All you had to do was believe
and nothin’ was out of your reach
so sure how it all falls in line
It’s just a matter of time
It’s just a matter of time

Then you wake up one day…
all your dreams somehow
faded away…

The road that you followed
It turned
You can’t find where the
fire once burned…

Can’t look yourself straight
in the eyes
in your heart of hearts…
you’ve compromised.
baby one day…we’ll all cross
that line…
It’s just a matter of time
It’s just a matter of time

All alone in the still of the night…
you come face to face with
your pride.

And how much you wanted
it all
You can’t believe now you’re
taking the fall….

Then you reach out one day
to the light of a new
dawning day…

And you take just one small
grain of sand
right into the palm of your hand
And maybe you find in the end
you’re able to dream once again….
and baby you’ll fall back in line…
It’s just a mater of time…
Just a matter of time…

I’ve always loved this song and it’s sad and hurting but soulful and wistful and it’s just a really great tune. I own both of the Eddie and the Cruiser movies and treasure them because they’re a really, really great set of rock films. I’m just softly singing it out both hands holding the mic and just really enjoying the song and the slow dancing of all the couples out there.

Raven takes over as I get another drink and she sings *Open Arms* By Journey another great, great tune by an under rated band or forgotten by a lot of my generations kids.

And while we’re still there with some good classic rock that’s good to dance to we go into her singing *Wonderful Tonight.* By Eric Clapton which is really awesome because Brooklyn can really play in a smooth way with this one and it’s just a really great tune.

I look out and in the edge of the crowd there I see Kim’s plaid shirt boy Max and I smile and look to the girls and sort of head nod in that direction and it’s getting on towards fairly late with not quite as many tunes and the first sets but their slow tunes and longer and played live so again longer so we’ve put in enough time to match the first set and we’re almost to midnight.

I lean to the mic. “It’s getting onto midnight folks and if you want to stick around and put the Pub to bed tonight we’re here till closing. We’re going to take another break and get off our feet her and do some of the necessary but we’ll be right here still on stage and we’ll be definitely looking to taking some requests tonight. Rest you feet, grab some more drinks, have a kiss, take a nibble it’s Saturday night everyone and Monday’s coming way too fast.”

There’s some whistles and some cheers and we head first to again do the cool wet cloths and take a pee and get our make up fixed. Third application tonight we’re really getting good at this and everything.

We head back out onto the stage and set down some towels to sit on and Uncle Mitch and Dad are close but we sit and we start talking to the fans and Jake sends on of the waitresses over and we order a few things mostly drinks and I get a large root beer float to share with Raven and Kimmie makes her way down off the stage after ordering some fries and onion rings and I see her head over to Max.

I smile and turn my attention to talking to our fans mostly the crew from The Pine Tree but it all still really cool and there’s some new faces there too and some very pleasantly from last night there and we talk and take pictures and even do some shout outs with some parents on our video feed since some of their teens watch us? Like that’s very cool. It’s sort of right up there with them telling us that we’re really good at the older rock and that they weren’t expecting that from a bunch of teenaged girls. The lesbian thing surprisingly doesn’t really come up but they are surprised at Mike and Brook and now Kimmie with Max.

She got the fries and the other stuff and has him actually on stage sitting in her drum area with a folding chair and two stacked milk crates as a sort of table.

*Kimberly…………

It’s been a really great gig; I love playing old rock more than the light stuff since the light stuff doesn’t have the same punch and need in most of their songs for drums. I know, I know some stuff does but I’m like talking in general.

The first break actually was kinda me being odd woman out…not that I mind it but I kind felt like well either I should stay and watch and be like a total skeevie perv or get like out of the way of all the heavy making out. Honestly I thought that they might have gone for a quickie. Thankfully no, I don’t know about you but doing the rest of the gig in squishy panties would’ve been distracting.

I’m almost scary thrilled when Ange does this different head nod and after I get it means look there I see Max.

Jeans and work clothes again he’s smiling and leaning on the bar and getting a pop poured for him while watching us and he gives me a thumbs up. I smile and thankfully we’re taking a break now and I order some fries and some onion rings while the waitress is there and I hop down the stairs and go over to Max.

“Hey…you came!”

“You offered me food.”

“I did, so you just showed up for the food?”

“Not even close but it’s a really great excuse to come and see this great girl without all the pressure and stuff.”

I laugh and he smiles, wowsers he has a really nice smile.

I reach my hand out. “Come on we’ll go where we can talk a bit quieter.”

“Sure, it’s kind of busy here.”

It is actually with the whole request thing and us having them up dancing for almost four hours combined people are thirsty and hungry and in a lot of cases a few beers earlier is more beers now. And once you’ve good a good buzz going then the food isn’t far behind.

I take him up to the drums and I grab a folding chair for him and pop it out and we sit.

“I’m glad that you stopped by.”

He’s still smiling. “Me too, I really don’t get out a whole lot these days.”

“I can see that. I mean being a dad’s a big deal.”

He’s nodding. “Complete understatement but yeah it’s a big deal.”

I blush. “Shit sorry…”

“Hey look my fault I was trying to be joking about it…sort of a gallows humor sort of way.”

“Gallows humor? Isn’t that weird talking about your kid?”

“Sort of but not, when you’re a parent stuff changes completely and whatever you though that your life does too.”

“So…”

“I love my daughter, I do but there’s just stuff you go through as a parent that leaves you different that someone who’s not going through the same thing.”

“Well that’s not fair I mean how do the kids feel? We don’t ask to be born.”

He holds up his hands. “Whoa…Kim look it’s not a bad thing it’s just that it does change you because you’re not you’re focus anymore.”

“Huh?”

“Okay…pre-child you’re about yourself, what to do in the day, what you’d like to do all the normal stuff or even the normal relationship stuff. Then you have a child…that’s a whole life, a whole other human being that you’re responsible for and that you should try to make possible for them to be a happy well adjust person nowhere near as screwed up as yourself. It’s their food, diapers, playtime because you can’t just ignore them, teaching them, loving them, being there when their sick and when their scared or feeling bad.”

“You sound like that’s bad stuff.” I’m pouting, I know I’m pouting because Max is sort of showing me what my parents sort of showed, that we were hassles and they might as well got something out of it.

He scooches the chair over and leans over and he looks at me really seriously like.

“No that’s the real stuff and it’s all the time twenty four seven. Kim, it’s just the small stuff really.”

“Small stuff? You mean it get’s worse?” Okay that’s….

“No, it gets so much better. It starts off with this whole sense of awe you have while holding them and especially when their sleeping. Then there’s those first smiles and the laughter. God Kim the laughter just gets better…they go from those unexpected loud bubbles of joy to getting character and just the way that they look at life too. It pulls you back into that time too. When dandelions in the yard could be tiny little flower cats and blowing bubbles is pure majik.”

(Sniffle.) “Really…?”

“I take classes online home and work the rest of the time but when I get home tonight I’ll get to slip into her room and cover her up some more ‘cause she’s a tumbler and she’ll wake me up in the morning all bounces and laughter…and honestly I’ve never found anything better than that in my life.”

Ow, ow, ow….oh dammit I’m right on the edge of tears and the nice guy making me feel all melty and really, really achy…in a good/bad way and I’m looking for the right thing to say when the food comes with my chicken fingers and the gravy I made heated up too.

I take the tray and smile at him. “So…kinda like how nurses talk then.”

He smiles at me really warmly this time making me feel even more good-gooey. “Exactly-sorta-like.”

We laugh and I get the stuff on two plates and then pour gravy over stuff looking at him like to say when enough is enough and he does the keep going rolling hand gesture until the gravy’s all gone between our two plates.

“Like gravy Max?”

“Love gravy and like I told you some thing that I haven’t cooked or my mom hasn’t cooked is really just a little slice of heaven.”

I dimple; I can’t help it but wait until he’s started eating before I get into mine to see if he likes it. I really, really want him to like it. Wow…I am an anime cliché Japanese girl.

Max does that guy moan-foodgasm in gruntese thing that guys do and I smile and he gives me a double thumbs up still with knife and fork in his hands and we eat and it’s all sorts of cool really as he’s…well he eats like a starved guy…but he’s actually trying to use manners with the knife and fork and the napkin. Then some splats on his shirt.

He swallows. “There proof it’s excellent.”

“Proof?”

“Oh yeah, usually something that’s really, really good I’ll end up wearing it sometimes. Me and white are seldomly acquainted.”

I laugh, I can’t help it because that’s cute and it’s so…normal.

God I like normal.

And the half hour break is over pretty quickly, way too quickly for me. The girls are getting up and getting ready and I look at Max. “Back to work.”

“Yeah, I really hate to dine and dash on you but…”

“You’ve a little one at home.”

“And my Mom’s still there right now.”

I bite my lips then ask. “When are you off?”

“Usually the weekends, tonight was an extra shift.”

“Oh so….”

“No, no plans tomorrow.” He melty smiles me again.

“Oh…okay…do you want to do something?”

“Sure, give me a call when you get up?”

“I’d like that; can I get your number?”

He takes out a sharpie and he writes on some of the napkins. I take it and I put it in my case so I don’t get it all sweaty and stuff and blur it.

When I turn around Max hugs me.

Not a kiss but not a handshake either it’s this big hug and he smells good…like wood and guy sweat and body spray of some kind and yeah a little of the food. He gives me this really long hug and whispers into my neck/ear.

“Thanks Roxie…you have no idea how much I needed this.”

I so have this huge lump in my throat. Most of the guys I used to know were all the big swagger types. Not this, it’s so nice to be hugged…held even.

“No problem Max, I had the best date of my life I think just now in this little half an hour.”

“Really….Kim, you deserve better than that if it’s the case.”

“Never thought so.”

“Well I think so. You’re Ace’s girl.”

We break the hug and he smiles at me and he walks backwards until he gets to the stage stairs and gives me a last smile before slipping through the crowd with a wave to the girls and me.

Oh sigh…

“Guy’s give me a minute? I need to freshen up.”

I sooooo need to freshen up…

*Angel…………

I finish my shared fries with Raven and the fans that were there talking to us and making requests and I hug a few people and then kill my Coke and then we go through the request slips and we get them into an order and most of these are definitely doable.

Kim’s guy is very cute and they were in some deep talking and then some eating. That’s good because something new…sometimes talking is the hardest part. These two actually looked like their talk was pretty good.

Good talk…

Oh I’m such a girl when talking is like that to me now. But…but honestly where would Rayne and I be without all the good talk.

Christian Slater’s line from “Pump up the Volume.” comes to mind. “Talk Hard.”

Yeah I’m not just a girl but I’m a geek girl too.

We start in from the top while the last part of the night is still pretty strong and people have gotten a bit more buzzed or re-buzzed and we open back up with the song lists almost like this decent little mini concert list so it’s the dancing and it’s the swaying and singing with us and the lighters out and fired up.

We actually open with *Rock and Roll ain’t Noise Pollution* By AC/DC which we haven’t done in the show and we haven’t practiced it either but we can play it. I mean it’s AC/DC and like most rocker kids we cut our teeth playing that and this is one of their great tunes.

We go from that into *Roller.* By April Wine another tune that we’re familiar with but never really played with it’s classic rock with great guitar and drums so the girls know it and they are a pretty classic old band so like before we’re kind of winging it. All I know I’m sort of trying to make it look like its Roller if Heart was doing it.

Then it’s some sort of semi hometowny rock kind of stuff with use doing *Big League* By Tom Cochrane and right after that one we stay on him with *Life was a Highway.* both really good a staple Ontariana cultural songs.

We go more into the concert type lean and sway stuff after that with *Closer to the Heart.* By Rush a really great tune, and a good work out skill wise really but then again you can say that of a lot of their tunes.

Then we do *Everything* By Starlight Butterfly.

And we get called out for more of our stuff by the fans as the regulars of ours are calling out for *Invisible* By Starlight Butterfly and it’s soooo cool that the regulars at least are singing along with us then we do *Oncology.* By Starlight Butterfly and again they are singing along and as we’re going through that one the lights drop right down and as the regulars sing along and the new crowd here is listening to it more and more lighters are flaming up and it’s pretty amazing really and surreal because while the bar lights are going and some of the neon I can’t see the far end of the pub and all there is out there is people and faces and lighters and some tears.

Of course Raven’s singing it and I’m watching her and I can see that thing in her, that’s in all of us who get to reach out and touch people while we’re performing. It’s just pure magic really.

It’s getting close to closing time and we start to wrap things up with *As long as I can see the light.* By CCR and then we go into Trooper for *One for the money, two for the show.* which is our signature end song for our sets and Jake has to shut down the bar lights and turn off the taps by the time we’re done and we just closed out the place.

It’s kind of cool that that many people stayed that long here while we played a super long show and that it takes about a half hour to get the doors closed and everyone out of the pub and on their way. It took so long since we had people coming up still and thanking us and a lot of the older crowd her telling us how Oncology made them feel and of course we’re telling them where they can actually find it at I-Tunes and even signing some autographs.

There’s a lot of people asking for band stuff too.

This was really cool and I look at the girls and they look at me and we close in for a long group hug and just lean on each other as we just savor the moment and the feeling before we get back to the real life stuff with being in a band.

Dad drifts over with a camera and we do some shots tired and sweat soaked and happy as hell in that whole four sisters…maybe even closer than arm in arm and it’s exactly where I want to be.

I can’t help but to sing…just for us no instruments just vocals and the girls pick it up with me.

I don't want to be
Anything other than what I've been trying to be lately…

All I have to do
Is think of me and I have peace of mind…

I'm tired of looking 'round rooms
Wondering what I've got to do
Or who I'm supposed to be.

I don't want to be anything other than me….