Jem...Chapter 197

*Before…

Then it’s time for Summer and Kisses & Thorns to play and the lights dim low and there’s Hannah in a gothy looking black dress and she has her violin and she starts doing this little sort of soulful and kinda goth feeling bit and she slides from a note in that to this violin start up for the musical part of *Kiss from a Rose* By Seal

Then it’s the boys with those “Da na na, da na na, dun dun da na…”

And then it’s the girls alternating with “La...la, la, la…” in this like a roundelay effect and they do that entire intro acapella and getting their instruments ready and a second spotlight flashes onto Summer who’s in a black leather jacket and a kinda short red spaghetti strap dress and torn fishnets and gothy calf high boots with loads of buckles.

Her hair’s damp and that makes her look pretty hot and she has her tips dyed red too and that’s all a really good look for her and she steps to the mic and cradles it and she belts out the opening all full of clearness and power and just hits it perfect enough to raise the hairs on your arms.

*And Now…

Summer does it really, really well giving the song lots of power with really strong woman’s vocals that just take it to a new feel. It’s one of those take ownership covers.

She has this pretty good flow going too with the whole theme and flavor and as she finished Kiss from a Rose she went quiet.

Then sort of this on purpose witchy-pitch she starts off with.

“I hate the rain and sunny weather……”
She mics the crowd who just fell in deep with the song. “Oh-oh…!”

“And I hate the beach and mountains too...oh whoa…”

I love this song, the crowd loves this song too because it’s fun and it’s good and the crowd is getting swept up and singing and bop-pulsing along starting to dance.

*I Hate Everything about You* By Ugly Kid Joe is perfect, perfect cover fit for K&T.

And that sets then off on their set and covers with them hitting this whole kinda feel and theme with. *Poison* By Alice Cooper and *Bad Medicine* By Bon Jovi

Which all sort of fit for her and K&T’s sort of thing.

And then she amps things up with a heavier hit of things with *Helter Skelter* By The Beatles but she sounds like Dana Fuchs the club/band woman and Landlady from the movie Across the Universe.

They go from that into *Cherry Bomb* By The Pretenders it’s really a decent follow up song to Helter.

Then Summer brings it down with *Spoonman* By Soundgarden which is a good tune and it’s not too laid back it’s a nice transitional kind of thing that honestly I’d go with.

And that’s when they stop with the covers and start getting into their own songs.

*Do you feel me.* By Kisses & Thorns.

And that works well into *Edge of my seat* By Kisses & Thorns and they’re building a new momentum as one is a little harder than the next and they notch it up with *Brace for impact* By Kisses & Thorns.

And then they hit it really hard with their newest song *Running Hot.*

The song is still new and it’s so easy to chant/sing along to and bop/rock along with and the crowd is doing all of that and there is more than one K&T shirt out there in the crowd and they certainly have their fans too.

More than before I they’re performing a heck of a show and they still haven’t gone and touched the songs we share from before.

I was expecting them to wrap things up when Summer says. “Got another one, got another one I wrote last night...here it is, here’s “Strut like a Boss.”

“This song’s about abuse...home abuse, about not taking it anymore, take care of the folks in your care goddammit. Because that shit fucks us up for life.”

*Strut like a Boss.* By Kisses & Thorns.

Tired of getting beat down…
Tired of getting looked down…
Sick of being used.
So tired of being abused.

I wanna get mine…!
I wanna love me sometime too!
Tired of shelling it out!
Paying for some other...fuck!

(Chorus) I’m gonna lace my heels on real, real tight.
I’m gonna wear my punch rings!
Gonna leave some fucking marks!
I’m gonna stand tall and not take it no more!
You’re gonna fucking notice as I walk out the door!
‘Cause I’m gonna strut!
Strut like a boss!

I’m not stopping! No matter how hard you hang on!
I’m not getting dragged down! I’m not your rope!
There comes a time….when what’s mine is just mine!
I’m not your excuses! Keep your abuses!
I’m not1 I’m not! I’m not your good time…!

(Chorus X2)

I’m not stopping! No matter how hard you hang on!
I’m not getting dragged down! I’m not your rope!
There comes a time….when what’s mine is just mine!
I’m not your excuses! Keep your abuses!
I’m not1 I’m not! I’m not your good time…!

(Chorus.)

I’ll have to say shocked for sure here. I mean another song for their second night and right in their wheelhouse as well. And then there’s the other bit. What Summer said before she started the song, the part about home abuse.

Was that her? Was that in general? Someone else?

As a songwriter, myself this was...felt like Summer, like this was her venting out something personal and the way she belted it out like a female Bon Scott...really worked in this whole message of defiance.

Actually, some of the other bits says things too.

I look at the girls and they look like they were caught off guard too. Rayne has this look there too on her face like this raised a whole lot of questions for her as well.

I look at her. “We could ask.”

She shakes her head no then does a nod towards the stage. “If it was her then she never really told me, but I think that she told Hannah…”

Hannah is there beside Summer and they both have their arms circled around their waists as they’re there side by side and there’s lots of applause from the crowd and I can see where in a few faces this hit home.

Good, good any kind of shout out against abuse and stuff I’m like all for it.

They throw out a few t-shirts and things between Summer and Hannah as they’re getting off stage and they pass us as we’re headed up the stairs and we share a bunch of nods...a few careful smiles too and then we’re on.

I slip on my guitar and bounce to the mic.

“Hey everybody!”

“HEY JEM!”

“Well that was really awesome wasn’t it!? A really cool rock show from our friends at K & T and another new song!”

There’s a lot of cheers.

“It’s been a really cool night too so much more than just a rock show with a bunch of bands playing Fall Fair, it’s been a whole lot like a rock festival to me.”

More cheers.

“Mmm...hmm...yeah…” Kimmie’s starting a beat, others are plugging in.

“Now some of you might notice there’s these really awesome ladies going through the crowd right now with the killer boots and the trays of cupcakes. These are just a little kick-booty Starlight Buttercreams of awesomeness and their being taken around by the girls that made them from Harper Point’s Very Own Go-Go’s Bakery.”

There’s cheers and screamy cheers at that as some folks realized we’re giving out treats. Cupcakes with buttercream icing and sparkles made to look like our whole butterfly nebula graphics.

It wasn’t that cheap but it was worth it and we can claim it under promotional expenses plus it gives Go-Go’s a really good hit and people talk about this stuff for a long time.

We get ready and sort of bop and play and jam a few minutes until we see the girls passing out the cupcakes getting clear and we’re ready then and everyone’s still hyped, happy from free goodies and extra sugar and we hit them hard with the first song.

As soon, as soon as the guitar chords hit and people recognize the first really, really iconic notes they explode in cheers.

*Wild Thing* By The Troggs.

And they are sing screaming and shouting along with us.

“Wild Thing!”..... I mic the crowd… they explode at us louder than the speakers. “WILD THING!!!”

“You make my heart sing…”

I mic the crowd.

“YOU MAKE EVERYTHING GROOVY!”

And together we sing. “WILD THING!”

Raven deeply and softly sings into the her mic.

“Wild Thing...I think I love you…”

I belt out as powerful as I can. “BUT I WANT TO KNOW FOR SURE!!!”

And Raven sings. “Come on hold me tight….I love you….”

We all sing through the course and Brooklyn and Kimmie take the solo with me picking up my keytar and playing that through the flute bit instead while Raven literally old school Go-Go dances with it like in that 60’s kinda style as we’re doing that.

That has this really great bonus effect of Raven’s dancing getting others to dance and shimmy and doing the same.

And we kind of follow that through the rest of the song. Me with point vocals and secondary soft lines coming from Raven and then the main parts as we work up the crowd with all of us singing and we’re singing along as I mic the crowd.

It’s a good song, an iconic song and it’s fun.

Right after that we go different than K&T and we do one of ours. *Fortune Favors The Bold.*

And right after that I switch guitar for tambourine and the tamb replaces the ukulele as we start up with *Soul Sister* By Train.

We have a lot of them right off the start again with the “heys.”

From that we go to our *Who’d ever think?* By Starlight Butterfly and our songs are holding up pretty good with lots of our fans knowing the words and singing and dancing along.

And it’s a really good lead for setting up the next song. *Whole Lotta Love.* By Led Zeppelin.

It’s a great song and it lends really well to a girl/woman’s voice especially when the lyrics can fit a girl band just as well and I like to break out the long low notes as I can do them because i alternate as well and hit the high ones that are right there as well.

And musically well it’s got great bass that has Raven up close to the edge of the stage cranking out the licks for the song over and over with that sheer hotness of a bass guitarist girl, then there’s the guitar solos that Brooklyn hits and Kimmie knows every awesome drum beat.

The crowd dances as we play, the dance like this sort of in rhythm concert wave with them picking up the sort of same moves.

We go from that to another cover and we do *Rock your little heart out* By AC/DC it’s perfect, literally perfect to go from the feel of whole lotta love to this as there’s the bass kicking right in with dance invoking bop and then the drums and the guitar too and then me hitting their lyrics and I’m going to that sort of Joan Jett sort of sound with my vocals.

The entire first verse is like designed for getting people crowd dancing...moving feeling and doing something.

And from that style that Joan Jett like covering AC/DC I use that vocal sound to get us into us covering her with *I Love Rock n Roll* By Joan Jett and that’s another sing along and bop to song that’s a pretty steady cover for us.

And then we hit and lighten the party with *Raise your glass* By Pink.

That’s it right there the rocking dancing singing and shouting mood and flow all build up just where we want it and we hit them with.

*Magical Power Panties* By Starlight Butterfly.

Ali Babba had his secret cave!
Aladdin had his lamp …
You got Rapunzel with her kick ass hair …
And Cindy’s got her pumps!
But I got something that’s all me!
And I know you got em too.
That sexy, sultry, lingerie …
That makes you feel so cool …
There ain’t nothing like… …
Magical Power Panties!
Slide them on and snap the band …
Boy they fit just right.
They make you shimmy, they make you strut.
They make you feel just right!
There ain’t nothing like … (I mic the crowd.)
Magical Power Panties! (The girls in the crowd are screaming it as loud as they can.)
Jessica, La Perla and good old Vicky too.
There’s nothing in the whole wide world …
That’ll make your lover drool.
There ain’t nothing like … (I mic the crowd.)
Magical Power Panties! (The girls in the crowd are screaming it as loud as they can.)
There ain’t nothing like … (I mic the crowd.)
Magical Power Panties! (The girls in the crowd are screaming it as loud as they can.)

There was a super lot of excitement when we hit that and there’s a whole swath of fans really into it and a lot of new faces and made-up faces in our band make-up and shirts and that’s all kinds of amazing.

There’s this whole part that we have when Roxy/Kimmie’s drumming hard with everything and there’s this little cadre of like a dozen or so asian girls all super done up in our shirts and make up and some even have moogle plushies and they’re just rocking their butts off.

I kinda feel sorry for some of the guys in the crowd because this is firmly entrenched girl rock-pop.

But only kinda.

Then we do another cover that fits right in with *What I like about you* By The Romantics and that’s another perfect one for the crowd and we go from that into *If I was a Sailor Scout.* By Starlight Butterfly.

If I were a Sailor Scout.
If i had a power to transform to who feel I am.
I would fight for truth and justice...
And the Love of all my friends.
To get wrapped up in my light as I'm finally out!
So watch out all you douchebags
'cause I'd be a Sailor scout! (Group)
I'd get the cool boots!
I'd get the cool gloves!
I'd step up to the bad guy's.
Without a doubt! (Group)
(Double cymbal bash)
'Cause I'm a sailor scout!
Moon Power!
(Big guitar riffing)
I wanna be like Mina and be kind and brave.
I wanna shine like Venus and fight for all that’s great!
I wanna be as smart as Ami!
I wanna have good ideas!
I wanna be like Raye Hino!
I wanna be hot as fire!
I wanna be buff like Lita!
I wanna be true and strong!
I wanna kick some booty!
And I wanna have some fun!
Moon Power!
I'd get the cool boots!
I’d get the cool gloves!
I'd step up to the bad guy's.
Without a doubt! (Group)
(Double cymbal bash)
‘Cause I’m a sailor scout!
Cute Like Rini!
Deep like Trista!
Bold like Amara!
And to play like Michelle!
And sweet as Tomoe!
I'd get the cool boots!
I’d get the cool gloves!
I'd step up to the bad guy's.
Without a doubt! (Group)
(Double cymbal bash)
‘Cause I’m a sailor scout!
I’m gonna be a meatball head!
I'd get the cool boots!
I’d get the cool gloves!
I'd step up to the bad guy's.
Without a doubt! (Group)
(Double cymbal bash)
‘Cause I’m a sailor scout!
I’m gonna be a meatball head!
Moon Power!

And we’re right back into that heavy duty blasting rush of girl power rock-pop and they’re loving it.

It’s such a rush too, being up here over the crowd and it’s the biggest band night so there’s like way more people than we’ve ever played for and there’s the lights for us, the midway lights and the lake...and the fans, the crowd they’re all just having this blast with our stuff as much as we are.

We go from that to *My best friend’s hot.* By The Dollyrots and that’s a really familiar cover for us and a heck of a girl-pop fun feel good song and from that we go into something else.

I step to the mic. “Hey yeah...okay so just like K&T we’ve got a new one tonight. Here it comes...Pointers…”

I mic the crowd. “ROCK!”

“POINTERS!?”

“ROCK!”

Then we kick it into high gear with *I wanna rock like Iggy Pop.* By Starlight Butterfly.

I listen to the hardcore…
It just hits my groove.
I listen to the oldcore…
Give respect, where respect is due.

I listen to the rock ‘n roll!
I thrash to the Punk!
I mosh to the metal!
I can’t get enough!

(Chorus) But it’s the warehouse playing rebels that won my heart...
Mascara wearing and unwilling to stop.
Leathers and fishnets for one and for all…
I don’t wanna be boring, don’t want to live in a stall.
I want to rock!
Rock like Iggy pop!

I don’t want to be caught in no nine to five…
I don’t want to conform and see myself die.
I can’t do it, I can’t let them win…!
Yon know you can box me in when I cease to breathe!

(Chorus x2)

I wanna scream lyrics!
I wanna rock and rage!
I want a black dress, I want monster boots, I want to be free!
Play a bass, the drums and kick down the cage.

(Chorus)

Oh I’m going to be Hedwig!
Scratchin the angry itch!
Gonna Blitzkrieg bop.
Until I make you twitch!

(Chorus x 2)

It’s new and it’s right exactly what I was going for another rock-pop song that feels and sounds like us and the stuff we cover.

And the hook, the main title line is absolutely great because it’s easy, it’s easy and it’s memorable and they catch onto it as a crowd really easy and they’re singing along with the chorus and it’s got things even for the older rockers who get what I’m talking about in the song or they remember it.

It’s a shout out song to those rockers, to that generation and all the while it’s new and for us, our generation too.

And then we’re done and they’re still bopping and they’re still cheering for us and it’s pretty cool hearing “SLB!” over and over.

“You wanna hear that again!?”

There’s a roar of approval and we play it again and they’re singing even more along with us and we’re getting the MC and staging crews signals that we’re definitely done and we have to shut things down and we play to the end.

I armpit the mic after and I cheer the crowd...point to them, and out at all of them and I clap and clap and the girls join in and Roxy’s doing the fan whistles.

I take the mic up.

“Well folks we hit the legal limit tonight, we had a heck of a great time and we’re so glad that you came out to see us tonight and all the other bands that played here and just came here to Harper’s Point to have some fun and to see what’s going on.”

“Seriously everyone, thank you it means a lot from all of us.”

I give Brooklyn the nod and she plays us out and the crowd with an instrumental version of *One for the Money two for the show.*

We stay on stage until we’re played out and we’re waving to folks as they’re leaving and then it’s done. Well not done but the show’s done and we go and we help do the stage clean up as we’re packing our things away so that everyone can get out of here faster.

I even get down while the stage is being handled by other and I help go through the concert ground itself with a couple of bags and help with the clean up and the recycling after everyone’s left.

All shows leave a mess, but I’m just not going to leave it. It’s kind of a show of respect for the venue and stuff. I mean we do it at The Pine Tree and Lucky’s and The Amsterdam so why not here.

Mike’s filming it as Molly and Carmen are helping too and we all actually end up down here and I know it seems like band promotion but yeah we do a little clip of stuff with us talking about not littering and those kinds of messages and Kimmie does some in Japanese and Raven in French and Carmen does some in Brazilian? I think that’s Portuguese and Molly does some in ASL, that’s American Sign Language.

It really doesn’t take that long and then we head off to meet with Danny and Kate and WOW we have people there waiting, waiting to talk to us and to be extras for the videos.

We talk to people, we get their hair and make-up touched up for those that we want to and we do some loving couple shots as well.

And then while we’re doing that we do other video clips of their reactions to The Fall Fair and of Sawyer’s Funrides and how these companies mean to them and how they feel about saving them and keeping it alive and how iconically Canadian and Ontarionian a thing it is and how bad it would be if we lost one of the last ones.

And then we get clips too of all of the workers as well and their experiences and how this has shaped them over the years and what Canada and Ontario means to them through all of this.

Yeah we’re doing this all on the go as we’re doing things but some of these clips are thirty, forty seconds, a few minutes. But it’s all going to be put together for the promo for Sawyer’s Funrides and for the Chamber of Commerce video and for the video for Lorna to send up to like the tourism bodies in the Provincial and Federal levels.

We actually have some great bits from the extras gathered and other stuff that really play to the fact that people came to town and from places that aren’t just the local surrounding towns but from places like Toronto, Sudbury, Perry and Owens sounds, Sulte Ste Marie and others.

We set things up there with some of the stuff for the video for Carousel and we play and we shoot there and we do it with this black and white filter to it as we play...some takes of us playing and some takes of me with the keyboard sitting in one of the bench seats for the ride and we do it like my keyboard intro starts up the power for the ride and getting things moving and as we go around and around we add band members and some of the folks that are definitely dating as well.

And then we shoot MMP or Magical power panties with Roxy starting at first with the drum solo but we have her in the middle of the bumper cars with her drums and she does this wicked solo start and she gets this wet hair under her moogle toque close up and she has the quirkiest damned smile and she says. “Magical power panties…”

And then it cuts back to us around her playing hard and fast and we’re going for this pink-metal-pop high energy version of the song as there’s girls all around us in bumper cars and there’s some extras outside the ride like either a crowd of fans or people cheering a fight.

We’re pretty late by the time we’re done and we’re walking folks out that stayed with Danny and Kate with us and they’re getting a lot of praise and folks talking to them because they got to be in a video, that they kept the rides open and all the stuff to help with the videos.

And like literal icing on the cake was Danny giving out free shirts and tickets for tomorrow but Kate treating everyone to all the popcorn that was left from concessions and cones of her candy apple ice cream.

Okay it’s like literally better in the cone because she had them dipped in the red candy stuff up at the top of the cone and it’s just really good.

We do handshakes and selfies and hugs and make sure everyone that stayed to help was done by right. A lot of them are the out of towners and a lot of them came because they were fans.

It’s four thirty in the morning when we get home.

We don’t mess around either it’s dropping our things off and really quick showers and then we crash hard and fast.

I think it was quarter past five when Rayne and I fell asleep.