Patsy Power Part 15

When we finished I looked out at the small audience. The ‘Amazon’ crew were standing there open mouthed with all of the girls with tears streaming down their faces. Simon was smiling and Pierre, from the music store said “If I had not seen this with my own eyes I would never have believed it. I have to say that ‘Amazon’ has been reborn!”

I took the SG off and went over to Nina and gave her a big hug; Riordan took her guitar off and came over to hug us both. “You girls are miracle workers, you know that” she said. I looked at the others and they were smiling broadly. Kurt said that he felt the same way he felt when the band was young and at the height of its popularity.

“OK” I said, “how do we work this for the tour. We could lose Nina as an Innocent Girl but I would hate to be without her on stage with us. I could stand in on lead if you think I fit for a short while but you should be looking for another lead player who fits the band name.” Simon said he was happy whatever we did and Joanne asked Nina and me if we could do two shows a night. I looked at Nina and said “What do you want to do, Nina. We could get through the tour doing two shows every night and you could become the singer of the ‘New Amazon’ after that.” I saw Riordan and the others nod at that. Nina thought and said that it would be wonderful and if she had problems in the next few weeks she could always sit out of our sets for a night or two. Everyone seemed happy with things but Angela called out “Ok you lot, once may be a fluke, let’s do it again.” So we did.

We finished well into the evening and, as the music store took away all of their equipment, Simon said he would take us for a meal. Lorraine suggested Mario’s so we all piled into the limos and cars and went to see our favourite restaurant owner. He was flustered to see such a big crowd walk in on a Monday evening but when he saw the Innocent Party he found us a very big table. As we sat down he said “No karaoke tonight, Patsy, so no free meals.” Simon said that it was all right, the meals were on him on his company card.

Simon proposed a toast to his newest band and said that there is going to be some more good years for it if tonight was any guide. I asked Riordan how she was going for new songs and she replied that she had a couple of dozen already written but had not let Ashley know about them. Simon said “So it is possible that you may have a new album ready to go?” She said she thought there may well be one there and Simon grinned at that. It was an animated group that had one of the happiest meals I had been at for some time. At the end of it Angela said we should all get off to bed as the equipment and our crews should arrive by road by midday and we had a fair bit of work to do before the show on Wednesday evening.

Tuesday morning we did our usual gym and breakfast routine. It had been great to be in a familiar bed. Minh took Nina to see her folks and Joanne and Lorraine went to see theirs so I got the sports car out and went to the nursing home. My mother was in high spirits to see me and we sat and chatted for about half an hour before Jim popped his head in the door and asked if I could go to the day room before I left. When I gave my mother a hug and kiss as I left she said “Patsy, you seem to attract some bad things but you overcome it by attracting a lot of good ones. They are going to take me to the concert Wednesday evening and I will see you there.” I went to the day room and found most of our ‘support crew’ sitting around.

I was asked to report the events so far and I told them about the tour so far. They were incensed at the things that Ashley had got up to and totally shocked when I told them of the events of yesterday. “So, ‘Amazon’ now has a different lead guitar and singer?” asked Roger “Can I come to the sound checks today and tomorrow?” I said that he and Chris would be welcome to be the first to photograph the new group but to try and keep me out of shot as I did not intend to stay in the band. Jim said that his friends in the industry had heard of Ashley and Georgina’s activities with various narcotics and had also heard stories of rivals being sidelined but he had never heard anything as blatant as he had heard today. I said we had been very lucky as well as being fortunate to have a security man who knew his business.

I left the nursing home and drove to the mall for a bit of normalcy, however, attracting fans who all wanted autographs or selfies did not seem normal. I managed to calm them down and said that if they were good we could all have a lunch at a burger joint and it was on me. We all entered the burger bar and I told the girl behind the counter to put the order on my card and, when we had all been served, we sat down and chatted like a normal bunch of girls. They asked me much more interesting questions than the TV hosts had ever come up with and I had an enjoyable hour. I told them that I had to leave as we had to set up for the concert and do sound checks.

As I stood to leave, one of the older girls said, “Patsy is it true that Ashley and Georgina from ‘Amazon’ are dead?” I said “Look girls, last I heard they were in hospital but no-one has told me how bad they are. If you are asking because you are going to go to one of our concerts here, there is an old actors saying that ‘the show must go on’ and, if you are at a concert, you will find that the show really does go on.” I drove straight to the theatre where Carl and the band had arrived and the roadies were positioning the amps and other shared gear. I took Carl aside and explained that we may not have Nina at some dates and should rejig the playlist to cover the songs she would have featured in. “But” I said “we can now play a few more ourselves without any worries of upsetting anyone. I have the feeling that the tour concerts are going to finish a bit later at night from here on.”

Lucy had done wonders already and had an outfit for Nina that was not leather but suede with fringes and a short skirt. She had found some black leather jeans and boots for me with a black silk top with ruffles. We fitted in with the usual stage outfits but were different enough to show we were not the original band members. The other Innocent Girls and the ‘Amazon’ band turned up so we talked about what we would do. It was decided to just run through our two sets as they would be tomorrow evening and let the sound people find their setting as we went along so the Innocent Party got its instruments on, miked up and we played our set. We took a little break for a drink of water while the ‘Amazon’ crew set them up and I strapped on the SG and became an ‘Amazon’ for an hour or so while Nina proved, once again, that she had found a new place to be. When we finished we left the gear for the roadies and Riordan asked us to all go back with them to the hotel for an evening meal.

When we got to the hotel we were attacked by the press, who had, finally, heard about the other two band members. There was a barrage of questions and Angela called at a loud voice “Quiet, you lot. I will get us a meeting room in the hotel and we can have a press conference so you can get all of the answers you want.” As she went in through the main doors with her phone to her ear I thought that Simon or Sarah were about to be arriving soon. The hotel desk led us all to a large dining area normally used for weddings and found seats for the gentle folk of the press.

Simon and Sarah came in and Simon took control of the microphone. He announced who he was and said “Ladies and gentlemen of the press. I am going to give you a statement and there will be no time for questions after; so make sure have your notes in order. On Monday morning Ashley and Georgina of the band ‘Amazon’ were found in their bedroom in a hotel in Cincinnati. They had drunk a copious amount of liquor and injected more heroin than they should have. Georgina is presently on life support but I am afraid that I must report that Ashley died this afternoon.”

Part 16

There was a roar from the press and sobbing from the ‘Amazon’ members and Simon held his arms up and called for quiet. He said that the press should respect the privacy of the other band members for a couple of days but that they should be able to talk to ‘polite’ interviewers by the weekend. He went on “I know that the first questions you are going to ask will be about the tour and the future of the band. I can tell you that the tour will definitely be continuing and you will see how that is achieved tomorrow night. As to the future of the band; I can say that ‘Amazon’ has not stopped flowing and there will be a new album released early winter. They now have new management and a new distributor and their future looks very good once they have got over this sad loss. Now, if you could all please leave the room and we hope to see you at the concert tomorrow night.”

The press reluctantly left and we took our time hugging the ‘Amazon’ members until they had got over the shock. It did not take them as long as the sob previous sob session and we all were then taken to a private dining room where we could have a sombre evening meal. Tomorrow would be the turning point for more than a few in this room. Our group gave the others a hug again and went back to our homes. Back at our house Nina was still in a state of shock. “I still can’t believe it” she said “Tomorrow evening I will be in front of ‘Amazon’ as lead singer and there is now no way Ashley can come back. Maybe we should wear armbands for the concert; I think that her favourite colour was blue, or, at least, that’s what the fan profile said.” We all thought it may be a good thought so I quickly phoned Lucy to see if she could come up with enough for both bands and then rang Angela at the hotel to see if she could ask Riordan if would be all right when she saw them at breakfast.

Wednesday started early with us working in the gym before breakfast; then it was shower and dress. The limo picked us up and took us to the theatre where Carl and the boys arrived a few minutes later. We sat and discussed our set and, when Riordan and the others came in, we had a big conference on how we would approach the evening concert. We decided not to say anything about any changes and to surprise the audience when the curtains opened on ‘Amazon’ Riordan said that the blue armbands were a good idea and that both bands would wear them and leave it up to the fans and the press to figure out why blue.

I suggested as we were pretty good with the Innocent Party set we would only do a few songs this morning as a sound check and leave more time during the day for ‘Amazon’ practice. “I don’t want to say anything out of place, Riordan, but we watched a couple of your shows and one thing I noticed was that Ashley was out front and alone while Georgina stood like a statue most of the time. I wonder if it would be a good move to put you and Nina side by side on stage and for the rest of us, who can, to move about a bit more?” Riordan said that this was how Ashley wanted it as she needed to be the star and refused to allow anyone else to ever be in front of her on stage and she thought that it would define the new look for a new band.

We had a short break to freshen up and then our band took to the stage. I saw that Roger and Chris were in the auditorium with their cameras and that there were a few other guys with professional kit also taking video. I also saw Jake and the new boys sitting there talking to Angela and Simon. We ran through a few songs and finalised our settings and took another break so I went over to see them. Jake told me that Simon wanted them to come to town and that we would all fly to Atlanta Sunday morning. He said we would have a bit of spare time as he had been told that we would close the show again on Sunday. Simon said he was coming with us before he went back to New York as he wanted to see us live at full volume. He joked that he had once gone to Cape Canaveral to see a rocket launch so he was well used to loud noises.

I went back up on to the stage as the others collected there. Nina and Riordan were deep in conversation about stage moves and when I had strapped on the SG and walked over to them, Riordan said that she had thought about what I said and that she and Nina would work together and then she said that for the last number she wanted the three of us, and Kurt, to play lined up across the width of the stage to show unity. We all said it was a nice finale and went and took our places. I asked the stagehand if we could have full show lighting and the auditorium lights down so when that happened I nodded to Kurt and we played the opening notes of the first number which started with a bass riff and joined by a lead riff followed by the band and then the singer. Riordan was out front and Nina was standing by the drums and, as we played the intro, she walked forward to be next to Riordan before she started singing. I thought it was beautiful move.

We played the full set with Kurt and I moving around and sometimes standing next to Riordan and when the final number got going we all lined up across the stage with me at one end and Kurt at the other; spread wide enough so VB and Julia could be easily seen as well. When we finished they put the auditorium lights up as there was a reasonable amount of applause and I saw that all of our road crew and both Patsy bands were clapping. We took mock bows and took of our mics, buds and instruments. Angela had arranged catering and we all sat around in the auditorium to eat. There was a lot of good comment about the stage presentation and Jake told me that he had the 'Best of’ album but he thought we had bested that. Roger and Chris came over and Chris said that he had got Simons’ permission for his crew to film at all four concerts as he wanted to produce an ‘Amazon Live’ DVD and that Simon had said he would rush the production so that it was released while we were still touring.

I took a walk out to the foyer and saw that the ‘Amazon’ stand had lots of photos and posters with a sign saying ‘Sell-out Sale. New stock coming soon’ Pierre was busy making sure that the music store stand had plenty of items on display, now including examples of the guitars that Riordan and Kurt played as well as a copy of Julia’s keyboard. “I have done a deal with Simon” he said “and will sponsor both bands for the rest of the tour. I will put our stickers on all of the instruments; it is a marvellous piece of advertising as there is a marked increase in sales in the past few weeks. You may not have been told yet but we will host a morning with both bands at the store on Saturday morning, I am sure that Angela will let you know when she gets the chance. I just put my head in the door while you were playing and I think that the new group is going to be even bigger than the old one; you sounded better than you did even yesterday.” I said it was getting better with familiarity. “Oh, by the way” he said as I turned to leave “our sale of Patsy picks has gone through the roof and I am getting more boxes freighted in for the rest of the tour; they seem to be a collectors’ item.”

I laughed and made my way back to the stage. We put on our gear and played the full set again; it seemed to be still improving. Riordan, Kurt, VB and Julia were positively bright when we finished and Nina was looking radiant in her new role. She told me that her family was coming tonight and she thought they will have a real surprise. “Tell me about it” I said, “my Aunt Ruby will be with the nursing home crowd and I think that they will be a bit agitated tonight as well. Tomorrow there may well be an ‘Amazon Support Group’ there as well.” We all had a chat and then made our way to the hotel for a very large group dinner before the show. Simon stood up and proposed at toast to “Nina, the newest star in the heavens and truly showing us what a great singer she is.” We all had our drink and then he said “To you all, as you all have a part to play in the coming weeks and years beyond.”

Marianne G 2020