Patsy Power Part 23

We went back down to the changing room and Angela came up and said,” we have just decided that there will not be a usual type of break between sets. With these numbers a stadium audience is always on the move in and out of the auditorium so we will do a five minute break between sets. I have organised a curtained area for you behind the PA speakers for you to change. “

“We have a local DJ to announce the show and spend the five minutes talking to the crowd so it will all work smoothly as long as we can get you buttoned up”. I asked her if she had seen the outside stands and, as she hadn’t, I suggested she take Mary around to show her just what she has let herself in for and then to park her next to Ron for the show. Riordan came into our dressing room and said “At the end of our set I would like to invite you all on stage for a final bow. I know that you will all be behind the speakers during the set, just as we will during yours. The excitement from the fans is better than sex. Now, having been at this sort of gig before, if I call you on the stage the fans are going to want one more. I don’t think any of our old songs would fit and we don’t know your dance songs; so how about we pinch something, any suggestions?”

We hummed and ah’ed over various tunes until Carl said “I do a mean version of ‘High Voltage Rock’n’Roll’ by ACDC at parties and the tune is dead easy to pick up, it’s just the end that’s messy to co-ordinate.” Just about everyone knew it and Riordan said her band could do it as well so we had decided on an encore after the encore, if needed. We then started to get changed; Lucy had put together a tropical print skirt with bright blue blouses for the girls and the tropical print on shirts over blue slacks for the guys. She said that the ‘Amazon’ kit is bright yellow as requested and that all I would have to do is change into a yellow blouse with yellow leather jeans and boots. The new blouse is button up the back so a dresser can do that for me in the break. I needed to put a plain cami on so that nothing showed through either outfit.

The DJ came in to see us and commented on our songs which had had been playing on his radio show and asked if there was anything we needed him to say. We said for him just to do a plain intro and we would let our music do the talking. I mentioned to him that he needed to be ready after our encore to entertain the crowd for five minutes between sets. He laughed and said that it should be easy. Because of the need to finish well before midnight with an open arena we planned to open up at around 7.30 if the crowd entering had slowed so, just after seven we made our way up to the stage, going up the back stairs and moving around to one wing while the others went to the other. I had to remember to leave the stage that way, I thought. Peering between the stacks I saw that we had just about filled the place and that it seemed that only a few were still coming in. The DJ saw this as well and, after checking we were good to go, walked out onto the stage with a microphone in his hand. We stood there in the wing with our instruments strapped on. Joanne held my hand and said “For once in my life I think I am scared.” I squeezed her hand and replied “I think we all are right now but it will be all right.”

The DJ was winding up his intro to end with “And here is Patsy and the innocent Party and there was a mild roar from the crowd. Actually a mild roar from nearly six thousand is louder than a full roar from two thousand so the next hour will certainly be different. We walked out onto the stage and quickly took up our positions and started playing the first notes of ‘Changing’ and the crowd applauded, the thought crossed my mind that they usually only do that for celebrities. We moved through the set with much singing of the chorus during ‘Mall Song’ and came to the point where we changed into raving monsters. The crowd was really with us and when I unslung the Rickenbacker and gave it to Minh while a stagehand gave me the SG and took her Fender, there was a big cheer. Maybe some had seen the dance video. We hit the first notes of ‘Bounce’ and I could see whole groups of people standing up and dancing.

The roar when we finished was earthshattering and only increased when we did “Maximum Dance’ finishing with wild scenes out there on the playing field. There were calls for more so I called out “Another one?” ‘Yes” came back so I called “Are you sure?” and the yells came back “Yes, Yes” so we hit ‘Dancefloor’ which had been in the dance charts now for about four weeks and the crowd went wild again. Out on the playing field it looked like a dance party and these were mainly ‘Amazon’ fans! Our lighting man had done us proud and there was strobes flashing over us and the crowd and when we hit the final chord he hit the button that shines a whole bank of lights straight at the audience so that by the time they got their vision back we had left the stage.

The others went to the side we had come from and I went to the other while the DJ came out and told the crowd that they had just five minutes before they got the treat they came for tonight. I was busy divesting myself of the shoes, skirt and blouse and put on the yellow top. Pulling up my jeans while the dresser buttoned me up I then pulled on the boots. The dresser hung a necklace of large black beads around my neck and I strapped the SG on again and went over to Riordan as the DJ was nearing the end of his spiel. “Great set“ she said, “You know you have to do better than that now, for us.”

The DJ wound up saying “Come on Miami, give a big welcome to that legendary band – ‘Amazon’ ‘. We walked onto stage to a mighty roar, applause and cries of “Amazon, Amazon.” As we reached our places to start Kurt gave the first bass notes and I think the noise of the crowd could have drowned out a rocket launch. He hit them again and paused – the crowd at the front of the stage were getting emotional, I could see plenty of girls and young women with tears down their faces. He hit the notes again and I joined in with the riff and we were off and racing again. The crowd were vocal all through and I knew that the old amps would not have done this place justice. We got to the last ‘known’ song and the crowd erupted. I had tears in my eyes as well and I could see that Riordan was also affected. She held her arms up for some quiet and then thanked the city of Miami for being so good to us and all of the faithful fans for welcoming us back into their hearts.

She said that there would be a live album in the shops in a few weeks and then told them that we had just one more and it will be from an album of new songs. The crowd yelled ‘yes’ and we did the new song. After several bows she beckoned to the ‘Party’ side of the wings and the other guys came on to stand with up in a big line to take a mass bow. There were calls for more and some stamping of feet so she called out, “We do not have any more of ours tonight but we have pinched someone else’s. This is for all you metal heads out there and Carl started with the rhythm riff of ‘High Voltage’ and the rest of us joined in. With five guitars, two basses, two drummers and a keyboard and two thousand watts behind us it was a surreal experience from our side, let alone for the fans. The lighting guy let his imagination take him to a new threshold and we jammed shamelessly with everyone taking a solo as they could. We watched Carl towards the end and, as he nodded his head, we stopped while he did the final frantic solo with us all playing a final chord as the lights did their flash.

This time, however, when the crowd got their sight back we were lined up across the stage without our instruments, standing in a line holding hands. We all bowed again and gave the crowd waves as we turned away to go down the back stairs to the rooms, Riordan called out loudly “Lucy, the girls all need new panties, please” as we walked into the under-stadium area. We all giggled but she was right. Lucy was there with her teams and we were changed in record time, Angela said there was a long table in the foyer for signing so we followed her through a tunnel that brought us out through a door in the foyer where a crowd had lined up. There was much cheering as we sat down and we spent the next hour and a half signing pictures, posters, album covers and the occasional new guitar. I think Pierre is going to be very happy tonight.

Then there was another half an hour with the Innocent Girls, including Nina, standing in front of the Thunderbird for photos. Peters’ supplier was going to be happy too. With the gear being carried out of the main doors I thought that we must have sold out of merchandise but when I mentioned it to Ma she said not to worry, there were more trucks coming in tomorrow. I the end, we were allowed to go to the hotel and a welcome shower and warm bed. I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow and the only dream I remembered in the morning was one where I was watching a rocket launch and it became a sea of faces.

Part 24

Friday morning I opened my eyes and saw Joanne in the other bed looking at me. “Thank you for everything” she said “I don’t think I will ever be scared of anything again. That was so awesome.” I agreed on my way to the toilet. Coming back I said that we should get some auto-autograph machines as my fingers were sore after the signing session. I sat on her bed and said “You were all fabulous last night and I think that you will be fabulous tonight and tomorrow. Sunday at Daytona may be almost an anti-climax after this week.” We got showered and dressed and went down for breakfast. Our table had grown some more with addition of Ma, Lucy, Ron, Chris, Pierre and Jock Watson.

When we were all seated Jock stood up and said “Last night I did not know what I was going to see. I knew that Patsy and her band were good but I did not realise just how good they were. As for Riordan and her band, they were always legendary but have now entered the realms of the mythical. The fans who were there last night will tell their friends and I think the final two shows here will be sold out. I have heard from my guy in New Orleans and Dallas that they have already booked stadiums with one being eight thousand with stage and the other ten thousand with stage.”

“We are looking ahead for the rest of the tour but I think we will be breaking a few records on this one. Last night we nearly sold out of some merchandise and more is on its’ way as we speak. There is stock being sent to New Orleans and Dallas to be warehoused and many in the business have popped their heads up wanting in with company displays of clothes and sunglasses and shoes and about everything you may wear. Lucy has told me that there is already a waiting list of companies wanting to market your stage gear and Pierre here has had to order a shipment of SG’s. We still have ten cities for this tour so please take it easy on yourselves, no wild parties and make sure that you never go anywhere alone, any of you. There will be time after the tour to let your hair down. So, congratulations to you all and thank you from the promoters.”

During breakfast I asked Minh and Riordan if they could join me in a quiet room to go over new songs. We would have to wait to work on them with the rest of the bands but we could get some groundwork in. They agreed so after our coffee I went to reception to see if they had a meeting room with café bar and they let me use one on a higher floor near the business centre. I asked if anyone else wanted to join us and Joanne and Julia said they wanted to so we made our way up to the room. I detoured to my room to collect my backpack with laptop in and then went to the business centre for notepads and biros.

We spent all morning in there firstly working on a couple of new ‘Amazon’ numbers and then, for relaxation, some tracks for the Christmas album. Riordan said that if we could do this every day we were free we may have the bones of both albums before the end of the tour. I had recorded each song as we had finalised it onto the laptop with a couple singing and the others humming the tune so burned a DVD for Riordan to keep.

In the afternoon we spent some time at the rooftop pool and just lazing around. In the evening, after dinner, we went to the stadium and did our two sets again to a bigger crowd. On the way back to the hotel, Mary said that she had to keep pinching herself to remind herself that she was here. She told me that the first night next to the mixing desk was an experience that would never leave her. Saturday was more of the same and Sunday morning Alan was outside with the festival bus to take us to Daytona Beach.

The gig at that festival was even more crowded than the previous ones and Jake and the band did us proud. We put on our first dance gig without Nina and, although we missed her, it seemed to go well. We spent the night in a hotel in Daytona and flew to New Orleans on Monday morning for the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday concerts there. The venue was not humungous, it was massive! I walked around the stalls and it was like walking through a department store. Several stall holders got me to pose for photos which, I am sure, would grace their advertising. The arena did look like it would seat eight thousand and I wondered if we would fill it tomorrow night. We had scheduled all interviews at the venue in their hospitality suite so the rest of Monday was taken up by talking.

It seemed that the music press had picked up on our jam in Miami and we were now on a ‘high voltage tour’. Tuesday morning we did a sound check for each band and rested in the afternoon before going on stage and wowing them again. Wednesday we did our song writing session and concert; Thursday all of the girls spent the day in a spa before the concert. All of the concerts were sold out and seemed to get noisier. Friday the Party Girls flew to Mobile for a two day festival where we played to a monster crowd on both Saturday and Sunday night and the Monday the whole band flew back to Nashville for a few days for a rest.

We had Dallas the following Friday and Saturday and there was a ten thousand seat stadium to fill and the following week we were due to play at a festival in Santa Fe on the Friday and Saturday while ‘Amazon’ played at a casino in Las Vegas on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This was now impossible with me in both bands unless we played the morning set, which the promoters were not happy with, so we had to pull out of the Santa Fe gig altogether. The promoters could not complain as they had told us that ticket sales were already forty percent ahead of budget. This would give the other girls and both bands a ten day break while I played in Las Vegas and before we opened the following Tuesday in Los Angeles.

We tidied up the office work, did our laundry, discussed outfits with Lucy and managed to get a couple of hours in the recording studio. We flew out with Carl and the boys,’ Amazon’ and all of our support staff on Thursday afternoon; if the group got any bigger we would need a chartered plane. Checking into the hotel in Dallas we got back in the bus to see the venue. I think I was getting acclimatised to big places as I could look at it with a more critical eye. Ten thousand no longer seemed enough! The stage was already set up and just needed the amps put on the stage tomorrow. Once again I could see that our lighting and sound guys were in seventh heaven.

Friday we all went back and did the sound checks then talked to lots of media people until dinner. The usual salon session out of the way and we were back on stage again, this time ‘The Party’ was in lush red and black while ‘Amazon’ was in bright green. The audience was enthusiastic and the set was good. I had got quite accomplished in my quick change and was well ready for the second half, which went really well. The ‘Amazonians’ in the crowd were very vocal and I was getting more appreciative shouts when I played. The Saturday night was more of the same and while I joined ‘Amazon’ to fly to Las Vegas on Monday, the ‘Party’ group flew back to Nashville.

The Las Vegas gig was a totally different situation. Set up originally as a gentle smaller venue for a legendary but aging band, the organisers had completely rethought the whole scenario without telling us. Instead of a big room in one of the casinos we were now to play in a theatre with about three thousand seats. We had sent the original theatre set of amps which would, luckily, suffice. We still were set down to playing a matinee every day so would do eight sets while we were here. Monday afternoon we checked out the venue and Tuesday was interview day. Wednesday was sound check and a run through while Thursday morning we relaxed before going to the venue after a light lunch. The place was packed with fans, ordinary gamblers and several high rollers; easy to see by their obvious bodyguards. The matinee went well but seemed a bit tame to me being back in a smaller venue. After a light dinner we did the evening show, also packed. The rest of the week went in a similar fashion and Monday morning we flew to San Francisco.

Marianne G 2020