Patsy Power Part 27

I went to find the band and Riordan went to find hers while Angela went off to call Sarah at home. I found Carl and the boy’s playing cards in the hotel lounge, pulled up a chair and asked them for their attention. “Just a few minutes ago” I started, “Riordan proposed a scenario where ‘Amazon’ almost doubles in size and ‘The Party’ disappears altogether. “

“This will be brought about by her bass and drummer retiring and Jake and the other band coming in when you all go back into the studio. She wants to add whoever is left of the Innocent Girls as backing singers.” I sat back for the arguments but Carl just said “How quickly does she want it to happen? We are all getting to the end of our tether with these big stadiums; its hard work being a rock star. Been there before and recovered then.”

I told them that it would depend on how quickly the new boys could come up to speed on our other songs and how quickly they could learn the ‘Amazon’ set. Max said that last time they were all together in Nashville they had made sure that the other band was good to replace any of them should something happen so it would be mainly the new stuff. Carl pulled his phone out and rang Jake. When the call went through he told Jake that I wanted to talk to him and then handed the phone to me.

“Jake,” I said “I want to know how quickly you and the boys could replace our band here completely.” He said that it would only take a few days to get back up to speed but that they were happier playing the dance set. I said “That may not be as much as a problem as you think. We will be adding more of the dance music to the concerts and dropping some of the more teeny songs as they do not work in big stadiums. The other question I need to ask, in confidence, please, is how long would it take you to learn the ‘Amazon’ set as it stood at New Orleans?”

There was a silence at the other end of the line and he said “Do I hear you right? You are asking me if we could back ‘Amazon’?” I told him yes. He thought for a few seconds and then said “It should not be too hard. We can get the master from Ron and practise with the bass and drums turned down. What about me and Keith, I can’t see the band without you and Riordan?” I told him it would be an expanded line up with two lead and two rhythms. “Hell!” he exclaimed “that would be some kind of sound, it would blow the walls in.” I told him that Milwaukee was probably off and that we needed to start the replacing from the next concert in Seattle. I also said that we were going to set up a meeting in Nashville on Tuesday after our gig here if we could; and that it all depended on management agreeing.

After I rung off Dan asked me what brought this on and I told him that Kurt and VB wanted to retire and that I thought we may lose Lorraine to the movies tomorrow. That added to the fact that they did not want to continue beyond the end of the tour (when the tour was somewhat smaller). I told them that Riordan and Julia wanted me to stay on as the lead in ‘Amazon’ as well. Boss, who was a deep thinker, then said “You know; this is a brilliant idea. You end up with a version of ‘Amazon’ that the fans obviously like, filled with younger members who would have a longer stage life. Not only that, the dance stuff does link with their rock. Music like ‘Mall Song’, while catchy, does not fit the set for these big venues. You really need big rock in these places.”

Just then Angela came into the room and, seeing me with the band, came over. “I have just spoken to Sarah and she said not to bother going to Nashville, she will bring Alice and the other guys here tomorrow and come to our show. She also said that Simon is flying in from New York tomorrow with his CEO, who wants to see what all the fuss is about. I told her we would bring them all up to speed over the weekend. We could also rehearse the set with the other band in the mornings.”

We left it at that for the night and, in our room, Joanne asked me if it was all going to be all right as it was huge step. I told her that I thought so but it would take careful planning to make it seamless. We had a fitful sleep. In the morning we all had an early breakfast and wished Lorraine good luck as she was being picked up. Both complete bands gathered in a large meeting room and Riordan asked if anyone had any negative thoughts about the proposition that had been put forward. We all seemed happy with the concept but that we needed to make the transition as seamless as possible. It would mean that the new large group, when fully formed, would have to carry the whole show. It would mean two halves or could mean one long show. To pull that off we would have to play for about three hours straight.

We talked around the problem and finally decided to wait until we had Jake and the other boys up to speed. We stopped for lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing until Sarah and Simon arrived. Well, the others relaxed but Minh, Riordan and I had a little session on song writing and working out songs for an acoustic set. Angela had come up with three care homes; the one in New York that Riordan knew of and others in Seattle and Chicago. We had decided that they were to be just us with Joanne and using just acoustic guitars with no PA – the old fashioned way!

Late in the afternoon everyone was in the hotel. Lorraine had been brought back and was bubbling with excitement at the screen test. She said to Joanne “Remember we used to watch that sitcom where there was a teenage lad who was supposed to play in a band? Well, the male lead is him, a few years older, and he is still dishy. We did a scene together and I thought the atmosphere was electric. They also got me to sing ‘Secret Love’ with a backing track. It gave me goose bumps. The producer said he would leave a message here before we leave.”

We booked a large meeting room and everyone gathered there. Simon took the floor and asked Riordan to outline her ideas. When she did so he then asked me what I thought so I put my bit in. He then asked the older guys if they were happy in stepping back from the limelight and they all agreed it had been a blast but was getting far too wearing on their old bodies. He asked if Jake and the younger guys could step up and they were all enthusiastic and finally asked the Innocent Girls what they thought. Joanne said she was a bit scared but was in; Minh said she was in for the short term but she saw her long term career in song writing and in childrens’ songs; Lorraine said that if the screen test went well she would love to act but that any singing would still be covered by her personal contract.

I pointed out that we could transition completely between cities and that the advertising for the new band needed to make it sure that the ‘Party’ was no longer on the bill. Angela pointed out that as the Milwaukee dance festival had cancelled, we had a two week break between Detroit and New York to make everything happen. We would need a practise hall somewhere away from the bright lights to perfect the act. Riordan said she would like the set to be without a break but that it could be extended by making the dance songs longer.

Simon asked Sarah and Alice if they had anything to add and Alice just remarked that one band is easier to manage than two, even if they are bigger. Simon finished the meeting by pointing out that there would be a potential for another collectors’ item live DVD of the New York show and that he could almost smell the profit!

We left the meeting room in high spirits and went to dinner. Jake and the band spent the evening with Riordan and her band going over the playlist and noting keys and the riffs that had to be in to make them the legendary songs they were. We all arranged to go to the stadium as early as we could get there and continue our preparations there. My song is coming true –everything IS changing!!

Part 28

Thursday morning we were all up, dressed and breakfasted and took both buses to the stadium. It was a hive of activity as trucks were unloading sound and lighting equipment; the stage erectors had cranes and stacks of scaffold already laid out and the concession stalls had their trucks lined up while the stall holders were erecting their pitches. There was no way we would be doing any playing until tomorrow so we just stood and gazed over the huge number of seats. Jake said that although the festivals were big, the same number of seats was an awesome sight.

I suddenly said loudly “We overthought the problem last night!” “OK Miss Thinker, what is the solution now?” said Riordan. They gathered around me and I explained. “We have Jake and the younger band up to speed with the dance set and Carl tells me they will only need minimal practice to catch up with ‘Party’ numbers so we can have them take over by Seattle. With them already on stage we just need to swap Paul and Kevin with Kurt and VB, bring on Julia, Nina and Riordan and we have ‘Amazon’ on stage.”

“Give it a couple of weeks and I think that Kurt and VB can step back. I already handle the lead so Jake and Keith can come on to the stage and just add to the beat until they find their additional sounds, that should only take a couple of gigs and I don’t think the fans will notice it.” Joanne said “I studied keyboard through high school and beyond, could we set up a second keyboard, maybe an electric piano, and I could be alongside Julia and also contribute? I would not take long as I already have ideas.” Carl said “Why don’t we trial it tomorrow morning with me and the boys; Dan and I could slide off as Riordan and Nina come on and the bass and drums could change as you said.” Riordan then added “OK, it sounds good but I have one more idea. For the big reveal, Patsy and the girls could do about four of the ‘Party’ hits out front to open the show with the new band and then Paul can do the bass notes for our opening ‘Amazon’ number and Nina, Julia and I can come on stage as the beat gets going and we mix the up-tempo and dance numbers into the ‘Amazon’ set while still finishing with the hits.” Julia said that it would be a good theme for the usual future concerts, adding new material in as we went along while dropping off the less popular tracks.

We all felt that progress had been made so left the builders to it and went back to the hotel. We organised a meeting room and went over the three playlists to pick out the best opening songs, followed by some ‘Amazon’ hits, then some dance numbers and finishing off with the usual three or four big hits. Angela commented that, boiled down to this, it looked very doable by Seattle, or at least, Chicago, rather than New York as first thought. We could do it piece by piece at progressive concerts rather than try for it in one hit. We roughly timed the final list at about two and a half hours if we keep the dance numbers to the record version, and about three hours if we did the club versions.

Nina, who had been pretty quiet, suddenly said “Hey! I have an idea. If you make ‘Changing’ the last number of the first set; you could sing the chorus several times getting quieter, while Joanne wanders over to the keyboard setup. You and Minh can unstrap your guitars and while you change to the SG and Rickenbacker Riordan and I can come from each side of the stage singing the ‘Everything is changing’ while Julia gets to the keyboard and starts a sort of space-like note. Once we are all in position she can lift that note to a crescendo and suddenly stop with the last line sung loudly. Then, as the crowd go nuts, Paul can hit the bass notes to the opening number for the ‘Amazon’ show.” We all thought that it was a great idea. Lorraine said “I can see that I am going to have to get that film role as there does not seem to be any room for me in this scenario. We all said that there was always room but it looked like we were banking on her success.

We were a lively lot at lunch. Simon introduced his CEO to the crowd and we all said hello. He was a somewhat older gentleman and I wondered if he had brought a tux with him, seeing that he was going to a concert. Both he and Simon had brought their wives so we all started chatting over our meal. Angela was cool with it but Mary seemed a bit overawed with lunching with the big boss and the big boss’ boss. I suggested to her that she get hold of some industrial ear plugs to hand out when they are seated at the concert for use in the later numbers. We warned Ron to make sure there was a row of seats behind him with reserved signs on for the visitors.

In the afternoon we continued running through the proposed set, singing quietly while mimicking our moves. We did the change-over piece with Julia adding a funny whine and Joanne adding to it and it sounded like it would work. Then all the girls went up to the hotel pool to show off our bodies, leaving the boys to go over the music again. The day had gone well and, at dinner, we were given the news that the ‘Amazon Live in Miami’ CD had hit number one in the second week while our earlier album and DVDs were still selling well. The news also came in that the stage and lighting was finished so we decided that we would all go over to the stadium and check it out.

Piling into the two buses and a couple of limos, it must have looked quite a sight as we travelled across town in convoy. When we arrived we first walked around the concession area, much to the delight of the holders, who were finishing off stocking the stalls. We then went around to the back steps of the stage and all went up to look out over the seating. Our lighting guy was there and showed off a few flashing and strobing effects over the auditorium. Simons’ and the CEO’s wives were absolutely awe struck “You play to this” one said “I feel scared to be here even now.” Angela came up and told us that she had checked with the road crew and that all the instruments were ready if we wanted to do a sound check now. We all said we would love to so we pointed out the seats by the mixing desk and Mary guided our visitors down to be seated for a personal show, pulling some ear plugs out of her bag as she went.

We decided quickly that we wanted to do the change-over piece so I strapped on the Rickenbacker and Minh had her Fender. We had to wait for a few minutes while the drums and keyboard was put in place. I said to Carl and Riordan “We will do ‘Wait’ to set a mood and then ‘Changing’ and rehearse the moves and do your opening number.” We all agreed, so, once we had everything in place, I went out front with the girls and we started with ‘Wait.’ When we finished Ron gave me the thumbs up. The lighting guy had been very measured with the effects and it was soothing. We then started with “Changing’ and we did as Nina had suggested, Minh and I unstrapped guitars while Joanne went over to the keyboard that Julia was now standing behind and bringing up a weird sound; Boss and Max swapped places with Kurt and VB and then Nina and Riordan walked onto the stage.

I had the SG on by now so, when we nodded to Julia she picked up the note and we all sang ‘Everything is changing’ loudly and then there was silence. Kurt played the first bass notes quietly in the silence and then after a pause, hit them again and I came in with the guitar, followed by the rest of the band and then we were off, Nina and Riordan belting out the vocal. I could detect Carl and Dan adding bits into the guitar mix and it all sounded great. When we finished there was a small crowd of stallholders and riggers standing in front of the stage with looks of wonder on their faces. I said for them to keep this under their hats for the moment, in a vain hope that they actually would.

We unstrapped our stuff, thanked the roadies and told them we would be in for practise at about ten in the morning and asked them if they could locate a second keyboard to set at an angle to Julia and to put them on stage for the whole show. We then went down to the playing field area where Simon and his CEO were in a deep conversation and Mary was chatting away with the wives.

Marianne G 2020