Positively Patsy Part 3

We went back to the hotel and had dinner. In the evening we were sitting in the lounge when Grog came in with Peggy. He came over to me and asked if we could have a private conversation so we moved to a side room and sat around a table. He said that he had told Peggy about his plans for the final show and that she would support him afterwards.

Peggy said that it was such a shame that she found her father only to find that her time with him was to be limited but Grog said that he will make it last as long as he could now. He said that previously he was resigned to death but she had given him a reason to fight. He then asked me about the final song. I told him that I had an idea of a song where he sings the chorus line first, then the girls and I sing each verse which will be about the various parts of his career and that Jake was practicing the killer riffs. At the end he sings the chorus as an ending and that I thought it would be nice if Janet and Libby came to the front of stage and led him to the exit where he could turn and wave while the rest of us played on. I said I was sure his band would be left floundering by it as planned. He said “What about the words, Patsy, it all depends on the words.” So I sang him the opening chorus quietly –

“Don’t be sad, when you see me walk away,
I’ve played my songs and I have had my day.
I’ve seen it all and experienced highs and lows,
But now I need my rest and now I have to go.”

“Oh Patsy, you are a wonderful wordsmith” he said “What about the ending?”

“So don’t be sad when you see me walk away,
No need to cry, just applaud my leaving.
You did me proud and now my chest is heaving,
So don’t be sad, as I must now say farewell,
And as a heavy metal icon – I’ll see you all in Hell!!”

He laughed heartily at this and had to dab his eyes. “Oh, Patsy, I take that last remark back. You are the legend among wordsmiths. I couldn’t have come up with all of that in just a few lines if I had all year to write it.” I told him about the five areas of his life that we would sing about and said he should talk to Jake about the riffs he wanted. He asked me if I could go and get Jake now so I got up and went into the lounge.

I saw Jake sitting with the band so went over and asked him if he could join me in a private conversation, so generating smirks on the faces of the other members of the band. He followed me to the side room and we sat down. Grog said “Jake, I have heard you play and I believe that you are capable of playing some of my old riffs for the final number, have you tried some out?” Jake said he had and then they talked about the various eras and decided on the five riffs that Grog wanted to hear on the night. Then Grog said “Right, all but one of those riffs was played on my old Fender Telecaster and you will not be able to replicate the exact sound as the old girl had been tweaked electronically. The final one from the current era can be played on an SG like Patsy’s. Can you play that one, Patsy?”

I said I probably could, given a bit of time. “Jake, because of what you are going to do with that song, and because of my faith in your future career, I am going to give you the old Fender to use on the night. Have it on when you come out on stage at the end. I know you will look after it like I have but don’t show it around until after we have done this.” Jake was staggered by this but promised to keep it under wraps. Grog said he would have his people ship it from his house to the K Beat office for Jake to pick up when in the states. This would give him a bit of time to get things right.

Grog said the one he wanted me to play was from the song they used as an encore. It was called ‘Pillsplitter’ and was a pleasant ditty about a guy who loved his girl so much he would share his ‘medication’ with her. He said that they often used it for a sound check and suggested that, during the tour, we jammed with them on their sound check. He said he would suggest it as a ‘bonding exercise’. I said that we use ‘Dancefloor’ and maybe ‘Purge’ could jam with us on that. On top of everything, jamming can be great fun and a good way to let off steam after a long flight. Everything agreed, we stood and the boys shook hands while Peggy and I hugged. Then Grog hugged me and Peggy hugged Jake a little stronger than I thought suitable. I caught her eye on the way out of the room and lifted an eyebrow. She blushed and nodded.

The next day was ‘Primal Purges’ time in the studio and, although we didn’t have to be there, we all went in on the bus to see them in action. It was loud and certainly proud and Grog was the master of it all with riffs pouring out of his fingers. The man was truly a maestro. Jake stood in the control room with his mouth hanging open and we were feeling wrung out by the end of it. I made a note of the important parts of ‘Pillsplitter’ for later work. Peggy stood next to me with her hands firmly grasping my arm during the whole set. At the end she said “Gramps called him a pothead; I think he is a total legend. To think that this is my Dad.”

They didn’t have anything they really wanted to do after they finished so Grog suggested we all have a jam session with our sound check songs. Talk about moving fast! So ‘Amazon’ joined them in the studio and we started with ‘Pillsplitter’. It took a while for Jake and our band to get into the swing of things but we did get there. I thought that our four female voices joining their two made for a full sound and I think Gerome heard the same as he called from the control room “Can you do that again, please, it is a bit different.”

So we did ‘Pillsplitter’ from the top and made it last about a quarter of an hour with Grog and Jake sharing solos and having a whale of a time. We then did ‘Dancefloor’ with the others picking it up as we went along. Of course, Gerome, seeing a killing, asked for it again so we did it from the top and I think this one may have lasted twenty minutes. When we finished we were all sweaty and panting but had gelled into a single unit for the two songs.

I could see by the look on Gerome’s face that he saw it too. Roger was sitting in the corner of the studio with a silly grin on his face so I went over to him to see how he was. When I spoke to him he was unresponsive but then I saw the plugs in his ears so I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him how he was after he could hear me. “Never better” he said “what I have got today is gold on its own.”

Our group went back to our hotel after that to freshen up. We had a dinner with much conversation about the day and the prospect of the tour to come. Jake was almost still in shock with sharing the front line with Grog and amazed with himself for holding his own. “I’ve never played like that before” he said “I felt the spirit enter my fingers; it was if I was being lifted to another level.”

The next day we had time to sightsee and took in all the best bits of Geneva. The following day we went back to the chateau for a small conference on the do’s and don’ts for the various venues we were starting with. There was another party, a bit smaller than the previous ones and the day after that we went to the airport in the bus where our plane was sitting. Another one was next to it being loaded with sound gear and scaffolding – that was the one going to Singapore for the second show. We all buckled up and took the short hop from Geneva to Athens. We were on our way!!!

Part 4

It was Wednesday afternoon when we arrived in Athens and a small fleet of buses took us to our hotel. At least we were all together now. As the shows were Saturday and Sunday evening we had a couple of days to sightsee and relax. We enjoyed seeing the ancient sites and trying Greek food and all too soon it was Saturday morning and time to see the stadium. The buses took us there and we went in via a back entrance to a garage under the stage area. We all got out and were led up a flight of stairs to a corridor with lots of dressing rooms; then it was up another flight of stairs to the playing arena level followed by a temporary staircase to the stage. The stage was big, easily big enough for both bands to play side by side. The amp set-up was massive as was the venue. I reckoned at easily a hundred thousand. When I looked around the stage it was set up for both bands, with two drum sets and three keyboards so there would be no moving around between halves.

There was a stage manager to ensure that everything ran smoothly and he came around to our band with small satchels that contained our remote mics and heavy duty buds. Our guitars were produced, ready to go so we strapped in and moved about the stage to get a good feel of where to stand. Riordan tapped her comms button and asked if we were ready to go and, as we all were, she counted down from three and we started ‘Dancefloor’. About ten lines in I heard a distinct change in the music and when I looked around the others had joined us so we did an extended jam with Grog, Jake and me doing solos. At the end of it the sound man gave a thumbs up and Grog keyed his comms and said “Now let them hear what loud music really sounds like!” and we hit the straps with ‘Pillsplitter’.

Obviously, the sound man knew what was expected as the amp volume was cranked up and the noise waves threatened to push me off the stage. A couple of times I managed to mirror-image the main riff with Grog and he gave me a wink when it happened. Jake had kept his magic fingers and was really flying. I could see Grog evaluating him as we played. When we finished the sound man stood up beside the mixing desk and gave a deep bow so I reckon it was good. Grog touched his comms and said “Great work people, let’s go get something to eat now and relax until show time.” We handed over our satchels with our personal kit in and went back down to the buses.

Back at the hotel we had a lunch and sat around the pool until it was salon time. After a light dinner we went to our rooms to change. With this tour we would dress in the hotel and just pick up our personal kit and instruments at the venue so it was definitely a band that fronted the foyer. Maxine had done us proud and Lucy was pleased as she bobbed and weaved among us to make sure everything was correct. The girls had lightweight skirts in a burgundy with black peasant blouses while the guys were in black slimline pants with burgundy shirts. We all had boots with three inch heels and the guys were finding it a little difficult to walk at first. The others had their usual heavy metal outfit of leather and chains with biker boots.

We all piled onto the buses and made our way to the stadium. This time the traffic was heavy and there were also a lot of pedestrians. Climbing up to the dressing room area we were given our satchels and put on our mics and buds. Riordan checked us all through and then we strapped on our guitars and went up to the stage area. The hubbub from the audience was almost too loud to hear anyone speak so we were glad of our buds. The stage manager came over the radio saying “Five minutes to start.” Then it was three, then two and at twenty seconds we walked out on stage and took our places. At three, two, one we started playing as the lighting system kicked in. It must have looked great as the crowd was on its feet already. We worked our way through the set with both Jake and me on another plane; Joanne and Julia were really putting out good sounds and Nina must have been taking lung exercises as she really belted out the main vocals.

We finished up with the usual ‘Maximum Dance’ and, as the crowd were screaming for more, did ‘Dancefloor.’ We went up to the front of the stage and did our bows and waved to the crowd as we walked off. “Follow that!” said Jake to me and I told him that we were just the entrée, the main meal was about to erupt. There was a half an hour break so we got down to the dressing rooms where Grog and his band were kitting up. “Good crowd?” he asked and we had to admit that the crowd was excellent. “Right” he said “at the end of our set I am going to call you guys back on stage so don’t lose your kit or instruments. We, that is, the band and I, have decided that our combined version of ‘Pillsplitter’ is going to be the icing on the cake and will leave everyone talking. On top of that, it’s so much damn fun!!!”

They made their way up to the staging area and, as we had our buds still in, we could hear the stage manager counting them down. At zero the floor shook and the walls seemed to bulge as they hit the first number. We spent our time having a drink and getting comfortable and then the stage managers voice sounded in our buds that it was time to assemble. We went up to the stage area and waited until they had finished the last song. Grog then called out “I am sure you want to give your appreciation to ‘Amazon’ again, well here they come” and we went out onto the stage. Grog then shouted “It’s time to say goodnight with the ‘Pillsplitter!!!’ “; and we got stuck in to a twenty minute version of hell on earth if you were a classical scholar.

In one of the solos I played a fraction of a second behind Grog and I could hear the Doppler-effect from the amps so he nodded at Jake and the next time we played it we were each a little out and the effect was intoxicating, a bit like a Lesley speaker on nitrous oxide. At the end the crowd was jumping up and down and I could see tears in the eyes of many in the front rows, although that could have been the effect of two thousand watts on the ducts; I know my tubes were cleaned out. We all bowed and waved to the audience and walked off the stage as the stadium lights came up.

Down in the dressing rooms we gave up our instruments and popped our personal stuff into the satchels. We were joined by Roger, Lucy and Peggy and went down to the buses and back to the hotel where we had to be taken around to a secure entrance. At breakfast next morning I found out that Peggy and Lucy had seats in the sweet spot next to the mixing board and that Roger had been everywhere with his telephoto lens. Grog stood up and said that it was a great evening and that if every show went as well it would be a highly successful tour. We took it easy during the next day and followed the same routine in the evening to a rapturous crowd.

Monday morning we had a round of interviews with TV and radio and they got me and our girls posing in our L’Estrange outfits for the fashion papers. Marion, Janet and Libby were feeling a bit left out with all this fashion attention so we got Lucy to measure them up and send a message to Maxine to see if we could get some outfits for them sent to Singapore. We flew to Singapore on Tuesday for a Saturday and Sunday show there. It was hot and rained in the afternoons but the venue was covered so the rain would not be a problem. On the Wednesday we took a trip around the island and Thursday a ride over to Saratoga Island on the cable car, an experience not for the squeamish. Friday we went to the venue for the sound check and then relaxed until show time Saturday evening.

It went as well as Athens on both nights and we were pretty happy with the way things were progressing. Again, our Monday was interviews and photos. This time all the girls were included in the fashion shots. Tuesday was the flight to Tokyo and probably our toughest gig so far as the Japanese take their music very seriously. The stadium here was the biggest so far, seating close to a hundred and fifty thousand with the playing surface covered.

Marianne G 2020