Weeping Willow. Book 3, Chapter 21 of 23

Chapter 21

With that in mind, they passed the word to the rest of the group, and their guests collected albums, medallions, posters, and band caps. Back behind the stage, after a good walk, they went back to the dressing area, with their guests going through to the seats. The techs went to the control tent and each band sorted out their guitars.

The keyboards and drums were for universal use, but the drummers had their own cymbals. Jill handed out earbuds, three sets, with G-Force given white, the Hikers given light yellow and Summer Rose all getting pink. They tried them out and found that they were as good as the headphones.

“These are on separate channels. You will hear the final mix and the show director. Follow his instructions without question. He’s one of the best in the business. Put them in, fifteen minutes before your start time, and he’ll get you organised. Guitarists, we have an in-house tuner, and he has tuned them all since you arrived, so you’re good to go as soon as you hit the stage. Let’s get some sound checks done. Geoff, you lot are up first.”

G-Force put their buds in, and Jill spoke to the director on a two-way. They heard the voice in their ears, telling them to come up on stage when they were ready. Those in the seats saw the four screens come alive, and then the band appeared and plugged in, the drummer fitting his cymbals to the empty stands.

The band heard the word to start, and they started playing one of their songs that had been decided to be their sound-check number. Down in the seats, it was loud, with the mix being altered as the song went on. They could see the pictures on the screens changing to highlight the main player or Zara, with one that showed the whole band from the centre of the ground.

Outside, there was a cheer from the waiting lines. The sound of the music was a sure sign that the show was getting ready.

After the Gees left the stage, the Hikers were ready, buds in. They were told to come on up and they did so, playing their own check-song. After that, it was the turn of Summer Rose. The culmination of six months of evolution had come down to this point. They had a group hug and went up on the stage. They played ‘Spitter’ as the sound-check. Outside, the growing crowd cheered, and some sang along to it.

When they finished, they all went to the dining room and the gates were opened to let the audience in. Security men took up their positions, all with earbuds, tuned to their own channel. In the dining room, it was full of joy and laughter. The die was cast and all they could do now was play. Many of the guests went off to get earplugs for the show. There seemed to be too much food, but they were joined by other guests as they ate. The schoolteachers arrived, with some excited children. Wendy and Ashley arrived with the distribution manager and his daughter. The newcomers were quickly brought up to speed with the way to the seating, the facilities, the concourse vendors and the free offers, so went off to see what they could find.

At half-past six, the G-Force went to get ready, Zara getting a hug from all the orchestra members in the group. Howard Bamborough came back with his daughter from their forage. She had a silk scarf with ‘Coventry Sound’ in the centre and pictures of all the band members around the outside. She had a texta and wanted signatures on it. After she signed, Willow went off to get a couple of her own, one for herself and the other for her grandmother. When Wendy saw it, she dragged Ashley off for a forage of their own.

At seven, all the guests were heading for the reserved seating, some seeing the size of the crowd for the first time. Jim Jamieson smiled, his fears were forgotten, the bands had filled the stadium.

The other two bands went down to the dressing area, giving the Gees a good luck wish as they headed for the stage, now concentrating on the voice in their ears and the show that was before them. The Hikers found that there were dressers waiting for them, to help them get ready for their part. One of the dressers took the Summer Rose into their section.

“All right. Show me your outfits for tonight and I’ll label the bag. When you change after the show, they will all be taken for cleaning and will be ready for you at the next venue. I believe that you have a total of four changes, so these will be ready for next weekend. We’ll take the boys first and start now, seeing that there are so many of you.”

Suddenly, the roar of the crowd filled the air, followed by the sound of the Gees getting into the show. In the marquee, it was all business, with the Hikers coming out of their section in rustic outfits with leather waistcoats. The boys from SR started to emerge in their special outfits, and, as the Gees ended their set and the Hikers had gone up the steps, it was time for the four girls to get ready.

When Willow and the others went in, one of the dressers was setting up a vanity station. They were all, very carefully, dressed in their outfits, with the dressers commenting on how nice they looked. They took turns at the make-up seat, having their hair brushed and clipped so that it didn’t get in the way. They all had extra care on their make-up, and all looked a lot older when they put their buds in their ears.

They heard the voice telling them to go up and stand behind the amps, so the guitarists picked up their instruments, the wind section had theirs, and Brent had his cymbals. They went up behind the amps and waited for the Hikers to finish with ‘Love and Marriage’. They smiled at them as they passed them on the way down, and the voice told them to hit the stage.

Willow led them out, to a huge roar from the crowd. She went to her keyboard and called out to the crowd.

“Hello, Nottingham!”

There was a big roar.

“Do we have any Forest fans here?”

There was another big roar.

“Do we have any friends here tonight?”

There was another big roar.

“Some time ago, I wrote a song dedicated to Gina, here beside me. Tonight, we’re starting with ‘Finding a Friend’ from our last album. Tonight, the song is for you, our friends!”

She knew that they were ready by now, so just started the intro, with the band joining in. At the end, she waited for the roar to abate a bit.

“On that same album, we recorded a song which we have been told has become a favourite for weddings, so girls, sing along if you want.”

They went into ‘Her Day’, with some strong singing coming from the crowd. At the end of it, there was a huge cheer and laughter. Willow waited a short while then nodded to the others and they were into tracks from the ‘Homegrown’ album, one following the other in a wall of rock music and pyrotechnics. When they had finished the set that had been planned, Willow called out again.

“We started out as a cover band, and there is a new, limited edition, DVD out there which is our take on an album by Kansas, from back in the seventies. We’ll finish our set, tonight, with the last four tracks off that DVD.”

Jacob started with the intro to ‘Dust in the Wind’ and they ended with ‘Hopelessly Human’. When they finished, they took a couple of bows, but the roar didn’t diminish. Willow spoke again.

“Thank you, friends. You’ve been fantastic tonight. We had a song at the beginning that is now popular at weddings. We’ll finish with our single off of ‘Homegrown’, which is on our website as a single-track download. Those who have heard it have decided that it’s a good one to sing at a divorce. Thank you, again, for supporting the charity, here in Nottingham, and we’ll end the night with ‘Dummy Spitter’, sing along with us, ladies!”

They played the song and could hear a lot of singing from those who may have already bought the album. At the end, there was a mass burst of pyrotechnics, and the lights went out. When they came back, the whole show was on stage waving to the crowd. After a few minutes, the voice told them to leave. As they turned to go, the stage lights went out and the stadium lights came on.

Clive and Jill were waiting behind the amps, shaking hands and hugging all the bands as they passed. In the marquee, the guests were streaming through to go home. The Head and one of her daughters both had the scarves, and she hugged Willow.

“See you tomorrow night.”

“What! You want to come back?”

“Certainly, I have three more to bring, but I would come back on my own. That was a fantastic show. I’m so proud of you all.”

The bands went to their sections to change, boys first, leaving the four girls and Zara to talk to the remaining guests. When the Gees came out, Zara went in. The Hikers were all ready to leave, with Racheal giving Willow and Gina hugs. Zara was out before the boys, so the Gees left, leaving just Summer Rose. Clive came over to the four girls.

“That, young ladies, was a lesson in working the crowd. You held them in the palm of your hands throughout your set. We’ll see you all tomorrow night. Get a good sleep when you get home. There’s nothing for you to do this weekend other than entertain.”

The boys came out and the girls went in. It didn’t take long for the girls to change. The outfits were put into the garment bags and the dressers gave them a hug.

“When we put our hands up for this show, we thought that we would be seeing you in one of the function rooms, playing quiet music. This is something else, again, and we’re looking forward to the rest of the tour.”

The girls added their buds to the boxes on a table, picked up their bags and rounded up the rest of the band and guests. Max put his head in the marquee.

“All ready to go? Those who are getting picked up at the Cathedral should give them a call to let them know that we’ll be about an hour and a half. It’s nearly midnight, so you don’t want them worrying.”

They all followed him out. Xavier was gushing about the experience and both Frank and Dave were discussing the strain of keeping the pictures right. All three had learned a lot, with a lot more practise to come.

Dianne and Barbara started to slow down on the way back. Both had been taken to the edge of fainting by the sound and excitement. The techs and their partners were dropped off. When they arrived at the Cathedral, several had to be woken to get out, and one father had to have his car window knocked on to wake him up. The band were dozing, themselves, on the way back to Stoneleigh. When Willow was dropped off, she said that she would see the others tomorrow, and walked to the open door, where Wendy was waiting with open arms.

Her mother helped her strip and cleanse and closed the door on her sleeping daughter. She went into the master bedroom, where her husband was on his back and snoring. She smiled as she got into her side and turned the light out, putting her new ‘Rock Show Standard’ earplugs in.

Saturday morning, they all slept late, so there was just enough time for a re-invigorated Willow to shower, dress, have breakfast and empty yesterday’s goodies from her bag and collect up today’s outfit. Today was a similar day to the previous one, except for different guests to take. The new faces helped them all stay focused. The only difference was that they didn’t have to do a sound check.

Willow and Gina followed Xavier and the others to the control tent in the afternoon. It was small and packed with enough electronics to control a space mission. There was the mixing desk, with two seats and headphones, the security monitor and a red phone that they were told was a direct line to the hospital. Behind them, there was a bank of screens on each side. Frank explained that the right side controlled the output to the two right-hand screens, from all the cameras on the right side of the stadium. The other side controlled all of the left-hand vision. Each station had fans to keep the operators cool.

The teachers all had other family members and Willow’s parents had brought an engineer and his wife from Aston Martin. Many had come earlier to allow more browsing time with the vendors. When Jill joined them, she verified that they had filled all the seats, with any who wanted to buy at the gate being told to get in early for Derby, mid-week, or Leicester on the next weekend.

The show went as well as the previous night, the only difference being that the other two groups made more effort at including the crowd.

That night, Willow was almost as tired, when she arrived home, but the reduction of stress helped her get through it. She did very little on Monday and Tuesday, looking at emails and texts on her phone. Her parents were at work, and she had the silence of the house to rest in. She expected that the others must all feel the same. What had been a labour of love had now become work.

Wednesday was Derby, playing at Pride Park. The team wasn’t topflight, but the stadium was good. When they got there, they found that the set-up was almost exactly the same as Nottingham, with only the fact that they had thirty thousand being different. There was the same vendor stalls and a similar dining room set-up for the VIPs. The main difference for Willow, was to remember to say hello to Derby, and ask if there were Rams supporters in the crowd.

It was a little earlier home on Wednesday night, but not by much. The second night was again sold out, with late comers told to try for Leicester or Coventry. For the bands, it was the fresh faces and the excitement of the families that made their day. They could see now, that just going from place to place without that sort of new group to talk to could become tedious.

They had Friday off, and then it was Leicester. The venue was King Power Stadium, and the club nickname was the Foxes. Being a newish stadium, the set-up was surprisingly similar to Derby, with the same number of fully filled seats for both shows. For Saturday night, Ashley stayed at the club to help out behind the bar, while Malcolm was with Wendy.

On Sunday evening they were back with a couple from Aston Martin. The band now had a lot of guests that they didn’t know. Brothers and sisters of schoolfriends, older children of the teachers. It kept things fresh for them.

After the second show, they had almost a week off. Willow joined with Gina, and they went into Birmingham, trying to look inconspicuous, to do some shopping. It was impossible to avoid being recognised by salesgirls, but there were no riots or problems.

On Wednesday, the next statement arrived by email. The downloads of the ‘Carpentry’ album had lifted, the merchandise sales was way up at forty-two thousand. They had been paid a hundred and fifty thousand for the six shows. The ‘Journey’ CD had sold two hundred thousand, the DVD had sold three hundred thousand. ‘Homegrown; had sold four hundred and fifty thousand, with the DVD selling three hundred and fifty thousand. The Carpentry album had a new life, selling a hundred and eighty thousand. The Kansas DVD had sold eighty thousand so far.

Costs were eight thousand for their website, six thousand for admin, six thousand to Madame Francesca, and twenty thousand for the added security. The label had taken forty thousand in expenses, and ten thousand for admin, which included Jill’s services.

The shows had grossed fourteen million so far, with hire and erection of the stage a quarter of a million per site, and staff cost of a hundred thousand a show. Each band had earned just on six hundred thousand. The bottom line, for each member of Summer Rose, was five hundred and sixty-four thousand, even with the fifteen percent commission.

On Thursday, Willow did two laps of her walk along the river and around the church. There was scaffolding on both sides, allowing the roofing contractors access. She looked inside, and there was quite a mess, with the old kitchen area stripped out, and contractors installing new heating. The organ was denuded, with all the pipes taken off. She went and knocked on the vicarage door. The Reverend opened it up and smiled when he saw who it was.

“Hello Willow. I hear that you’re creating a storm with that show. We’re going tomorrow night, with the Bishop and some of his staff. My sister will be going as well. She says that her colleagues have been very positive but warned her to get earplugs. I don’t know how you can stand that noise on stage.”

“We all wear special earplugs, which cancel out most of the noise but give us the final mix in our ears, so it’s like listening to a CD as you play.”

“That’s all too modern for me. What can I do for you?”

“I see that the organ has been dismantled, and wondered if you had a quote yet.”

“They needed to check the pipes before they would give me a final price, but the specialist said that it won’t be much more than a hundred thousand. It’s a very technical job to restore and retune the pipes.”

“That’s all right. That’s well inside what I thought it might be. When you get the invoice, just give it to me and I’ll pay it and talk to Gina afterwards. I hope you enjoy the show as much as we enjoy performing.”

She went back home and checked her emails. Her partner for tomorrow night had to cancel, so she replied for her to call Dianne to reschedule. She then emailed Bruce, from the Observer, to tell him that if he was at the Cathedral car park at two, that afternoon, he would be picked up to see the show. Being the hometown, they would be arriving at around the time that they had arrived at the other venues. She made a sandwich for lunch and sat with a cup of tea afterwards, thinking about how much bigger things could get. They had been sheltered from the media, so far, but the impact of this show will stir up the need for stories about the band.

Then, it struck her that close to a year ago, she had arrived here, in Stoneleigh, a bullied and shy boy with scars and a problem. So much had happened, so many people she had met, and so many friendships forged. It was almost impossible to believe. A simple event, in her past, had sent her on this path towards being a girl, and now she was a woman.

She heard the postie drop something in the box, so went to get it out. It was the official report from the school. She opened it up and looked at her results. There were ‘A’s, some with a plus or a minus against them, across the whole list of subjects. The note at the bottom said, ‘Couldn’t do any better!’

While she had some free time, she caught up with her finances. She emailed Peter to transfer five hundred thousand to her WR Holdings account and transferred a hundred thousand to the Summer Love account, with an email to Wilhelm telling him she had done so. She also sent an email to their real estate agent, asking him if he had any commercial properties in the lower price range that she could buy for herself, or any businesses that were looking for a silent partner. She figured that she could dabble a bit and take a chance.

She went upstairs and sat at her keyboard, doodling Bach. That reminded her of the Chopin album she had bought but not listened to. She put it in her disc player and listened to it. The second time, she set the keyboard to piano and played along. The third time was better, and she then just played the tunes without the CD. It was something that she hadn’t done in quite a while. It was soothing, but, most of all, it proved that she still had that knack of learning and remembering. She wondered that if there had been no tour, that she may have spent all holiday learning new material that would have been just for her to listen to.

On Friday, she was picked up at one, after a light lunch. There wasn’t an outfit to take, as all four were now in the system with one waiting for her at the stadium. For all of them, this was the one show that they wanted to get right, this was home, and this weekend would have the biggest concentration of friends and families. On the way, they picked up Gina with Maisie, and Jacob with Wilhelm.

Bruce got on at the Cathedral and sat next to Willow.

“Thank you for the invitation, Willow. The newspaper had organised seats in the stands for tomorrow, but I can now write an article with a lot more detail.”

“It’s good, Bruce, and I owe you for being so good with me. I think that you’ll find this show a bit different to the Belgrade ones.”

At the stadium, they were taken to the function room where they had played for the dinner dance. There were tables with snacks and finger food, and a large number of other guests, including the Bishop and his retinue. The rest of the bands arrived, and it was a large crowd who were socialising. Ashley and Wendy arrived with his manager and daughter. Willow was standing with her friends when the organiser who had bid to have them play came over.

“Welcome to you all. When I bid for your appearance, my board was not very happy. After seeing what you have done with the first shows, I’m flavour of the month. All three shows here are fully booked, and you’ll make a big impact on the charity and its ability to supply services to the disadvantaged.”

Bruce smiled and asked a leading question.

“Just how big will that impact be, sir?”

“The three venues that they have already played at has grossed fourteen million, and we look at getting close to eight and a half from the three shows here. There are a lot of costs, and payments to come out of it, but the charity in Coventry is guaranteed a minimum of six million by Monday.”

“I believe that what you paid for the band also was for the charity that the Bishop was collecting for?”

“That’s right. That was a very good night for him. When I made my bid, I was expecting to have the Summer Rose in their ballad days, not the heavy rock that I believe is now their new sound. It does bring in the customers, though. I had made my plans based on about twenty thousand turning up, but we now have a hundred and twenty thousand over three nights.”

They were ready by four, for everyone to wander the vendors, and for the bands to inspect the stage and facilities. It was all very similar with the set-up. This was the stage that had been at Derby, and the access through the marquee was the same. After making sure that it was no different, they went to join their guests and other dignitaries on the concourse. The bands got big smiles from the vendors, with many wanting pictures taken in front of their stands. There was a few new ones, local businesses that had paid a fee to be here, including Madame Francesca with a range of band-themed outfits for trendy girls with a good balance on their credit cards. Of course, she wanted the four girls from Summer Rose to pose at the stall, admiring outfits.

They eventually returned to the function room, where big tables had been laid for a sit-down meal. After a few speeches and a good feed, the bands made their excuses and went down to get ready for the shows. Gina was standing with Willow as the boys were being outfitted.

“Looks like we’ve made our mark on the city, friend.”

“That could be, my friend. There’s about twenty of us on stage who are making their mark tonight. I believe that tonight and tomorrow night will be filmed for an official DVD. This mark will be permanent, and all started when we met outside the church. Odd how things evolve, isn’t it? There was a saying about a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon and creating a wind in Asia. I’m believing that it could happen, with the right links.”

The dressing and getting ready was now a slick operation. They were all dressed and with their buds in before the Gees were called up. This time, the other two bands lined up to give them hugs as they went up to the stage. Willow went through to the exit for the VIPs, who had streamed through the marquee on the way to the seats. She noticed some empty ones, so came back and told the dressers that there were vacant seats if they wanted to see the show from the outside.

The marquee now only had the Hikers and the Summer Rose in it, with the sound of an invigorated G-Force playing to a home-town crowd. Rick commented that a lot had happened in the last six months, and wondered what will happen in the future. Herb said that it all depended on how it went down south, out of their home turf. London, he said, would be when they knew what the future held.

They talked until the Hikers were called up to be ready, then congratulated the Gees when they came back down, and the Hikers hit their straps with the first song. After that, they waited patiently until it was time to head for the stage. They had a group hug before they climbed the stairs and waited behind the amps. They hi-fived the Hikers as they walked past and then went out on the stage. Willow began with the usual intro.

“Hello Coventry!”

The roar was the loudest of the tour so far.

“Do we have some Sky-Blue fans here tonight?”

If anything, the roar was louder.

“I know that we have friends here. Am I right?”

Then they were into the set proper. It went like clockwork, and there were roars before, and after, the encore number that proved that Coventry loved them all. They all changed to head home, while their guests waited for them. On the short trip to the Cathedral, Bruce was smiling.

“Thank you for the experience, Willow. It has been eye-opening, to say the least. I have the two DVDs to watch and will see it all again from the public seats to get the viewpoint from the paying customers.”

That night, Willow told her furry friends that all was good in her world now.

Marianne Gregory © 2025