Chapter 13 -- First Show of the First Tour - No More Cherries
They got back to the hall with about an hour to go until show time, so they just sat in the dressing room talking like it was any other day sitting around the house.
Janell changed into her "performance uniform" while everyone made light and chuckled at each piece she put on. Tonight it was a pair of men's boxer briefs rather than commando under the huge pair of men's gym shorts, you never know who's looking and what they may see. She put on little shorty socks and her custom made lightweight shoes that looked like the kind of shoes a race driver would wear. Very thin, but extremely robust. She said they were great because she could feel the pedals like she was barefoot.
She also stripped off her top to which everyone in the room gave a robust round of applause causing Jan to blush bright red. It wasn't like everyone there hadn't seen her tits at some point in time. She pulled on a hot pink, very tight sports bra to hold her boobs in place while she bounced around on her throne, over that was a large men's tank top that was tie-dyed with a peace sign in the middle.
She then slipped on the first heavy terry cloth headband she would use that night. She had close to 100 of them in her stash and generally went through eight or ten of them in a show. It didn't take long for them to be soaked with sweat and be of no more use to her until washed and dried.
As a joke, which ended up relieving a lot of pent up tension, she put on a pair of those glasses that had the sparkly spirals on each lens. They used to sell them in comic books as "X-Ray" glasses.
She looked around the room and said, "Ok, I'm ready!"
Everyone laughed out loud while Jan handed out a pair of the glasses to each band member.
The light man, Hector, came in to explain to them what he was going to be doing with the lights. He about fell over when he looked around the room and saw all the goofy glasses they were all wearing. He just started laughing hysterically.
Janell looked at him and said with all seriousness, "These are our special naked glasses. It makes the whole audience naked so we won't be quite as nervous when we play."
He just laughed roundly again, but said he had to get down to business. They all removed their glasses so that he wouldn't have to look around the room laughing while he was trying to explain what he was going to be doing with all the house lights as well as the stage lighting.
Bob had requested a dark stage for them to walk on to so they'd get used to the naked audience before the lights came up.
Hector said that as Bob introduced each of the girls a spot would hit them and stay on until the music started. He noted there were red dots on the floor where he would like them to be standing for the introductions.
He was going to spotlight Maryanne at the very start because of the music, then the general stage lighting would come up gradually as the drums and other instruments started. He said he'd be playing with them as the girls worked trying to keep in synch with the tempo.
Then just before he left he looked at each of the girls seeing that he had very nervous eyes looking back at him. With a warm smile he said to them softly, "Listen, if you all are a quarter as good on the stage tonight as you are on your CD's, you'll do just fine. Honestly, I'm really looking forward to listening to you guys work. I've heard so much... and I'd be willing to bet a paycheck that it's all true!"
With big smiles and thank you from the girls he turned and left just as the stage manager came to give them the ten-minute warning.
In ten minutes time it would be all over except the music and they could all relax. Strange as it may sound, as soon as they started to play all the tension would subside and they'd just do what they do.
Play music!
The knock came letting them know it was five minutes until curtain call.
Bob stood up and looked at four nervous faces. He smiled and then putting on his glasses, gave them the pep talk though softly. "This is it guys. This is why you have been working your asses off every day. This is why you have endured sore fingers, feet, and worn voice boxes. You're going to be just fine. Lets just go out there and have some fun."
Then with a huge grin on his face, "Where's the damned toilet, I gotta pee."
This broke up the room so donning their glasses and laughing, they made their way to the curtain in preparation to take the stage.
"Oh by the way, you all look stunning naked," Bob said as they stood waiting.
Once again they just cracked up laughing and a little more of the tension was released.
When it was time, they all looked at each other nervously, and in a circle did a group hug and a high five, which would become a "tradition" with the band as time moved on.
Heather looked at them all and with a big smile said to them what she had said to them before damned near every practice or weekend session they had ever done. "Let's do it to it!"
Then, with each taking a deep breath, they stepped out on to the stage and into the history books.
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"Good evening," Bob said into the microphone shading his eyes from the spotlight, and then had to wait for the crowd to quiet a bit. He had his bass strapped over his shoulder and was holding the two padded drumsticks he would use for the opening.
"Good evening and welcome to the first show on the first tour for the group. Umm... the girls are pretty nervous, so please, be gentle with them." It brought a huge laugh from the crowd as well as the girls.
"I'm sure you all know who I am, so I'll just take a few seconds to make some introductions, then we'll start the show."
Cheers, and loud applause permeated the house.
"I'll start at the back of the stage... Keeping the beat and keeping the rest of us honest, please welcome Janell Miller playing drums for you tonight. Neil Peart, eat your heart out!" he said with a chuckle
The audience couldn't see all of the girls yet, but none of the girls had taken off her glasses, so when Bob started to make the introductions he looked back at Janell and as the spot hit her, there she was sitting on the throne and smiling with those goofy glasses on her face.
Bob about fell over laughing along with the crowd, but kept it together to do the rest of the intro's figuring that each of the girls was going to have those damned glasses on until the music started.
He wasn't to be disappointed!
More rousing applause, and when Bob looked back again she was bright red, but smiling broadly with those damned glasses on. She tapped the roll pedal once putting out a loud "ta-dump". She raised one hand and waved a stick to acknowledge the crowd.
Bob just continued on with the introductions ignoring the glasses each of the girls still had on her face.
"Next to Janell, on my left, playing a mountain of keyboards that she has magically transformed into philharmonic orchestras among all kinds of other sounds, making it possible for us to do music originally recorded by the Moody Blues, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and others, please welcome Michelle Tejano."
Once again, there was rousing applause for a young woman, wearing goofy glasses, turning bright red but giving a small wave in acknowledgement of the applause.
"Next to Michelle, over there on the far side, hiding behind a mound of different instruments, is probably the most talented of us all, playing everything that nobody else is playing including, violin, saxophone, flute, harmonicas, drums, and keyboards to help Michelle when she needs 3 or 4 arms, and a whole collection of other toys, please welcome Maryanne Ellis."
That brought still another round of raucous hollering and clapping amongst the laughter from the audience. Maryanne took the reed from her mouth and put it into the instrument that was going to blow people's minds. As she stepped up to the microphone she'd play into, she removed the glasses and put them in her back pocket probably for later. Then she stood and waited patiently.
"Last, but certainly not least, is one of the most accomplished guitarists I've ever had the pleasure of playing with." He chuckled to himself with the innuendo that would be lost on all but the band. "On lead guitar, please welcome the incomparable Heather McArthur."
One more time, a rousing round of applause, which Heather acknowledged with a wave while she removed her glasses.
"We're going to open with something a little different tonight and if it works we'll probably do it to open most all of our shows, it's that cool!"
Then pausing for a moment, "I mentioned that Maryanne was probably the most talented person on the stage tonight, and she's proven it to the rest of us over the last few months mastering an instrument that very few people in the world play."
"We understand your excitement and your desire to clap and make noise to make us feel welcome, but this opening number sounds best in a fairly quiet room, so we'll give it a try for you.
After the applause died down a little and the room surprisingly started to get quiet, Bob looked around at each of them, and then turned to Janell who would click her sticks bringing on the first number in the show. Once the music started, Jan was in control and always did an excellent job. He nodded at her so she knew he was going to start the final countdown and all the other girls noted it as well. Michelle knew that she had to start her part when Bob nodded because it was very low and in the background, building as Maryanne began to play her doudouk. Both Janell and Bob could hear her start which was the signal for Janell to do her thing.
Bob turned sideways to the microphone, noting that Maryanne, Janell and Michelle were at the ready, maneuvered the sticks he would use to play the opening, and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen," at which time Janell very quietly for this tune, started her cadence, and on the first click Bob finished, "These Girls Can Play".
In perfect timing, because they had practiced it for what seemed like hours, as soon as Bob said the band's name, Maryanne started playing to obvious gasps from the audience.
As I'm sure you have already figured out, they had, in fact, decided to start the shows with Peter Gabriel's "The Feeling Begins", and it was apparent that many in the audience not only recognized the music, but understood the doudouk was a very difficult instrument to play.
When the music started, the room got so quiet you could hear a mouse munching on a piece of popcorn. Naturally Maryanne played the tune perfectly as did everyone else. Janell sounded like she had at least a third arm while Bob kept his rolling beat throughout. It was really Maryanne, Janell and Michelle that carried the whole number.
The decision to use that music to open all the shows was masterful. Bob only wished he'd thought of it instead of Maryanne, he thought, laughing at himself. She always loved a challenge, and when the other girls heard the tune for the first time, they all fell in love with it immediately.
Heather and Jan had looked at Chelly asking her, "Are you going to be able to do all of that Chell?"
Chelly looked at them with a grin and said, "Nope. Annie's to play the lead part on a doudouk."
"A what?" Janell asked.
Maryanne picked it up, "A doudouk, it's an Armenian double-reeded flute. There's not a whole lot of people in the world that play it, so I figured I'd give it a shot."
Heather looked at her with a smile, "Shit Annie, if anybody can learn to play it, you can!"
Maryanne just looked at her and shrugged her shoulders. "We'll see," she had said softly.
It was now quite apparent to everyone that Maryanne did, in fact, play the doudouk!
One of the things that they had all practiced almost to a fault was segue's between songs. They didn't want to sound like some tinny High School Rock Band that screwed around in between each song, fidgeting and checking the tune of their instruments, killing some time before the next number, as well as effectively killing the mood in the room. They had also talked about having some fun so while they would click off their repertoire without too much messing around, they had decided to put in some fun bits to keep things light.
Even though this was their first show, they were going to sound like the commensurate professional band. No fucking around, just playing music and having fun, but for this first show, there was to be one short exception that they had all laughed about, but thought it would add to the fun.
So when "The Feeling Begins" did it's abrupt ending, where they would usually just seg into the next song, Heather stepped up to her microphone and after the crowd settled a bit from the amazing sounds they had just heard, announced to the gathered masses, "We just want all of you to know, like Bob said, that this is our very first time playing in front of people, we're scared shitless." When the laughter died down she put on her glasses and finished, "But fortunately for us, you all came to the show naked."
At the last part of her little speech, Janell started clicking off the cadence again to start the second song of that night which was ironically, "Helplessly Hoping" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. It wasn't overtly planned, but it just happened that way. They hadn't noticed until Bob pointed it out when they were discussing Heathers little speech.
The irony you ask? If you remember Woodstock and the CSN performance, they had said almost the same words to the crowd in New York as Heather had spoken tonight in San Francisco, except that it was their second time.
They clicked off songs with nary any hesitation, and played each one flawlessly, though Billy would give them the verdict later. They even slipped in the threesome for "Classical Gas", which the audience appreciated.
Oh, didn't Bob mention? Each show was going to be recorded so that when the tour was finished, they might be able to eek out a "Live" album or two. Imagine our surprise! There were also concert videos in the works, but Bill had thought it would be too distracting for the first show given the girls nerves.
Billy and Bob didn't miss a trick, and as before, the girls had no idea that Billy was recording them. They assumed he was doing the sound engineering for the venue as he would for every show they ever performed. In a sense, he was, but he was also recording everything that came to the board, including the crowd noise. It's not that they wanted to hide it from the girls; it's just that they didn't want that on their minds along with everything else.
After this first tour the cat would be out of the bag anyway and they'd know what Billy was up to, but hey, by that time they'd be stage veterans promoting a couple of live records and maybe another studio album and a video.
It was going to be really tough to hide all the camera crew for the live show videos. Bill and Bob figured they'd do a couple dry runs starting with the second show, tomorrow night. They'd have "camera" people walking around, darting in and out, getting close ups etc. while the girls were playing. They would be real cameras, and there would be real video being shot, but it wasn't in the plan to use it. Time would tell... The girls thought it was a cool idea.
And so the first show of the first tour went. The crowd went absolutely wild when the third set was over. They finished up with Huey Lewis' "The Heart of Rock and Roll" and each left the stage slowly as Janell was pounding the bass drum like it was a heartbeat. The light that had been focused on her gradually dimmed and went dark when the heartbeat faded to a stop.
The first show was nearly over.
The crowd went berserk. That's the only way to describe it. Since it was the girls first show, they didn't know if there was to be an encore or not, so the girls let them wind down a little. The house lights hadn't come on which is usually telling the crowd, "It ain't over yet, just make more appreciative noise."
So when the girls, followed by Bob, came out and went to their instruments, once again, the crowd continued to go wild. As they quieted down to a dull roar, Janell clicked off the cadence, and off they went on a four-tune encore.
I know I'll probably say it again, but the encore was almost always the same. The only thing that the girls ever changed was the first song, which tonight for the first show was Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher".
The only thing the critics could apparently find fault with was the encore. Then, all they could say is that it wasn't upbeat like everything else. "The show ended on a downer," they'd written.
Well realistically, everything else wasn't all upbeat either. The girls wanted to leave each show on a "thoughtful note". Their last tune was always, without deviation, Steven Stills, "Find the Cost of Freedom" as done by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
After the first show, the press hounded them; why had they ended the show with such a somber song? What was the meaning behind it? What were the girls trying to say?
"Is that all you people can come up with?" Michelle asked them incredulously at the first press conference. It was the first show and they were already sick of the press.
Heather calmly answered for all of them, "We do that song as a tribute. It's supposed to be somber and we all hope that it will provoke thought amongst the audience."
Looking around at the assembled media, "If one person truly listens, hears and thinks about the words to the song, what they truly mean, and then says 'thank you' appropriately, our purpose in doing the number has been fulfilled."
And she left it at that.
Tribute? Tribute to whom? Tribute to what? What's it all about? The girls just smiled sweetly at them all. Ignoring the predictable clamor, they turned and left the room leaving the press with their mouths hanging open wondering what had just happened.
There will be more said towards the end about their feelings for ending the show with that particular song.
It was really the way they played it. All five of them, with Bob in the middle, were standing at the front of the stage with acoustic guitars in their hands. Yes, Michelle too, she strummed chords until she had her finger picking down. It really wasn't that long because once she "got it" it came easy just as Heather had told her. Even after learning that finger picking, one of the girls always played the "rhythm" part, strumming the cords while the others played their interpretation of the music Steven Stills had written.
After playing the musical intro, each playing an individual interpretation, but in synch with the others, it really was an incredible sound, five acoustic guitars playing very differently, the same piece of music.
Then holding hands, sang the song a Capella in absolutely perfect harmony, something the girls would become very well known for. When the song was finished, after a couple seconds Bob always whispered loudly into the microphone, "Goodnight". Then, still hand in hand, they all did their bows before walking, running or skipping off the stage, always holding hands, Bob in the middle.
When they disappeared into the back, the house lights came up letting the crowd know it was time to go home. The planned two hour show had gone for a little over three and the girls were so high there was no way they were going to get any sleep tonight, at least not until the adrenalin wore off and some fine wine administered.
Knowing how it was going to be, Bob already had the wine and champagne on ice back in their suite, again at the Mark Hopkins downtown. They had another show tomorrow night before they moved on to Seattle, but if the crowd response to this show was any indication of how the rest of the tour would go, it was going to be both amazing and one hell of a lot of fun.
The girls couldn't stop talking. They were so pumped, they just walked around backstage, making all of the local stagehands drool all over themselves, but the girls didn't even notice. The nerves had released, and now that the music was done for the night, they could relax and truly appreciate what they had accomplished.
The first show was finished!