And yes, there IS braces in this chapter, just the once!

-------------------------------------------------

Chapter 70 - An interesting call from Canada


Six of them were sat around the table having dinner: Paige had gone home for the day, leaving Carol, Linda and Dianne, plus Callum, Brian and Lisa.

"I had a very interesting call just now," said Brian as he joined them. "Manager of a Canadian band called 'Northern Girls' - ever heard of them?".

"Nope..." replied Dianne.

"Four girl rock band?" said Linda after a moment's thought.

"Yes, that's the one."

"So what did he want then?" asked Carol

"Well, they've done a few tours of Canada, and the US. They just came back from a few dates in South America and Australia, and were looking to come to Europe next year."

"And he called you because?"

"They were wondering if we'd like to do some sort of joint tour with them. They had heard we've already done a tour in Europe, so we would 'know the ropes', so to speak. I was starting to put feelers out for a tour for you guys anyway, so it's come at a good time."

"So, what? We're their support band? Or are they OUR support band?"

"No idea, not got that far yet, it was more asking if we have any sort of interest. I said I'd speak to you all. Look, he gave me the number for their lead singer, Taylor I think she's called... anyway, he suggested maybe you should WhatsApp her, just have a chat, see what you all think. You guys seem work well with other bands - I'm thinking of Jenny with Darkest Knights, then of course all of you with Jelly Fish. Yes, I know that was different, but you turned something that could have been quite 'normal' into something a lot bigger, did us all a lot of good."

"Canada... any idea which side? Just thinking about what time it is there."

"No, but I would think it would be ok if you called after dinner."

----

After dinner, the three girls went and looked up Northern Girls online. A four-piece girl rock band, based somewhere near Toronto. Very popular in Canada and the US, but for whatever reason, they weren't especially well known in the UK - most likely because they had never toured the UK! They listened to a bit of their music: it had certain similarities to their's, but was definitely much 'rockier'.

"I do like their music!" said Linda. It's starting to become clear that Linda's music tastes are rather 'rockier', and rather more 'metal' than the other girls.

"Yeah, I can see why they got in touch. Shame Jenny's not available tonight..."

----

"Hi, this is Carol from CJDL, in England. Is it ok to do a video call?" typed Carol into WhatsApp a little later. Less than a minute later, she received a video call request, which she answered.

"Hey, is that Carol? I'm Taylor...". As you would expect for the 'front lady' of a girl band, Taylor was reasonably attractive. Long dark hair, pleasant makeup. A gold ring through the side of her nose. And a very nice smile on her face. She had a very soft accent, which many would have wrongly described as 'American', but was, of course, Canadian!

"Hi there, Taylor, nice to meet you, and thanks for calling. Give me a moment, I'm going to go and squeeze onto the settee with Linda and Dianne."

"Hi Taylor, I'm Dianne..." she said, waving.

"Hi there, I'm Linda..."

"Our fourth member, Jenny, isn't here right now.... so your manager called our manager....."

"Yeah, that's right. We finished a tour of South America and Australia a couple of weeks ago, and we decided maybe we were ready to come over and 'do Europe' next year... but that's not so easy for a Canadian band. We realised that maybe we needed to team up with a more 'local band', so we started looking for British bands that were anything at all like us. And we found you guys, and we all liked what we saw. I'm assuming you looked us up online too?"

"Of course, first thing we did!" said Carol.

"And? What do you think? First thoughts I mean..."

"Yeah, I think we all liked your style. It's a bit different from us, but I could feel a certain... hmm... what's the word? Ummm... Synergy?"

"Synergy? SYNERGY? Carol, where DO you get these words from?" said Linda, jokingly. "Sounds like an advert for car oil or something!!"

"Well, YOU come up with a better word then!" said Carol.

"Ok, go with 'synergy' for the moment then....".

At the other end of the link, Taylor had a huge smile on her face. "You guys are as bad as us!" she said. As Taylor had smiled, Carol couldn't help but notice the braces on her teeth, although she decided that no was NOT the time or place to say anything about them. "So, you're not rejecting the idea of us touring together out of hand then?"

Carol liked the words Taylor had just used: she might have said 'touring with us', but she actually said 'touring together'.

"No, not at all, although we've not had a chance to speak with Jenny yet."

"Ok, well please do talk to her. In any case, we all decided that if you showed ANY sort of interest in doing something, then we needed to come over and meet you all, face-to-face, spend time with you, and see if we can make something work. Look, on the South American - Australian tour, we realised both how much out of our depth we felt, and how 'isolated' we were, and it showed in our performances. You guys LIVE in Europe, you've toured Europe, so touring with someone like you guys should make thigs a lot better for us."

"Taylor... I like the way you are phrasing things... 'touring with' and so on, but how do you see it working in practice?"

"No idea. Maybe we swap being support and main act each day? Maybe we do several smaller sets? Maybe we even get to play together? I guess that's part the reason we'd like to come and meet you guys, and bounce some ideas around..."

They chatted for another 10 to 15 minutes, just generally talking about touring stuff: they all seemed to get on pretty well.

"Look," said Taylor, "go and chat with Jenny. In the meantime, I'll try and get all of us together this sort of time tomorrow, and we can have another WhatsApp. I'll also get our manager to organise somewhere for us to stay in London: if you have any suggestions, that would be great. And any chance you could sort out a rehearsal room, so we could all have a play together?"

"Oh, the rehearsal room is easy, we have one here." said Carol. "So, Taylor, look forward to meeting the rest of the girls tomorrow!"




(13875)

Chapter 72 - Let's make music together


The 4 Canadian girls had managed some sleep on the flight (THAT is why you fly business class!), so whilst they were all still a little tired, they were up for having a music session together. Both bands had learned and rehearsed a few of the other band's songs, and the end result was quite acceptable, especially when you consider that the eight of them had never actually played before.

"Well!" said Carol, "Sounds to me that we have one option for the tour: we can play each other's music, either individually, or all of us together".

"Hey, Paige, how did it sound to you, all eight of us playing together?" asked Linda.

"Surprisingly good actually. Quite a 'wall of sound'!"

Jenny was standing at her piano, eyes closed. "You ok there, Jenny?" asked Carol.

"Yeah, my mind has got a lot of music in it, swirling around.... let's take a break, it might sort itself out!"

"She ok?" Taylor asked Carol.

"Oh, yeah, that's typical of when Jenny gets inspiration. I don't know about you, but my mind thinks in words, so when I'm writing, I get words, and word-sounds in my head. For Jenny, it's music and chords and stuff: she writes most of our music, Dianne and me, we do the lyrics. Although, having said that, Linda is starting to come up with some interesting music and lyrical ideas."

"So, what you guys working on at the moment?" asked Meg.

"So, Paige let the record company have some demos we did, and they want us to work on two tracks, 'High Flyer', and 'Braces Buddies'".

"'Braces Buddies'? I'm intrigued."

"You remember we were talking about our Korean trip? One of the girls in the group, Yun Hee, got braces while we were there, then Jenny lost a bracket... and we persuaded them both to have multi-coloured ligs... and it came out of that. It's one of the songs that Linda's been driving." She turned to the others: "Hey guys, Meg's interested in hearing Braces Buddies..."

"Which version?" asked Linda.

"I guess we could play both.."

Carol and Linda picked up acoustic guitars, and started to play the original acoustic version, with all four girls singing along. "So, the record company likes it, if only because of it's novelty, but suggested we needed to go a bit rockier... so we're thinking a bit like this....". Dianne went to the drums, Linda and Carol picked up their guitars, and Jenny went to the Keyboard. As with many of their songs, one of the instruments plays an introductory bar to start the song: in this case it was Linda, on the bass.

"Mind if I make a couple of comments?" asked Taylor, when they had finished

"Sure, go on." said Jenny. "But it is very much a 'work in progress'..."

Taylor took Carol's guitar, and used it to help make a two or three very constructive comments: the girls adjusted the song accordingly, making the song work a lot better.

----

The 'Northern Girls' stayed in London for most of a week, although several days were spent being tourists. "Seems silly to come all this way, and not take advantage of it!" Taylor had explained. But they had managed to have two more rehearsal sessions together, plus have dinner together on several evenings.

It was their last evening in London, their flight back home was noon the following day, so Lisa had organised an external caterer to come in and give them dinner at 'home', but more importantly, it gave them all a chance to talk confidentially.

"Ok, I'm going to ask each of you eight girls a simple question: do you want to do a European tour together?". Brian got eight 'yes' replies. "Sounds like Andre and I have some work to do then! Anyone have any preferences where they want to play? Or anywhere to avoid? and where do we start? And end?"

"We've never played the O2, so I'd like to start with a couple of nights there. Then how about we end the tour back in London, but up at Wembley Arena?" suggested Jenny.

"Maybe we should do Croydon while we're at it?" said Carol, half-joking. "But yeah, the O2 would be good!"



(14061)

Chapter 74 - 2-4-6-8 Motorway

"So, any suggestions on what we're playing tonight?" asked Jenny.

Carol had got herself to the group's shared house, and not long after, a small coach had arrived to collect them: luckily there was a coach company not that far away, that they had used a few times before, and they were able to get one of their stand-by drivers to work for the day. So, they were currently on the M25, heading towards the M40, and then up to Birmingham.

"Well, you mentioned earlier about 'starting incognito': I really like that idea, as long as we're all happy with playing some of our new stuff. Then move on to our current stuff once we've revealed who we are." replied Carol.

"I'm ok with that" said Linda, "Dianne?"

"Yeah, I'm actually looking forward to tonight. I mean, I'm nervous, but hell, it's been AGES since we've done somerthing as mad as this!". Diane was smiling, letting the others see her lower teeth, which were, as we all know, a bit crooked.

They continued chatting, working on a set list for the evening.

"Ok..." said Callum, "I've been chatting with one of the tech team: Darkest Knights are going in to do their sound check early, so by the time we get there, they will be done. They want you guys to do a sound check, which I'm sure won't be a big deal, and then they are 100% happy for you to use as much time as you need to rehearse your set: as long as you are done by 7pm they will be happy - show starts at 8pm. They don't have any headsets mics and in-ears just yet, but they should be there soon after we get there, but there is a possibility you may need to play tonight with normal mics and foldback wedges."

"Did they manage to get someone to help with our makeup?" asked Jenny. Whilst they were not going to be dressed up, and made up, like they might have done on of their normal shows, it was still helpful to have someone else there to do their makeup: if nothing else, it gave them a short 'chill-out' period before they played.

"Yes, I think they have, and someone to do your hair too."

Jenny's phone rang: it was Ginger, from Darkest Knights. "Hey, Jenny, finally got a moment to call you...."

"Hey, Ginger, let me put you on speaker, so everyone can hear.... go on..."

"Well, first of all, thank you all SO much for joining us tonight, I was worried we'd end up with some small and unsuitable local band..."

"As opposed to a well-known and completely unsuitable band?" replied Carol, laughing.

"So, you getting yourselves sorted out for tonioght? Is there anything we can do to help?"

"No, I don't think so, as long as there's plenty of coffee and beer there! We're almost on the M40 now, so that's what, a couple of hours away?"

"Oh, good. So, we're actually on site now: the crew have built the stage, and are currently testing out the PA, which means we'll be doing our sound check soon."

"Great. Callum is already talking with your stage team, so they know what we'll need."

"Ok, Jenny, a question for you, and feel free to say no: you wanting to play those couple of songs with us again?". A big smile came onto Jenny's, letting her show off her lovely metal braces.

"Hell, yeah, try and stop me!"

"In that case, I'll let everyone know, and we can do a quick run-through at some point. So, what you guys planning on playing?"

"Well, we've been working on some new stuff, so we're going to start with that." explained Carol. "Then we're going to break with tradition, and play someone else's music..."

"Oh, ok, anyone I would know?" asked Ginger.

"Maybe. Do you know the Northern Girls, Canadian girl rock band?"

"Yeah, they do some good stuff..."

"Well, for reasons we can't really talk about yet, we got together and rehearsed with them recently, and we're going to try one of their songs. And then there's something else, but you can hear that in our rehearsal!"

"Sounds like it's not going to be one of your 'normal' gigs then?"

"No, we thought that this would give use an interesting opportunity to try something very different."

"Ok, well look, we'll be around when you get here, see you all then!"

----

While Callum and the stage crew unloaded the small amount of the girl's kit from the coach, the rest of them had a meeting. So the tour managers, band managers, band members and so on.

"Guys, thanks for stepping in for us tonight" said Warren, who was the lead singer with 'Useful Tooth'. "I spoke with the guys earlier, they sounded pretty rough!"

"Any idea how long you're going to need us for?" asked Dianne

Robert, one of the 'tour managers' replied: "Well, we're in Birmingham tonight and tomorrow, then over to Leicester on Sunday. After that there's a 2 day break before we do Leeds. So we're thinking that, initially, if you can cover Birmingham and Leicester, we can see how well Warren's guys are doing. I'm assuming you're going to be ok for the next few days?"

"I don't think that's a problem" replied Brian, the CJDL manager. "I'll check out the diary for next week too, but again, I don't think there's any issues."

"Hey, did you just say 'Leicester'?" asked Carol, starting to smile, letting everyone see the silver wire of her retainer across the front of her teeth.

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm gonna need a couple of tickets for the Leicester gig. My sister lives there, and it's been absolutely AGES since she seen us play! We've never actually played Leicester before."

"That's not a problem, I'll get them to you!"

"Ok, so how do you guys want to be introduced?" asked Robert. "I was thinking maybe Warren could go and give the crowd the bad news, then introduce you guys..."

"Actually..." said Jenny, "We'd like to start playing without any introductions. Maybe if they have time, they can start flashing up words on the back screen like 'who?' and 'unknown' and 'incognito' and that sort of thing. We're gonna be playing some new stuff, so it's gonna be hard for the audience to easily work out who we are, which we thought could be fun. Warren, you could come on after maybe the third song, apologise to the crowd, make some sort of silly comment about 'getting some girls in, to stand-in for you', then we can introduce ourselves."

Warren smiled. "Ginger said you liked having some fun! I'm ok with that, we can try it out later on."

"Talking about 'having fun', you planning on doing anything 'silly' when you come play with us. Jenny?" Ginger asked.

"Damn, I forgot to bring the pink fluffy dress with me today!" replied Jenny, laughing. "No, just what I'll already be wearing. We decided that it would be interesting, and different, to kinda 'dress down' for a change, so just jeans and t-shirts."

"Hey, about t-shirts... why don't we go on wearing some 'Darkest Knights' t-shirts?" suggested Linda.

"I'm sure we can arrange that for you, no problems!".

They all chatted about various things for a while, making sure they were all happy about what would happen tonight.

Callum came in. "Ok, good news, the headset mics and in-ears just arrived, so give them 10 minutes to set them up, then you can come and do your soundcheck...."

Brian looked at his watch: it was just before 4 pm. "Looks like time is actually on our side today, you should have plenty of time to rehearse. So, no need to rush, take it gently, so you're all in a fit state to play tonight."

The girls went up on stage: the tech team were ready for them, and the sound-check only took about 15 minutes. Dianne did a short drum solo. "Is that sounding reasonably balanced? I kinda set it up by ear through headphones ages ago".

"Are you able to take the kick drum level up a touch?" asked the guy on the desk through Dianne's IEM's.

"Hang on..." she went into the menu of her drum controller, and made a quick adjustment, then played a bit. "Any better?"

"Yes, but maybe a tiny bit more...". She made another adjustment. "Yes, that's sounding much better. While you're at it, want to take the high-hat up a notch too?". Dianne made another adjustment, and played around the kit again.

"Ok, guys, I'm pretty happy with your sound, it's all your's now."

"Thanks" said Jenny. "How about we just take it from the top, and go through our set. And by that, I'm meaning a dark stage, when we walk in. Did your guys manage to do the words for on the back screen yet?". There was a bit of a pause, and people spoke to other people.

"They have something, but they were going to do a bit more for you..."

"Ok, so you have our set list... we'll come on, you guys do what you think will work behind us, we're completely in your hands on that. Then after our first three tracks, Warren comes on, speaks to the audience, then over to us. As we introduce ourselves - and NOT before - put the CJDL up... Any issues, talk to Callum, he knows us better than anyone."

"Mind if I do some filming while you run through things?" asked Paige.

Jenny looked around at the others. "No, fine with us... and guys," she added, addressing the stage crew, "during our set tonight, just let Paige go where she needs to on the stage, we're used to her, she's used to us! And who's on your roving camera?" Seeing as how the camera team had not worked with CJDL on the is tour, they were there too, to do a run though.

"That would be Tim..."

"Tim? Didn't you do some stuff for us on our last tour?"

Tim dropped the camera down, so they could see him. "Yup, that was me!" he shouted over.

"Nice to see you again, Tim! Look, you know we don't mind what you want to do, just try not to knock Paige over, will you? Ok, let's do this...."


(14204)

Chapter 76 - The new producer

Carol was last onto the small bus that had been arranged to take them to their hotel. They had all watched Darkest Knights from the side of the stage, including the two songs that Jenny played with them (and which she had quickly rehearsed with them after their own rehearsal). So whilst Darkest Knights were winding down backstage, the girls had decided they were ready to go back to the hotel. Their instruments remained at the venue, and their suitcases had been loaded onto the bus.

Carol went over and sat next to Linda, who had a smile on her face.

"Someone looks very happy with themselves, kinda like a cat that just finished a bowl of cream...."

"I AM happy, that's why! I just realised that tonight was the first time I've played a full live set with you guys - as a full band member!" explained Linda.

"Yeah, I guess so... does it REALLY feel that different?"

"It does. On the tour, I tended to keep to the back, letting you guys be out front, but now I'm out there with you, and it feels good..."

"But you did that at the Park Festival..."

"Hmm, that was a weird day, wasn't it? And definitely NOT a proper set. But, you know, I'm so glad we went to Korea, I got to know you guys so much better... as a band member. But it was really after what you did at the band meeting, a few weeks ago, that I REALLY felt I was a legit member of the band. So, thank you, Carol!"

"So, what was it like when you toured as a session musician? In terms of interacting with the main act?"

"We guys tended to keep ourselves to ourselves, the main acts don't usually deem us to be important enough to socialise with. Although you guys were rather different. I guess, as you said at our meeting, I was doing a lot more than just being a session musician for you."

"You were almost being our producer....". Suddenly a light came on in Carol's brain.

"A penny for them?" asked Linda.

"Oh, right, yeah... I had a sudden thought: why are we wasting our time trying to find a producer for recording Braces Buddies? Why don't YOU just do it?"

"You really think I can do it?"

"Asks the band member who, for the last few weeks, has been leading us and nudging us as we work on our new stuff?" Carol stood up, and looked down the bus to see where Jenny and Dianne were. "Hey, Jenny, Dianne, you guys got a moment?" called out Carol. The two of them came over to Carol and Linda.

"You called?" said Jenny.

"Yeah. About a producer for Braces Buddies, when we go into the studios.."

"Yeah, what about it? Thought of someone?"

"Yeah! Her name is Linda Jacobson! Look, think about what she did with us when we were working on our last album. And then what's she's been doing with us the last few weeks."

Whilst Jenny had acted as producer for a small band that she'd written a song with, some time ago, she'd never felt she was the right person to produce CJDL. But as she thought about it, she realised that Carol had a point about Linda. Whether she was the right person for their next full album, she wasn't sure, but just doing Braces Buddies... "yeah, why not."

"Do you feel up to it?" Jenny asked Linda.

"umm, well... it's not something I've ever thought about specifically doing..."

"Dianne, you're being typically quiet about this... any thoughts?" asked Carol.

"I say we give her a chance if she feels up to it. Jenny, you produced that song for that small band, didn't you? I'm sure you could give Linda a few pointers."

"Look," said Carol, "have a think about it.... I'm serious, I think you're up to the job."


(14322)

Chapter 78 - So why DO you like me?

"Ok, can you all be at the venue for about 4pm for a quick sound check?" asked Callum. He had just been on the phone to the Darkest Knights manager.

"Sure thing, bro!" replied Jenny. "Any chance we could have maybe half an hour to an hour for practice, like we did yesterday?"

"I'll have a word, but I'm sure it will be ok. What you wanting to practice?"

"I'd like us to work on Nut Rocker, specifically on what we've been doing recently."

Callum smiled. "Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing you guys do that on stage, it would make a great finale!"

"Exactly my thinking. Not sure if we'd be ready for it tonight, but maybe tomorrow? Hey, anyone got a whistle? No? In that case, better get one..." Jenny's phone pinged. "Looks like Ben and Mike are here!". Ben and Mike had driven up together, Tom was making his own way there.

"And how is my favourite band?" asked Ben as he walked in to the hotel reception, to be met by everyone.

"We are fine!" said Carol.

"And is my OTHER 'favourite band' around?" asked Ben.

"No, they are at another hotel: there wasn't enough rooms for us there, so we stayed here: not that I'm complaining, this place is actually rather nice. But we'll all be in the same place tonight, over in Leicester."

"So, is Tom joining us?" asked Mike, who had walked in behind Ben.

"Yes, but he's about an hour behind you, he just messaged me from near Oxford..."

"Ok, so what we doing then? And when do guys need to be 'back in class'?" asked Ben.

"Sound check and a rehearsal over at the NEC at about 4 o'clock, then on-stage at 7:30... We need to pack and check out, which shouldn't take too long... come on, you can help me pack!" said Jenny.

"Ah, right, THAT sort of 'packing'..." said Carol, having a joke at Jenny and Ben's expense.

----

"Hello there, beautiful!" said Tom as he saw Carol waiting in reception. Carol smiled.

"Hiya...". she replied, going over to him, and giving him a 'public hug and kiss'. "My case is still upstairs, and I need to check out." Whilst a small coach had brought them to the hotel last night, with Ben and Tom having their cars there, the others could just use taxis as needed. Paige had already gone off with Linda into Birmingham, as had Jenny, Ben, Dianne and Mike. Brian and Callum were still in the hotel, planning to go straight to the venue a bit later, taking Paige and Linda's suitcases with them.

So Carol took Tom up to her room. With the door closed, Carol put her arms around Tom, and put her lips to his. Once more, her tongue slipped between Tom's lips, to run over his metal brackets. After playing like that a bit, she pulled her tongue back, inviting Tom to explore her orthodontia. Tom's tongue ran over the wires of Carol's retainers, and when Carol opened her mouth a little, he slipped his tongue inside, feeling the smooth plastic of her retainers. He quickly pulled his tongue back, and gently broke off the kiss.

"Look, I know you like my braces, but I still find yours a bit odd..." he explained. Carol put her hand up to her mouth, and pulled down on the clasps of her upper retainer: it had more clasps than the lower one, to hold it firmly in place while the spring moved her wayward canine, so it was hard to remove. With the top one out, and still in her hand, she took out the bottom one, then put both of her retainers on the desk, next to her bag and room keys.

"Let's see if this is better for you then...." she said, as they started to kiss again.

----

After putting Carol's bag into his car, Tom drove them into the centre of Birmingham. After a bit of a wander around the Jewellery Quarter, they met up with Linda and Paige for lunch, then they went for a short walk along the canal.

"So, what IS it about my braces that you like then?" asked Tom as they sat alone by the canal, having just had another quick kiss.

"To be honest, I don't really know. I mean, the basis of many 'fetishes' is that it's something you can't have... like glasses, or leg braces, or being in a wheelchair. But I've HAD braces when I was a teen, and they did absolutely nothing for me back then. And I HAVE my retainers, and THEY have no effect on me either. But YOUR braces, on YOUR teeth... for some reason I just find them attractive. It's all part of your rather sexy smile, makes your smile so much nicer..." Tom smiled, letting Carol have another close look. She put her hand up to his face, and ran her finger over his braces, feeling the rough texture.

"So, what *I* want to know is what is it about ME that you like?"

"Well, you have a cute face and nice smile too, although your retainers don't do anything for me. But I think the thing I REALLY like about you is your voice."

"My voice? My talking voice, or do you mean my singing voice?"

"Both. I love the way that it can be both soft and gentle when you talk, but also quite powerful when you sing. And also very gentle when you sing. You know how to control it, and use it."

"And how about when I whisper sweet nothings in your ear?" she asked, whispering into his ear in a soft and sexy voice.

"Definitely nice...." said Tom. "That day you came in and did that show-long interview: many people would have been struggling to talk that long, but you managed just fine, and your voice was so relaxed for the whole thing..."

"I guess I have all my singing training to thank for that." suggested Carol.

"I'm sure it helped. You know, if you did audio sex recordings, you'd make a bomb...."

"Don't go there!" said Carol very quickly, and laughing. "So, did you remember to bring your recorder with you?"

"Of course. Did you manage to have a word with Darkest Knights?"

"Oh, yeah, no problems, they sounded pretty chilled about it, so pretty much any time you like. If you're not too fussed about seeing us rehearse, you could do it then."

(In the end, Tom watched the first bit of their rehearsal, then went and chatted to Darkest Knights.)


(14508)

When I started to write this story, I thought "yeah, maybe 30 chapters".... WHAT HAPPENED??? We're at chapter 80, and STILL the story goes on. I'll try and stop it before chapter 200, I promise!!

 

=======================================

Chapter 80 - winding down in the bar


"Good evening, we're part of the Darkest Knights party..." said Carol to the receptionist.

"And your name?"

"Danvers and Sharpe... there should be two rooms".

"Just give me a moment... ah yes, here we go..."

"Two rooms?" asked Jenny, who had walked into reception with Ben, just moments after Tom and Carol.

"You have a problem with that?" asked Carol.

"No, not in the least. Just surprised, that's all, I guess I assumed that you two were... hmm, maybe I'd better just shut up!"

"It's ok, we just decided to take things really slow..."

"And good on you, Carol!" said Dianne, who had walked in with Mike right behind Jenny and Ben.

---

So, after finishing their own set, they had watched Darkest Knights (and of course, Jenny played with them again), then decided to get on their way to Leicester: Jenny, Ben, Dianne and Mike were in Ben's car, Carol went with Tom. It wasn't that long a journey, they arrived less than an hour later. The others had organised a taxi, and would join them soon after.

---

"And what time is the bar open 'til?" asked Jenny, as she and Ben were checked in by a second member of staff.

"Pretty much as long as you'd like it to be..." was the reply.

"Come on, let's all chill together with a pint or two..." suggested Jenny.

Tonight they were booked into the same hotel as the Darkest Knights and their entourage: the members of 'Useful Tooth' were going home for a couple of days, to allow their two ill members to recover, so their rooms became available for CJDL. After going to their rooms - which were all conveniently together - and quickly unpacking, the six of them went back down to the bar, and grabbed some beers. It wasn't long before Callum, Paige, Linda and Brian arrived at the hotel, joining them in the bar soon after.

"Well, ladies, I think you should be very proud of what you've done the last couple of nights: with close to zero time to do it, you managed to put together a very well received set which was VERY different to anything you've done before. And Jenny, I liked your quick-thinking in adding that last song in: it was quite amazing!" said Jenny's dad.

Carol was smiling widely: yes, things had gone really well tonight, and Jenny had been spot-on - as ever - in what she did. "Yeah, and the audience seemed to appreciate it too. So, are we still up for having a picnic in the park with our fans tomorrow lunchtime?" asked Carol.

"Well, the weather's looking ok, so yes..." said Jenny.

"I'm still getting used to how you guys are so willing to meet up with your fans. And I must admit, it IS fun. Carol, you said your sister and her family are hoping to join us too?"

"Yup, just need to give her the details. She suggested Victoria Park, which is right next to where we're playing, no more than a 5 minute walk. Callum, any idea what time they need us for the sound check tomorrow?"

"Probably 3 or 4 o'clock: I guess it depends if they have any problems with the rigging. To be honest, if you're only 5 minutes away, I can just call you."

"Oh, I assumed you would come with us.."

"Oh, I'll come for lunch, but I ought to get back early, help check out your kit."

"Ah, yeah, right. So, what sort of time do we think we should meet up with everyone?"

"Well, if we're doing a lunchtime picnic, then I guess lunchtime. 12:30?"

"Everyone ok with that? We gonna be able to get up in time? Ok, let me tell Rosie. And our fans... and I'm assuming the hotel can do us some lunches..." Carol got up, and went and had a word with the lady behind the bar, then returned. "She says we just need to ask at breakfast, it's something they often do!"

Carol WhatsApp'ed her sister with the details, suggesting she would re-confirm the details closer to lunchtime. Then it was the fans: "Hey, everyone! Some of you may have heard that we're playing support for Darkest Knights, which means that we're currently up in Leicester! Would anyone like to meet up for a picnic tomorrow, Sunday, 12:30-ish at lunchtime? Victoria Park, Leicester. We'll give you the details closer to the time..."

Despite the late hour, and the fact that it was a Saturday, they got a few responses very quickly. One bemoaned the fact that it was in Leicester rather than Manchester.

----

Soon after, the Darkest Knights and their entourage arrived at the hotel, with a group of them, including Ginger, Tony, Fingers, and George (the four band members), joining the much smaller CJDL team in the bar. They talked about each other's performances, and loads of other stuff.

"Hey, Ginger, want to join us in the park tomorrow, we're going to have a picnic?" asked Carol, smiling widely because she knew that he wouldn't want to.

"What, with a load of screaming CJDL fans. Thank you very much for the invite, but maybe not!". Ginger was also smiling when he replied.

It wasn't particularly late when they all finally went to bed.



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Chapter 82 - One, two... one, two...


Carol took Emma with her, and joined Linda, who was with another group of fans. "So, everyone, this is my niece, Emma. She's only five, so please watch what you say! Emma, this is Linda, we work together, and these are a few more of my 'friends'...". Keeping a 5 year old occupied can be difficult, but she seemed happy to sit with Carol, as she chatted with Linda and the others. After chatting for a while, Emma started to get a bit restless.

"Can I go back to mummy?" she asked

"Of course you can! Hey, Linda, come over and say hi to Rosie and Jim... And Emma, thank you for sitting quietly with me!"

Over the next 90 minutes or so, they chatted, then they played their acoustic guitars. "So, this is the basis of our next single" explained Jenny, and she told them the specific lead up to how the song was written while they were in Korea. "And as Linda pretty much wrote it, I think she should be playing it....".

"But before you do that" said Carol, "I have someone on my phone that this song is about! Everyone, say 'hello' to Yun Hee over in Korea!" Carol pointed the phone at their group of fans, who were waving, then at Linda.

"Hi there, Yun Hee, as you can see, we're out with some fans, and I'm just about to play yours and Jenny's song!"

"Yes, Braces Buddies!!!" said Yun Hee.

----

Carol checked the time. "Ok, everyone, how about you all start packing up. I spotted some rubbish bins on the way here, so dump your junk in them as you pass. We'll go back to the venue in say... 5 minutes?"

Callum and Brian had already gone back to the venue. 'Come in the front door, someone will be there waiting for you all' said the message that Callum had sent Carol.

"Ok, before we go to the venue: sit anywhere you like in the stalls, there's plenty of space. Feel free to use the toilets if you need to, but no trying to hide so you can sneak in to this evening's performance!!! I suspect that Darkest Knights will be rehearsing when we get there, so please be patient. When we get onto the stage, remember we are NOT doing a performance for you, we will be starting with a sound-check and then rehearsing for tonight's set.... anything else will  be a bonus for you! Ok, let's go!"

Carol talked with Rosie on the way back, explaining that they could leave early, and even come back again if they wanted: their back-stage passes would make sure of that. "So, we're onstage at 8:00 tonight, and I've organised your taxi for about 6:45, that all ok for you?"

"Yeah, babysitter is coming at 6:30."

"Excellent. Find out if she's a fan of ours or 'the Knights' will you?".

When they got to the hall, Darkest Knights were on stage having a quick rehearsal. Dianne had a quick word with her boyfriend, Mike, then went up on the side of the stage. As the guys finished their song, Dianne went onstage. "Hey, any chance I could play with you?"

"Yeah sure... I'm sure the guys on the desk can mix in your drums..."

"Actually, I was hoping that George might let me try out HIS drums..."

"Fine with me" replied George. "I was actually going to ask you if I could see what a set of modern e-drums were like to play, I only every tried out some of the really early ones."

"Yeah, those early ones were a bit crappy, weren't they? We had some at school. I just tried out some of the latest ones, and they really ARE good, but these aren't all that bad. Let me check it out for you....". Dianne sat at her drums, turned them on, then checked it all out. "Sounds good to me!". She walked over to George's rather larger set of acoustic drums. "Ah, you have a double bass pedals, MUST try that out!" Dianne sat down, and using her own sticks that she had picked up a moment ago, spent a minute trying out the drums, including the double bass drum pedals. "Nice!!!" she said with a big smile.

Then George tried out Dianne's drums. "Hmm, not as bad as I thought.."

"So, what do you fancy playing then?" asked Ginger.

"What's that song third into your set?"

"Oh, you mean 'Dark Danger'? Fine by me!"

Whilst the drumming was a bit 'rough' to start with (not surprising when both drummers were on unfamiliar drums!), it soon settled down. Dianne was struggling, getting her head around the two bass pedals, so ended up just using the one, but apart from that, she enjoyed the experience.

"Thanks guys, that was fun!" she said when they finished. Of course, the 'fans' applauded.

"Why don't you join us tonight? What do we think guys?". Dianne smiled: she was going to be playing with Darkest Knights tonight!

"Ok, I think we've done enough, I see you have some friends with you?"

"Yeah. As they aren't going to be able to see us tonight, Carol thought they might enjoy watching our soundcheck and rehearsal."

As the 'Knights' left the stage, Callum and another guy came out, with the headset mics and in-ear monitors for the four girls.

"I don't suppose my mic is working yet is it?"

"Half a second!" shouted the guy at the mixer. "Ok, try that..."

"Hi everyone, can you all hear me ok?" There were a few 'yes' responses. "Good, that's the first bit of the soundcheck done.. So, a soundcheck has 2 purposes, the first bit, the simple bit, it to check everything is plugged in an turned on, which doesn't usually take too long. The next bit is about balancing the volumes of the various instruments and vocals, so it sounds good. So, I'm assuming that's Terry on the desk again?"

"Yes, it is!" said a voice in her ears.

"Yes, that's another thing: Terry can talk to us into our ears, without you guys hearing, so don't be too surprised if you see and hear strange things." A moment later all four of the girls raised their hands in the air, and clapped. "Yeah, things like that... seems Terry is in a happy mood today: he just spoke to us all in our ears, that's why we all clapped! Ok, Terry, tell us what you need."

After checking the 4 headset mics were working, he also checked the two handheld mics, currently one each side of the stage: they would need them this evening when someone introduced the band. Next Terry asked Dianne to check her drums (which had worked just a few minutes ago, but no harm in checking again!). Then the piano, followed by the various guitars (which included Jenny's bright pink one!).

Next he got the girls to play in specific combinations, so he could balance things up. Next he got them to sing as they played.

"Ok," said Terry over the PA so everyone could hear, "things sound pretty good to me, so I'll let the girls rehearse or play for you, whatever, I can adjust things as they play..."

The girls started by playing their first song, one of the new ones. Terry kept the PA a lot quieter than it would normally be, mainly because he realised that the younger kids there might not like it being too loud.

"Hey, who's going to introduce us tonight?" asked Carol.

"I think Ginger said he would..." said a voice for the side of the stage.

"In that case, can someone ask him to join us for a few minutes? We need to work out what he's going to say. In the meantime, let's play 'High Destruction'" suggested Carol.

"That's one by 'Northern Girls' isn't it?" said Ginger when they finished.

"Yup, that's right. So, any thoughts how you're going to introduce us?"

"Pretty much the same as last night, after your third song. I'll probably explain how we contacted you, and thank you for doing it all, then ask you to introduce yourselves, that ok?"

Ginger sat side stage as the girls continued to rehearse and entertain their fans. "Okay," said Carol. "I reckon we could have a bit of fun. We're not planning on playing it tonight, but I'm thinking we could play you 'Sexy Yellow Roller Skates'... or rather sing it. Terry, can you line it up for playout in a moment, please? In the meantime, I'm thinking that some of you - and I'm definitely thinking about my lovely nephew and niece - might like to come up onto the stage and join us dancing to it? And I'm thinking we need to get Tom, Ben and Mike onstage to join in too. Oh, yeah, Paige and Callum too! I'll give Brian, our manager, an 'older person's exemption' for this one!"

Several of the fans came onto the stage, including Rosie with her two.

"Ok, Terry, would you like to play just the first verse, so we can show everyone what the dance moves are supposed to be?" Over the next 5 to 10 minutes, they got everyone on stage to practise the moves, then they sang the song through with everyone dancing - or at least trying to! "Well done everyone!" She turned to little Emma, and dropped to her knees. "And did YOU enjoy dancing, Emma?" she asked. "Yes" said Emma quietly.

----

"So, earlier on in the park, we played the original acoustic version of 'Braces Buddies' for you," said Linda, "so we 'tweaked' it a bit, made it a bit rockier, so this is what our next single is going to sound like - we'll be recoding it next week, so I'm sure it will be released soon!"

----

"Ladies..." said Carol, "How about we move on to our finale? We could play it straight, but then I'm thinking we could practice the new 'version' once or twice?" Everyone liked the idea.

Jenny started to play 'the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, as she started to talk. "So," explained Jenny, "this is a piece of music from 'The Nutcracker Suite', by a man called Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky. He was a classical musician from the 1980's, but in a way......". Jenny stopped, as she noticed some giggling from the fans, and when she turned, she saw that Linda had taken off her guitar, and was at the front of the stage, doing 'ballet twirls', hands above her head.

"Don't stop!" said Linda. Jenny laughed, then continued playing, as Linda continued her twirls. "Come on Dianne, Carol, join me!"

With the three other girls pretending to ballerinas, Jenny continued. "Now, where was I?" She paused again, letting the girls twirl some more: it actually looked quite good, something they should include in their show. "Ah, yes, Tchaikovsky... in his day he was a bit like a modern pop artist. There's another song in The Nutcracker... and I think it's time you guys got back to your instruments!... There's another song that a 1960's band took, and made it a bit more up to date... and we've taken their song, and brought it up to the '20s, it's called Nut Rocker....". Once again, they played a good version of the song.

"You know," said Carol, once they finished, "I reckon we should keep the silly dance in for tonight, what do we think?....". after a very quick discussion, they agreed to try it out. "So, when CJD first started out, we often swapped around what instruments we played. But recently I bemoaned the fact that we didn't seem to do that any more, so we thought it might be fun to try something with Nut Rocker. This is still VERY much a 'work in progress', and this is going to be the first time anyone outside of us will have seen this... and I have no doubt it will go completely wrong. Let's take our places...."

Carol went over to the drums, Jenny was on the piano, Dianne was on the Bass, and Linda on the guitar. Jenny started the song, and after everyone had played a simple solo as part of the song, Jenny stopped playing, put the whistle into her mouth, blowing it loudly. "All change!.... All change!!" she said. Jenny started playing again, as Carol got off the drums, which Linda took over. Dianne moved onto the bass. Dianne did a short bass solo, which allowed Jenny let Carol take over the keyboard, and she moved onto the lead guitar. They played another verse, and Jenny blew the whistle again: "All change again... all change!" As Carol continued on the piano, Dianne took over from Linda on the drums, Jenny moved onto the bass. Dianne did a drum solo, letting Carol get onto the guitar.

Linda was stood at the keyboard, as the music stopped for a moment. "I'm not that good at playing piano..." said Linda, and she used one finger to play the 10 notes of the melody, paused, then played it again... which the fans thought was funny. Jenny did a short bass solo, then it went quiet. "Umm, it's Carol, isn't it?" said Dianne.

"Oops, sorry!" and Carol played a solo, as Jenny and Linda swapped back again. Then it was Jenny on the piano again.

Jenny did a short blow of her whistle. "Linda!" she shouted, and Linda did a bass solo. Another bow of the whistle: "Dianne!" she called, letting Dianne do an excellent drum solo. Whistle again: "Carol, your turn!".

A last blow of the whistle: "Everyone!". Finally, Jenny brought the song to an end, and the audience of fans clapped loudly. Ginger walked over to the microphone. "Well, I must say, that was just amazing, although I can see it still needs some work on it. But no, I'd love to see you play that to a full house. So, what you thinking about doing for your encore tonight?"

"Well," said Carol, "I'm thinking that after our more normal version of that, we'll walk off, and maybe you could go on stage, and wind up the fans a bit, then we can come back on again..." Carol continued to explain her idea. "So, are you up for it?"

"Hell yeah, except I don't know all the words!" replied Ginger.

"Well, for now, anyone got a phone Ginger can borrow?". They spent the next few minutes rehearsing the song, which went very well.

"And then you can do a final outro for us, that ok?" suggested Jenny.

-----

"So, have you guys enjoyed yourselves?" Carol asked the group of fans. A big cheer of 'yeah' went up. "And what about Sam and Emma? Have you enjoyed it?" It was clear that they had.

"Ok, as you've all been so good, how about we play you a couple of our older songs? Any suggestions?" There was a lot of shouting, and they eventually chose two of their songs.

"Well, I reckon that Terry has our sound sorted out for tonight, and we're ready too, so I'm afraid it's time to kick you all out. Thank you all for coming along today, and for behaving yourselves, I think we've all had a fun afternoon too!"

Carol went over and had a quick word with Rosie. "So, come on backstage, and meet the rest of the team, as well as Darkest Knights: I'm sure James will like that."

"I think he's been looking forward to it all day" replied Rosie.

"I can not deny it, I'm a bit of a fan!"


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