London Harmony: Roctoberfest (4 page)

Carol stepped up behind me and bumped hips.  “Hey.  Whatcha lookin' at?”  She handed me a cola.

I blushed and diverted the topic.  “So how's competition?”

She shrugged and we slid down the back of the stage to sit on the grass by our gear and sipped her drink.  “A lot of the chaff has been weeded out the past two weekends.  So there are some pretty decent bands competing today.  I think it is going to start getting rough.”

I nodded. “Yeah, the competition on this stage was already stiff, but Haunted Lullaby took it.  We'll be able to hear one more battle before we're up.”

The other band, Reflections, walked past with their gear, their spirits low.  They'd have to be about perfect with their second performance to move on.  I just held a hand up as high as I could as I sat there with Caroline, and James absently slapped it.  I looked at his sister and said.  “Chin up.  You ladies did great, I'm sure you'll kill it on your second showing.”

She cocked her head at me like she was trying to figure me out.  Then she smiled and said, “Thanks.”  Then she nudged her chin toward the stage.  “Good luck.”  I nodded with a smile back and we watched them go.

I turned to Caroline again and she was grinning.  “Making friends?”

I shrugged then said, “I guess.”  I brightened. “Oh, there was this one girl.  Mei.  She...”

I paused as Mick and Animal came walking up, Mick was laughing and Darin was blushing.  She looked down at us and pulled our shaggy friend down with her to sit with us.  “What up my ladies?”

I winced and she shot back a toothy grin.  “I know, shut up.  It sounded better in my head.”

Carol was in evil mode and said past me to them, “Kace was just telling me about a girl she likes.  Her voice got all breathy when she said her name.”

Darin was looking toward the river with a scowl as we saw Matt making his way through the crowd toward us.  I asked, “What's up Animal.”

He shook his head and said in his deep baritone, “Matt was getting really chummy with his old band-mates.  At the lower stage.  I thought they all hated each other.”  We all watched him approaching.  “He's been getting more and more bossy.  This is Caroline's band, not his.  I think I'm going to have a talk with him.”

Mick murmured to him, “In the works babe.  After Roctoberfest.”  He blushed and nodded and was silent.  The next two bands started playing as Matt reached us.  We all turned and peeked under the stage backdrop to listen to the bands play with Rayleigh this time.

I exhaled in relief, that would mean we'd get either Tabby Cat or Teri Blue if they were rotating the stars around the stages.

The first band Tattered Memories was actually scary good they took the round easily from September Grove.  As soon as they had their gear off the stage, we started setting up and the collywobbles set in.

I forgot all about my nervousness when Matt assed out again.  “Don't drag me down again on this Carol.  You were off tempo last round.”  No, she wasn't, she was tapping her foot perfectly in time with me and I know I was spot on.

I blurted out before Mick could.  “Stop being such a bloody wanker.  We're all in this together and we support each other.  It isn't about any one of us, we are a team, a band.”

He pointed at me and said, “Just don't screw up and I won't have to find a better band.”

Mick got in his face. “You want to say that fucked up shit to me?”  He backed off and I almost smiled at Mick, but I was feeling like Matt was just fracturing our group and making what should be the time of our lives, a chore.  I couldn't wait until Roctoberfest was over and we could have that talk, get things back to how they used to be.  Just a group of friends having fun.

Mick wouldn't let me carry my own bass drum, she set it up for me.  Then we did a few test chords and tuned the gear.  I saluted the other drummer on the other side of the stage with a drumstick, the bloke saluted back with a smile.  Then we all seemed to take a mutual deep breath.

Marjorie McClellan introduced us and the other band, Omen, then Teri Blue.  Then she went over the rules again.

Teri looked divine with her flawless ebony skin and her straightened black hair tied up in a bun with black and gold chopsticks holding it in place.  Her signature blue silk kimono and heels just made her look so exotic to me.

Carol looked back with a cute smirk and mouthed one of her favorite taunts, “Need a sponge for your chin?” 
I was not drooling! ...much.  What?  I really love women.  Leave me alone.
  I crinkled my nose fiercely at her.

We sat and watched Omen carefully, to see what they did right and what they did wrong as they played Teri's love ballad, ‘Drifting’.  She was not a power singer, but she could hold delicate notes like they were gossamer threads and support them for extraordinarily long measures, then end them in trills or modulated transitions.  London Harmony had a knack for finding artists with a unique signature to their vocals.  Teri's flavor of pop music always had your hips swaying as you savored the notes.

I was impressed by their drummer.  Their weak point was their bassist.  He had a tendency to slow down and speed up the tempo between the bridge and refrain.  It wasn't bad, but since we were being judged on a point system today, technical aspects like that could mean the difference between moving on and going home.

I inclined my head to Mick, who nodded back, she had heard it too.  She was really good at ferreting my bass out of the band to keep her on task.  My job was the most important, not for the music itself, but for being the band's metronome and keeping everyone on tempo.  They were attuned to me when I would emphasize certain beats when any of them drifted, like a conductor.  They could only keep time as well as I did.

The crowd cheered and Teri got them to settle, then she turned to look at us with a beaming smile.  How can these stars have so much self-confidence?  She nodded once at me with a little wink and I tapped out a beat on my sticks and we began to play.

This one started out slower, almost a classical slow bluesy feel before it picked up to a racy pop number.  I couldn't stop the smile that always took over my face when I played.  When the beat picked up, I blinked at a person standing in front of the stage smiling and bobbing her head to the beat.  It was Mei!

I gave her a huge smile and pulled my left hand out of a roll and continued it with my right as I pointed the stick at her.  She grinned and tilted her head back as she danced with the song.  I caught myself playing just for her.

I was having a blast.  I would have been hard-pressed to think of a time our band meshed together better.  The only thing I noted was Matt simplified a couple chord progressions, possibly to not take the chance of missing one.  I was confident at the end as I slammed the crash, snare, and double bass three times at the end of the number.

The crowd seemed to agree and cheered loudly.  Teri stepped down to Marjorie and filled a form out.  They compared notes and Teri strode up on stage and played the crowd.  “What do you all think?  Is it Omen?”  She leaned her shoulder into the big bloke on the lead guitar and the crowd cheered.  Then she stepped over and leaned her back against Mick's playfully and asked, “Or Purple Horseshoes?”  The crowd went wild and we all just grinned like bloody gits.

She stepped to the middle of the stage and said, “We agree with you.  Purple Horseshoes wins this round, four point nine to four point six.”  She looked back at us with a smile. “Congrats, you were brilliant.”

We all high-fived each other as Teri Blue got back off the stage and headed south through a throng of fans asking for autographs.  I was sad, I didn't get hers like I got the others.  I grinned at a smiley Mei.  I tilted my head backstage as we all started hauling our gear offstage so the next group could set up.

She was waiting by our carts when we brought the first load back.  She had an impressed grin on her face.  “Congrats, you can really wail the skins, Kacy.”  I crinkled my nose at her then turned to introduce her to the band.

I paused, Matt was laying into Carol.  “We lost that tenth because you didn't support me at the transitions.”

Animal was physically holding Mick back who had fire in her eyes.  Carol timidly said, “If I had known you were going to take the safe route instead of the following the sheet music, it wouldn't have happened.  We won, be happy with that.”  Then she added quietly, “It's my band, not yours.”

He almost spit out as he said, “Fine, I'm out of here.  I was leaving your asses anyway.  My old band and I had a talk today, they are taking me back.  They have a better chance at going all the way than you tossers.”

Mick had made it past Darin and was right in his face.  “Good riddance you wanker.  Now sod off or I'll toss you out on your arse!”

He grabbed his guitar and cables and shook his head at us. “Yeah, sick your pet bull dyke on me.  You don't...”  He didn't finish his sentence due to the solid punch Mick landed to his face.  He staggered back and then scrambled away toward the front.  Muttering, “Fuck you all,” through the hand he had covering his bleeding nose.

Crap.  We were screwed without a lead guitar.  Caroline is good but not good enough for lead.  She was crying and Mick and Animal were both consoling her.  I laid a hand on Carol's shoulder and then looked sheepishly at Mei, who was just staring at the display with wide eyes.  I said, “Sorry.  You didn't need to see all our drama.  He's been getting too self-absorbed.”  I looked around. “Umm... I can introduce you to them later if I haven't scared you off.”

She shrugged. “No worries.  What are you going to do now?  Wasn't he your lead?”

I nodded.  “We'll make due.  Maybe we can get our old lead to drive to London to help us out.”  I knew that it probably wouldn't fly even if we found him right away, since it was a two and a half hour drive and the city was so congested because of the competition.  We were on again in three hours.

I wished that they had staggered the two performances over the three-day period instead of the same day.  But I understood why they didn't.  They could have logistically done it one of two ways and this was the simplest way.  Plus it kept the insane number of spectators down if they were here for only a third of the bands per day.

She nodded then helped us as we silently got the rest of our gear off stage and secured it.  Then we started dragging it toward the next stage,  I made the introductions as Caroline got on her mobile to try to locate David.  She and Mei exchanged nods.  I swear poor Darin was going to die of terminal shyness as he blushed.

I almost died when Mick almost purred, “Mmmm... Asian cuisine is mighty tasty.”  With all the innuendo she could stuff into it.

I pried her hand out of Mei's while I blushed and slapped Mick's shoulder.  “Settle down woman,  she's mine.”  Then I blushed again and looked at Mei in panic. “I mean, she's with me... she's my friend... I...”

Mei was almost bouncing as she grinned. “Keep digging Kacy, it's cute.”  Mick was ready to burst out laughing at me.

I shook my head and buried my face in my hands. “Oh, I hate you all.”  I gave a warning look to Caroline, who kept looking at Mei's sleeve as she spoke with someone on her mobile.  By the look on her face when she hung up, it wasn't good news.

She started going through her contacts on her mobile as she said, “David's flatmate says he's on holiday in the Americas and won't be back for two weeks.”  We all sort of deflated, then she said as she found what she was looking for.  “I'm going to see if that awesome tinker over at Broken Note has a lead on a guitarist on short notice.”

I nodded, that was brill.  Isabelle was the woman who worked on all of our equipment and kept it in good repair for us.  She looked like a character who stepped right out of an anime, and was the co-owner of the most popular instrument repair shop in London.  I keep hearing rumors that she is seen all around town with that new one-woman band pop sensation, Abigail Addison.  If she had contacts like that, then we might have a chance.

After a minute, she didn't look optimistic as she rang off.  “Apparently we aren't the first, or even tenth people to inquire about the same thing the past couple weeks.  Roctoberfest has so many people filling out their bands in the hopes of making it big with London Harmony.”

That was disheartening.  Mick gave Carol a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder. “There's nothing for it then.  We just need to make it through today.  We had a close to perfect score so even if we drop a couple points in our second, we can still make it through.  Then we'd have a week to scout out the best of the guitarists in the bands that were already eliminated.”

Carol smiled. “That's brilliant Michalea.”  Mick narrowed her eyes menacingly and Carol blushed. “Mick.”  The scary lady grinned at her.

With that plan of action, we relaxed a bit.  Even though we knew, odds of us making it to the next round were slim.  We started talking, most of the conversation was around Mei and how we knew each other.  Carol finally broke. “I'm sorry, I know this is rude of me.  But how did you lose your arm Mei?”

Mei's bubbly demeanor hardened and her voice chilled.  “Landmine.  I don't really talk about it.”

I was waving Carol off with my eyes.  I really liked this girl and didn't want to chase her off, I thought we could get to be great friends.  Caroline nodded. “That's okay.  I'm just overly curious at times.”

Mick wiggled her eyebrows and said, “Oooo you're curious are you?  I can show you what you're missing.”  We all shared a laugh at Carol's intense blush and the ineffectual slap on the shoulder she gave our tall friend.  That lightened the mood though I was overly anxious that Mei was uncomfortable.

I looked down when a warm hand grasped mine.  She whispered, “Don't sweat it, it's alright.”  Oh, good god, I was trying really hard not to make a fool of myself as I felt warmth flooding through me.  I just looked toward our destination, making sure not to look down at our hands. 
Oh crap, I'm supposed to breathe right?
  I exhaled.

Then I asked, “So, what does Mei do for a living?

She chuckled and said, “Well from what I hear when she isn't being groupie and roadie for her brother's band, she works the phones at the UK Landmine Relief Foundation.”

I looked at her quizzically and she smiled and shrugged. “It is a humanitarian foundation to raise the awareness of the millions of abandoned mines that are killing thousands of innocents each year.  It organizes groups that help detect abandoned minefields and clear areas for development or farming.”

I couldn't help looking at her empty sleeve then quickly away.  Then wondered if she were a spokesperson for the foundation since it sounded like she was one of the victims.  She must have read that and shook her head.  “No, I don't like being in front of people.  I avoid them whenever possible.  I just work the phones.”

She squeezed my hand. “And you?”

I winced. “Nothing as meaningful as you.  I feel like a sodding poser next to you.  I scrape by on the gigs Purple Horseshoe lands around town.  Music is pretty much my life.”

She shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that.  Following a passion is not a bad way to survive.”

I was wishing she'd stop flashing me that crooked half smirk smile.  It was like like a ten on the cuteness scale and I couldn't afford crushing on yet another girl I couldn't have. 
Rein it in Kacy, she can make a brilliant friend.

When we flashed our participant badges and stowed our gear on the lawn behind the stage.  Carol offered to stay behind with the equipment this time saying, “I'll just hook up my monitor and practice since I'll have to play lead.”

We nodded at her and I smiled, she was probably the most dedicated of all of us in the band, she loved the band.  Well, it made sense I guess since she was the founder.  Mick grabbed Darin's arm after he nodded then headed off to scope out some of the bands. “No, you don't, you're with me Animal.”  She shot him a smile that made the poor shaggy man blush as they wandered off.

I let go of Mei's hand and stepped away to give Carol a hug, telling her, “It's gonna work out okay C.”  She nodded though her eyes didn't look sure.  I asked, “Want me to stay and give you a beat?”

She shook here head. “No, I'm right.”  She whispered, “Besides you have a cutie waiting for you.”

I blushed and shook my head and whispered my defense, “She's a friend you evil woman.”  She shrugged her disbelief and I stomped off like a pouting child. 
Well fine, I just walked back to Mei with a smile on my face.

I prompted, “Scope out the competition with me?

She shook her head. “Not really much for crowds.  Feed me and I could be persuaded.”

I nodded enthusiastically.  She grinned. “Brill, I saw food pavilions this way.”  And she was off.  I hustled after her reaching out for her hand to slow the silly bird down, and hesitated realizing I was reaching for her right side instinctively.

I didn't want to look foolish with my hand there so I just hooked a belt loop of her jeans with a finger and hauled back so I could walk by her side.  She chuckled at me and shot me a smile.  I must have blushed the whole way to the food vendors.

I didn't let go of the loop and she didn't seem to mind at all.  I kind of liked having a connection to her and she seemed to walk closer to me with me doing it.  After a short wait in line at the Mobile Kitchen food cart, I bought us some pulled pork sandwiches and some drinks, and a third in a bag to bring back to Carol.