Chapter 12.1 – The Bushweeds Autumn Tour 2023 – part I: It's a long way to the top...

Christmas time is soon upon the town of Bewickton, but before then there's just one more thing I have to go through before we can get there... It's time for another update – or perhaps a series of updates – about the band "The Bushweeds" and what they did since last time...

Following the release of their debut album, the band had worked hard to promote it to get airtime at various radio stations – to mixed results. Some local stations around the area had picked up on their tracks and put them on their daily rotation, but the bigger national radio stations were more reluctant. They only got some luck with the SBC (Simbrian Broadcasting) who put them on their B-list on their youth oriented channel SBC-3, as they were the national state owned channel and had a mission to promote up and coming bands.

But more importantly for the band, they had also directly contacted several venues to get concerts also out of town and go on their first mini tour to market and celebrate the release of their first record, and of course, work as hard as they could to get a bigger audience, more listeners and sell their record and merchandise...

Picture: Leaving to go on tour. The band is already looking forward to their first concert..

Picture: Tour map with dates.

It was a tough job and many places either turned them down or gave them deals that would put their budget in the red.. they weren't looking to make a big profit from touring just yet, but if, by the end of the tour they could make their budget balance and end up with a net zero or better they would consider it not to bad....

Picture: Appearing at their apartment in Cyme Ixotic.

Which meant no playing at the biggest and best venues of course, and only cheap motels or even crashing at friends houses for a while, but luckily there exists a community across the country of up and coming folk rock and punk bands willing to help a fellow band out, so finding a place or two to spend the night was never a problem.. as long as they didn't expect to get a five star hotel with its own spa and swimming pool...

Picture: Vocalist/guitarist Gerda Botnen being disappointed by the quality of the bunk beds in their apartment..

You always have to start somewhere, and it's usually at the bottom, but the band had a dream and they weren't willing to let go of it.. They knew it would mean a lot of hard work, but they were sure it would be worth it in the end.. well, not always, there were moments were they all asked themselves if it was worth it, and maybe it would be better for them to go back to their daytime jobs... but then they played a gig and saw the excitement and joy in the audience members eyes, and even if their crowds weren't the biggest, that's when they knew it was worth it after all...

Picture: The band spontaneously busking in a park downtown, Cyme Ixotic. Whatever it takes to get an audience...

It was the bands first real adventure outside their hometown, and they (mostly..) enjoyed every minute of it.. and it was a great learning experience too..

Thursday September 22^nd – Day 1: Waylons Bar, Cyme Ixotic.

The band felt a little bit like stars already when they saw the bus that came to pick them up and drive them to tonights venue. Though the venue itself wasn't all that fancy, it was just the kind of place the band enjoyed and one where they thought they would fit right in; a somewhat smudgy local watering hole in relative proximity to the harbour.

The venue was called Waylons bar, and since their first visit after their unfortunate meeting with the record company it had become their favorite drinking spot in the city. They'd already made contact with the owner Gudny Poulsen over a couple of beers and told her they were a struggling up and coming band. They had maintained contact during the recording process and since the release of their album their music had gotten into the rotational playlists of the bar, so getting their first gig here wasn't very hard... but would the people of Cyme Ixotic enjoy the music as much as the bar owner?

Gerda hoped so as she looked upon the stage.. they'd had a few concerts in their hometown of Bewickton, but finally the time had come to take their music across the strait and to the mainland for real...

The band was no doubt nervous before the concert.. if they screwed up something, forgot the lyrics or played a wrong note.. it would be terrible. They wanted to perform as well as they could for this one, as they felt it would set the tone for the entire rest of the tour... if this became a failure, well..

So a sound check was of course vital.. the guitar and the bass had to be tuned perfectly, the volume on the keyboard had to be just right.. there was no room for mistakes!

 

Gudny watched them as they rehearsed and she was clearly pleased already. She was pretty sure this was going to be a good night.. it made the band feel a little better. Now all they needed was for the bar to open and an audience to enter...

..and perhaps a few drinks and something to eat, to charge themselves up before the show. The drummer Kajsa was already so excited to play for the first time now, she was already celebrating by dancing on the counter. ;)

Then it was time for the concert to begin... half an hour late according to the scheduled time because the bar was still pretty empty. They all got their wish fulfilled of playing a gig, and hoped that the guests would make their way eventually..

Well... though the band gave it their all, the first half of their set was played in front of a dance floor as empty as a beer can on a sunday morning.. the only guest so far was a woman playing shuffle board, not really paying attention to the band at all.

A little later another man entered. He wasn't a regular as he preferred the more uptown bars and lounges, but he had somehow picked up their record when visiting his favourite record store browsing for rare vinyls to add to his collection to impress his avant-garde friends. His friends unfortunately for him wasn't to impressed, but he ended up loving it. He would have showed up earlier, if it wasn't for him having to sneak away from one of his snobby friends birthday party to enjoy the concert..

The band may just have earned themselves their first out of town fan besides the bar owner. He even walked up on stage with them, because he wanted to dance with Kajsa... The bassist Sam was a little skeptical of this guy though, and felt a little uncomfortable with him walking up on stage like that..

The band clearly didn't get the audience they had hoped for, but they had made a promise to the bar owner, so they continued to give it their all throughout the concerts.. three listeners and a bar owner was better than none, and they still had a very slight hope that if these three people enjoyed atleast parts of their concert that word would begin to spread around.. and that next time they would play for atleast double the amount.... maybe...

 

Gerda still felt satisfied after the concert was over. She knew of many bands who started in similar ways and struggled and made it... this was just the beginning. Soon.. or with time.. the world would know the name "The Bushweeds" and entire stadiums of people would chant their name and howl out for more... one day.. maybe...

Their number one fan so far wasn't done partying yet either, as he hopped up on the counter to strut his stuff in front of Kajsa.. but she just walked right by him as she went over to Gudny to collect their check for the gig...

The band got payed 1200 simoleons for the job, and was given a promise by Gudny that she would put in a good word for them, and of course, they also climbed up on the celebrity ranks.. they were all now one star celebrities..

Success! Finally! The pianist Merete was super excited and on a high after their concert! She wanted to take it further and explore a little more of what the city had to offer. She had heard about a bar called "The Sports Zone" and wanted to go their next. It was a little more "high class" then the bars they had preferred up until now, but now that they were on a roll, why not seek out something a little better?

So into town they went in a taxi..

 

"Are you sure about this?" Sam wondered as they stepped out of the taxi. This place definately looked more upscale than they were used to – in more ways than one.

        "I'm absolutely positive!" Merete replied, following just a few steps behind him. "I think it's time we elevate ourselves a little!"

        "Yeah... that's what worries me." Sam said, being surprisingly reluctant to enter the building..

        "Come on Sam" Merete said "..what's the matter? Haven't you always said that we always hang out at the trashiest places?"

"Yeah, but.. oh, never mind.. let's go." His voice was flat and unconvinced as he walked through the front door..
        The building was a little taller than Sam had hoped for... It wasn't going to a more upscale bar that worried him, after all he was probably the band member who would enjoy that the most. No, that wasn't it.. for him it was more the distance going up there would create between him and the concrete sidewalk down below...

        He was the kind to happy to go on tour or travel anywhere by car or train, but not by plane.. Physically he had always been more comfortable with both his feet planted on the ground..

Picture: Sam hiding behind Gerda, being reluctant to enter the elevator..

He couldn't let the rest of the band members know he was this scared of heights, so naturally he was the last to walk in to the elevator and the first to walk out. He had felt the same when they had to go up all the way to the 8^th floor during their visit to the record company. Anything up to the fourth floor was fine, anything above got more and more problematic the higher it got.. this bar, of course, had to be on the 10^th floor.

              He swallowed as Kajsa pressed the button and the elevator let out a soft ding and the doors closed.. now he was trapped in this tiny box going up a narrow shaft being pulled up only by a thin steel wire.. He had to really struggle to not envision the bottomless pit he felt he suddenly found himself over...

        "Are you alright Sam?" Gerda asked "You look a little pale..."

        "I'm.. I'm fine. I'm just.. I'm just happy that w-we just got started..." Sam said while staring at the floor counter as it counted upwards from 3 to 4... It felt like it took ages for it to shift from one number to the next and he could've sworn that it was slowing down, about to come to a halt, before it would begin to count again.. in reverse, much faster and accelerating..

        "So am I, but are you sure you're alright? It's the elevator, isn't it?" Gerda said, already knowing the answer to her question. "Look, it's alright Sam, it's gonna be just fine" she tried to console him. "We're already on the 8^th... 9^th floor. The doors will open any minute and we'll be there."

        "I'm not afraid of the elevator!" Sam snapped at her.

        "Sam!" Kajsa stepped in. "Calm down! Look, we're already up!" she said as the counter finally stopped on number 10 and the elevator let out another friendly ding before the doors opened to let them out..

        "I'm not afraid of the..." Sam began with a muttering voice.

        "It's ok Sam. Really, we're not gonna judge you" Merete said, taking a step back to let Sam exit first.. "I'm more worried about that bouncer over there..."

"Oh, the bouncer will be no problem" Sam said with confidence now that he was out of the elevator "Just walk by him like you normally would..."

"See? That was a piece of cake wasn't it? Bouncers are easy..."

"You know guys" Kajsa said after taking a look around "I think before next time we're coming here, we should try to get a gig here next. This place looks way better."

 

        "The sign by that door over there even says 'Bowling Lane'. Gerda, come with me, I want to go bowling." Kajsa said, not even stopping to listen if Gerda really wanted to go bowling... when Kajsa says she wants to do something, you listen. ;)

        "I'd rather try to get past this other bouncer too" Sam said, wanting to prove to his band mates that he was after all a brave man, in spite of them really having no issues accepting his fear of altitude...

 

..but the bouncer was stern and steadfast, stopping him in his tracks faster than an elevator emergency brake.

    Merete, who thought it wasn't necessary for him to think he had to prove himself in anyway tried to call him over to the bar to relax with a drink instead..

Meanwhile Gerda and Kajsa was far into their bowling game in the other room next door that didn't have a bouncer guarding the door..

 

Sam eventually caved in and headed to the bar to have a few drinks with Merete, but once she had almost reached the bottom of her third glass somehow she had changed her mind and wanted to head over to reason with the bouncer herself...

..but the bouncer was, of course, just as steadfast.. "The Bushwhats? Who do you guys think you are? Only real celebrities get to pass through this door!"

Merete was a little to buzzed to hear that the bouncer purposefully mispronounced their band name, so whatever was behind that door it was probably for the better that she decided to give up and spend some time with Kajsa and Gerda instead..

 

...but Sam didn't want to give up. Whether it was because he wanted to prove he wasn't a coward or whether it was because he was curious about what really was behind that door remains to be unsaid, but the bouncer was not moving an inch from her position... "Come back when you've made more of a name for yourselves!" she kept telling him...

It was getting really late in the night now, and Kajsa, who was the oldest and perhaps most responsible of all the band members, decided to call it a night and head back to the apartment to get some sleep.. after all they would have a long day of travel ahead of them to reach their next concert destination.. hopefully in due time to get to rehearse a little more and do a proper sound check before the show...

 

..not that it changed anything for the remaining three... Merete once more went to argue with the bouncer, Gerda hopped onto the counter to shake her booty and Sam, who was still nervous about the elevator, postponed going down for as long as he could, by having a few more drinks and, for some reason, a salad by the bar..

 

..but you can't postpone the inevitable forever, and when the lights go off and the bar has closed, even an up and coming band has to leave to locate their bedposts and get some sleep.. even though Sam in that moment would rather plead and bargain once more with the bouncer to get to see what was behind that door.. maybe, maybe it had a staircase and not an elevator.. but alas, the door was locked and the bouncer had left her position to chat with the bartender for a while before they would close up shop for the night...

 

"Come along now Sam.. they've closed, we have to leave.. " Merete said to Sam as she walked out the door "..even though I wouldn't mind giving that bouncer a good beating..."

 

Sam, who was more than a little buzzed, wasn't as nervous in the elevator on the way down as he had dreaded, and once they returned to the apartment Kajsa was already in bed asleep and Sam and Gerda quickly followed suit.

 

It was only Merete who hadn't eaten anything since before the concert who needed a meal before bedtime, and as such was the last of them to crawl between the sheets to make friends with the sandman...

It had certainly been a long day for the band on the first day of their tour... good night.. ;)

Previous (Bhavan & Beate) | Next

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Previous mention of 'The Bushweeds' - Chapter 9.7.

Chapter 11.1 – December 2023: part I – A disaster and a disastrous date...

It was the first day of december, outside it was another rainy morning, inside Bhavan and Beate was sleeping quietly dreaming about what was perhaps most important to them right now...

 

Bhavan needed to sleep in after an exhausting day averting a potential disaster over at the military base, but Beate had another idea..

 

She wasn't just singing and playing the piano, she was also a drummer. She wanted to understand music fully – to learn what she could about every instrument, so that she would hopefully be able to craft the best possible songs that she could, and... to wake up her boyfriend on a lazy friday morning...

 

"Beate, what the ****!? You can't play drums in the morning in my bedroom when I'm trying to sleep! Stop that! Immediately!"

"..but atleast it woke you up, didn't it?"

"It's not funny... don't do that again..."

Though in spite of the initial bout of rage, Bhavan wasn't to angry about having his girlfriend over, as he let out a little cheer to himself once she was out of the room to go outside to recycle some old newspapers..

He quickly forgave her for this incident as he went into the kitchen to make breakfast for both of them.

 

Beate was a little more adventurous-ly minded and during breakfast she suggested they should go away somewhere far away on vacation for a while, but Bhavan wasn't quite up to that. He would rather just stay where he was, and not venture to far out into the world. Beate tried to convince him by mentioning all the fascinating sights to see and people to meet, but this didn't convince Bhavan at all.. especially not the part about meeting new people... Beate didn't say anything in response for now, she thought it wouldn't be beneficial to start a big discussion about it, but atleast she had now planted the idea in him...

 

The reason for him being lukewarm to the idea at best wasn't because he didn't want to spend time with her, and this she kind of knew... after breakfast he had something to show her, as he kissed her and invited her upstairs to show her his brand new jacuzzi upstairs... She said she would join him shortly, she just had to try and strum a few notes on his guitar first..

Bhavan wasn't afraid to get naked in the jacuzzi as long as he knew it would be just them, but Beate who was the most outgoing of them in any other setting felt a little more self-conscious there, and wanted to keep her bikini on..

 

..but she was nonetheless excited about the jacuzzi and they got to cuddle for a while, but not making it any further, because Bhavan had to get up and go to work.. she did her best to look away as he got up from the jacuzzi so as to not stare to much at his... equipment..

 

At the fire station it was as usual, with Bhavan working to maintain the fire truck and the alarms, while his colleagues were gossiping about whatever.. until the alarm went off, and our hero once more had to hop into his.. erm, the fire stations fire truck and rush to the rescue.

 

This time the emergency central said it was a house fire, and Bhavan feared for the worst because he thought he had heard the adress somewhere before...

There was no time to think to much, he had to get there quickly! The caller was a very distressed teenager who was babysitting a little toddler. During feeding the toddler had soiled out all her clothes and the poor babysitter just meant to clean them in the washing machine.. so far so good, but it was after she had put the babys clothes in the tumble drier and then forgotten all about it that things went wrong...

Bhavans heart sank when he got his worst fear confirmed and saw that the house on the adress was his sister Udishas house.. which could only mean that his niece Madhunisha was now in great danger! This was terrible, but he had to keep his cool and get the job done! The emergency central had informed him that there was a fire in a laundry room located in a garage, and since this was his sisters house, he knew immediately where it was.

 

Meanwhile at his house Beate, who was in the dark about the danger her boyfriend and his beloved niece now found themselves in, had to get up from relaxing in the jacuzzi and go to her own job at the theatre..

 

Once he ran up to the backside of the house, he saw that there was a fire in the bathroom too. This puzzled Bhavan, because as far as he knew they had nothing in there that could catch fire... what he didn't know, was that the babysitter had gotten distracted as she went into the bathroom to take a bath after which she had used a hair dryer she had brought with her from her parents house.
    At first she thought it was due to the hair dryer that she could smell something burning, because she knew it was a little old and untrustworthy.. often times when she plugged it in an electric fuse would go out, though it didn't happen this time, so she continued using it until her hair was dry....

It wasn't until she turned it off and something still smelled like it was burning she got a little worried.. so she went outside to check and that's when she panicked as she saw all the smoke coming out of the garage.. ..unfortunately she also forgot to pull the plug on the hair dryer, which ended up short circuiting and then it too caught fire!

After having put out the fire in the bathroom, which was a piece of cake compared to the scorching fire that awaited him, he ran over to the garage to find the fire having spread from the tumble drier to the nearby washing machine, a treadmill and even threatened to engulf Dudleifs police car!

 

Madhunisha who was presumably still inside the house was relatively safe for now, but he couldn't watch the garage and the police car go up in smoke! A car on fire was especially dangerous, because the fuel tank might explode, so he had no time to waste! He prayed in his mind to all the Gods he knew that Dudleif had been sloppy and ran the car dry and then forgotten to refuel....

 

Maybe that was the case, or maybe the fuel tank was just resilient to fire.. whatever it was, Bhavan felt relieved to have put out the fire in the car, and it was now time to focus on what he assumed was the source of this mayhem – the tumble drier.

 

He let out a sigh of relief after having put out the fire in both the tumble drier and the laundromat! That was close he thought... but he couldn't stop to think to long, there were still a teenager outside in distress and a toddler inside the house to be saved!

 

The teenager was already outside, so he went for the house first. Somehow the door had locked itself and wouldn't open, so he had to bring out the axe to chop his way in! He hoped his sister would forgive him, but right then and there, he thought that the toddler was more important than any front door could ever be...

 

After having broken the lock, he kicked the front door open, and was ready to rush in to search for Madhunisha.

 

He was surprised to not find Madhunisha, but instead a complete stranger, a woman dressed in an air force unifrom. "Who are you? Where's Madhunisha!?" he shouted at the woman.

    "The toddler? Oh, she was taken care of by the neighbours!" the woman replied, still in panic unaware that the fire was put out.

    Bhavan was relieved. This strange woman turned out to be a hero too, as he later learnt that she had just been on her way home from work when she saw the fire. Immediately she stopped her car to run inside the building to find Madhunisha plonking away on the xylophone. She had picked her up and handed her over to a concerned neighbour who had also spotted the fire, before she rushed in again to see if there were more people in the house.. unfortunately she couldn't keep her calm anymore and had began to panick, and so she needed to be saved herselves.. nonetheless, Bhavan was thankful to the woman for having saved his niece, as he shouted to her that the fire was over and that she could safely exit the building.

 

Then there was a teenager in distress that needed someone to calm her down..

"The fire is over! You're all safe now!"

    "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean too! I was just doing the laundry..." the babysitter explained. She was in great shock, and Bhavan and the woman from the air force had to stay with her and talk to her for a while before she would calm down. Bhavan had to commend her for keeping her head cool enough to dial the emergency number and for doing the right thing by getting out of the building as fast as possible.

    The poor babysitter was in tears afterwards, because all this time she kept thinking about the baby whom she was set to look after, but the woman from the air force comforted her with a warm hug while saying that Madhunisha was safe, she was being looked after now by a neighbour, and everything would be alright.

 

Bhavan and the woman from the air force thought they couldn't leave the teenage babysitter at home until either Udisha or Dudleif had returned from work. Dudleif hadn't heard the news of the fire, as he had been busy at the office investigating yet another criminal case, and was shocked too when he saw the fire truck and Bhavan telling him there had been a fire in his garage and in the bathroom.

    Dudleif then quickly rushed over to talk to the woman from the air force and the babysitter to hear if they were ok and what had happened. He didn't carry grudges towards the poor babysitter, she was still very upset about it, and it was pretty clear she had learnt a pretty hard lesson here, as she swore that she never again in her life should leave a tumble drier unattended and never use a hair dryer ever again!

 

Now finally Bhavan felt his mission was done, and he could safely return to the fire station.. well, phew...

Luckily there was no paparazzi there this time to snope around asking question and things were by the usual.. only a broken computer, a fire alarm that needs maintenance and useless colleagues doing nothing worthwile at all...

After all this Bhavan wanted to relax and celebrate by taking his girlfriend out on a date again.. This time he called her to hang out at the fanciest place in town, "The 1912". Surely this had to be a successful date..

So he put on his finest wear and left his colleagues behind...

 

"See you later guys! I'll be off duty now so don't call me in case of emergency..."

It's probably due to the relative proximity to the county capitol of Cyme Ixotic (formerly known as Bridgeport) and a more recent influx of rich people and celebrities that this small coastal town has such a rich night life for it's size. Though this club is called "The 1912", it didn't actually open in 1912. It's much more modern than that, however it does pride itself on pertaining to a slightly more retro style than the more modern dance club right next to it...

 

This was the gathering place for the elite in town, the celebrities and those with money, so it remains to be seen if they would even let Bhavan and Beate in through the doors..

 

Well, of course they would, because Bhavan is an involuntary celebrity in town for his bravery and, according to some women in town who prefer to be anonymous, his good looks and charm.. and as expected for a friday night, the place was packed with people who wanted to see and be seen..

...which made Bhavan instantly regret choosing to go here as he walked over to the bar to order a plate of shrimp cocktails for each of them.

 

The bar, atleast on the lower floor, was so crowded there was no space for them to sit right next to each other, so they had to eat their meal at each end of the bar disk..

 

Beate was bored with this, and went to converse with the pianist instead. A fellow musician and colleague, she wanted to know what it was like to be an entertainer at a bar, if it was a good career and perhaps if the pianist was into making her own music sometimes..

 

Bhavan then finally finished his shrimps and then flirtingly suggested to Beate that they should head out of there and instead go back to his house to have a glass or two of sparkling champagne in the jacuzzi, to which Beate agreed.

 

The pianist was a little sour to hear this... she didn't want to know about their plans in the jacuzzi, and less guests also meant less tips for her at the end of her workday!

 

So off the young turtle doves went, but.. Bhavan must have gotten a little forgetful, because, in spite of inviting Beate over to his house, he drove off leaving her behind! Inhaled a little to much smoke there or what happened..?

 

This naturally left Beate sour and disappointed, whereupon she thought to herself that she's had coitus that lasted longer than this date! Next time he should try to actually spend some time with her... so now, both of them went home, alone and to each their own, thinking this was a disastrous date...

 

Well, I hope you can do better next time, but for now...

 

Good night...

 

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