A sense of expectation hangin' in the air
Givin' out a spark
Across the room
Your eyes are glowin' in the dark
And
here we go again
We know the start, we know the end
Masters of
the scene
We've done it all before
and now we're back to get
some more
You know what I mean
Rendezvous
(aha)
Take it now or leave it (aha)
Now is all we get
(aha)
Nothing promised, no regrets (aha)
Rendezvous (aha)
Ain't
no big decision (aha)
You know what to do (aha)
C'est la rouge
rendezvous
Rendezvous
- Slight rewrite of 'Voulez Vous', ABBA.
Bewickton, Friday September
30th - Tuesday October 2nd
Kajsa
woke up early on this rainy september morning, relatively speaking,
and she knew excactly what she wanted to do. With determined
footsteps she walked out of her bedroom across the narrow hallway and
into Bettys room. Not even trying to walk silently or avoiding making
to much noise with the doors, though she could just walk straight in
as Betty had the habit of sleeping with her bedroom door wide
open.
"Oh Betty, Betty... sweet innocent little Betty...." Kajsa thought to herself as she stood for a few seconds watching her sleep, before pulling out her megaphone and shouting as loud as she could...
"WAKE
UP BETTY! IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST!"
"That ought to teach you... " she laughed with glee as Bettys eyes opened wide with confusion.
"Wha...? What's happening...?" Betty said as she sat up on the bed, taking a few seconds to connect the dots and understand what Kajsa just said..
"Oh.. yeah, breakfast.. " Betty said, feeling a slight dizzyness and a headache combined with nausea and a strange urge to bellow down litre upon litre of water for some reason now that initial shock of being woken up with a megaphone had settled..
"I'll go and make breakfast..." she spoke softly as she lunged her way into the kitchen with her head hanging low on her shoulders..
Kajsa
had planned the following days wisely, giving herself and the band
some time off from having to perform and being on the road in order
to spend some time with their family, or just themselves, to
recuperate after travelling through a quarter of the country
exhausting themselves playing concerts night after night.. On this
day she didn't want to think about music at all, even though she
loved it, and just spend time at home with her son Nikolai while
everyone else had to go to their dayjobs as usual..
..and
should she need to get out of the house, she could always rely on her
old friend "The Pink Beast" to give her some air and a
sense of rebellious freedom..
Over at "The Party Household" Gerdas own little boy Øyvin was being showered with attention at nearly all of his waking hours now that Gerda and the rest of the band had returned to the household. If it wasn't Gerda feeding, cuddling and playing with him it was Merete doing the same, even changing his diaper and giving him a good bath to make sure he was as clean as anyone could be at all hours.
The
same couldn't be said about Isabell and Sam though, who was more
concerned with themselves, relaxing in the jacuzzi or just partying,
but there was no need to either. The baby was in good hands, and
couldn't have had a better time for being just a baby.
;)
Kajsa definately felt like a proud parent now that she watched her son take his first steps all on his own. It was clear that Nikolai had practiced his walking skills all on his own while she was away, and she was happy to not have missed this moment while she was on tour. She didn't think that Betty had anything to do with this to train him in anything, as she suspected that she had probably just done the bare minimum while he was away, maybe not even that...
..but they couldn't just relax and spend time with family all the time. Kajsa had to call up her band to meet up at "The Red Rendezvous" to rehearse one last time before the concert, and afterwards maybe have a few drinks just because..
..or maybe the latter wasn't the best idea, because Sam was still in a quarrelsome mood as he told Kajsa that he thought she was perhaps a little to controlling... He wasn't to happy with the order of the songs on tonights setlist as well as getting tired of them only doing guitar, keyboard or drum solos.. why couldn't they do a bass solo for a change..?
..but Kajsa had already made the decision. There would be no bass solo as she thought the audience would respond much better to especially the guitar and drum solos, and if Sam had a problem with that.. well, that wasn't an option. He had to get in line and do as she said, because that was what was best for the band!
"Best for the band!?" Sam said angrily. "How do you know when I haven't even gotten a chance to try!?"
"Well,
it's not gonna happen tonight! This is our final gig on the tour! It
can't be a failure!" Kajsa replied, thinking in her own mind
that she was doing the band a favour. She so much wanted to see them
succeed and for people to leave after the show thinking this was one
of the best things they ever saw. This was not a night to perform any
experiments.
"Failure!? You gotta be kidding me... Just
one solo and I'll show you it won't be a failure!" Sam replied,
not wanting to give up. He was confident that a bass solo would be
the perfect way to break up their show and build tension before they
would launch into their grand finale, but Kajsa just wouldn't listen.
Her fist was now clenched ready to defend her stance with whatever it
took.
"I'll fight you over it then!" he said, noticing her clenched fist, as he grabbed her neck with his right arm putting her in a chokehold to keep her from delivering the first blow he was sure would be coming.. "If I win, I'll play the bass solo!"
"Guys... guys! Don't fight! We can work it out!" Merete said, wishing for a split second she had chosen to relax by going fishing instead... "We can do both! A drum solo and a bass solo! Just please don't fight!"
"Are
they always like this?" the bartender wondered as Merete gave up
on reaching in to her fighting band members and decided to order a
drink instead..
"Well,
no... we're usually quite peaceful with each other..." she
replied before she instructed the bartender to just make her drink a
double straight away.
"..being on the road for days.."
she continued, "...you'd be surprised..."
Eventually
Sam had to give up as he wasn't much of a fighter; Kajsa had plenty
more experience there as both a winner and a loser as her strong
opinions on pretty much everthing often landed her right in the
middle of a bar fight, especially after having a drink or
two..
"Alright, alright.. I give up.." Sam said as he
arched his back while getting up on his feet again.. "there will
be no bass solos.. but I really think we should consider.."
"Enough!"
Kajsa said "We won't be doing bass solos this gig! Gerda plays
her solo around halfway, and then we continue!"
Kajsa
had spoken. Sam had no choice but to accept for now, though he would
probably bring it up again some time later. He considered it a small
victory though that she apparently, did not intend on playing a drum
solo for a change, so not all hope was lost..
She still thought about it by the end of the night, after the bar had closed and everyone went back home to each their own. In her mind playing in a band and doing gigs wasn't about satisfying anyones ego, or so she told herself. She only wanted what was right for the band, and being as objective as she could, Sam was the least skilled and sometimes sloppiest member of all of them, hence she just didn't feel like letting him play improvised solos during gigs just yet...
If he could impress her later when they one day went back to recording their next album she could consider giving him a chance for future gigs, but right now she felt he wasn't ready.. maybe she was a little to harsh on him, but this is what she felt was best for the band.. and with time she hoped he would understand and see it the same way too...
There was no room for mistakes on this last gig of their tour, everything had to be perfect...
Wednesday
October 4th – Final concert at the Red Rendezvous in
Bewickton
Then
came the day of the concert to end their first tour.. Kajsa was as
expected early on the scene after she rode her rebellious motorbike
to get to tonights venue – The Red Rendezvous, a bar the band knew
pretty well. Their home base as far as bars and venues
go..
Kajsa had big hopes for
tonights show, not only because this was their last show, but also
because they would be playing in front of their home audience..this
show had to be perfect! This was not the time to skip a beat
or play a wrong note... definately not...
Their
concert wasn't scheduled to start for several hours yet, and already
people were flocking outside to enter the bar.. that was a good sign
for the band, but didn't do anything at all to reduce the load Kajsa
now felt on her shoulders... So many people outside, and no sign of
her band members yet..
When
the band members finally showed up, they had to wade through the
massive crowd waiting to get in, which was easier said then
done...
"Whoa, did all these people come to see us?"
Sam wondered. This was a stark difference to their first shows,
actually to most of them, where they had played for what was
effectively empty rooms..
..and
inside on the second floor, where the stage was, Kajsa was close to
begin biting her fingernails.. she heard the commotion downstairs as
people entered, but didn't see a single one of her band members yet.
She had in her mind settled with Sam to not do any drum solos, but
now she had no choice. She had to start the concert now,
because that was the contract they had with the venue owner.. or it
would be an opportunity missed..
Hearing
the drum solo from downstairs people realized that the concert
actually began on time for a change and that there was no time to
spend buying drinks and chatting in the bar downstairs if they were
to catch the show..
..and more importantly, it alerted everyone to the fact that they would have to let the remaining band members pass through the queue.. Their celebrity status had increased during the tour, but not enough yet to get special treatment unless absolutely necessary...
Gerda was happy to see Deepak in front calling people to the stage. He should know about the importance of having an audience, she thought, as he was a very creative person himself. Primarily a painter, but also one that would on occasion dabble into music.
Equally as big was the disappointment in her, when she realized that he wasn't calling people to the stage to watch the band... he did so to compete with the audiences attention to tell a ghost story! Of all things! So she could only play louder... what was he doing? Was this some kind of statement, some kind of art project she didn't understand? The Chitrakaar family was certainly known around town as a family of creatives with many different projects going on, but she failed to see the purpose here... really, this was just rude!
..and
as if that wasn't enough, local singer-songwriter André
Bredesen-Ulvik, perhaps better known under his stage name DeAndre
Wolf, decided to join the concert by supposedly "filling the
rhythm guitar parts". If their show in Wad Nahadau was weird,
this one was now starting to get beyond weird..
Well,
maybe this is what they should have expected as the people living on
this island has always been something of their own, but still.. she
had to conclude though, that DeAndre was pretty capable at figuring
out what rhythms to play to their songs.. it was almost as if he had
practiced and prepared for this moment on his own.. If he hadn't
blended in so well Kajsa would probably have stopped the concert to
give him a good thrashing..
Gerda
may just have tried to beat him up herself, if he hadn't been wise
enough to only play the rhythm parts in the background so that she
could get her well deserved time in the spotlight.. after all, she
was the bands frontwoman and lead guitarist.. He wasn't even a member
of the band, and knowing how Kajsa thought, he probably wouldn't
become one either.. they had started out as a four piece, and that
was they should remain...
Then finally around halfway through the concert Deepak had reached the conclusion to his story of ghosts and goblins, just in time for Gerda to launch into her flashiest, most elaborate guitar solo yet to the awe and enjoyment of, well, atleast some members of the audience. ;)
Gerda receiving this kind of praise, cheering and clapping from the audience was perhaps a little to much for the good man DeAndre as he left the stage while the band propelled forward into the next song, whispering under his breath something about a certain foul stench that he claimed suddenly spread across the stage.. probably the smell from his own jealousy there...
Even
Sam got a satisfying ending to she show as he joined Gerda in an
alternating guitar and bass solo as an outro to their show. That was
the best ending he could have hoped for after the fight with Kajsa
just the other day. He could almost literally feel the fame and
stardom that surrounded him right in this moment...
Now if that DeAndre guy was a wise one, he would have left the premises before the end of their show.. The audience probably thought it was a planned event for him to join them on stage, but Gerda knew it wasn't.. She considered for a moment there to go looking for him to teach him a lesson, until she overheard someone speculating whether he was a new member of the band or not, with some concluding that he couldn't be, since they saw him leave not long after he got off the stage.. She figured it would be no use right now, but if she should come across him some time later...
The best thing was probably to just pretend that everything was planned and arranged just as it happened. Judging from the crowd reception the concert was one of their better ones, perhaps their best one yet and a great way to mark the end of their tour- just like they had wanted it to be. Now exhausted but relieved and a little sad that this moment now meant that everything was over, the band gathered together on stage for one last round of applause and to thank their audience for showing up and cheering for them, before it was time to get paid and continue the party for the night...
It had been quite the journey for this band, from their humble beginnings as mostly being a band playing cover songs at peoples weddings, to recording their debut album, going on tour and finally getting a taste of fame and recognition.. for everyone of the band members, and right now especially for Gerda who had come a long way, conquering her intial stage fright and now being secure enough in her role as the bands front woman to not only feel comfortable in the spotlight, but thoroughly enjoy it to the point that she only craves more..
So
it was only natural then that she would continue after the real
concert ended to entertain by playing one all alone, completely for
free where the only necessary payment would be for her to continue to
bask in the attention from her audience and receive additional fame
and glory...
"Yeeaah! We are The Bushweeds! We're gonna conqer the world!" Kajsa was soaring now after having delivered such a concert and gone a couple of trips to the bar to enjoy some rounds of drinks on the house just for being who she is, making her feel invincible and ready to take on just about anything.
And
just like after their concert in Lake Onebega, this is what makes
Kajsas generous side surface as she wanted to show her appreciation
to in her opinion the most wonderful frontwoman any band could be
lucky to have, by handing her another gift. This time a portable
stereo, so that Gerda could always take the music with her, no matter
where she went..
The
band hadn't won any awards or golden plaques yet, but who cares? In
Meretes mind now, looking back at what they had been through, they
were all of them champions nonetheless. Nothing could go wrong now,
things could only get better from here.
Once people started to realize there wasn't going to be anymore entertainment on the second floor they began to flock to the bar downstairs to enjoy their food and drinks, leaving some space for Kajsa to continue the party and celebration by dancing on her own for a while. What a near perfect night! There were some oddities, but it couldn't have ended better than this.. ;)
Except
for maybe that one poor unlucky soul who must have had an accident in
front of the bar downstairs. No one to smelly was found, so whoever
it was must have been seen running out the doors in terrible
embarassment some time earlier on during the night.. but that didn't
dampen the mood or stop the party for anyone else though. And the
band members got their share of attention and then some, as people,
even the bartenders, kept queueing up to take their pictures several
times during the night.
"May
I have this dance, milady". Somehow at one point during the
night, Sam and Gerda had found themselves behind the bar where Sam
politely had engaged her in a medieval style slow dance to the latest
upbeat pop music...
The
bartender wasn't to pleased about this as they blocked him from his
customers, then again, the band had proved quite lucrative for his
business this night, so he was willing to let a couple of their
eccentricties slip by...
Kajsa
had by now enjoyed enough of the free drinks that came with her
celebrity status to find pretty much everything, anything and anyone
to be the most amusing thing ever!
Then
after having had even a few more of those she suddenly remember what
Deepak had done earlier and wanted to call everyone out into the
hallway for some reason to tell a ghost story, one that was
guaranteed to be more terrible than Deepaks, for sure..
She
thought she was doing good when the lights came off and everyone
flocked towards the hallway, but it wasn't because her,
nope..
Disappointed
she had to watch people pass her by as she tried to tell her story,
before she realized that everyone was now about to leave because it
was closing time.. already!? Why so soon, she was just getting
started!?
Well,
she got a pity listener from one of the bartenders after she had
finished up the cash register, because Kajsa was still Kajsa, and
once she had started something, no matter what, she wasn't going to
quit it without seeing it through to the very end! But once she was
done with that, she had to leave.. just like everyone
else..
Outside
Sam was being cat called by a couple of his new female admirers, but
he was already in his taxi on the way home or he might have seized
the opportunity for some company for the night.. maybe some other
time.. ;)
Kajsa
was in need of some extra guidance from the bartender to find the
exit once she had finished her ghost story, but once she had made
outside she was still confused about where to go as she just turned
on her heel to go back up the stairs one more time before realizing
that she wasn't at her own front porch (or wherever she thought she
was), and had to actually go and located her "Pink Beast"
to find her way home...
Somehow
that went well, and Kajsa felt she was being twice.. no, twenty times
as rebellious now, riding her bike home while still feeling the
effects of all the juice she's had during the night.. woohoo
the police! They got nothing on her, because her name is Kajsa and
she does whatever she wants! Hardly an example to follow right now,
but she was punk and
proud, couldn't have
been prouder...
Somehow
she managed to find her way back home and locate her own bed,
though.. early in the morning.. tomorrow would no doubt be a long,
slow day for all of them, but what a blast they have had after all..
it was probably worth it..
Bonus video:
And with that I will leave this band behind for a while, and return to a more ordinary life (perhaps) as I pick up where I left of last time with Bhavan andhis girlfriend Beate just before christmas.. maybe they have planned a surprise for us.. :P
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