Different Circles

By July 31^st, Faithless the song was the most popular hard rock tune nationwide. Faithless the CD had sold just a bit more than thirty thousand copies. Matt and his band (with Jim the paramedic always nearby, back on the payroll at Matt’s expense) finished their last of three full dress rehearsals for the two hour and twenty-minute set. There was no opening band going out with them. Matt’s first date was to be August 8, a Saturday night, in Bangor, Maine. The tickets for that show, none of which were less than $100, the most expensive of which were $350, had sold out within hours of being released. Reports were that the scalpers were offering the tickets up for more than $500 and were getting buyers. The next ten shows following Bangor had also sold out.

Jake and the Nerdlys attended all of the dress rehearsals. All of them went well. The road crew and the techies were all in the groove by this point and Matt and his band had rehearsed enough to put on the show in their sleep if they had to. Of course, the Nerdlys fretted about the sound, but that was as inevitable as the tide coming in. Jake found no fault with anything and, though he had only seen Matt perform at the TSF, he knew that this set was much more dynamic, much more energetic, and considerably more technical and sophisticated than his last tour by a factor of three at least. Matt fans were going to love the show. He had no doubt about that.

Jake hung out after the last performance and watched as the road crew went to work. This would be their first dress rehearsal of the tear down and load out process. All of the trucks were parked out in the parking lot, ready to be loaded up. The crew would disassemble everything and pack it up, leaving the warehouse completely empty. The timeline they were shooting for was three hours, but they would not likely come close to that on the first attempt. Tomorrow, they would all return in the morning and put everything back together again. They would then tear it down again and repack it. And then they would do it all again the next day. After that, they would head out on the three-day drive to Bangor, Maine where they would assemble everything for real in the Bangor Memorial Auditorium.

Jake was not involved with the tear down and assembly process. It was not his area of expertise by any means. He just wanted to watch the beginning stages to make sure everything was going smoothly. It was. All of the roadies involved were veterans of the process, most of them from Matt’s previous tours. And the new techs who dealt with the video gear and the cameras and the projectors all seemed to know what they were doing as well.

He watched in satisfaction for a bit and then checked his watch. It was now 4:38 PM. And it was Friday. That meant that he and Laura had a little appointment to keep over at Celia’s place after they were done with their rehearsal for the day. He smiled in anticipation. It had been that time of the month for Laura last Friday, so they had not gotten together then. He was eagerly anticipating a little fun and games with the ladies on this evening.

Just as he was turning to go, a voice called out to him. It was Matt. He was standing on the edge of the stage, drinking a bottle of beer and smoking a cigarette. He had changed out of his stage clothes and his hair was wet from his shower.

“What’s up?” Jake asked, walking over.

“There ain’t no fuckin’ groupies here, that’s what’s up,” Matt said sourly. “I can’t wait until we’re actually out there and getting the gash.”

“I guess I was remiss in not arranging for some dress rehearsal groupies for the dress rehearsal performance,” Jake said.

“Yeah,” Matt said, shaking his head. “What kinda fuckin’ boss are you anyway?”

Jake chuckled a little. This was the first time Matt had referred to him that way, at least not in a sarcastic manner. “Sorry, it’s my first Matt Tisdale tour. I’m bound to leave a few things out here and there.”

Matt shrugged. “Did the fuckin’ Nerdlys leave?” he asked.

“Yeah, about twenty minutes ago. Good show by the way. You’re gonna knock those motherfuckers dead once you start doing it for real.”

“It is a good set,” Matt said, nodding. “Our best yet. Anyway, I just wanted to see if you wanted to come back and have a couple beers with us before we cut out.”

“I’d love to,” Jake said, “but I’m flying later. Gotta get home tonight so the nanny can start her weekend.”

Matt sighed lasciviously. “The twenty-one-year-old nanny named Meghan,” he said. “That’s fuckin’ hot shit, dude. Is she like ... like really tight?”

“I told you, I’m not doing the nanny,” Jake said tiredly.

Matt laughed. “Of course you’re not,” he said. “Anyway, me and the guys are on a chartered flight to Cabo tomorrow morning. Gonna stay at my pad for a few days, bone some local gash, go out and do some fishing ... or at least everyone but Steve is gonna fish, he’s a fuckin’ pussy that gets seasick in the harbor.”

“Sounds like fun,” Jake said.