Mad Seasons [Abandoned Story]

46. We Just Want To Have Fun

The last concert of August ended on August 19 in Montreal, where I had invited Diane, who unfortunately couldn't make it, having to leave two days earlier for Vancouvert for her photo workshop. The disappointment was great, but didn't last long.

During the concert, Go was stopped before continuing to play because the crowd had gone crazy. The Who song, The Kids Are Alright, was played in hysterics. It was crazy to watch. That same evening, we had gone out to a pub called the Sphinx, a fairly well-known and atypical place for its decor and atmosphere. We'd been there to celebrate Jeff's 30th birthday, for the second time, being away for the event in March.

As far as I knew, there had been an orgy of cake, the uneaten portions of which had been thrown at each of them, in Seattle, in a place called Shorty Tavern. The customers present had received some on their clothes, and were invited to participate in throwing cream cake at each other. Marianne got it all over her face and hair, immortalizing the evening with her camera. When I saw the photo, you could hardly recognize anyone because some of their faces had been so well spread with vanilla cream. It was funny to see. I so wish I'd been there.

However, this second celebration of Jeff's 30th birthday was wild and unusual. It exceeded all our expectations.

He and Mike had danced on one of the tables, beer in hand, dancing and singing along to Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way. Obviously, this didn't go unnoticed. As soon as we entered, the band was recognized, exchanging a few words with some of the bar's patrons while Marianne and I tried to make our way through. Luckily, I wasn't alone, so we found a free table and sat down before the boys joined us.

Stone wondered aloud why we'd decided to come to a crowded place. If they thought they'd go unnoticed because of the crowds in the bar, they'd missed out. So we partied, as it were, with the people who were there that night. It was a lively evening, to say the least. The customers were as crazy as the audience that had turned out for tonight's concert. Marianne joined Jeff and Mike on the table and began to sing along. It was crazy, but in a good way. I started to sing along, until one guy got a little too close to me, smelling of alcohol. I turned around, then Jeff held out his hand for me to climb onto the table, before he told the guy it was no use wasting his time.

"Find yourself another girl, that's not what's missing tonight! "he said, raising his voice over the music to make himself heard.

The guy didn't insist and staggered off. When the song was over, the bar played a Guns 'N' Roses track; Welcome To The Jungle. Mike and Jeff started singing like crazy, with me joining in and singing along with Marianne. Eddie and Stone looked on, beer in hand, laughing, not believing their eyes. Dave began to sing with us, then held out his hand for him to come up. Instead, I found myself on his shoulders a few seconds later, dancing softly to the music. Jeff then shouted to Eddie that he'd warned him.

"She's getting loose!" he said, then joked to Marianne that she was a bad influence, which made her laugh.

After the song, Dave gently placed me back on the floor, then the bar played Nirvana; Come As You Are. As the trio continued to move and sing, Eddie came over to me with a smile on his face, whispering that he'd found it great and confusing. What a joke! He embraced me around the waist as he continued to talk to me before taking a few sips of beer and setting the small bottle down on a nearby table. Our eyes met, and he held me a little tighter, placing a wise kiss on my mouth, which tasted of malt. When the bar played AC/DC, Eddie joined Jeff and sang along, climbing onto the table and moving stage-style in front of the overexcited crowd, while I sang along with Stone. It had been a wild evening.

Before leaving the place, a small group of four people - two girls and two boys - came up to us, one of the girls introducing herself before introducing her friends, seeing them both at ease but somewhat intimidated by having Pearl Jam in front of them. The girl who introduced herself first was Jackie, her friend Liz, and the two boys were Burt and Billy. They were all normal-looking with no eccentricity in their looks, but frequented some rather unusual places. Slightly overexcited, Jackie suggested we come with them, to a traveling underground nightclub less than an hour away.