Gypsy Road

Once Around The Ride

A familiar chime of the doorbell echoes through the living room.
"Donna! Could you get that please?!" I hear Tom yell from across the house.
"Yeah I got it!"
I make my way over to the front entrance of the small house we reside in, and open the door. I see a streak of blonde hair blowing in the breeze as I first open it.

"Eric." I smile as I motion him inside. "Hi. Please, come in, make yourself at home."
"Thanks, Donna." He smiles back.
Eric gracefully enters the hallway, his long blonde hair flowing gently as he walks inside. His bass case swinging in his palm, he calls out towards the powder room at the end of the hall.
"Hey, Tom! What the hell are you doing, man?"
Tom laughs a little. "Dammit, Eric, you always show up at the worst time don't you?"
"Well of course, that's my specialty." He winks.
I glance into the powder room and see Tom messing around with my mascara again.
"Ah why didn't I expect this." I laugh. "I should've know that's what you're doing right before a gig."
"Well of course, if you talk the talk, you've gotta walk the walk, am I right?"
"Absolutely, my friend," Eric replies back.
I notice that Eric is already wearing some makeup as well. He must notice me looking, as he says,
"What? If he does it, we've all got to. Mr. Frontman here basically starts all our 'band traditions' before the rest of us have a clue. But hey, don't get me wrong, I kinda like it!"
"Hell yeah," Tom replies, semi-distracted by the mascara wand dangerously close to his eye. He finishes the last coat, then stands and motions to the garage door. "Shall we?"
"Let's get started. God knows we need a little bit more practice before tonight," Eric says.

I hear a knock on the door, and I walk back up the hallway. "I've got it!" I call back.
I open the door to two familiar faces. Jeff stands with a guitar case strapped to his back and a cigarette between his teeth, and Fred stands leaned against the doorframe with his drumsticks in his hand.
"Nice to see you guys. You better hurry in there, they were about to start without you."
"Yeah... Sorry, Donna. Traffic," Jeff replies.
"I bet. It's always crazy around here on Saturday nights."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Jeff scoffs. "I get stuck in that shit all the time."

I lead them to the garage and open the door to Eric warming up, and Tom--as usual--working with his guitar in the corner.
"Ah there we go! We were about to start practice without you guys. And we all know that every one of us needs it tonight if we want to make sure this gig goes well," Tom pipes up.
"Donna." Eric looks in my direction. "Would you mind kinda being our judge for this... We really could use a critic to help us out."
"Yeah of course. Anything for my boys."
"Thanks." He smiles a little, that same twinkle in his eye that I love. In case you haven't caught on yet, Eric and I have had a thing going for a while, but neither of us has blatantly said it yet. I guess we will have to wait and see where our road takes us.

Eric clears his throat. "You all know the set list for tonight, right?"
"Yeah. We're doing 5 tonight, right?" Fred asks.
"That would be correct," Tom replies.
"Alright. I'm going to run back over it so we all remember the order..." Eric pauses for a second. "Donna, could you get a piece of paper and a pen real quick? And I need you to write this down for us so we have a written copy just in case the club needs it."
"Yeah I've got you covered." I run in the house and pick up some scrap paper lying next to my guitar case, and I whip a pen out of the desk in the kitchen. I run back out to the garage, as I see the guys hooking up all the amps and cords.
"Got it!"
"Great. Okay, ready to record this?" Eric inquires.
"Yep. All set."
"Okay. First is Once Around the Ride, second is Shake Me, Third we were going to do a Zeppelin tribute--Tom's idea--Whole Lotta Love, Fourth we've got Nobody's Fool, and last we have Somebody Save Me."
"Stellar. Sounds like an awesome set list, you guys," I reply.
"Thanks," Tom says, "We're going to need it, this gig is really big for us; it's at the Empire Rock Club. I guess I'm a little nervous but I'm definitely determined. I love this band and I love what we do. So let's make tonight one hell of a show."
"Hell yeah!" Fred says as he chucks his sticks into the air, catching them without a flinch.
"Show off..." Jeff rolls his eyes.
"Hey man, just working on the visual! The chicks will love it."
"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, Fred." Tom shakes his head.
"Whatever, Tom. Shall we?"
"Let's rock." Tom smiles, cranking up the amp.
The guys get everything set and run over the entire set list. For a small town club band, they are sounding great! Every song was pretty much perfect already; they're going to do amazing tonight, and I know it. Soon we start packing up all the equipment and are headed off to the Empire Rock Club, ready for a stellar performance that I know the boys will give.