The Gig Up North

Honey Wheat Blonde and Guinness

“Oh my god! It’s 5:36! How the hell are we runnin’ this late! John! Lay on the damn horn!” Freddie practically yelled leaning over our set.

 “Fred, relax. We can’t do anything about the traffic. We’ll get there.” John tried to calm him. It was true that we had hit a major traffic backup as we entered the city and were runnin’ over an hour behind schedule. Thus far, it looked like a typical college town. We had already passed seven bars and Roger was takin’ the liberty to read every sign on almost every business to us all. I kept laughin’ at him. I couldn’t help it. I tried so hard to make it seem that I wasn’t completely enamored with him…but I was. Just didn’t want to admit it out loud.

 “Wilson’s Shoe Repair!” Roger announced. “Second Chance Clothing!” We had been sittin’ at a near standstill for 45 minutes due to an auto accident. At least we were now comin’ into the town.

 “Okay, here’s what needs to happen. We have to be set up and have a sound check at 7:30. The show starts at 8:00. We gotta’ be off the stage for the next band by 10:00. Freddie, here’s a pen and this tablet I brought. You and Roger work on the set list. Limit it to about twelve songs. Now, John…we should go to your cousin’s place first to unload the luggage and get changed. You said the place is twenty minutes out of town, right?” Brian said layin’ down the game plan.

 “Yes, twenty minutes give or take.” John answered.

 “Alright, we get to the house, we get unloaded. Now, Veronica and Lydia…this is where you come in. You’re gonna have to drive us to the bar and drop us off so we can unload everything and get setup. We need to make a list of everything we need for tonight. Veronica and Lydia…if you don’t mind, you two are in charge of getting everything on the list. Whenever you get it all, just take it back to the house and come back to the bar and park in the alley so we can load later. Don’t worry, you will have precise directions to the bar.” Brian explained.

 “Okay, sounds great.” Veronica assured him.

 “Roger and I can pretty much make the list of stuff to get for tonight.” Freddie assured Brian.

 “Finally! We’re free! It won’t be long now.” John said as we had finally made it into the area that was truly downtown adjacent to the college. This was where the real action was.

 “Brian, look this over.” Roger said, leaning over the seat and holding out the set list for Brian to see. Now that we were rolling, we were easing through town, catching nearly every light green.

 “List is done. Here, read it over and see if we left anything out.” Freddie said handing the list over to me.

 “Alright, three bottles Moet de Chandon, three bottles of vodka, two bottles of Southern Comfort…” Roger interrupted me.

 “Change that to three, babe.” His words sent a chill down my spine. I scribbled out the two and turned it into a three and then continued reading.

 “…a case of Guiness…my god, how many people are you bringing home with us?” I asked.

 “It’s a grand time for the six of us, Lydia! You gotta’ be prepared!” Freddie insisted.

 “…okay…a carton of cigarettes, six bottles of cola, lemonade…”Roger interrupted me again.

 “Lyd…get the 100 proof again!” Roger said referring to the Southern Comfort.

 “Alight.” I said.

 “My god, are you alcoholics?” Freddie interjected.

 “By the sound of this list, we’re all alcoholics!” I said laughing. I continued reading. “…orange juice, tea, six pack of orange soda, and Clairol honey wheat blonde hair color…” I paused a minute. “…wait…what the hell? Hair color? What the…”