Just The Music • • Robert Plant

tenth

April 1st 1970  • 

To no surprise at all, the concert was beyond amazing. This time, Georgia watched from the back of the stage with Cynthia. They dragged a couch from the dressing room to listen to the music. Other groupies were on the right side of the stage so Georgia and Cynthia had the left all to themselves.

Georgia really liked Cynthia. She was from New York and dropped out of high school due to bullying issues and began traveling with bands. She had a very kind nature about her but her beauty was intimidating. She always had winged eyeliner and a brown or silver eye shadow and wore go-go boots. She was a dream, she even smelled like cocoa butter and perfume.

The two friends swayed their heads and watched the boys play. They even brought the soda and rum over to their chairs so they wouldn't have to get up and miss something. During Moby Dick, the three boys left the stage while Bonzo played on, all but Jonesy walked over to the right side. Cynthia handed Jones a glass of ginger beer and rum. He sat down and drank it, sitting between the girls and looked out to Bonzo playing.

"How are we sounding so far?" He asked, trying to talk in the girl's ears. Cynthia laughed and told him this was equally as amazing as the night before. Georgia agreed with her and wiped off sweat from Jones' forehead with her napkin. She had already gotten used to how close everyone here was. Even though she had met the crew the day before, she felt as if she could call each one of them a friend. Her eyes drifted from Bonzo to the two who went to stage right. Robert and Jimmy were sitting with the groupies, drinking whatever they were.

Georgia watched as the groupie got up and sat on Robert's lap while he gulped down a beer. She felt as if she was looking at something she wasn't supposed to, yet when she looked away she couldn't help but to peek back. It was like she was expecting to see something different each time. Georgia just felt something strange when she looked at Robert. And while a girl was sitting on his lap that feeling rose inside her.  Georgia had always on a crush on the lead singer, what woman wouldn't? But she felt measly when he was with other girls. She felt as if she was "just one of the guys" to him. And she was okay with that (in her mind). Georgia sighed and filled her cup with rum and laid her head on Jones' shoulder. The three looked up at Bonzo, in complete bliss.

Bonzo's talent made Georgia almost forget her feelings. She was so ridiculously proud of him that she wanted to put Bonzo on a box and tell everybody to look at him. Of course when they were toddlers Bonzo wasn't banging on drums but when Georgia's family flew back to Redditch when she was 14 she remember's Bonzo's talent. When they had visited, Bonzo had just gotten his first drum set and was playing like there was no tomorrow. Georgia and him just sat in his room and experimented with the set. Bonzo would smash anything against the skin. His favorite thing to use besides drumsticks were kitchen utensils from the pantry. Wooden spoons, brushes, tongs, even the bristles of a hand held broom.

Georgia was so happy when she had visited Bonzo and she felt that same happiness there watching him eight years later. Her family flew over to her dad's hometown in Redditch to see her grandparents. They didn't stay long but Georgia still remembers walking through town with Bonzo and causing trouble. While their dads were out drinking, Georgia and Bonzo would be running amok in the park.

They hid near the bridges and smoked weed until the sun went down. That was Georgia's (and probably Bonzo's) first experimentation with drugs. Bonzo said he bought it off older kid's who played drums at a local bar. It was easy for them in Redditch to sneak into bars and things like that. Well, it was easier for them to get into trouble.

They'd go and hear a band play and drink some beer an older kid would buy them. None of the bands were very good but that exposure inspired Bonzo to be the man he is now. He always wanted to be up with the band, banging drums or just his head. It was obvious that kid was going to cause a ruckus where ever he went, which made him an even better drum player.

Soon enough the song was closing to and end and the rest of the band had to go back on. Cynthia filled a solo cup with a light and stormy for Jonesy. He thanked her and slowly walked back to his piano and guitars. Georgia watched on stage right as the groupies hand snaked its way down Roberts back as he left. In that moment she hated Robert for letting her do that but she hated the groupie even more.

Georgia tried to shake these feelings off. The music was too good to ruin with emotions. Once she closed her eyes and focused on the guitar, Georgia forgot about everything in the world. She saw colors dancing in the back of her head to the tune. Quickly the music conquered her emotions, leaving her in a mellow haze of rhythm.

Disclaimer: I know nothing of Redditch especially in the 1950s so I'm sorry if you know that it was not such a small town as I like to imagine.

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