Chicago Blazin'

How's It Gonna Be?

Piano Man starts to wrap up just as the crew's about to finish on one boy.

Dave: Boy you guys work fast. One done. Another to go and now do you two have any song requests?

Crew 2: Well, I'm just thinking about ole Tessa here and how she'd act if we played her a nostalgic tune or two from her childhood. It may help us technicians get the creative juices flowing so to speak. What about some Third Eye Blind?

Dave: Oh I love some 90s alternative. Got just the song to get her in the mood. Let me just let Charlie know how we're doing on time.

Dave types out a message to Charlie which scrolls across the computer bank: Charlie, we're done with boy 1 and working on 2. You might want to announce tonight's entertainment as Piano Man's about to end. Thanks, Dave.

Meanwhile at the bar, Charlie gets up, raises his glass and says: If I may have your attention gentlemen. I'm afraid Billy Joel has left the building, but our entertainment has arrived and will hopefully provide you with a good alternative, no pun intended. We have for your musical pleasure tonight, the lead singer and guitarist from Third Eye Blind Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan. Please give them a warm welcome. They're here to introduce you to the latest interactive musical feature we'll be introducing in the next few weeks here at Charlie's Cabernet.

Stephan and Kevin walk in too much fanfare, cheers, and clapping. A screen lowers on a stage and something similar to Rock Band appears. The men start to whisper to each other as Stephan and Kevin take to the stage noticeably without any mics or instruments.

Charlie hops up after putting his glass down and raises both arms to quiet the restless crowd: I know, I know. You're all wondering where the guitar and mic are. Well, we're pleased to announce that that's a thing of the past now. There's no need for Autotune with our new AutoCorrect Pitch Amplifier software. You see, we're entering a new digital age and new ways of creating music with our minds, not just with our voices and hands anymore.

There's no need to study music for years now. You know, I never took a music lesson in my life, but that doesn't mean music is out of the question in my future. I have it in my heart and soul, my blood, my veins. It goes through my body and mind as I lie awake at night serenading myself to sleep with songs both new and old to you and me. But enough of my chitchat. I'll let our esteemed guests explain this new concept to you. Enjoy the show. You may become part of it.

Meanwhile back in the clean room, the crew has gotten started on boy 2.

Dave says incredulously: You guys catching this? Charlie's a genius and from what I can see, he's having a helluva time with the boys. The crowd's gonna go buck wild.

Crew 2: Somehow I don't see myself actually having come up with Third Eye Blind entirely on my own. I was wondering How's It Gonna Be? and they just popped up.

Crew 1 says sarcastically: Go fish. It's your turn to put the implant in.

Dave: I'm in so many other people's heads at any given time that it's become increasingly more difficult to tell where one thought may originate from the next. I guess it still takes some getting used to.

Stephan nodding to the invisible voices in his head: Not a bad idea at all. I think we got our first song request from our first album. I always wondered how's it gonna be. Now we need a volunteer. No need to stand up, but does anybody remember how How's It Gonna Be starts out? Just think about it. Imagine it in your head and it'll begin to play for everyone else. We're gonna start this like a drum circle, one instrument and voice at a time.

Then, like magic, the familiar music begins to play as everyone in the audience looks at each other in amazement.

Stephan: It may seem like a miracle, but actually fans tend to remember the songs better than I can myself. You see I've just written so many songs with Kevin here. This is as much a tutorial as a concert for the two of us. We've began writing music together since 25 years ago and truth be told he still never skips a beat. Sorry we broke up but we're together again for this semi-charmed kind of performance.

Kevin: I'd like to say you never sing out of tune, but well it's a helluva lot easier to keep my guitar in tune than your voice Stephan. [chuckles to himself then says to the crowd] If you'll listen to the intro, it's just the same chords over again. I'd like to embellish more on the guitar and now I can do that with this wonderful chip in my head. A musician's blight is when he can't actually play what's going through his head at any given moment, but now with the wonders of Charlie's technology and his wonder drug I can just imagine the guitar solos I want to play and shred any song to pieces.

He demonstrates this by going on a monstrous electric guitar solo which his avatar plays on the screen like any true Guitar Hero.

Charlie takes a moment to raise his glass to Kevin: Kevin, you and Slash have always been my favorite guitar heroes.

Driver: I'll drink to that. How long we going to listen to the intro before Stephan joins in? We came here for a show, not a show and tell.

The crowd grumbles as Driver gets a little belligerent: I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Thanks for helping us debut the next great chapter in Charlie's empire. Glad I can be part of history in the making.

Stephan: Okay, I know you want us to just dive right in. Can I get a mic? Sometimes we just want to listen to live music so I'll oblige.

Kevin: If you don't mind. I play the guitar better with this digital rock band than in real life. Plus I got drums and bass on top of that.

The music starts up again from the top as Stephan grabs a mic and the camera zooms in: Here we go. This is gonna be quite a trip...

The camera goes to Third Eye Blind's music video for How's It Gonna Be? And a younger Stephan and Kevin appear along with their bandmates in an older model car. Stephan starts to sing.

Dave: And we're into Tessa's mind...Let's see how far down the rabbit hole we need to go before coming back to the fucked up present.