The Musician by Douglas Gardham

Author:Douglas Gardham [Gardham, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9781532046339
Google: OnpnDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1532046332
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2018-08-03T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 42

Thursday, December 13, 1984

Jonah, to his word, had called Ethan the next day. He said the Release had to be in Chicago by noon on the Tuesday. Ethan also learned the destination wasn’t exactly Chicago but Peoria. Ethan didn’t mind. None of them did; it was a gig stateside. If they drove straight, it would take them nine hours.

The Release finished the week at Tormo and, as planned, played the Gasworks in downtown Toronto Saturday and Sunday night. They stayed at the house for most of Monday, rehearsing the four songs they knew and an arrangement of Ethan’s “Confusion.” They left just before midnight. The van was packed with gear. Gus and Greg did most of the driving. A friend of Greg’s Ethan hadn’t met before came along to help them load and unload. They were on their way to Peoria, USA.

Even if they’d been told, they wouldn’t have believed what was ahead of them. They went from playing small clubs to the Peoria Civic Center, which held twelve thousand people. They didn’t know until they saw the marquee in the arena’s parking lot Tuesday morning that they were opening a show that one of the top bands in the nation—REO Speedwagon—was headlining. Like a dream, the show passed in a flash. Outside of watching backstage and receiving a few pats on the back when they came off the stage, they didn’t see the members of the headliner at all, and just as Jonah had said, they played their five songs and left. For the Release, the arena crowd was monstrous. They’d never heard such a loud response to a performance. But it was a murmur compared to thunderous ovation REO Speedwagon received when they finally took the stage an hour late. Neither Ethan nor the rest of band paid much notice to the difference. They were pinching themselves just to be performing in front of a stadium crowd and not booed off the stage. It was the first time they’d played all their own material.

Most of the show was a blur to Ethan despite his attempt to savor each moment. He remembered little after grabbing the mike to sing “Never Say Never” in front of an audience of thousands. He had become increasingly self-conscious of his singing but unaware of what he’d sung or where he’d gone afterward. He said as much to Jonah after the show. Jonah responded, “You’ve quite a presence on stage, young man.”

On their return home, though exhausted, they talked about writing more material. The song ideas started to come, but it wasn’t long before they discovered that ideas were not the problem; the problem was deciding which ones to pursue. They all jotted stuff down, but it was Syd who began consuming what they wrote, connecting notes and melodies to the words dropped in her lap.

The band had arrived back in Toronto midday yesterday, which was Wednesday. After a surprise call from a club owner in Oshawa they’d played again last night. They were to head to London, Ontario, tomorrow to play a new bar on Friday and Saturday.

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