Not all fantasy adventures involve magic and dragons, some just involve sex and rock & roll. What happened to me in my first band tour felt like magic, but was just pure rock & rollβand sex of course.
I live in a two-story apartment complex designed like a cheap motel, complete with thin walls and shady carpeting. I live on the second story above the laundry room, so I have one less neighbor to worry about loud noises. During the day, when everyone is out, I plug in my electric guitar and jam to my favorite tunes or practice my open mic night set. At open mic nights I play simple punk covers to rock & roll songs, singing my heart out, if my nerves don't get to my voice first. On a good night I get a few free drinks, and on a great night people sing along before buying me drinks. I am really a bassist, but I am in the nomad portion of my life and it is hard to stay in a band when you never know where you are going to be next.
After a rainy morning in early April, I opened my windows to let the sun in, and to let my music out. I decided to play along to some Stax songs, the Motown rivals, when I noticed that the drums were rocking more than usual. I kept playing, but when the song ended, the drums did not. The beat changed, and so I started improvising a similar bassline. Our anonymous jam session lasted for an hour before the music died down, and the rain started up again. The next week we had a similar jam session, and the week after that, until finally I dropped early from the song to figure out whom my practice partner was.
After pounding several times on the door diagonally down from mine, the door revealed a guy in his mid-twenties with red-orange hair and plugs in his ears. I had only met him a couple times before when forwarding mail from the previous tenant and had given him a private nickname of "leprechaun" for his black and green garb, and affinity to Celtic rock. He started our terse introduction "Hey."
I tried to coax more out of the conversation, "Hey, nice playing."
"Thanks, you're pretty good yourself, you in a band?"
"Nope, you?"
"Yeah, sure. We just lost our bassist, want to join?"
"Sure," I couldn't believe it, all I had to do to get into a band was turn my amp up a little louder. "What style of music?"
"Punk and Dropkick Molly stuff." I could almost guess the answer before it left his lips.
"Cool, contact me when you practice." And that was it.
The band was called the Fuck Yer Pot o' Gold and besides Leprechaun there was a scrawny lead guitar/vocalist with a black mohawk called Bud. They were already pretty established in the local music scene and after a few gigs at the local bars had set-up a tour to a nearby big city. I was nervous; I had never done a tour before, just small performances at small bars. FYPOG already had some CD's recorded with the previous bassist to sell at the merch table, as well as some patches featuring a leprechaun (I shit you not) with a rainbow dick fucking a pot of gold. Bud and Leprechaun (I don't think I will ever remember his real name, since everyone else called him that too) also mentioned that they were interested in widening their fan base, so they also scheduled a photo shoot during the tour.
I packed the essentials and made sure my wardrobe was as punk as I could make it: green plaid skirt, ripped denim, knee high socks (rainbow, black, green), beat-up chuck taylors, and various black tops. I made sure my bras for the concerts were push-ups to make my 34 AA chest appear at least a B cup. I painted my nails black to finish off the look for the weekend. As I zipped up my bag, I heard a knock at my door: "You ready?"
"Yeah." I grabbed my bag and my bass (my amp was already in the car), and headed down the steps.
"Oh and one rule: noobs buy booze." Since this was my first tour, I had to buy the pack of beer for the hotel.
"Fine." I walked over to the gas station and bought the second cheapest pack of piss-water, some off-brand of some light beer. "There? Happy?" I shoved it in the trunk and took my seat, in the middle of the front bench seat, my legs straddling the gear shift: as always the chick's seat; protecting the masculinity of the punks on either side of me in our over packed band car.
The initial starting of the car was a little tricky, as I had to shift in my seat so that I didn't get a bruise in my crotch, I think Leprechaun had a little too much fun with it, "accidentally" putting the car in neutral before reverse, then letting his hand linger as he shifted to drive. He dragged his hand across my leg as he brought it to the steering wheel. I got a little flushed, since I had not felt a man's touch in several months, then I settled back into my seat, and braced myself for the long drive.
This was the first chance for my band-mates to actually talk to me, in practice we just jammed and at shows it was always too loud to talk. All that they knew about me was that I played bass and was Leprechaun's neighbor. I learned that Bud and Leprechaun had been friends since high-school and that the band had started a few years after that, their other bassist had moved to be with his girlfriend at college. They were both in their last years of business degrees and were hoping to open a business together in town. I surprised them by admitting that I was 24 (I look way younger than that thanks to a youthful face, small stature and short pixie cut), had a recording degree, and was jumping from town to town to find a niche in the recording industry. "Man, you struck gold with this one," Bud said as he leaned over to look at Leprechaun, who firmly put his hand on my knee, I think he was marking his territory, because he left it there for the rest of the drive.