Center Stage - Chapter 17

We weren’t playing a music-specific venue for our final show. Instead, they’d put us in the arena usually used for their professional basketball team, which held twenty-five thousand people, more than even the Hollywood Bowl held. The setup was similar to what had happened at the Times Square show, where the center was a stage with people seated all around and a path to walk out from a ‘backstage’ area that was more where the teams prepared when they played games here.

I’d gotten there fairly early, but the place was already filling up and it looked to be a good crowd. This would be the largest show so far, at least if I only counted the ones where I was headlining.

Strangely, I wasn’t nervous. Maybe I’d done enough of these shows that it had become routine so far. As I had with every show, I first went to find the stage manager and go over that weekend’s sets. Every venue had its own little quirks requiring cue changes, lighting changes, or slight alterations to the staging, and I’d quickly found that it was helpful to know what those were when I was out doing my sound check. Especially if it was staging changes. Being on stage before the performance, seeing where everything was going to be, and knowing how it was going to work without the screaming fans, bright lights, and pressure to play was helpful.

Since this would be a performance ‘in the round’ as the stage manager called it, I guess meaning there were people on any side of us, there were some small changes on where I needed to go and where the mics would be set up. My entry would also be a little different, as I couldn’t just pop out from the wings when it was time for my duet with Dexter. The walk from the back area was pretty long and took almost a minute, most of which would be through groups of fans, separated by some rope lines and barricades.

It wasn’t difficult and it only took about twenty minutes with the stage manager to go through the changes.

As I thanked her and was about to head out to start my sound check, she said, “Hey, just one more thing. We’re totally sold out, so be prepared for it being pretty crazy tonight. Actually, I think they oversold it.”

“Really? Ohh … great,” I said.

She waved me off and headed to talk to the next set of performers. We’d had good crowds every stop of the way and had sold out several of the venues, including the Hollywood Bowl, but none of them had held this many people. We were a good seven thousand above the next largest venue on the tour so far. In fact, only the Times Square show had been bigger, but I still didn’t count that since I’d gone on so early.

While it was possible for us to sell out a larger venue, selling out in Los Angeles was much easier than selling out in Atlanta, for whatever reason, so the fact that we had made me think maybe Quinn’s plan had worked.

Not that I would really know until later tonight. Quinn had kept me updated on the social media push and how it was going, but it was all kind of vague numbers that didn’t really mean anything to me. While I hadn’t exactly forgotten about it, I’d basically pushed it out of my brain by the time I’d landed in Atlanta, not giving it much thought until now.

I gave a shrug to no one in general because it didn’t really matter at the moment. It wouldn’t change how I prepared for my set, which I needed to start doing. I headed toward the stage to do my part of the sound check and was just at the place where I’d walk out through our pathway to the stage when I heard two people arguing just outside the door we’d have to go through. That was one of the biggest things I’d learned on this tour. Musicians lived for drama. I’d had enough of that in my life and didn’t particularly want to walk through a fight, so I paused, stepping aside so they wouldn’t see me and make it weird.

It wasn’t until I stood there for a few minutes that I realized who the voices belonged to. It was Julie Jackson and Vince Fiore, and they were really going at it.

“Get off your high horse, Vince. You’ve been pulling me down ever since I came on the tour.”

“You’re kidding, right? I’m at least supposed to be here. You’re some washed up still living off your one big moment like five years ago. Your album sold, what, four thousand copies?”

“At least I had an album. You haven’t done crap. If they hadn’t had to call you up from the minors, you’d still be playing open mics at coffee bars.”

“Well, I’m playing now, and they signed me, so someone must think I have something to offer. Just stay out of my way,” Vince shouted.

I could hear him coming toward me about a second before the door slapped open, giving me nowhere to run. He paused for a second as we made eye contact, but he didn’t say anything before continuing his storming off.

“Hit your marks and I will,” Julie shouted after him.

A moment later, she came through, also stopping when she saw me. She didn’t continue walking, however.

“Charlie, just the person I wanted to see,” she said, as if I hadn’t heard everything.

The fact that she was still trying this fake nice act after I’d already made it clear I could see right through it was pretty amazing. But we were on our last stop, so getting into a fight with her certainly wasn’t worth it.

“What do you need?” I said, fighting very hard to keep my tone neutral.

“I finally got my producers to get off their asses and push my new album forward again, and I’ve got this great idea for a duet for the two of us. I can’t guarantee it will be the title track, but it will be in a good spot for sure. With my career on another upswing and yours starting to pick up, this is a great opportunity for both of us.”

I couldn’t tell if she’d bought into her own marketing or if she was just trying to sell me on the idea in hopes of using me, but either way, there was no way I wanted to collaborate with her.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m gonna have to pass,” I said. “I’ve got some stuff lined up after the tour I need to focus on.”

The look on her face told me the second option was right. For a second, she was annoyed, but she pulled it back under control fast.

“I don’t know. You won’t get another shot like this and you’re about to lose your spotlight. This is your one chance to build on the momentum you’ve built here.”

“Maybe, but yeah. I’m sure.”

“Your loss, I guess,” she said, all trace of her fake sincerity gone.

She lifted up her nose and just walked away, following the path Vince had taken. I put them out of my mind and went on stage to do my sound check, happy to just be able to focus on my job and what I needed to do.

After sound check, there was a chunk of time where I couldn’t really leave, but I didn’t have anything else to do. I found myself wandering around the “back stage” area just seeing what was happening, and ended up at Dexter’s dressing room.

Normally I would have just left him alone, since he usually had his door closed when he was there but not performing, but today it was standing open, so I stopped at it, leaning on the door frame.

“Last one,” I said.

“Yep, it is at that. It’s been good, being up on stage again.”

“What do you mean, again? Didn’t you have a tour like a year and a half ago?”

“Yeah, but nothing since then. You’re telling me you’d settle for a tour every two or so years?”

“Yeah. Okay. You have a point. You should be up more often though. The crowd loves you.”

“I know I might come off as a ponce every now and then, Charlie, but I am a little self-aware. I don’t have the juice to carry my own tour anymore. At least not at a level that wouldn’t be an embarrassingly large step down. It was good riding some coattails, though.”

“Come on. You played Madison Square Garden. You don’t have to ride anyone’s coattails.”

“I was seventeen, that was thirty years ago, and these things don’t last forever. I have no doubt you’ll play a stage like that one day. When you do, remember that it’s fleeting. Have fun, but be smart with your money and smarter with your friends. They’re what you’re really going to keep with you when it’s all done. I thought the life would never end and burned every bridge around me, because I thought I was on the top of the world. When I fell off, it was a long drop and I didn’t have a lot of people at the bottom to catch me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m doing alright, but if I could go back and make different choices, I would. In a heartbeat. Just … keep that in mind.”

“I will. And thanks. I wouldn’t be here at all if it wasn’t for you, Dakota and Hal.”

“That’s nonsense. All we did was point out the obvious. You’ve got a real talent, better than I ever was. I’m just glad we got to help people see it, and I got a chance to play with you that last few weeks. It’s been something.”

“Well, I still wanted to thank you either way. I guess for believing in me or whatever. And I’m glad you got to come on the tour. It was good getting to know you and not just judge you,” I said, sticking out my hand.

“Same here, mate,” he said, shaking it. “Same here.”

Most of the show went off about the same as it had been the last month, with the exception of Julie and Vince who seemed even more off with each other than they had before. The lack of chemistry was palpable between the two of them, and the lack of response showed it.

They didn’t exactly bomb, but it wasn’t great for sure.

They’d erected a covering and walls to our walkway to the stage, I guess to allow it to be better lit for safety and to allow performers to get to the stage without the audience seeing, so they could get a solid reveal. Which is why no one noticed me until I came out to join Dexter for our duet. I’d honestly not been thinking about it, or even about the sold-out show. I was mostly just focusing on my job, getting in the right headspace.

That all went away as I stepped out of the tunnel and the crowd went absolutely wild. The only way to describe the applause was thunderous. It felt like it was literally shaking the stage.

Dexter gave me a big smile as I walked out to join him, holding his arms out to me as if to say ‘ta-da.’ The people ate it up. They were still cheering when we started our song because we had times we had to hit. After we finished, they started right up again. As Dexter gave a wave and went backstage, I started making settle down gestures.

When the cheering mostly calmed down, I said, “Holy cow, that was some welcome.”

I paused again as the cheering started up, waiting for a break to spear. “Atlanta, you’re amazing. I can’t thank you enough for coming out tonight and showing your support. It means the world to me. Before I jump into my next song, ‘Backstage,’ I wanted to give a special shout-out to all my fans who helped spread the word about this show. I can’t tell you what your support meant for me. I’ve been watching ‘Show Us Your Tix’ on Widget, and … damn, I’m just blown away. I’m so grateful for each and every one of you.”

The arena exploded in a frenzy of cheers and applause. Phones were being held up everywhere, starting to record. I launched into “Backstage,” giving it more than I think I’ve ever given the song before.

Now this was how to end a tour.

The rest of the set went equally as well. People were holding up signs to me, saying all kinds of stuff from that they loved my music to things I probably wouldn’t ever repeat to another person, let alone write on a giant sign.

They were cheering long enough and loud enough that when I finally got off stage, the production people turned me around and had me go back, and do one last song, because they thought the crowd was going to riot. I think they may have been overacting, but I wasn’t going to say no to doing one more.

I put my all into it, moving all around the stage, giving everything I could. One encore song turned into three and then four, which was the point when the stage manager finally called a halt to it. The people were still cheering as I got off stage and made my way down the tunnel as the house lights came on so people could find their way out.

Marissa and Larry were waiting by the doors leading inside when I got there.

“Holy crap!” Larry said.

“Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?”

“I haven’t seen anything like that before. They were practically feral by the second encore,” Marissa said.

“I tried to close it down, and every time the stage people made me go back out for one more. I…”

Before I could finish that thought, Phoenix West appeared, marching toward us, looking pissed. “Nelson!”

Both Marissa and Larry stepped back as Phoenix stormed up to me, wisely not wanting to get in the middle of whatever was about to happen.

“Come with me. Now!” He demanded, shaking so hard I thought he might pass out.

He didn’t wait to see what I would say or do. He just turned on his heels and marched back the way he’d come. I exchanged a look with Larry and Hanna, kind of shrugged, and followed him out.

It wasn’t a short walk, but he didn’t say anything, just swiveling his head side to side as he looked for... something. Apparently, he finally found it because he stopped in front of an open door that looked to lead to some random person’s office. Maybe a maintenance supervisor or something from the stuff on the wall, but there was no one in there, so who knew.

As soon as I was inside, he came in behind me and slammed the door.

“What the hell was that out there?”

I had a guess what he was talking about, but after the shit he’d tried to pull throughout the tour, I wasn’t going to make it easy on him. I’d finished my last performance and didn’t need to keep smoothing things over anymore.

“What was what?”

“Don’t give me that shit. You know exactly what I’m talking about. That little stunt you pulled on stage with the shout out to your fans and mentioning some social media campaign.”

“That social media campaign is why the show sold out. I don’t know if you noticed the makeup of that crowd tonight or not, but a lot of those people came out because of the work my people did. I was just showing appreciation for their support.”

Phoenix jabbed a finger at me. “You’re not supposed to make personal statements from the stage. It’s in your contract.”

“I’d think you’d be happy to sell out a show.”

“You aren’t the only person on this tour, and crowds come to see a range of performers, not just you. We have to cater to the whole audience and can’t have prima donnas trying to muscle their way in and make it all about them. Right now, you’re in breach of your contract. If you were signed to the label, we could do something for you. It wouldn’t make sense to sue one of our own artists for breach on our own tour. But you’re not, and you’ve made it clear that won’t change. A decision that is about to cost you a lot of money and make it so you never play on this kind of stage again.”

“No. It’s not.”

“Why is that?”

“For one, this is the third or fourth time you’ve threatened to sue me. I’m not even sure at this point. I’ve lost count.”

“Doesn’t matter how many times we’ve threatened. We have cause this time.”

I shook my head. “I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that definitely feels like a pattern that would work against you if you did sue. This has to add up to harassment at this point, and you’ve done it in front of witnesses almost every single time. I’m surprised you’d even want to go through something like that. After all the bumps this tour has had so far, it would be a pretty big black eye on GLR to have it end with a lawsuit, rather than a successful final show.”

“We’re not going to be the ones to come out on the wrong end of this,” Phoenix said, but I could see him doing the calculation in his head.

“If that’s what you believe, come after me. My lawyers checked through the contract pretty thoroughly before tonight, to make sure I was in the clear. After how you’ve acted this entire tour, trying to strong-arm me, we saw this coming, and they’re confident we have a strong case if you come after us. So if you want the story coming out of this tour to be your losing a lawsuit to the person packing venues for you instead of an amazing final show, go for it. You have Benny Levine’s number. He’ll be happy to explain to you how this is going to backfire.”

With that, I walked around him, opened the door, and left.

He just glared at me. There wasn’t much he could say. Maybe Benny and Arthur were wrong and I had just breached my contract, but I didn’t think so. And from his silence, I didn’t think he was confident I had either.

Walking back to get my stuff, I couldn’t help but wonder if all of the labels were like this. Underhanded, short-sighted, and downright childish at times. They seemed to be more interested in winning and being the boss than they did in actually making money.