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Author Topic: CJDL on tour  (Read 11947 times)

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #15 on: 27. August 2024, 12:41:34 PM »
Chapter 15

Another town, another radio station: the 8 girls had squeezed into a radio studio at one of the many radio stations in Birmingham. Tonight, they would be playing the NEC. Of course, the last time CJDL had been there, it was at very short notice, to play support for Darkest Knights.

"So, we are joined today in the studios by the members of 'Eight girls with Braces'.. good afternoon everyone!"

"Hi" said Taylor. "Hey there" added Jenny.

"So, you started your tour a little over a week ago at the O2 in London, tonight you'll be at the NEC: I know it's early days, but how's the tour going so far?"

"Well, thanks to the hard work that EVERYONE has put in - and I'm including all the backstage team here too - we were pretty well prepared, so things have been going amazingly well" said Taylor.

"Absolutely!" added Carol. "One thing I'd say is that our two bands have become a LOT closer, if only because we're spending a lot more time together just 'chilling', and going shopping, and that sort of stuff!"

"You go out shopping?"

"Well, noone else is going to get the stuff we need, are they?"

"I guess so, but don't you get recognised?"

"Yes, of course we do, but it's not a big deal. Ok, so shopping takes three times as long for us as it might for you guys, but it's always fun to say 'hi' to a few of our fans." added Carol.

"It tends to be their fans, rather than ours..." added Taylor, "we're not quite as well known in England as they are! But it's getting better!"

"So, you both have new albums out, and also singles... any plans for any sort of 'joint' album: I understand you play together quite a bit as part of your performance."

"Yes, we are recording all of our performances, and then probably when we've finished the UK part of the tour, we'll get a joint album put together" replied Jenny.

"I've not actually heard any of your joint songs yet, but I've read good reports, and I'm looking forward to hearing them tonight. So, Jenny, your - CJDL - album is at number 8, and your single is at number 4... and I believe you finally have a video for it... why so long for the video?"

"Well, the single was only written when we were already recording the album. Then of course the record company needed to select it... by which time we were full-on rehearsing and planning for the tour."

"Ok... so where was the video recorded... looked to be a large place."

"Yeah, it was at the O2, we did it the afternoon of our second performance there"

"It looked to me like you had fun doing it!"

"Well, apart from the around 30 different takes, it was. We came up with a load of ideas, some never made it into the video. I was glad we managed to get the Northern Girls involved!"

"So, you're currently at number 4, where are you hoping it will be in this week's charts?"

"Well, number ONE of course!. And I'm hoping these guys might make it to number 2..."

"Do I detect a bit of inter-band rivalry here?". The girls laughed.

"But of course, but very friendly rivalry" replied Taylor, "but it's ok, we're planning on making number one NEXT week!"

"Tell you what," said Jenny, "as long as we get number 1 this week, we'll ask everyone to stream Northern Girl's single instead of ours, we'd really love them to have a UK number 1 too!"

"So CJDL's new single is called 'Friends': I've listened to the lyrics, and I'm assuming there must be a story behind the song?"

"That'll be me then!" said Linda, and she explained the back-story behind the song. "The nice thing is that we can easily change the names in the song when we sing it, if we want to include someone new!"

"So, Linda, someone said that song-writing is something fairly new for you...."

"Yes, I did a little bit of writing at college, but as a session musician, I just played what others wrote. Yeah, I guess I dabbled a bit, but mainly for fun. And then I met Jenny, and she pushed me to write a worship song, and with a bit of 'special help', I ended up writing two worship songs. After that, I realised that I COULD actually write songs, I just needed to have something to write about. Jenny... well, Carol and Dianne too... have encouraged me a lot."

"I'll be honest, it's nice to have someone else in the band to bounce ideas off. Linda's music background is different from ours, she likes more 'rocky' music, and it shows in what she writes." commented Jenny.

"You don't worry that it's taking CJDL in a different direction?"

"If we stand still, we'll stagnate. We NEED to change and adapt, and go in that different direction. It happened once already when I met Ben, and I was inspired to change our music style for our previous album, so it's happened again, because of Linda. And I think our fans seem to appreciate that."

"Ok. Now, the band name... 'Eight girls with Braces'.. for those who haven't yet seen these ladies, I guess I should explain that all EIGHT of them have nice shiny braces on their teeth, with an amazing mix of brightly coloured 'ligatures' to go with them..."

"What, there are people who have never seen us?" joked Linda.

"Maybe just one or two. So, what's the story, briefly?"

Dianne explained that, even though Jenny had been wearing braces for a while, including wearing her headgear not only out in public, but on stage too, she had felt rather awkward about getting braces. She explained how she had worn braces as a teen, but needed them again because of her wisdom teeth. She went on to explain how everyone had rallied around, and offered to get braces to support her.

"So, Carol, Linda, you don't actually need them?"

"Well," said Carol, "I had started wearing retainers again: one of my teeth had moved out of line a tiny bit. But getting braces was no big deal, I'd had them before."

"And Linda?"

"It turns out that I had a very slight issue, and while I wouldn't have bothered getting braces for it, I felt I needed to support Dianne, so I got them too!"

"So that explains you four, but what about the four of you in Northern girls? Were you inspired by what CJDL had done?"

"To be honest, we weren't aware of CJDL when we got braces, but Meg had been going on about wanting to have her teeth fixed, but didn't didn't like the idea of being seen with braces out in public... and we're in the public gaze a lot in Canada!"

"So, Meg, anything specific? I can understand to some extent, I had braces as a teen, and wasn't over-keen on them."

"Well, I'm not like Taylor: she fronts us, and enjoys all the attention, but I'm not wanting that sort of attention. So, one day, they all suggested they'd get them too. For me! I will admit, I was very touched by their gesture."

"So Kate, Erin, you didn't need braces?"

"No. I had them as a kid, but for me it wasn't really a big deal... several friends had them too." said Kate.

"Never had them before," explained Erin, "but I had a few friends who did and they were ok with them, so decided to go mad, and say yes."

"Ok, so you all have braces... what sort of reactions have you had?"

"Well, the press of course like to make a big deal about them," explained Dianne, "but most of the fans have no issue, and many with braces have said that they love the fact that it was great that we had them too."

"Dianne just mentioned about the press, it was actually a press photographer we know who made an off-the-cuff comment about 'Eight girls with braces - that would be a sight to see...' that inspired the band's name!" said Linda.

"Does it feel strange for those of you who don't actually NEED braces?"

"It was at first, but it's a bit like glasses: people, kids especially, used to hate having to wear them, but now, they're a big fashion accessory, and kids even wear fake glasses. So why not with braces? I have heard that a few... erm, let's call them 'enthusiasts'... have fake braces, but what's the big deal? Glasses were also hated by kids, but now they are so much more 'ok'. It's just harder to get braces, a bit more expensive."

"What did your orthodontist say when you asked for braces that you didn't need?"

"She checked us out, just like she checked out Meg, to make sure we didn't have any issues. We had explained that we wanted to support Meg, and she knew who we are, so there really wasn't an issue."

"One thing I remember about braces was having to brush them every time you ate anything... how you all getting on with that?"

"Water Pics!" said Jenny, "best invention for braces ever. And those tiny brushes for when you're out and about!"

"Yeah, but it's still a bit annoying having to carry a toothbrush and toothpaste with you to do it. The ladies loo gets busy when we all go out together!" said Carol.


They talked a little more, then the radio host said "Ok, well, it's time to go over to Tony, to find out about this week's chart, and of course, find out if either of CJDL or Northern Girls have made it to that all-important number 1 position. Tony, over to you!"

With the microphones now off, the host asked "you all ok with what we chatted about?"

"Not a problem!" replied Taylor.

Tony went through the bottom half of the top 20, playing two up-and-coming songs, then went through the top 10, playing short extracts of the songs.

"So, at number three, we have....." He left a huge pause... "At number three, it's.... Jason Summers.....".

He played the song. "Ok, so two records left, and I can think of two bands who I haven't mentioned yet, could they be the two?... let's find out after a short break!", and he went to an advert break.

In the studio, there was a LOT of excitement. It was so unlikely that either of them had dropped out of the top 20 completely, so who was it at number one?"

The adverts ended, and Tony did a quick rundown of the chart so far. "Normally, I'd do that just before playing the number one, but things are a bit more interesting today. So, at number two, up four places, it's.... 'Good to be home' from the Canadian band Northern Girls!"

Back in the studio with the many girls, they realised that if Northern Girls were at number two, then CJDL MUST be at number one. There was a lot of excitement, Linda was actually starting to cry tears of joy.

"So, Northern girls are at number two... hey, let's just see what they think of that..." He turned up the mics of the other studios, where there was a lot of cheering. "So, that leaves just one song, and there's only one song that it could be... it is, of course, CJDL, with their new single, Friends....", and the song played.

"Well, congratulations to BOTH of you! Back to you Jimmy, I get the feeling you have something more to talk to CJDL and Northern Girls about!"

"Yes, indeed, thank you Tony. So, Taylor, Meg, Erin and Kate: you're at number two in the UK charts, how does that feel?"

"Well, we've had several number ones over in Canada, but this is the best we've ever done in the English charts. Although it WOULD be nice to get to number one.... it's just that there seems to be another band there stopping us!"

"I'd better add that Taylor had a big smile on her face when she said that! So, Jenny, you guys have another number one..."

"Yes, but more importantly, this is Linda's first number one here in the UK: she wrote that song!" The girls all cheered.

"I'm hoping those are tears of joy there, Linda?" asked Jimmy.

"Yes, they are... you know, a couple of years ago, my life plan simply said 'play music and have fun'. There was nothing there about 'join a big girl band' or 'write a number one hit single'... it's all a bit overwhelming to be honest!"

"What she means is..." added Carol, "that she's an amazing song-writer, and deserves it!"

"But remember," added Jenny, "go buy or stream the Northern Girls single, we want to see THEM at number one next week!"



[14/2243]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #16 on: 29. August 2024, 15:36:29 PM »
Chapter 16

The hall they were playing in Leicester was probably the smallest venue of their tour, at only 1500 people, so a mere 10% of the O2, where they opened, and less than 5% of the stadium they would be playing in Manchester. But there was a very important reason that they were playing there: that's where Carol's sister lived, and she had promised her, plus the fans they had met there when they were supporting Darkest Knights, that they would be playing there.

They had done the opening song, plus their first song as 8GWB, and Jenny went to the front of the stage.

"So, normally this would be the bit where we say something like 'Hello Birmingham', but I thought it might be fun to do it differently. Taylor, you need a lesson on how to pronounce British place names!". Most of the crowd knew exactly why Jenny was doing this, and gave a big cheer.

Taylor joined Jenny. "Ok, so I'm going to put up some place names, all you need to do is say them....". The name 'Leeds' came up on the screen. "OK, what do you think?"

"Well, 'Leeds' of course!". She pronounced it 'leads'.

"Correct, well done! Ok, so how about THIS one?". 'Reading' was displayed.

"Um, 'Reeding'?"

"No, that was the first 'trick' place name. It's actually pronounced 'Redding'... so close, but not quite right. What about this one then?" 'Slough' was displayed.

"Oh, right... there's so many ways to do 'O-U-G-H' aren't there... erm, 'sluff'? 'sloo'? 'slaw'? Am I even close?" The crowd were loving it, and some were shouting the answer out loud.

"About 10 miles off I'm afraid.... it's 'sl-owww', like 'oww', when you hurt yourself. Right, how about this one? I'll warn you, it's in Scotland..." Up came 'Edinburgh'.

"Oh, I KNOW that one! It's 'edin-burrah'."

"Yeah, OK, I'll take that. Even better would have been 'edin-bruh', but 'edin-burrah' is very acceptable, especially from a Canadian!"

"Oy, watch it....." said Taylor, smiling.

"Ok, last two, and I'll warn you, both are tricky!" said Jenny. 'Towcester' was the next one.

"Well, logic says it should be something like 't-ow-sess-tur', but I'm getting used to this game, so I rather doubt it."

"Definitely not 't-ow-sess-tur'... you're right though, it's FAR too obvious..."

"Ok, how about 'toe-cease-ter'?"

"Nope!" Taylor tried a couple more ideas. "Ok, you give in?". Taylor nodded. "It's actually 'toaster'!" said Jenny.

"You are kidding me? Toaster, as in the thing you use at breakfast to make toast?"

"Yup, that's the one! Ok, so last one, and the most important one, because it's where we are tonight!". 'Leicester' came up on the screen.

Taylor looked at it for a few seconds. She actually knew exactly how it was pronounced, like she knew all the others too, but this was a bit of fun to entertain the crowd. "I'm probably going to regret saying this... but it's not by any chance a double-bluff, and it's simply 'lay-sess-tur'?" The crowd shouted, jeered, cheered and whatever.

"Guess what?" said Jenny. "It's not! Shall we put her out of her misery?" The crowd cheered. "Ok, all together, on the count of three: one... two... three". As one, the crowd joined CJDL as they pronounced it: 'Lester'.

"'Lester'? As simple as that? 'Lester'. In that case...": she turned to the crowd and said loudly "Hello Leicester!" The crowd responded fairly quietly. "Oh, come on guys, there might not be a huge number of you, but you can do better than that... Hello Leicester!!" The crowd cheered much louder.

"So, last time we came here," continued Jenny, "we were doing a very short set, as we were supporting Darkest Knights. Now, I doubt that any of you were here that evening, but I'm guessing that SOME of you might have been here that afternoon, when we invited a few of you here for our sound-check, and played you a few of our new songs?" There was a small cheer. "Sounds like you're all here, nice to see you again! Of course, there is a MUCH more important reason that we're here in Leicester... Carol?"

Carol joined them at the front of the stage. "You're right. The REAL reason that we're here is because of my sister, and her family, all live here..." That was the cue for the camera to turn around and zoom in on the VIP seats, where her sister, Rosie, her brother-in-law Jin, and their 2 young children Sam and Emma were. ".. hi guys! That's my nephew and niece, it's well past their bedtimes, but are you enjoying it?" The two young children were waving madly. "Tell you what, Rosie, you might get an extra 10 minutes of sleep tomorrow morning... if you're lucky!"

"Hey there Rosie, Jim.." said Dianne, who had now joined them at the front. She waved the four Northern Girls over to join them.

"Hi everyone!" said Taylor. "Wow, it's so nice and small and intimate here, isn't it?"

"The proper English word you're looking for is 'cosy'!" said Dianne. "But isn't it just great to be playing somewhere like this for a change, I know they miss out on loads of tours because of the size of this place... But we're really glad to be here, and we'll be here again tomorrow night, so send your friends!"

"Tell you what, want us to play another couple of songs together?" Taylor asked the crowd.

----

The show went well, and afterwards, Carol's family came back-stage briefly: the two kids were barely staying awake.

"Wow, amazing!" said Rosie.

"You know, last time I saw you perform, Carol, I apologised for not realising quite how much you guys did, but tonight... well that was at another level! My respects!" said Jim. "So, you never really explained about all the... well, braces..."

"Ah, ok. Well, I had them as a teen, and a bit ago noticed one of my teeth was moving, so got an appliance to move it back into place. Jenny already had them. And Dianne really needed them. So I think it was Linda who suggested we do the same as the Northern Girls, and all get braces to support Dianne. It turns out that Linda had a very minor issue too, so her treatment is also real... so, the only one of us that ISN'T having active treatment is me!"

"And Northern Girls?"

"Similar story, and what prompted Linda: it seems that Meg - she's one of their guitarists - needed them, but was very apprehensive, what with being such a big band over in Canada, so the others said they'd get them too!"

"Ok... so who thought up the name?"

"You mean 'Eight Girls with Braces'? So, one evening we all went out for dinner in groups. Jenny and Ben went with Taylor and Phil, plus Linda and her new boyfriend Zac: it was to be Zac's first introduction to the press. Anyway, it seems one of the photographers made a comment about their braces, and Jenny told him that all eight in the band had them..."

"And that's when Bill said 'Eight girls with braces: that's gonna be quite some sight!'" interjected Jenny. "So we have Bill to thank for our name!"

They continued chatting.

"Hey, I know you're here tomorrow, you guys planning on another picnic? The kids really enjoyed it last time!" said Rosie

"Maybe, I'm just worried that it could get a bit big though. I guess we COULD just have a picnic WITHOUT inviting any fans!" She turned to the others: "What do you guys think? Picnic tomorrow, without fans?"

"I can think of another possibility..." said Taylor. "Why don't we invite some of OUR fans?"





[15/2361]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #17 on: 31. August 2024, 13:50:52 PM »
Chapter 17

If you remember back to the 'Jenny' story, when she had her long hair cut, you will remember that Jenny became an ambassador for 'Wigs for Teens', and occasionally gets to make someone's day by delivering a wig to a cancer patient. Jenny had been in touch with the charity, suggesting that, if she was able, she would be very willing to 'make deliveries' while they were on tour.

So, tonight, the gig is at Leeds, and a cluster of coincidences came together: A girl called Ruth, who recently had cancer treatment and had lost her hair was coming to the performance with a few friends... Ruth and several of her friends were fan club members... and it was her 18th birthday... and Jenny was asked if she could deliver her wig. Now, when a wig is delivered, it needs to be cut to suit the wearer... and of course, they just happened to have a trained hairdresser on the tour with them, so things fell into place nicely.

Of course, they wanted it to be a surprise. They had already upgraded Ruth's and her friend's tickets to VIP ones, as well as give them access to the VIP lounge. 'Be there between 6:00 and 6:15, and we'll try and organise something for you' was the message that her older sister Julie received.

Eleanor, as fan club secretary, was down in the VIP lounge at 6pm, ready for their arrival. At five past, her phone beeped with a text, to tell her that the group of six had just arrived. She walked over towards the entrance, where she saw a group of six girls.

"Hello! Are you by any chance Julie, Ruth and friends?" asked Eleanor. The fact that one of the girls was wearing a lovely fun hat to hide her head hepled.

"Yes we are..."

"Well, I'm Eleanor, I'm the secretary of the fan club... I was the one who has been emailing Julie to organise your upgrades for today. First of all, Ruth, let me give you this...." She passed Ruth a birthday card, and when Ruth opened it, she found that it had been signed by the eight girls, and a few others. As she realised this, a huge smile came to her face.

"Oh, wow... amazing!" she said, showing the card to her friends.

Next, Eleanor pinned an '18 today!' rosette onto Ruth.

"Well, that's not all. We've arranged a special room for you, with some bubbly, and a few gifts from the team... follow me!"

Inside the room there wasn't just bubbly and a load of specially signed shirts an so on, but there was a 2-man camera crew for the local TV station, and a journalist from the local paper. Oh, yeah, Jenny was waiting there too, along with their hairdresser. Eleanor arranged it such that Ruth was the first to go into the room.

"Hey, Ruth! Happy 18th Birthday!" said Jenny. Ruth suddenly let out a huge scream, as she recognised Jenny. Then a second.

"Oh, wow! No way!" she said. As the other five came into the room, they realised what the noise was about. Jenny and Eleanor passed them glasses of bubbly.

"So..." said Jenny, "I'm very honoured to meet you, Ruth. Your sister has told us about you battling cancer, and when we discovered you were coming here tonight, AND that it's your birthday, well, we just had to do something! Now, over here, the band... in fact both bands... have been busy signing some stuff for you. Tere's tour shirts for everyone, but a few more special bits for you...". As they looked at the gifts, Paige, as well as the others, took pictures, and Jenny made sure that the girls got loads of selfies with her.

"Actually, there's another reason I'm here, a much more important reason. I don't know if you realised, but I'm actually an ambassador for the charity 'Wigs for Teens', which means that I sometimes get the absolutely amazing job of delivering specially made wigs to people like you, who are so deserving of having one!"

Mary, the band's hairdresser, brought out the wig for Ruth, on a head-form, and put it onto the table.

"So, a few weeks ago, someone measured up your head, and the amazing team at 'Wigs for Teens' have made this for you! And I believe Paige is going to show you a special message from the team who made this for you." Paige played the short video on her tablet.

"So, this is Mary, our hairdresser, and she would like to work with you to make the final touches..." Over the next 30 minutes, Mary cut Ruth's new hair: it really suited her. Afterwards, as the TV crew interviewed Ruth and Jenny, a door at the back of the room opened, and seven girls walked quietly in. Ruth's friends could see them, but Ruth was looking the wrong way.

Carol walked around to where Ruth could see her. "Wow, amazing, that looks really nice!" she said, commenting on Ruth's new hair. As Ruth turned and saw her, she smiled. "Happy 18th, Ruth!" she added. At that point, Ruth spotted the others, and let out another scream of joy.

"Look, we can't stay too long, we need to get ready for the performance" said Taylor, "but when Jenny explained what was going on, well, we all decided that we just had to come and meet you!"

----

It was the middle of the performance, a couple of hours later.

"Many of you will know that I'm an ambassador for the charity 'Wigs for Teens'," explained Jenny, as a few pictures relating to the charity came up on the big screen, "and one of the things I get to do is the privilege of making someone's day by turning up and delivering a wig to a most worthy teen. So, earlier tonight before the performance, I got the opportunity to make someone's day. In fact, it's their 18th birthday today too, so I get the feeling that the lady concerned, Ruth, will never forget this day... here, take a look at this..."

A short video played: it showed Ruth's initial reactions, a short extract from the interview showing her in her new hairstyle, and ended with her reaction to when the other band members walked in.

"'Wigs for Teens' is an amazing charity, and I'm so proud to be able to help them. But making all the wigs is an expensive job, so I'm hoping you guys might help out: on the way out, you'll see a load of people with collecting buckets... I don't care if it's only 10p or it's 10 pounds, every little helps! Oh, and by the way, Happy 18th Birthday, Ruth!"

The crowd gave a big cheer.




[16/2522]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #18 on: 01. September 2024, 20:20:23 PM »
Chapter 18


A little later in the tour, in the North East of England...


"He is apparently 'not ready'..." said one of the several assistants.

"I'll give him 'not ready'!" said Linda. They were part-way through the tour, they had done their sound-check, and now needed to rehearse the two songs they were doing with their guest for tonight, 'Joshua', a popular male solo singer, about 20 years old.

The team - so not just the band, but the PA crew, the video and lighting crew, in fact everyone - like to run a fairly tight ship. That way, noone was left waiting around, noone got annoyed, giving the whole tour a fairly friendly and relaxed feel to it. So, when the PA crew said they would be ready to sound-check at, say, 3pm, the girls would make sure to be there in plenty of time. Yes, occasionally, something out of their control would happen, and in that case, a phone call would keep everyone updated.

So, they knew that the sound-check took about 15 minutes to do, and had told their guest, Joshua, to be there for 3pm, and to be ready to join them for a rehearsal at 3:15 or soon after. All their other guests on the tour so far had been really great, and in most cases were waiting side-stage during the soundcheck, ready to do what was needed.

Well, except Joshua. He'd actually arrived in plenty of time at the venue, along with his entourage, and the girls had gone in to say 'hello': their enthusiasm was not returned in any way. 

Publicly he was a 'nice guy', but already, in the short time they had been with him, they had discovered from their crew that he was, to be blunt, 'full of himself'.

Linda had already put her guitar down, and was walking off the stage, and down to Joshua's dressing room. Without knocking, she went straight into the dressing room, leaving the door wide open: Joshua was sat calmly in a big comfy chair.

"What's the problem? Everyone's waiting for you!" said Linda, fairly calmly.

"I'm not ready yet..." he replied, smiling and pretending to be 'cool'.

"Not ready? NOT READY?" asked Linda: her fuse was lit, she'd already had enough of this guy. "How much f***ing time do you need to BE ready? You've been here over an hour: you look plenty ready for a rehearsal to me! Look, we like to keep things on-time here, makes for a relaxed crew." It was clear that Joshua wasn't about to get up any time soon, so Linda continued. "So, before I joined the band, I was a session musician, and if I was late for a recording, a rehearsal, or a gig, then I'd be out, my work cancelled, with no pay!" she said in a noticeably loud voice. "We like to think that we are professionals, and that means working our butts off to be ready to put on a great show... and I'm not just talking about us, I'm talking about the whole team! So, we've never sung with you before, and you've never sung with us before, therefore we need to rehearse!"

Linda paused a moment: neither Joshua nor his manager said anything, so she continued:. "So, I'll be generous: you've got TWO MINUTES to BE ready, and be up on the stage, and ready to rehearse with us. Otherwise you won't be appearing tonight, and not appearing equals no money! Understand? TWO MINUTES! Oh, yeah, almost forgot: that's when I'll be posting online that our guest tonight won't be joining us because he's a brat that doesn't care about anyone else!"

With that, Linda turned and left the room, making sure to close the door loudly. She turned to walk back to the stage, took a deep breath, then punched the air, smiling. "Yes!" she said quietly, but loud enough for the small group that had gathered to hear and see what what was going on. "That felt SOOO good!"

----

"I, err, had a word...." explained Linda calmly as she got back onto the stage.

"Yeah, we heard!" said Carol. "I will admit, I was impressed! I hear from his 'people' that he's a bit of a pain in the butt at times..."

"I guess that's what happens when you are 'the only one', the 'prima donna', and there's no one there to remind you what it's all about. You certainly wouldn't be allowed to behave like that, we'd make sure of it!" added Dianne.

"Well, I gave him two minutes to get his pathetic little ass up on stage to rehearse with us, so I reckon he has just over one left!"

Just over a minute later, he came onto the stage. "You ready to rehearse with us?" asked Jenny, calmly.

"Yeah, sorry, I, um...." stammered Joshua. After Linda had left, his manager had spoken to him, and told him to stop messing around, and to go and do the rehearsal.

"Callum, fix up his monitors, and check his mic is working, will you? Taa!" said Jenny. She turned to Joshua. "We've rehearsed your song as best we can, we reckon it's ok, but if you spot anything that feels wrong, just let us know, and we'll try to fix it. You ok now? Ready to go?"

"Umm, yeah..."

Once Joshua started the rehearsal, he became the professional he should be. They went through his song twice: he was happy with what they were playing, and it sounded good too. He was less familiar with the CJDL song he was to sing with them, so they went through it four times: by the end, he was feeling confident that he knew the song.

Carol put her guitar down. "Hey, Joshua, come over here will you?" Joshua joined Carol at the front of the stage. "So, tonight, there's gonna be about twenty or thirty of us back here on the stage. Out there, there'll be between five and ten thousand of our fans. And tonight, the most important of everyone here will be........  each one of THEM out there" said Linda, pointing out at the auditorium. "They have paid an OBSCENE amount of money to be entertained by us tonight. In many cases, it's money they have saved over many many months, so they are expecting us to put on a good show. Actually, no, they are expecting a GREAT show!" She paused a moment. "So, never loose sight of who it is that pays the piper: it's them, out there!"

"Talking of which..." said Dianne, who had just joined them. "We're planning to do a flash-meet with a few of our fans later on - you are welcome to join us.". Unsurprisingly, he didn't.



[17/2681]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #19 on: 02. September 2024, 19:38:59 PM »
Chapter 19


The girls were back in their dressing room, having a bit of a relax.

"I get the feeling that you might have been a bit harsh on Joshua earlier" said Jenny.

"Yeah, maybe I was, but he... well, his attitude just annoyed me! Think I should go and apologise to him?"

"Wouldn't hurt, would it? Might make him a bit more chilled for tonight."

Linda got up, and walked to Joshua's dressing room. One of the privileges of being 'the band' was that you didn't actually ever need to knock on a door, and you certainly didn't have to wait to be invited in.

Linda gently knocked on his door, and went straight in. What she saw completely shocked her. Whilst his manager wasn't there, Joshua was.

"What the F*ck?" said Linda. Without a moments thought, she got her phone out, and took some pictures, then called Ben. He picked up pretty quickly.

"Ben, get yourself down to Joshua's dressing room like right now, if not quicker! And if you see his manager on the way, get his ass in here too!" She saw Joshua about to touch what was on the table. "No! Don't you DARE touch that!". Ben heard the comment, and quickly realised that Linda really DID need him there asap.

Ben arrived about 30 seconds later, quickly followed by the other 3 girls: his manager took a bit longer.

"Oh, sh*t!" said Ben, as he walked in, and saw what was going on.

Joshua had a bit of rubber tubing around his arm, and on the table was a loaded syringe, plus other drug-related bits.

"Don't worry, I've taken some pictures. And there's no way he's guesting with us tonight!" said Linda.

"No problems with that, Linda." said Ben. He turned to Joshua: "Look, you have to understand that we have a very strict 'no drugs' policy, so anything stronger than ibuprofen is a no-no. It's in the contract, so your out." He turned to the girls. "So, what do we do now?"

"I'm thinking there's three options here: there's the nuclear one; then there's the carpet-bombing one, then there's a 'maybe everyone wins one'..." suggested Linda.

"Do explain..."

"The nuclear option: we call the police: there's plenty of evidence here that they'd have no option but to book him!"

"Ohh, nasty, that'll screw up his career a little!" said Dianne.

"Yeah, and probably not do US a huge amount of good, for a variety of reasons."

"Yeah, true, so then there's the lesser option, although I'm not really sure if it would be any less harsh. No police, but I have some pictures on my phone, it would be very easy to post them to social media. Still probably not do him many favours."

"Not nice either. So, what you thinking as the third option?"

Linda turned to Joshua's manager. "You get him into rehab. Today! Not tomorrow, but today! Followed by a suitable press-release tomorrow... 'Joshua has gone in to rehab to address a recurring drug abuse issue...' would probably work ok. It's looks kinda good for him as it shows he's trying to do something positive about it. And it's good for us, as we wouldn't need to be involved."

"I think Joshua would be willing to go with your third option, wouldn't you?" said his manager.

"Look, Joshua, whilst doing drugs might seem like a solution, honestly, it isn't. We manage without them." said Linda.

"How? This sort of life can be bloody stressful..."

"Well, for a start, we have each other. And then, we have our fans. Hey, have you ever bothered to actually MEET your fans? And I don't mean 'shake hands' or 'do a selfie', I mean sit down and talk to them, make them feel important. I'll be honest, that's the only drug *I* need!"


10 minutes later, and back on stage, Ben addresses the crew: "Ok, everyone, listen up. Our guest for tonight will NOT be appearing with the girls, let's just call it 'personal and health reasons': please do NOT repeat anything you may have seen or heard earlier in his dressing room, it's 'being dealt with', and in a way that hopefully won't come back and bite us. So we need to remove his two songs from the running order. I'll let you know if we want to put something else in to fill the gap later. Thanks guys!"


So, that night they played without their guest: whilst his appearance hadn't been officially announced, there were rumours online. The band said nothing about his lack of appearance, and the following day one of the big stories in the papers was 'Joshua heads for rehab... again!'



[18/2853]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #20 on: 03. September 2024, 23:21:25 PM »
So, I started to write this next bit of the story maybe 3 months ago.

Just under 3 weeks ago, irony caught up with me: I fell badly, breaking the top end of my right arm... and like Linda, I ended up in the accident department at the hospital, needing an X-ray! Just over a week ago, I had surgery, and am now the owner of a metal shoulder joint... so I have had first hand experience now of A&E, the X-ray department, and also the CT scanner, as well as a night in hospital for my operation. Whilst the NHS in England has issues, I can not fault any of the many staff I interacted with, they were all there for me when I needed them. Will soon see how good the physiotherapy team is too!

As a result of my experiences, the following chapters had a few tweaks made to them. I feel Linda's pain... literally!

(And if you are wondering, I've had to learn how to type with my left hand...it's slow!)

------


Chapter 20


"Emergency services, how can I help?"

"Look, I'm in the back of a taxi, and we've just been rammed by a van..."

"Ok, can I ask your name please?"

"Yes, I'm Dianne. Dianne Fox."

"Hello Dianne, please try to stay calm while ask you a few quick questions. First of all, how long ago was this?"

"Probably no more than a minute ago"

"Ok, and how many of you are there in your taxi?"

"Two of us, plus the driver."

"Thank you. Is anyone obviously injured?"

"Yes, my friend here, Linda is screaming in pain, seems like her leg..."

"Ok, what about your driver?" Linda felt she was maybe being a bit harsh, ignoring Linda's needs, but realised that she probably had enough detail, and was trying to work out the total amount of help they would need.

"Hang on.." she leaned over. "Hey, you ok there?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I think I'm ok..."

"Ok, driver thinks he's fine, we were both on the other side of the car, Linda was on the side that took the hit!"

"Do you know where you are?"

"No, but I'm sure our driver does.. hang on..." She passed the phone to the driver, who gave their location, then passed the phone back again.

"Ok, well I've just requested the police, ambulance and emergency rescue to attend. Don't suppose you have any idea how the driver of the other vehicle is?"

"No, want me to take a look?"

"Only if you feel 100% able to do so... Don't take any risks." Dianne got out the car, and went around to the van.

"Hey, I'm so sorry..." said the driver.

"Forget that for the moment, I'm speaking to the emergency services. You ok? Like, are you hurt?"

"Apart from hurting where the seat belt got me, I think I'm fine..."

"He says slight chest pain caused by his seatbelt."

"Ok, in that case I'll request a second ambulance. You really sure you're ok?"

"Apart from being a bit shaken up, my body seems to be intact and pain free. I hope the ambulance gets here soon, we're supposed to be onstage at 7:30"

"Onstage?"

"Yeah, at The Arena."

"Oh, you're not Dianne from CJDL? You also mentioned 'Linda'."

"Yep, that's us..."

"Tell you what, let me just add another star to your call, might get someone to you a little quicker. Hey, Dianne, you've been a trouper, it makes a change to speak to someone who's not panicking! If you have any delays there, do call us again. Oh, half a second, I can see that the police are already on their way, should be with you shortly!"

"Thanks" said Dianne, "you guys do a really great job!"

"My pleasure: hope you manage to make the performance!"

She got back into the car and took Linda's hand, squeezing it, and trying to share Linda's pain. "Hold on in there, they are on the way!" Already in the background she could hear the two-tone siren, getting closer, and finally pulling up just metres away. It seems the traffic had worked overtime to let them through. "I'm gonna... go and speak to the police, just stay where you are!"

Dianne got out and walked over to the police car. "Hi, I'm Dianne, I called 999...". The policeman acknowledged her presence, and then spoke to her.

"PC Wilde... so were you in the car when the accident happened?"

"Yes, I was..."

"So, can you briefly tell me what happened?"

"Well, I was in the back of the taxi, and from my perspective, one moment we were driving along normally, the next moment we had a van in the side of the car. I guess our driver will be able to help you better..."

"Yes, we'll be speaking to him shortly. Anyone else in the taxi with you?"

"Yes, my friend Linda. She's in pain, I think she might have had her leg broken. I told her to just try and relax in the car.... the taxi is a diesel, and I guess the van will be too, so I'm assuming they probably won't want to burst into flames too soon! By the way, there's one guy in the van, apart from hurting his chest on the seatbelt, he said he was ok."

"Ok ...err, Dianne, thanks for the quick overview, it was helpful." He walked to the car, and looked inside: he could see that Linda was in pain, but it was clear that there was little else he could to to actually help her. "Linda, isn't it? Hold on in there, paramedics are on the way!" He turned to Dianne again: "Sorry, I can't help with your friend, but hopefully the ambulance will get here soon... so if you don't mind, I need to help my colleague to make the scene safe... I'm sure someone will speak to you again soon."

As PC Wilde walked off, a second police car arrived, and they put out cones and stuff. Dianne got back into the car, to be with Linda: she had tears running down her face from crying with the pain, so Dianne gently put her arm around her to comfort her. It must have been five minutes later when Dianne heard another siren, slightly different from the police: it was a red 'fire and rescue' wagon. After speaking to the police, one of them came over to the car, and quickly walked around, then came over to Linda's open door. The taxi driver was close by, speaking to the police.

"Hi!" said a friendly voice. "You guys ok?"

"I'm ok, I think Linda here's broken her leg, so I've told her to wait here, and let you guys or the paramedics move her...she's not at all trapped, just in pain from the leg: I guess you'll be able to use something to hold her leg?"

"Yeah, something like that. I think you'll be ok in there for a bit longer, I've looked around, not seeing any fuel around, all smells ok."

"And the taxi's a diesel anyway, so not likely to explode too soon, I'm hoping!"

"True to a certain extent. Ah, I think I hear the ambulance in the distance, I'll send them straight over to you!"

"Thanks...."


As Dianne saw the paramedics approaching, she got out the car to greet them. "Hi, I'm Dianne. Lady in the car is Linda, like me, she's pretty healthy and in her twenties. I'm feeling pretty fine, but she needs your help: she took the brunt of things, she was sat on the left. I have a feeling she may have broken her lower leg though, been in a LOT of pain...."

"Hello, there!" said one of the paramedics, as he got into the car beside Linda. "I'm David, a paramedic, can you tell me your name."

"Yeah, I'm Linda, and my leg hurts like F*CK!". At the same time, the other paramedic went into the front of the car, and managed to slide the seats forward to give them a bit more space.

"Can you look into my light please?". David did some basic, but important, checks on Linda: took her pulse, listened on a stethoscope. "Ok, you mind if I feel your legs?"

"Yeah, just go gentle will you?". He started feeling along her right leg. "You can feel that ok? Any pain?"

"No, that leg seems fine..."

"Ok, let's check this one now." he went very gently, and quickly worked out that she didn't have any obvious numbness in her foot, and that the 'problem' was in the half of her lower leg bone. "You on any medication? Of ANY sort?" he asked.

"No, and I don't do drugs either.."

"That's great. In that case, how about we do something to help your pain." His colleague passed David a small cylinder, with a small hose and a clear facemask with an elastic attached. "Let me get this around your head..." After fitting the mask, he adjusted the controls on the cylinder. "Ok, take a couple of big deep breaths for me, then breath normally again! Don't worry if you feel a bit woozy... hopefully this will kill the pain for you!"

Finally, Linda visibly relaxed. The gas had definitely killed the pain, and she felt like she was floating. She smiled.

"Ok, let's get you out of here and into the back of the ambulance, shall we? The gas should make it pretty painless for you! If you start to feel pain, just take another big deep breath!". He fitted an inflatable 'boot' to her left leg, and then carefully helped Linda to get out of the car. The two paramedics helped her onto the trolley, and then into the ambulance. Dianne also got in.

"You look a bit more relaxed now... pain gone?" asked Dianne.

"Yeah, this gas stuff works really well!" replied Linda, starting to giggle.


[19/2995]

Offline xxxforce

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #21 on: 03. September 2024, 23:50:55 PM »
Every broken Bone is nasty as hell and fucking hurts.. Have a good and quick recovery and don't rely totally in the pysios.. the Main and Most unkomfortable Part ist Up to you..

P.s: great Story as Always, poor Linda Bit hopefully she could be on Stage partially!

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #22 on: 05. September 2024, 00:49:44 AM »
Chapter 21


The policewoman was stood next to the taxi, when she heard a phone ringing. She took a look inside the taxi, and found the ringing phone on the floor.

"Hello, how can I help?" she said, answering the phone.

"Umm, that's definitely not Linda... who is this?" said Jenny.

"Sorry, I'm WPC Jones. The phone was in the car, so I thought it best to answer. Who am I speaking to, please?"

"Oh... hello... this is Jenny Stevens. I was hoping to speak to my band co-member Linda, or even Dianne..."

"Ah, two ladies, mid twenties? I think they are in the ambulance...

"Ambulance?" said Jenny, sounding rather shocked. "What's happened?"

"There's been a car accident. Let me see if I can find your two friends for you." Luckily for Jenny, this WPC was fairly young, and recognised the name 'Jenny Stevens', and when added to the word 'band' as well as 'Linda' and 'Dianne' she had heard a few minutes ago, she quickly knew who they were. "Hold on a moment...". She walked over to the ambulance, and politely knocked on the door, which was opened reasonably promptly. She looked in the back: "You're Dianne, so I'm guessing the patient there is Linda. Your friend Jenny is a bit worried about you... here..." and she passed the phone over to Dianne.

"Thanks! Hey, Jenny... Dianne here!"

"What's happening? I mean, that police lady said something about an accident. You guys ok? Why didn't you call to let us know?"

"Whoah, slow down. Yes, we've been in a accident: we were in a taxi on the way back to the arena, when a great big white van decided to t-bone us! Hey, put me on speaker.."

"Oh crap, not good. You guys ok? ... and everyone can hear you now."

"Ok, quick repeat: Linda and I have been in a car accident on the way back to the arena, we were t-boned by a van. I'm pretty ok, I was a bit shaken up to start with..."

"And Linda?" asked Jenny. There was a moan and then a giggle in the background from Linda.

"Well, Linda WAS definitely in pain. She was on the side the van hit us, and the paramedic here suspects she's either broken or fractured her left leg. That slight moan you heard was when they were manipulating her leg, but they just gave her some more gas."

"So, what you guys gonna do?"

"Well, we'll probably be off to the hospital in a moment, and I'm planning on staying by Linda's side for the time being, it's the least I can do."

"Yeah, I'm good with that. Ok, it's getting late... how about we send someone to relieve you at the hospital... any idea which hospital?"

"Good idea. Which hospital? Hell, I'm having trouble remembering which city we're in. Let me have a word with the friendly paramedics here..." she put the phone on speaker.

One of the paramedics had been listening to the conversation. "Hi Jenny, Dianne filled us both in on who you guys are... I can see this is not what you need before going on stage. We think Linda has either a fractured Tibia or Fibula - so lower leg bones, but she's stable, and I just gave her some more of our 'happy gas', and she's looking a lot more relaxed.  We'll be going off to the Royal Hospital in a couple of minutes: any local taxi will know where it is, just tell them to go to A&E. I'll have a word on A&E reception, so they can take you through to where Linda will be."

"Ok, so sounds like Linda is out of it for tonight then. You gonna be ok, Dianne?"

"They checked me over, and pronounced me fit!"

"Ok, well when whoever gets there, you get yourself back here as quick as you can. In the meantime, we'll try and work out how we can salvage tonight!" said Jenny.

"Want a word with Linda? I'll warn you, she's got the dopiest smile on her face, I think she floating up in the clouds right now!"

"Hi Jenny! said Linda. "This happy gas is really great, I can't feel a thing... whooo..."

"Sounds like you'll be ok. Hey, Linda, look after yourself, will you?"

"Ok, guys, we're about to leave: Dianne, can you put your seatbelt on?"

"Sure... Ok, Jenny, you guys do what's needed. Who's coming to the hospital?"

"Mum and Paige, they just left to go find a taxi..."

"Ok, great. My phone is on if you need to call.."

"Sure. Take care of her!"


Whilst maybe not REALLY needed, the ambulance put it's light and siren on: probably a good call, as there was still quite a bit of traffic around. Dianne took at look at the time: it was almost 7:15. She remembered it was just after 6:30 when she called 999. Whilst the police were there in under 5 minutes, the ambulance took a bit longer, plus they then needed to check Linda out.



[21/3078]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #23 on: 08. September 2024, 22:10:13 PM »
Chapter 22


"RTA. Female, mid 20s, fully responsive. Has a suspected fractured or broken tibia / fibula. Her name is Linda" said the paramedic as the A&E staff approached to take Linda.

"I'm Dianne by the way, can I go with her?"

"Sure, come on through!"

In the background, David had a quick word with a couple of the nurses. "Ok, so I just told them who you are, I'm guessing you're not going to want loads of screaming fans annoying you! Anyway, once I have my trolley back, I'll be going, but I'll have a quick word with reception. I'm sure Linda will be ok soon!"

"Thanks, David, can't thank you guys enough!"

The staff moved Linda onto a hospital trolley. "Hello Linda, how are you feeling?"

"Well, I could really do with some more of the 'happy gas' to kill the leg pain again! Otherwise I'm pretty ok!"

"Good!" Like the paramedic, she too checked her vitals, and took notes. "Let me see if there's a doctor free who can check your leg, then we'll get you something for the pain."

Luckily, things in A&E were quiet. A doctor checked Linda's leg, and was happy for her to have more 'happy gas', plus some other pain-killers. "Ok, we're going to take you to x-ray, see exactly what the problem is. Dianne, you're welcome to join us!". Dianne followed as they took Linda, on the trolley, through some doors.

"So, you guys are supposed to be playing the arena tonight, aren't you? If I'm honest, I don't think Linda's gonna be in a fit state. You gonna have to cancel the gig?" said the nurse, making conversation as she pushed Linda along a corridor towards the X-Ray department.

"I hope not, otherwise there's gonna be a lot of disappointed fans out there. I suspect they'll have asked Kate to stand in for Linda, it's an obvious thing to do. Of course, I need to get there pretty quickly to join them, but Linda is more important to me right now. So, how long is the X-Rays gonna take?"

"Well, I'm not seeing a queue, so hopefully we can go straight in. Can you just wait here with Linda a moment, while I go have a word...."

----

When they returned from X-Ray, Paige and Lisa had arrived, and were waiting.

"You ok?" asked Lisa.

"I'm fine. When I saw her x-ray, I could see a small fracture, but heck, I'm not an expert!"

"Luckily I am an expert!" said the doctor who had checked Linda before. "And you are 100% right, a small fracture to the lower part of her tibula... not that small makes it any less painful though!" The doctor spent a couple of minutes explaining what would happen, including the, by now, fairly obvious fact that Linda needed to have her leg put into plaster.

"Look, Dianne, you need to get back to the Arena! I've told our taxi to wait for you, dark blue taxi just outside, he knows who you are!"

"Yeah, ok. Linda... look after yourself!"

"I will, and thanks for staying with me, Dianne!"

----

As Dianne walked into the stage entrance of the arena, she checked the time: she was surprised to see that it was actually only 7:50.. so currently 20 minutes late starting.

"Oh, Dianne, thank goodness you're here" said Ben as she walked in to their dressing room. "Linda ok?"

"Yeah, broken leg... well, technically just fractured, and the happy gas is keeping her quiet! She was going to get it put in plaster when I left. So what's the plan of action?"

"Well, Kate has said she'll cover for Linda. We're working on the running order, taking out things like Linda's Riffs and Gimme Cereals. Oh, the advert too."

"I guess that means we'll be losing 'Friends' too? That's a shame..."

"Yeah to that too, it's gonna be hard without Linda!"

".... so what about the opening?"

"Working on that."

"OK. Anyone told the audience what's going on?"

"Not yet, we wanted to wait till you got here, so we'd know timescales."

"In that case, I should go talk to them..." suggested Dianne.

"Hmmm, not actually such a stupid idea, you know more about what happened..."


[22/3352]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #24 on: 09. September 2024, 18:41:44 PM »
Chapter 23


Dianne walked with one of the many assistants to the stage: they tended to do this as some of the venues were like rabbit warrens, and they didn't want to get lost.

"Hey, Dianne, what's happening?" said Callum, looking at Dianne in her 'street clothes'.

"I'm going to talk to the fans, let them know what's going on: they need to know!"

"Ok, let me get you your mic and in-ears, and let the team know what's going on!" Callum went off, and was back quite quickly with another member of stage crew: they fitted her up.

"Hi Dianne!" said a voice in her ear. "We heard what happened, you ok there?"

"I'm fine, you'll hear the rest as I tell the fans!"

"Ok, we'll take our cues from you. We'll dim the main lights a bit."

Dianne went over to Tara, who was waiting side stage with her camera. "Hey, follow me on stage, I'm gonna show some pics from my phone...."

"Ok..." she replied, then started talking to the person at the other end of her intercom.
The girls had been working with the camera crew for a bit now, and had a good relationship with them, understanding a few simple hand signals like 'feel free to come do a closeup right now'...

Dianne walked nervously to the middle of the stage: it felt weird to be the first on stage... and Linda was doing this every night. Respect kiddo!

"Hi everyone! I'm Dianne...." The crowd quietened, and gave a gentle cheer. "Ok, first of all, we're all very sorry for keeping you guys hanging around, we normally like to start on time. However, I'm here to give you some bad news and some much much better news...."

Dianne took a deep breath to calm herself. "The bad news: I just got here to the Arena a few minutes ago: Linda and I have just been in a car accident..." Suddenly the place went silent. "So, I'm ok... well as ok as you might expect after an accident, but Linda is still at the hospital. Let's show you a picture of what happened...."

Dianne got her phone out, found the picture of the car with the van in its side, and held it so Tara could get a good picture of it: Dianne could hear a few "oohs" from the crowd as they saw the picture. "I was on the driver's side, Linda was on this side. Don't worry, she's still very alive... here, this is her in the ambulance, after having some 'happy gas' to kill the pain..."

"So I went with Linda to the hospital, she was in a lot of pain. It seems like she's fractured her leg. I went with her to x-ray... let me show you her leg...." She showed the picture of the x-ray to the camera. "So, by that time, Paige and Lisa had arrived, which meant I could come back here... so that was about 20 minutes ago. Linda now needs to 'go and get plastered', but probably NOT in the way she would have preferred to!" That caused a gentle laugh from the crowd.

"You know, I think this is a great time to big-up a few people: the paramedics in the ambulance were great. The police and rescue services also did their job well, and the doctors and nurses at the hospital were just amazing: come on, let's give them a huge cheer for what they all do!". There was a massive cheer.

"And if you're a doc, nurse, paramedic and so on, and you're here on your evening off, then that was for you guys too!" Another short cheer. "Ok, so the show WILL go on. Kate, from Northern Girls, has said she'll step in for Linda playing bass..." Another cheer. "... but we're going to need to trim out a few bits that need Linda, so sorry, I guess we won't be doing 'Gimme Cereals' for you tonight..." (a big 'awwww....'). So, hold on in there! I need to go get ready, get my hair and makeup done, so give us...." (a voice in her ear said '15 minutes') ".. give me 15 minutes, and we'll be with you! Guys: thanks for your patience!".

To a big cheer, Dianne walked off stage. "Nice one, Dianne" said Ben, who was waiting side stage for her. "I think that calmed them all down nicely. Come on, let's get you ready!"

---- 

"Let us take a few moments to say a prayer. Dianne, I think you should do it tonight..." said Taylor. At those words, the audience quietened down, possibly a bit more so than normal.

"Dear Lord, as ever we thank you for the many gifts you have given us, gifts that let everyone do what's needed to let us use OUR gifts to go and entertain our audience, your people. Except tonight we are one gift short: so I ask you to please wrap your huge, warm and loving arms around Linda. Let her know you are there for her. Help those around her use THEIR gifts to take away her pain, and make her comfortable. And let her know we're all rooting for her. In Jesus' name....."

Tonight there was a noticeably louder 'Amen' from the crowd, followed by applause.

"Amen to that!" said the voice in their ears. "Ok, Taylor, let us know when you're ready..."

The plan for their opening song was actually very simple: the show would open with a video taken a few performances ago, with Linda singing. The video would play on the screen behind them, but the other 7 girls would also be coming on stage as they would normally do. Taylor, who would normally be next on stage after Linda, but first tonight, waited at the side of the stage for her cue.

The video started. As Taylor walked onto that bare stage, without Linda already being there, she felt nervous and apprehensive: Taylor suddenly had a great respect for what Linda was doing every night: going alone onto an empty stage is actually quite scary. As she got to the front of the stage, she felt all the stresses and worries just drop away. She hit her cue perfectly. Over the next minute or two, the other 6 girls joined her.

With the audio from the video performance being gently added to their monitors, the girls could easily keep in time, allowing Linda -on video- to end the song like she normally did. The whole thing went perfectly, and from the audience's perspective, it looked quite spectacular.

The response they got for their first song from tonight's audience was much better than normal, they realised that tonight was NOT a 'normal' night, but that the 'team' had, in a very short time, pulled together a very good alternative to the normal opening.

Next, they introduced themselves, pretty much as normally, but with something different to cover Linda's absence: "Hi, I'm Carol, and we four... errr, three... are CJDL!" and "Hi, I'm Taylor, and we are Northern Girls!".

Then they went along the line, each introducing themselves, and yes, Dianne's picture of her in headgear came up, as normal. When it came to be Linda's turn, Dianne took a step forward.

"Please sir, Linda's not here tonight, she's got a hospital appointment, but she sent a note...." and she pulled a piece of paper out of her waistband, and held it up. That simple yet fun action got a massive cheer from the crowd.

"So, before we start, Kate, take a step forward will you...." said Dianne "... this is Kate Enders from Northern Girls, but for tonight she's also an honorary member of CJDL, stepping in for Linda: let's all just give her a big cheer, shall we?"

As the crowd cheered, they went over to their instruments, and continued the show. Luckily, with the various 'extras' in the show, Kate was able to have several breaks from playing.


It was about two and a half hours later, when CJDL were playing, that Jenny spotted something happening side stage. The song ended, and a voice came into her ear: "You have a VERY important person about to join you, stage right.... just go with it!"

Two stagehands were pushing a large 'trolley' onto the stage. On the trolley was a seat, borrowed from their 'green room', with a small footstool in front of it.... and on the seat was...

"Linda!" screamed Jenny! With her leg in 'plaster' halfway up her thigh, Linda was sat there, leg propped up on the stool. The crowd went wild! The three girls dashed straight over to her, and hugged her carefully.

"Hey, how you doing there?" asked Dianne.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I think having my leg in plaster helps. Hey, Dianne, thanks for staying with me earlier!". Linda was wearing her headset and monitors, so everyone was able to hear.

"That's what mates are for, being there when needed... "

"So, I've been told I'm not allowed to play tonight, but they said NOTHING about singing!"

"I think I can guess which song you want to sing...". Instantly a voice in all of their ears said 'ready to go with Friends when you're ready!'. "Come on, bring the lady into the middle of the stage.... You warmed up and ready to sing?"

"Hell yeah!" The other three plus Kate got ready to play, and nodded to Linda, who started to sing, followed by the others joining in. It sounded just as good as ever.

"Well, if you didn't recognise it, that's our current single, Friends. So what's next?"

"I think it's time to hand straight over to Northern Girls...."

"In that case... Kate: thank you!" and Linda blew her a kiss.


[23/3418]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #25 on: 10. September 2024, 18:04:05 PM »
Chapter 24

"Ok, so I've just come off the phone from the insurance company" explained Brian. It was the following morning. "They were a bit worried when I started to explain what happened, but relaxed when I explained that not only didn't we cancel last night, we're continuing the tour as normal. In fact, they became quite helpful. We need to get formal official documentation to explain what happened, but after that, any 'reasonable costs incurred as a result' will be covered. So, what does Linda need?"

"Well, a comfortable wheelchair for starters!" said Linda.

After last night's show several of the stage crew had organised a slightly more 'portable' version of what Linda had sat on when they pushed her onstage: a platform on wheels, on which they had 'attached' in a typical stage-crew way a chair and a stool: Linda's left leg was plastered half-way up her thigh, so she either had to stand, or sit with her leg supported. They had included suitable padding to make it a little more comfortable. Whilst it gave them an easy way to move Linda, it was neither elegant, nor especially comfortable for Linda. Yes, Linda  also had crutches, which she could use for relatively short distances, but the 'wheels' were a lot easier to move her around the arena, as well as back to the hotel.

After getting Linda to her room last night, Paige had offered to stay with her.

"I can get the settee made up..." suggested Paige.

"Nah, you seen the size of this bed? You can have this side!" replied Linda. Having Paige there with her was a godsend: she helped her use the bathroom, and get into bed.

Paige woke up first: it took her a moment to remember where she was... in bed with Linda. As she looked over at Linda, she could see her sleeping peaceful face. Linda's mouth was slightly open, allowing Paige to see a few of the multi-coloured ligatures that were in her shiny steel brackets. Paige remembered back to the first time she had met Linda: she had just joined the band at the start of a 2-week try-out. She was there primarily to provide the band with an extra guitar player: if you remember that far back, Jenny had met Ben, and had been inspired to write a rather different style of music for CJD, influenced by the Indie Rock that Ben liked.

As we now know, Linda's music tastes were even rockier, and it hadn't been long before Linda was actually working with the girls on the music, helping them to make it even better. As a result of all that, Linda had been invited to actually join the band. Since then, she had possibly become the band's most important member: having found her song-writing ability, her songs were changing the band's music style again, and following some vocal coaching, she now had quite an amazing singing voice, one that she rightly used to open their show.

Not that Linda was likely thinking about any of that as she lay there, sleeping peacefully, with Paige watching.

Later on, Lisa had come and helped Linda get washed and dressed, then have breakfast. And join everyone else in their large suite. So, back to where we were....

"I don't think getting a wheelchair for you will be an issue"

"Linda's going to need an 'assistant' of some sort: the rest of us are busy enough, she needs someone to push her around, get her stuff and so on. Not that big an ask...."

"No, Paige, you're quite right there..." replied Brian, making notes.

"We could do with a comfy chair for her to use on stage, we can't assume the venues will have one." suggested Jenny.

"Actually, a settee like this would work better..." commented Linda. "My leg is surprisingly comfy like this, and I have space for my guitar." Linda was leaning back into the corner of the a medium-sized settee, with her leg up on it.

"Is THAT settee actually comfortable enough for you?" asked Lisa, "Or do you need something better?"

"This one is surprisingly comfy. But we can't just nick it!"

"No, but I'll bet they have spares lurking somewhere, and could be persuaded to sell us one. Saves having to go out and buy one...." said Lisa.

They chatted a bit more.

"Ok, Ben, can you go see about a wheelchair? Paige, can you find an assistant, I'm sure there must be an agency in Aberdeen who can provide someone. I'm sure the hotel can provide you both some ideas of where to go. And Lisa, maybe you can go procure a settee?"

The room phone went, Ben answered it. "Ok, leave it with us..." "Seems the press are gathering outside, sounds like we should go say hello! Linda, you up for it?"

"Yeah, should be a laugh. Someone get my crutches, I see a good photo op!"

Sorting out the press was easy: they were just wanting the story and some pics to go with it. They got a bit more, because they made a couple of Dianne's pictures available to them too.

Getting a suitable wheelchair wasn't a biggie either, a local wheelchair specialist was very helpful, and agreed to send their technician over with a new wheelchair, along with a few 'extras' they could look at... like a drinks holder and a food tray! And a pair of rather more up-market - and no doubt more comfortable - crutches.

As for the assistant for Linda, Paige called a local agency, and explained what they were looking for. "So, how long will you need this person for?" they asked.

"Initially maybe just a few days, to cover us here in Aberdeen then while we're down in Glasgow. If they get on with Linda, and are interested in travelling, could be longer...."

"Ok, well I actually have someone in mind, might fit in nicely, let me give her a call". They discussed hourly rates, and other stuff.

"Don't worry about expenses, we'll provide hotel, meals and so on, they won't be out of pocket." said Paige.

Paige got a call back about 15 minutes later. "So, I have a lady called Ziggy Starr who is available, maybe you'd like to call her and arrange the practicalities directly with her. She'll need you to sign her timesheets every day, and we'll need your details and bank or card details to set up your account. By the way, she suggested it might make more sense to whatsapp videocall her....

Paige made the call, and smiled when she saw Ziggy: she had lovely bright pink hair, and a big smile with discrete metal braces. And a small number of piercings. She guessed her to be in her early 20s.

"Umm, I hope my appearance is ok. I have some tats as well..." explained Ziggy, talking with a soft Scottish accent.

"Oh, definitely not a problem, and the girls will LOVE your hair! Mind you, Erin might get a tiny bit jealous!"

"Girls? Your client - Linda, isn't it - has children?"

Paige laughed at the concept. "I sometimes think they are, the way they sometimes behave. Your boss obviously hasn't given you all the details."

"No, he said you'd fill me in!"

"Ok, couple of quick questions first: will it be a problem for you to be away from home?"

"Not really. How long you talking?"

"Well, if you and Linda get on, could be several weeks. You got a passport?"

"International travel?"

"Well, we'll be off to Dublin and Belfast in a week or so..."

"Ok, so who ARE you guys?". Paige was feeling good about Ziggy: she was bouncy, self-assured and had a good pleasant attitude.

"I think you're gonna like this: Linda is Linda Jacobson, she's one of the members of CJDL. She was in a car accident yesterday..."

"Oh, my, yes, I saw something about that on the news earlier... she ok?"

"Generally ok, but she's got her leg in plaster, and needs someone to help her, push her around in a wheelchair, peel her the occasional grape maybe. So, is it going to be an issue for you to work with 8 pop stars, and a load of other 'hangers-on'?"
 
Ziggy smiled. "Am I allowed to say that this job might be the best ever?"

"Of course you can. Ok, so why don't you get yourself sorted out, then get a taxi to the hotel, we'll pay you back for the taxi, of course. Don't expect to be back home till gone midnight tonight though... and don't worry, it might sound like a long day, but you'll have plenty of time to relax. And we'll feed you. Oh, do you have any black jeans or trousers you can bring, just in case? We can talk about everything else when you get here... Maybe let me know when you're almost here."

"Sure, but WHICH hotel you at?"

"Sorry, it's the big Posh Hotel, right next to the arena!"


[24/3499]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #26 on: 11. September 2024, 18:34:04 PM »
Chapter 25

About an hour later things started to get busy. They had spoken to the hotel about a settee: yes, they did have spares, and they were persuaded to exchange money for the settee. Next, the wheelchair guy arrived: Ben met him, and brought him up to the suite.

Linda was helped into the wheelchair, which, because of the thick cushions on it, was pleasantly comfortable. The technician also set up the special bracket that held Linda's leg out straight.

"Ok, so this is the cupholder, easy to put on and take off..." he explained, clipping it to the frame. "And the tray clips on like this... Also, we chose this model for you because the sides can also be taken off fairly easily..." and he demonstrated how to take them off and on.

Then Paige's phone rang. "Hi, it's Ziggy, just arriving..."

"Hey, Ziggy! Ok, when you get here, just take the lift to the 5th floor, then wait by the lift, I'll be there in a moment!"

Ziggy looked up at the hotel as she got out of the taxi: it was big and it was definitely Posh, like its name. She felt a bit out of place as she walked into the hotel, and over to the lift... and yes, even the lifts were very upmarket. She pressed the button for 5.

The lift indicator soon showed '5', and the doors opened with a ping.

"Hi Ziggy!" said Paige as the doors opened, and saw Ziggy. Ziggy had a big smile on her face, for many reasons. First of all, she had some work. The pay would be very acceptable, plus added to the long hours that she'd be charging for, she'd be earning a decent amount. And it was probably for the next couple of weeks, with the possibility of doing more it it worked out. But more than any of that: she was a musician herself. Ok, just a very average musician she guessed, but this was an opportunity to see and learn how the big professionals did things. Not just the musicians, but all the 'behind the scenes' stuff.

When her band had broken up, she'd played with a couple of other bands, but it wasn't the same, and the need to work, often in the evening, just to be able to feed herself had meant that she hadn't played regularly for a while. Ziggy felt inspired, invigorated!

Paige turned to the security guy who was nearby. "This is Ziggy, she'll be with us for a bit, looking after Linda, I don't think you'll have any problems remembering her!". Ziggy's pink-red hair was a bit of a visible reminder!

"Not a problem" he replied. "I'll let the others know. We'll need to take her picture later on, so we can do her an ID card."

"Do you guys always stay in such nice places?" Ziggy said looking around in awe.

"Actually, this place is the exception to the rule, often they are a lot more normal. It's just that we need a LOT of rooms, and this place had them, and it isn't THAT more expensive. And it's very convenient! Come on... come and meet Linda! And the others!"

Paige used her card to let them in. Linda was sitting in her new wheelchair. "Hey, everyone, this is Ziggy. Ziggy, I think you can work out which one Linda is!"

"Yeah, her leg gives her away!" said Ziggy with a smile. She walked over to Linda. "Nice to meet you, Linda. Apparently I'm here to help you in any way I can...". Linda nodded. Yes, a girl with bright pink hair, piercing and a few tats (not to mention the braces!) would fit in well. "Hey, you look like you need a coffee, I certainly do!" said Linda. She turned to the wheelchair guy: "you want one too?"

"Sounds like I just got my first job..." replied Ziggy. "How do you take your coffee, apart from 'in a cup'?"

"Someone willing to get on with stuff, you'll fit in well!" said Linda. "And black please. There's a big machine over there....". The machine was one of these modern fancy machines like they had down in the restaurant for breakfast: you put a cup in at the front, then selected what you want: beans get ground, and you get a good fresh coffee.

Ziggy made the coffees then passed the wheelchair guy and Linda their cups. "So, if you're going to be pushing her around, let me show you some bits you need to know." He showed her the brakes, how to adjust the leg-rest, and how to fold up the footrest to let Linda get out, all the important bits.

"Hey, anyone got a Sharpie? I'm sure Ziggy wants to add her name to all the others on my leg!" Yes, Linda's cast was already covered in signatures... obviously the other seven girls, Callum, Eleanor, Paige, Brian and Lisa, but also their dancers, and a few of the stage crew.

"And now a practical test for you, Ziggy!" said Linda. "Get me from here into the settee over there!" This was actually relatively easy for Ziggy: one of the many jobs she had done was working at an old-persons home: whilst the pay was crap, it was easy to get, and she regularly had to help people getting in and out of wheelchairs and normal chairs. She knew that Linda was young, with-it, and fit... she just currently had an out-of-action leg. Yeah, easy...

Ziggy released the brakes, pushed the chair to what seemed like a good location, put on the brakes, folded up the footrest, then carefully lifted her casted leg off the leg-rest. Next she offered her hands to Linda, to help her get up. "Not allowed any pressure on my cast for a few days.." commented Linda, standing on one leg. Ziggy helped her rotate, and fall gently back onto the settee.

"Was that gentle enough for you?" asked Ziggy, lifting Linda's cast up onto the settee.

"Very acceptable! So, grab your coffee, come and sit here, and tell us a bit about yourself!"

With his job done, the wheelchair man got Ben to sign a few bits of paper while he finished his coffee, then left them.

"Well, as you might have guessed by the hairstyle, I'm a local lass, born in Aberdeen... After school, I worked in a shop, but in the evenings, I was in a band, I played guitar... not that we were anywhere near as good as you guys!"

"You said 'was'. You don't play any more?"

"No. Well not in a band. Our drummer went off to Uni, never to be seen again. Jilly, our bass player, got married, and disappeared off too. I played in a couple of other bands, but it was never the same. Then the concept of 'earning money' got in the way, you know, it's good to be able to eat! I've been doing temp work for a while, working in restaurants, old-people's homes, in fact anything that pays. But I still sometimes strum, maybe go to an open mic night very occasionally."

"Well, Carol over there is the queen of the open mic... maybe you two should have a play together."

"You do open mic?"

"Yeah, Linda's been with me a few times too. I just love how intimate it is..."

They all chatted for a while: Ziggy was pleasantly surprised quite how 'normal' they were. Paige found a moment to have a quick word with Linda. "You gonna be ok with Ziggy?" she asked her.

"Well, unless we discover she's a mass murderer or something, yeah."

"Ok enough for me to offer her at least till Belfast? We can discuss Europe later on."

"Fine by me. Hey, she needs to meet the Northern Girls." The Northern girls obviously had their own bedrooms, but like CJDL, they had their own suite too, where they could rest as a group. "Hey, Ziggy, time to earn your keep!" said Linda gently. "Let's start by you helping me to go to the loo, then you need to meet the other half of the band."

"The other half: I thought you four were all of CJDL?"

"We're all of CJDL, but only half of 'Eight girls with braces'."

"Ah, right, yeah. Hey, about all your braces......"
 
---

While Linda was in the loo, Paige had a quick word with Ziggy about working with them for at least the next couple of weeks, while they covered Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, and a couple of other places on the way to Belfast.

"The hours will be long, but don't worry, you'll be paid for them all. And there's plenty of downtime. From what I've heard you saying, I think you'll cope just fine!

Ziggy said she was up for it, especially if she was going to have to stay in fancy hotels.

"It's not always quite as fancy as this, I'll warn you. Hey, if we could get Linda a disabled room, would you be up for sleeping in the adjacent room?"

"Sure, no big deal! To be honest, if it's a twin room, I'd probably be up for sharing with her... well, assuming she doesn't snore! And assuming she's ok with me in her room!"

"I'll have a word. So, tomorrow we'll be going off to Glasgow at some point: it'll be a teardown & setup day, so no performance, but you'll need to get home and packed up. Don't worry about doing any washing, we can get that done on the way."

----

"Oh my gawd, who is THIS cutie?" asked Erin, as Ziggy pushed Linda into Northern Girl's room. It was blue hair meeting pink hair!

"Hey guys, meet Ziggy. She's going to be looking after me for a bit!" explained Linda.

"Well, Ziggy, nice to meet you!" They all introduced themselves, and all chatted for a bit.

"Ok, just had a word with the dancers..." said Paige. "They have a few ideas they would like to chat to you about, then would like to do some rehearsing with you, Linda. So, the suggestion is that you guys can chat as you have your lunch, then get over to the venue soon after. The relevant tech / stage crew will be there to help too. And yes, Ziggy, that means you too.."

"Pardon? Me?"

"Yup, the corridors over there are long, so plenty of wheelchair pushing to do! Plus Linda's probably going to need you to take her onto the stage in her wheelchair... Hmmm, maybe I need to show you the show opening, so it makes more sense." Ziggy followed Paige, and let her show her the opening.

"Wow, she can really sing, can't she!" said Ziggy. "So what you thinking will happen tonight?"

"That's something for you to talk to Linda and the dancers about, I have little involvement in the artistic side of what goes on. I just hope you're ok with crowds though."

"What do you mean?"

"I believe we're at a 10,000 capacity again tonight!"


[25/3630]

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #27 on: 13. September 2024, 20:33:25 PM »
Chapter 26

There had been a lot of talking done over lunch, bouncing around ideas about what they could do in the performance to help Linda. After lunch and a short 'go clean your braces' break, they headed off to the venue, which is where Ziggy discovered how long the backstage corridors in such places could be!

"Let me borrow Ziggy for a few minutes" said Paige, "I'll show her the stage, so she knows what's what."  The stage crew had all turned up early today too. Paige showed Ziggy around, introducing her to the stage crew. "If you need help, just ask these guys... and guys, please help if Ziggy asks." Paige spotted that the settee had already arrived, and was on stage.

"One of the big bits for Linda will be the opening: I have no idea what people are planning, but I'm betting it's going to not only involve you bring Linda on in her wheelchair, but the dancers making it look amazingly good! So, you ok with eveything up here?"

"Yeah, it's similar to when I used to play, just a LOT bigger and a lot less clutter. There's no wedges, so I'm guessing you guys use in-ears?". They chatted as they went back to where Linda was.

"Ok, your ladyship," said Paige sarcastically to Linda when back in the dressing room, "probably need to get you on stage and let you get working!"


As Ziggy pushed Linda onto the stage, the stage crew had gathered there and were applauding. "I'm gonna say thank you now, as I know I'm gonna need a bit of extra help from you all over the next couple of weeks! So let me explain: I'm on drugs for a couple of days to kill off any pain. Also I'm supposed to stay completely off my leg for a few days, just rest it. After that, I'll see how it goes. I've got crutches and am ok using them, it's just that they are slow, so I got this 'sportscar with driver' to get around quicker..." she pointed at the chair and Ziggy.

The dancers and others arrived on stage. "Hi Linda... OK everyone, so we chatted with Linda over lunch: we have a few ideas we would like to try out for the opener" explained Liam - the lead dancer and primary choreographer - to the stage crew, "a lot is going to depend on what Linda is able to do." Liam had a chat with Ziggy, explaining what he would need her to do: basically wheel Linda onto the stage, and stop at the right place: they were planning on doing the rest!

A little over an hour and a half later, the dancers, Linda and Ziggy worked out what they would be doing, not just for the opening, but other important bits, so called the other 7 onto the stage to do a full rehearsal of the opening and the other bits. And a soundcheck while they were at it!

"OK," said Paige as they all got up onto the stage, "Whilst Linda has been relaxing up here on the stage with our dancers, we've been working hard reading social media... It seems there's a small group of fans outside, would love to meet you all, especially Linda. Want me and Eleanor to go out and get them ready?"

"Yeah, ok, but don't rush, I think we'll be here a bit longer" said Linda.

----

"Hi Paige, it's Paula here, from BD Media..."

"Oh, hi there, Paula, you going to be able to join us in Aberdeen?"

"Yup. Sanjay and I are booked on the five past four flight, gets in about quarter to six. How far's the hotel from the airport?"

"About 5 minutes, you could almost walk there! Ok, I'll organise rooms for you both. How long to staying with us?"

"Well, we were originally going to meet up with you for Manchester, so we're planning to stay with you now for the rest of the UK part of the tour."

"Yeah, makes sense. Ping me when you're on the ground, and in the meantime, I'll sort out rooms here and in Glasgow. See you both later!"

BD Media is, of course, the team doing the 'fly on the wall' documentary. Whilst Paula and Sanjay had been with the girls in London, then the next couple of cities, the original plan was to join up again in Manchester: interesting because they were due to play a large stadium, and it was felt worthwhile to be there to see the girls reactions. But Linda's accident had changed things. Luckily, Paige had been switched on enough to do a bit of filming on her camera, so there would probably be enough footage.

Paige called the hotel reception, to organise 2 rooms, to discover that the hotel was full, so she called Tara, the lady who did on-stage camera at their performances: she remembered that Tara was in a twin room.

"Hey, Tara, need a bit of a favour..."

"Go on..."

"Remember Paula from BD Media? She needs a bed for the night, but the hotel is full, so I was wondering..."

"Hey, of course I know Paula, and sure, she can share my room. When's she getting here?"

"About six..."

"Oh, no problem, I'll not need to be next door till about 7..."

"Thanks, Tara! You're a life-saver!". All Paige needed to do now was find a bed for Sanjay.


----

Paige and Eleanor went outside and found the group of fans: there was just over 20 of them.

"Hi everyone! You all coming along tonight?" asked Paige. Paige, having been one of Jenny's 'superfans' was very used to dealing with and chatting to the girl's fans, and quite a few knew her name. "I'm Paige, and this is Eleanor: if you recognise her name, it's 'coz she runs the fan club!". The fans were all talking together, so no one could hear a thing. "Ok, quieten down, and I'll explains what's been going on. So, as you probably saw on the news, Dianne and Linda were in a car accident yesterday, on the way back here. A van went into the side of their taxi. Dianne was fine, maybe a tiny bit shaken, but no physical injuries. Linda was on the side the van hit: she has a couple of minor cuts, but the big thing is that she's fractured her leg, down the bottom, near the ankle. The paramedics, nurses and doctors apparently looked after her well, and she now has her leg in plaster up to here... She's on painkillers, and needs to stay off the leg for up to a week. So, she now has a nice wheelchair, plus someone to push her around."

There were a few questions from the fans, which Paige answered.

"So, Linda has been working hard with the dancers, working out ways to let her do various bits of the performance tonight... like the opening number. They have things pretty well sorted, and at the moment all eight girls are running through the practicalities of things in the show that involve Linda. But, good news for you, is that Linda really wants to come out and see you guys... so do the others for that matter! So, be patient, and they'll be here to see you. Just be aware that Linda has been working hard, so she's likely to be a bit tired... so be nice to her!"

Elaine opened a box she had with them. "We thought that, being such loyal fans, you deserved something a bit special: these are keyrings that have been specially signed by the four girls!". This was something that they had done in the first few days of the tour, for their fans who 'went the extra mile', like these fans. It wasn't anything expensive, but they WERE personally signed by each of the girls, and not generally on sale. As she gave out the keyrings, the fans seemed very grateful for their gifts.

While they waited, they chatted. One of the fans asked Paige "So how did you two get involved with the band then?"

Paige smiled. "So, when I was still at college, one of my friends invited a small group of us to the park: it seems that she had met Jenny, and we were invited to meet Jenny in the park. We were the small group that went on to be 'Jenny's Superfans', we did all sorts of things for her, which was really great, plus we got to know Jenny: she's actually a really nice, and amazingly normal person... all the girls are, actually. Anyway, when I was about to finish college, they asked me if I wanted to work for the band, as a sort of PA. So I work with their manager, helping to get stuff done. For example, I organised getting Ziggy, the girl who is pushing Linda around in her wheelchair. Elaine, I'll let you tell them your story..."

"Well, several years ago, a friend and I decided to set up a fan club for CJD. Then the three girls spotted it, and gave their blessing, so I was running the official fan club in my spare time, from my bedroom. Then a few months ago, they asked if I would be interested in doing it full time... So here I am... working full time for the band! I also help out with getting and selling all the merch... you know, the t-shirts and posters... oh, and keyrings!

"So, when Linda, and the others, appear, don't get over-excited: I can promise they want to meet you guys as much as you want to meet them, and they will be happy to chat with you all, and do selfies and so on!"

It was almost 30 minutes later when Paige's phone buzzed. 'We'll be with you in a few minutes!' said the message from Linda.

----

Inside, they had pretty much worked out what Linda would be doing during the show tonight: it would no doubt get refined over the next few performances, and changed again as Linda became more mobile.

"Right, Ziggy, let's get ready to go and meet our fans. Hey, Liam, why don't you guys join us, I'm sure they would like to meet you guys, and I'll be honest, after what we just did today, it's pretty clear how important you are to the show!" Linda messaged Paige to tell her they were on the way. Of course, by the time they had gone along the long backstage corridors, then had to turn around because there wasn't a lift there, it was about 10 minutes before they managed to escape the building. The others had said they would join her in about 15 minutes, but for now, they knew that the fans wanted to really meet Linda. So Linda, pushed by Ziggy, and accompanied by the dancers, left the building.

"Ah, they're over there!" said Ziggy. All of this was new for Ziggy. The initial excitement of meeting the 8 pop stars has subsided, but this was something different, and Ziggy was quite excited to be involved. "They look to be well behaved!" said Ziggy as they got closer.

"Yeah, Paige and Eleanor will have been chatting with them, calming them down. We're in no rush, we have plenty of time to spend with them, and I must admit, I still find it fun to meet our fans. At the end of the day, they are the reason we do this job!" explained Linda. "Hey everyone, it's good to see you! Hey, which one of you is Trudy?"

"Erm, that's me, am I in trouble?" said a petite girl.

"No! And who is Andy?"

"Me!" said a boy...

"I just want to say thank you both for the nice messages you guys posted online! You see, we DO read what you guys post!" The two fans had big smiles on their faces. "So, let me introduce a few people... first of all, this lady behind me is Ziggy: she started working for us... must be all of four hours ago! She's here to push me around, and carry my stuff, as I seem to be a bit immobilised right now! Now THESE guys are our dance team, lead by Liam! Without these guys not only would our show be nowhere near as good, but now I have my leg in plaster, they are going to use their skills to help me perform for you all! Go on, introduce yourselves!"

Over the next 10 minutes, Paige organised the fans asking questions, which Linda was very happy to answer. Some were about what had happened to her, others were more general.

"Hey, I have an idea.. would you guys be up for a bit of fun? Liam: I'm thinking that you guys could teach our lovely fans a simple dance... what do we all think?" Both the fans and the dancers liked the idea. "Go on, Ziggy, you too! And Paige and Eleanor!"

When the other band members came out about five minutes later, they were both surprised and amused to see what was going on. "You guys look to be having fun!" said Jenny. "Hi everyone, I'm Jenny..." The others then introduced themselves.

"So, we thought it would be fun to teach them a dance... You guys should join in!" said Linda. She watched as almost 25 fans, 7 band members, 6 dancers and 4 others were learning a new dance. "Ok, Ziggy, want to move me back a bit, I want to get a video of this!"


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Offline xxxforce

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #28 on: 14. September 2024, 17:02:17 PM »
I bet that Ziggy is going to be a proper Crew member soon.
Also think that Ziggy gets a Chance to show her Musical skills maybe as "pre-band" and she is sure quite talented  :D

Offline Sparky

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Re: CJDL on tour
« Reply #29 on: 14. September 2024, 18:24:14 PM »
I bet that Ziggy is going to be a proper Crew member soon.

So, my thinking is that Ziggy will be there for Linda for the next 6 weeks, while she is in her cast, but yes, I have a feeling that they might enjoy her company, and keep her on for the rest of the tour. Longer term, it would be harder, as she lives 'way up north'!

Quote
Also think that Ziggy gets a Chance to show her Musical skills maybe as "pre-band" and she is sure quite talented  :D

I already have her lined up for one musical spot, but who knows, crew karaoke maybe as well? She can certainly sing / play with the girls backstage, also when they are travelling in their bus. Her musical tastes are somewhere between Northern Girls and Darkest Knights... so probably not THAT different to Linda!

Any suggestions for Ziggy's involvement always welcome.