Different Circles

He stepped up to his microphone stand and grabbed his guitar cord, which had been hung at the junction where the talk box tube was taped. He plugged it in and pulled a guitar pick from the holder on the other side of the stand. There were nineteen picks stored there, all of them navy blue (Jake’s favorite color) and each one stenciled with the words: JAKE KINGSLEY, Tsunami Sound Festival, 1996 in white. Lenny’s guitar picks were stenciled as well, although with his name and his picks were red. Ted’s drumsticks were also stenciled.

With a swipe of his middle finger, Jake turned the volume on the guitar all the way up. He was now live. He turned back to his band, who, by now, had all taken their positions. He looked at each one of them individually to make sure they were ready to start, doing it quickly, less than a half second per member. First Lenny, then Ben, then Ted, then Phil, then Pauline gave him a nod, indicating all systems go (though Pauline’s nod was markedly hesitant and unsure). He then looked back at Ted again and gave him a thumb’s up. Ted nodded once more and gave a four count by tapping his drum sticks together. On the count of four, they launched into their opening number: Can’t Keep Me Down, the hard driver from Jake’s first solo album.

The roar of the crowd picked up in enthusiasm and decibel level when they heard the distinctive intro chords being hammered out by Lenny and supported by strong strikes on the toms from Ted. They played the intro out to completion and then let the last note fade almost to silence before Jake jumped in with his part, strumming out the primary melody with mild distortion that was just a few steps above clean. They played this out through three repetitions, all of them moving with the beat and getting their groove going. The tune used the varying tempo technique that Jake employed so often on his material. After the third rep of the primary melody, they shifted to a slower tempo, but a more powerful melody and rhythm and Jake began to belt out the lyrics that declared he could be abused, could be knocked down and dragged out, but he would always get back up again and emerge stronger from the experience. The lyrics came out of his mouth naturally, with perfect timing and in key to the music, just as if he had practiced a thousand times over the past few months—which he had. He felt his stage fright slipping away as the dopamine and endorphin release that came from performing well began to surge through his body. In the stagefront seats that he could see, he saw nearly everyone singing along with him. His eye caught a particularly buxom and attractive young women who was probably not even old enough to legally buy beer. She gave him a smile and pulled her shirt up, revealing two gloriously bare breasts capped with huge nipples. He smiled as he saw this, thinking it’s been way too long since I’ve done this last.

They reached the first chorus and the tempo switched back up. Jake sang out the words:

You can’t keep me down, no matter how you try

I will stand back up, I will stand back in.

No, you can’t keep me down, you can’t take me out

I may lose a battle, but the war will still be mine

As he sang the chorus lines, Phil and Pauline joined him, giving him soprano and baritone support. Jake smiled again as he heard his sister’s voice mixing with his. She performed her part perfectly, just as she had on the original recording of the tune and just as she had during their rehearsals. Though she had never had any vocal training other than what Jake and Celia had given her, she sounded like a professional.

After the chorus, they switched tempo again for the second verse. Jake continued to play out his parts on his guitar, the fingers of his right hand strumming, the fingers of his left hand fretting automatically, without conscious thought, while he sang into the microphone. He expounded upon his theme of self-liberation and then they ran through the chorus once more. After the second chorus, they played out the bridge, Jake hammering out short, poetic diatribes about those who would try to keep him down while Phil and Pauline hummed angrily in key behind him. After this, there was a final verse, another tempo change, and then three repetitions of the chorus. After the third rep, the outro guitar solo began. On the studio recording, Jake had played the solo (Celia had actually played the guitar parts he was playing now) but had not taken credit for it. Lenny played it now, stepping forward to the edge of the stage and perfectly imitating Jake’s notes with just a little personal phrasing of his own. The crowd cheered for him as he played, most of them nodding their heads in time to the beat.