Chapter Thirty-Seven – Big Time Concert
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" James asked as he sat back in the make-up chair, eyes closed as Riley brushed foundation across his face.
"Hm, let's see," Riley pulled her hand back and rested it against her chin. "I'm short, I don't have a penis, I have two lumps of fat on my chest, and once a month I have crappy mood swings." She stated with a hint of sarcasm. "Meaning I'm a girl, so yeah, I know what I'm doing, Handsome."
"You do realize that now that you've said that he's staring at your boobs, right?" Carlos asked as he pulled his polo shirt over his head, fixing the collar.
Riley looked down and then rolled her eyes as she pulled up the front of her tank-top. "Logie!" She called. Logan walked by James and swiftly smacked him on the back of the head as he continued. "Thank you."
"No problem." He replied and then sat down on the couch in the room. "I can't believe that this is our last concert in Australia."
"We still have three more back in the US." Rhuben reminded him as she continued to brush Kendall's hair. "Don't start getting all sentimental now." She looked at her watch and then kept going. "We have twenty minutes left, by the way!" She called to everyone in the room.
"Twenty minutes?" James' eyes popped open and he started to panic. "Move faster, beautiful. Move faster."
"If I move any faster, you'll get a mascara brush up your nose." She warned with massive amounts of attitude.
"Hey," Patrick greeted as he, Noah, and Sydney walked into the room. "I see that you guys are panicking." He commented when he saw the look on James' face.
"Where have you guys been?" Logan asked as he turned to the three of them, finger-combing his hair and constantly straightening his tie. "We go on in twenty minutes and you haven't gotten dressed or put on any make-up yet."
"We were signing a few autographs and checking out the stage," Noah replied as he climbed into a make-up chair himself, waiting for his turn as soon as Riley was done. Because it was their last concert in Australia, the two bands had given their hair and make-up artists the day off and was doing everything themselves. "And making sure that Gustavo, Ronan, and Kelly weren't freaking out."
"Are they?" Carlos asked as he flopped down onto the couch next to Logan and put his legs in his friend's lap. Logan gave him a look and shoved his legs to the ground.
"Have you heard Gustavo screaming?" Sydney asked and then smiled when Carlos shook his head. "Then no."
"Speaking of Gustavo, I wonder what his big news is," Kendall stated as Rhuben stepped back to let him out of the chair before Carlos took his spot. "He was acting all giddy and weird yesterday and he had that evil gleam in his eye, that same one that he had when we were going to do a photo-shoot."
"Maybe he realized my dreams and is going to make a movie about our band!" James cried dramatically. "Where I'm the star and the movie is centered on me and he gets some other people that can actually act to play the rest of you." He turned his grin to his best friends, who glared back at him. "Or not." He added quickly.
"Who knows," Patrick replied with a shrug. He then snapped his fingers. "Anyone have an iPod?" he asked, holding out his hand. James reached into his pocket and pulled out his before tossing it over to him. "Thank you." Patrick scrolled through it for a second before selecting a song and putting it into the iHome, cranking up the music as Nsync started to play.
"You have Nsync on your iPod?" Rhuben laughed as she turned to James, placing a hand on her hip.
"Hey, Nsync is one of the greatest bands of all time," James defended himself. "And I'm not the only one that thinks so."
"Whatever." Rhuben laughed, rolling her eyes and then moved away from Carlos. "Ok, you're done too." Carlos beamed as he hoped out of the chair. "Anyone else?" She gave a relieved sigh when no one came forward. "Good, now I can get changed for the opening number."
"Not yet." Logan replied, holding up a hand. He motioned to his friends and then he, James, Carlos, and Kendall reached behind the couch and pulled out five bouquets of flowers. "This is for you guys." He announced as they were handed out. "If it wasn't for you being in LA then we wouldn't have been able to get this far."
"This is great and all," Patrick paused as he looked at his bouquet of flowers. "But isn't this a little girly?"
"It's the only thing that we could actually agree on giving you guys." Kendall replied quickly. "Because there really isn't much that we can say for a 'thank you.'" He explained.
"There's not thing that you have to say, it's just something that you have to do." Sydney replied seriously, and then smiled. "Go out and have a good show tonight." With that, he moved his flowers to the table behind him and held his arms out. Immediately, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney put their arms around each other and bent their heads down, getting psyched up for the opening number.
"No matter how the show goes tonight, we did our best and we're doing it for our fans." Patrick said. "Just remember that and it will keep you going. We're doing this for our fans first, and then for ourselves." He suddenly looked up. "Oh and one more thing that will help give us good spirits!" He cried.
"What's that?" Rhuben asked, looking a little skeptical.
Patrick looked at his phone. "As of today," he looked up and grinned. "We've known each other for a year exactly."
"And what a year it's been." Kendall added with a smile.
"Can we please save the emotional, sappy moment until after the concert?" Riley asked, looking a little uncomfortable. "I think Carlos is going to start crying soon."
"Hey, who can you be sappy with if it's not your friends?" James asked as he grabbed Patrick and gave him a crushing hug as well as a noogie.
"The hair! Watch the hair!" Patrick shrieked and was let go. "Honestly, I figured after a year you would be able to realize that I hate it when my hair is touched."
"Or that you need to duck out of the way because Ri-Ri is such a klutz." Noah added.
"Or you have to strain to hear because Noah talks so quietly." Riley shot back.
"Or that you have to be prepared because Rhu-Rhu is a massive perfectionist." Sydney teased.
"Or that Sydney is way too smart for his own good, so you're going to have to get used to feeling stupid around him." Rhuben replied. All five of them started to laugh. "It's going to be weird not doing this together." She stated quietly.
"What do you mean?" Logan asked his girlfriend, wrinkling his nose slightly.
"She means nothing." Riley replied, shaking her head as she looked at her watch. "We have to get changed. So, remember you dance steps, don't freak out, and good luck."
Sydney held his breath as he moved into his position, the stage was so dark he couldn't even see his hands in front of his face and he was nervous. The last show that was in front of thousands of fans from his home country and he was nervous as hell, which was surprising, since he was never nervous when it came to going onstage. But today was different and he knew it. There was a different energy about everyone that day and he didn't know why. Well, that wasn't entirely true, he knew why he and his siblings had a different energy, kind of nervous energy, but he wasn't so sure about the guys. Maybe it was because they were ready to go back home. He squinted an eye shut as some lights turned on and the music started playing.
"When I first saw you I knew nothing's like it used to be." Rhuben sang as she moved in the series of popping and locking dance moves. "Boy you have got to be the finest thing in history." Patrick and Noah then started to do the dance moves, as well. "The way I feel inside is just so hard to understand." Riley and Sydney started to do the dance moves as well. "You feed my appetite in ways I can't explain."
"I'll eat you up," The Jacksons moved forward a few steps, making space for Big Time Rush when they came out, and started to go through their complicated dance steps. "Your love your love. I'll eat you up your love your love.
"Whoa-oh" Rhuben sang.
"I'll eat you up." Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang as they all did chest pops.
"Whoa-oh."
"So yum yum."
"Whoa-oh."
"Can't get enough."
"Whoa-oh-oh-oh"
"I think I'm in love."
Riley and Rhuben switched places as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney stayed in their same spots, moving through more dance moves, the audience fueling their energy even higher as they went. "If you move any closer boy there is no guarantee," Riley sang and the five of them executed a perfect back-flip at the same time. "What I will do to you I fear it and it's scaring me. Like I've become some kind of demon in the night. You look so tasty I could eat you up alive." As Riley moved a finger across her lips and then pointed towards the back of the stage, pyrotechnics blew up and Big Time Rush appeared from under the stage.
"Make it count, play it straight, don't look back, don't hesitate." Kendall sang into his microphone as the Jacksons backed up to the back of the stage and Big Time Rush moved to the front. "When you go big time."
"What you want, what you feel, never quit, and make it real." James sang with a large smile on his face in response to the screams of the audience. "When you roll big time."
"Hey, hey."
"Listen to your heart now
"Hey, hey."
"Don't you feel the rush?
"Hey, hey."
"Better take your shot now."
"Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh." Logan moved over with his friends to stand in a line and they went through the familiar dance moves of their title song. "Go on shake it up, what you gotta lose? Go and make your luck with the life you choose. If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time."
The Jacksons, still doing their own dances moves, stepped up teh3 stage towards Big Time Rush and they started to sing the rest of the song together, the way that they had practiced it the day before.
"Look around." Sydney sang as he flipped onto his head and spun in a circle, propelling himself with his legs.
"Everyone is shining now, it's brighter somehow." Kendall and Riley sang as she ran towards him and he held out his arm, spotting her as she spun in a circle around it, landing on her feet.
"Look around."
"Nothing's really as it seems, nothing but dreams" Patrick and James sang as James did a back-flip, and Patrick did a diving roll on the ground her him.
"You and I."
"Gonna make a brand new sound, like we own this town." Noah and Carlos sang as Noah did a flare. Next to him, Patrick and James grabbed onto Carlos' hands and lifted him up into the back-flip with a twist that they had practiced. He had a sloppy landing, but that couldn't stop the grin that slid onto his face when he landed.
"We can fly."
"Now our feet are off the ground and never look down." Logan and Rhuben sang as Logan grabbed onto Rhuben's hand and pulled her into his arms, then spun her out to the side again.
"Welcome to the big time. All the pretty people seen walkin' in the sunshine. Welcome to the good times. Life will never be the same." Sydney sang with as much emotion and power he could muster as he joined his friends again.
"Go on shake it up, what you gotta lose? Go and make your luck with the life you choose. If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time." They all sang.
As they sang the last word, the Jacksons all ran forward, their arms above their heads, and then swung their arms down, do a no-handed front flip-easily landing on their feet as James and Logan did a back-flip simultaneously.
"If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time!"
The audience screamed and cheered as Noah went over to the back-up band and grabbed a microphone. "Thank you, thanks everyone!" He called. "Welcome to our show, in Perth, Australia. Please give a warm welcome to our friends, and opening act, Big Time Rush!"
With that, he put the microphone back in its stand and hurried off stage with his brothers and sisters as the boys went to the front of the stage as the band started to play again.
"Here I am, there you are. Why does it seem so far? Next to you is where I should be" James sang into his microphone as he and Carlos moved to the catwalk of the stage that the Jacksons' had designed themselves. Along with the catwalk, it had a large circle at the front, enough to fit the whole band, and to be closer to the audience.
"Where I wanna be" Carlos sang into his microphone and smiled over at James, who smiled back.
"Something I want so bad, know what's inside your head. Maybe I could see what you see."
"Tell me what you see" Carlos sang and then moved back out of the way as Logan moved to the front of the stage to start singing himself.
"Gotta keep on believing that everything takes time. I'll make up any reason to make you mine." He sang as he pointed to a few of the girls in the front row, causing them to scream and jump up and down. "If you're staying or leaving, I'll follow your lead. So why keep pretending? Open your eyes; I can be what you need."
"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be. Turn myself upside down." The four of them sang in unison, standing towards the back of the stage as they did their dance moves to the song.
"Yes I will, yes I will" Logan sang in a high pitched voice, smiling, and trying not to laugh at the same time.
"Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree. Turn your whole world around"
"Yes I will, yes I will"
"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind, I will be there. Won't you try, one more try, be my any kind of girl. You decide, It's alright I will be there."
"You seem so hard to know, say goodbye, say hello. Then you say that it's time to go" Carlos sang into his microphone as Logan stood next to him.
"Now it's time to go." Logan sang.
"Changing my point of view, everyday something new. Anything to get next to you"
"Gonna get to you."
"Gotta keep on believing, that everything takes time. I'll make up any reason, to make you mine." Kendall sang as he crouched down and moved over to the screaming fans in the front row. "If you're staying or leaving, I'll follow your lead. So why keep pretending? Open your eyes; I can be what you need."
"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be." The four boys sang as they danced across the stage.
"That's the guy I'll be." Kendall sang and smiled towards his sister, who smiled and waved back.
"Turn myself upside down."
"Yes I will, yes I will."
"Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree."
"You know I'll agree."
"Turn your whole world around."
"Yes I will, yes I will."
"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind. I will be there. Won't you try, one more try? Be my any kind of girl. You decide, it's alright, I will be there."
"Let me know if I'm getting through." Kendall sang, punching an arm into the air.
"Making you understand." Carlos sang as he moved to the front of the stage.
"If it's wrong I'll try something new." James sang as waved an arm over his head, back and forth, the audience doing the same.
"Don't look away, 'cause I'm here to stay. If it's a game, then I'm gonna play."
"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be. (That's the guy I'll be.) Turn myself upside down (yes I will, yes I will). Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree (you know I'll agree). Turn your whole world around (yes I will, yes I will)"
"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind. I will be there (I'll be there). Won't you try? One more try? Be my any kind of girl. You decide, it's alright, I will be there."
BTR had gone through the rest of their songs (This Is Our Someday, Big Night, Oh Yeah, 'Til I Forget About You, and Boyfriend) before turning the concert over to the Jacksons, who hurried out onstage with as much energy as anyone had ever seen them have before.
"Hey Perth!" Riley shouted into her microphone and smiled and nodded at the cheering she received.
"That's not good enough, I can't hear you!" Rhuben shouted as she pulled the brim of her hat up a little bit and wiped nervous sweat off of her forehead.
"You all ready to have fun tonight?" Sydney asked and the cheering grew louder. "Ok, here we go!" The Jackson danced a little in place as the music started up. "This song is called From the Inside". He licked his lips. "1, 2, 3, 4!"
"I don't know who to trust no surprise" Riley sang and pulled the microphone away from her mouth as a spot light appeared on Patrick.
"Everyone feels so far away from me" he breathed and walked across the stage.
"Heavy thoughts sift through dust and the lies" Riley sang and waved her arm in the direction of the cell phone lights that were waving in front of her.
"Trying not to break but I'm so tired of this deceit. Every time I try to make myself get back up on my feet, all I ever think about is this. All the tiring time between and how trying to put my trust in you just takes so much out of me." Patrick sang again and snapped as the chorus came up.
"Take everything from the inside and throw it all away, cuz I swear for the last time I won't trust myself with you." The Jacksons sang in unison and pointed to the audience. The spot light shifted over to Rhuben as the others, minus Noah, moved to the front of the stage and touched the audience members' hands.
"Tension is building inside steadily." Rhuben sang and ruffled Noah's hair and he smiled at her.
"Everyone feels so far away from me" Noah sang.
"Heavy thoughts forcing their way out of me" Rhuben closed her eyes as she sang.
"Trying not to break but I'm so tired of this deceit. Every time I try to make myself get back up on my feet, all I ever think about is this. All the tiring time between and how trying to put my trust in you just takes so much out of me." Noah sang.
As the Jacksons moved through the chorus of the song, they started to get more into it. For the Jacksons, 'From the Inside' was an emotional song to them, often making Sydney start to cry when they were rehearsing the song. And everybody could tell that they were starting to get emotional onstage from the fact that Sydney was constantly rubbing his cheeks and that they were singing really hard at the beginning of the concert.
"I won't waste myself on you, you, you. Waste myself on you, you, you" Patrick sang, well, it was actually kind of like a screamo but not exactly. As he sang, Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney tucked their microphones into their pants pockets and did complicated flips across the stage, causing the audience to cheer in awe.
"I'll take everything from the inside and throw it all away, cuz I swear for the last time I won't trust myself with you. Everything from the inside and just throw it all away, cuz I swear for the last time I won't trust myself with you, you, you." The Jacksons sang and bowed and waved to the crowd and they cheered appreciatively.
"Thanks," Riley smiled as the stage-hands took their microphones and handed them head-mics. "This next song that we're going to perform, actually isn't ours, she explained as she walked across stage. "We're borrowing it from some very good friends of ours."
"And in some way," Patrick broke in. "We're dedicating this song to them. But it's not just to them; it's to the friends that have helped us for the past year and to you guys." He pointed to the audience. "Our fans, who are also our friends. You guys have really helped us as well, especially helping us win that ARIA."
"Our concerts are basically about saying thanks to our family and friends and fans, and this song definitely does that." Rhuben concluded and then smiled. "So thank you guys." She gave a short bow as she adjusted the microphone by her mouth. "This is I Know You Know, by our friends, Big Time Rush."
"Maybe this could be the line that starts the whole story." Riley sang as she moved to the front of the stage, smiling as she went. "Maybe you could be the one, the one who's meant for me." Riley then turned and sang straight to Kendall, who was in the audience with their friends. He smiled as his friends lightly shoved him. "I know that I said wait but what if you're my soul mate? I'll slow down when you say, slow down 'cause we can-"She moved back and stood in the front of her siblings.
"We can party like the weekend," The five of them clapped once over their head. "You got me thinkin', we could be a thing, yeah." They moved a finger to their heads and then quickly moved it away. "I know you know, I've got your heart thumpin'." They did two quick chest-pops. "I know you know, we know we've got somethin'." They stomped a foot on the ground one after another.
Riley and Rhuben moved backwards as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney moved to the front. "We could be onto something so good." They smiled as they their arms across their chests. "Tell me that your mine." They each did a body roll and then slapped their hands onto their hips. "I know you know, you've got my heart pumpin'." They did one chest-pop again and then spun out to move to different sides of the stage as Rhuben moved forward. "I know you know, we know we've got somethin'."
"You know this ain't me at all, I'm usually lost for words." Rhuben moved a hand over her mouth and then smiled, laughing a little as she moved it away. "You know I can't help but fall. I've never felt so sure." She moon walked in a short circle and continued singing. "Got me in a hurry, but you don't gotta worry. I'll slow down when you say slow down. 'Cause we can-"
"We can party like the weekend. You got me thinkin', we could be a thing, yeah. I know you know, I've got your heart thumpin'. I know you know, we know we've got somethin'." The Jacksons sang again as they went through the same dance moves as before, but at different parts of the stage. "We could be onto something so good, tell me that your mine. I know you know, you've got my heart pumpin'. I know you know, we know we've got somethin'-right."
The Jackson then started to skip around the stage, clapping over their heads as they went, beckoning the audience to do the same thing. "We're two of a kind. So let's party like its 99. I know you know, you've got my heart thumpin. I know you know, we know we've got somethin'." They went through the instrumental, still clapping their hands over their heads, grinning like fools as they went.
"I know you know," Sydney sang as he moved to the front circle of the stage at the end of the cat-walk. "I know you know."
"We can party like the weekend." Riley and Rhuben, who were sitting on the ground behind Patrick and Noah, put their hands up, waiting. Patrick and Noah then spread their legs apart and grabbed onto Riley's and Rhuben's hands, pulling them forward through their legs and up to their feet. Then all five of them moved across the stage until they were back in a row from oldest to youngest. "You got me thinkin', we could be a thing, yeah I know you know, I've got your heart thumpin'. I know you know, we know we've got somethin'. We could be onto something so good, tell me that you're mine. I know you know you've got my heart thumpin'. I know you know we know we've got somethin' right, we're two of a kind. So let's party like its 99, yeah. I know we've got somethin'."
The five of them then grabbed each other's hands and took a bow, smiling widely. "Thanks," Patrick called as they finished the song. "Thank you so much!" He reached down and grabbed a water bottle, taking a large gulp before tossing the water out onto the audience.
The concert went on for another hour and a half, and as it was winding down, it was then that the Jacksons knew that it was time to reveal their new song, which was also going to be a single for their next CD.
"Thanks very much you guys, you're so awesome!" Noah called as the stage-hands walked out and handed Riley and Patrick guitars. "Ok, this next song is a new song of ours that we had written, then stopped, then finished again a couple of days ago. Just like I Know You Know, it sends a message out to everyone that has helped us this past year."
"This song is called 'This Is Our Song'." Sydney announced.
Patrick tuned his guitar for a second and then started to sing and as he did so, the giant screen in the background started to show pictures of them and their friends from the tour as well as some videos that Stephanie and Sydney had taken. "So let's sing na, na na na na, hey, ya. Come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya."
Riley stood next to her brother and the two played the guitar quietly as they sang together, using head-mics as Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney used hand-held microphones. "This is our song, that's all that matters 'cause we all belong right here together. There's nothing better than singing along, this is our summer, this is our song."
"Come grab your guitar," Noah sang with a smile, holding his microphone up to his mouth. "Sit by the fire." Rhuben then joined in with him. "'Cause we all need a song, when we're weary and tired. We'll sit here together and sing it out loud."
Riley, Patrick, and Sydney then joined in with Rhuben and Noah on the chorus. "This is our song, that's all that matters 'cause we all belong right here together. There's nothing better than singing along. This is our summer, and this is our song. This is our song. This is our song. This is our song."
"Come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya" Sydney started out, singing quietly.
"Come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya." Patrick and Noah sang, a little louder.
"And come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya." Riley and Rhuben sang, even louder.
"Come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya." The five of them sang in unison at the top of their lungs.
The audience clapped along to the beat as all five of them started to jump up and down, moving into the chorus. "This is our song that's all that matters 'cause we all belong right here together. There's nothing better than singing along. This is our summer…this is our song that's all that matters 'cause we all belong right here together. There's nothing better than singing along this is our summer, this is our song. This is our song. This is our song."
"This is our song." Sydney concluded the song. "Thank you very much!" Once again, the five of them walked to the front of the stage, grabbed each other's hands and took a bow as the instrumental version of their song 'It's Been A Summer' played in the background. "Thanks for coming out, have a great night and drive home safely, thanks!"
They all headed off-stage and walked the winding hallways back to their dressing room to talk to the few fans that had back-stage passes as well as to their friends and family. "Well," Sydney sighed as he yawned. "Another concert down."
"And a whole night of packing to go through." Noah added as he grabbed Sydney in his arms and picked him up, Sydney resting his cheek on his shoulder.
"Which means-"Rhuben started.
"We're not going to be getting any sleep." Riley concluded.
"Exactly." Patrick replied enthusiastically.
A/N: Sorry that it didn't show anything other than the concert and BTR and DE. But the next chapter will make up for it. I'm warning you though, the next chapter is going to make you guys feel really sad, it definitely made me sad when I was writing it, so I hope I wrote it in a way that will get to you.
You guys probably recognized the guys doing Any Kind of Guy from my first story 'Big Time Rivarly'. It's because I moved it here, rather than having to write them perform it a different way, because it's basically the same idea I had in mind. Also This Is Our Song is not mine, it's owned by Disney/Camp Rock 2.
*Sigh*. Only three chapters left. They'll be up tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday. So by Monday the story will be over. Thanks guys!
Cheers,
-Riley