The four women carried their guitars slung over their shoulders and clattered out of their improvised dressing room into the dance hall and threaded their way through to the stage area. The music from the DJ had stopped and the expectant hush laid all the focus of attention on them. In a moment of uncertainty as they plugged into their amplifiers while Diane climbed aboard her drum stool, they hoped there wasn't going to be a last minute electronic glitch while being keenly aware of their need to face the audience. A few drum rolls, guitar strums and bass rumblings convinced them that everything was fine. Annabelle stepped up to the mike and smiled out into the coloured lights that focussed on them, blanking out their friends in darkness.
"Hi, we're 'The Creation' and we've come to play our songs for you. The first number was written not by us but by Tori Amos and this is our version of 'Pancake.'"
All at once, Simone and Annabelle set up a powerful undulating succession of chords which Erin's bass underpinned with a stomach jerking figure and Diane battered away on the drums and the full power of four women was unleashed. It grabbed at the vitals of the audience who knew the song. Then Simone and Annabelle stepped up to their mike and their sweetly interlocking harmonies took flight into the same musical figure and feelings of defying the world flowered in all of them when they came to the chorus at the end of which Simone's voice flew up wordlessly into the stratosphere. She hadn't dared to do it before but she had always wanted to emulate her heroine.
"You give me yours
I'll give you mine
cause I can look your God
right in the eye."
Finally they came to the cryptic line about ordering a pancake and the song faded away to a dying whoosh on the cymbals to a sudden dead silence when the hearts were in the throats of four anxious women.
"More, more," yelled out Helen in her carrying voice, soon joined in by Nikki and then the audiences who included friends the group had made along the way. It became an echoing multitracked chant that brought tears to the performer's eyes. This was validation beyond their wildest dreams. Women out there loved what they were doing.
"We'd like to do a song that we did write, it's by Diane on drums and Erin on bass," called out Simone, feeling vibrantly alive, up high with the feeling that they could do anything they wanted. Diane grinned appreciatively as she let loose a drum break, followed by a curly bass line from Erin and then Simone and Annabelle got into the forceful, slightly quirky song as they played and sang in unison. As Diane rapped out her steady rhythms on the drums, she loved her friend's decorative touches to the basic melody she'd originally sung. The way they put their hearts and souls into the song roused Erin's large capacity for warm friendship for them. The song rocked along in a foursquare, no nonsense fashion till its final conclusion with Annabelle's guitar flourish and Diane's drum roll brought the song to a rousing conclusion. Cheering broke out in response to their two strong opening numbers.
"You're a marvellous audience and good friends of ours," called out Simone excitedly with a distinct tremor in her voice."This next song is one of mine called 'Ladies of the Canyon'
All at once, Simone and Annabelle played tinkling guitar runs while Erin conjured up jazzy bass runs to Diane's subdued drumming and the lyrics were thrust forward for the audience to hear. It spoke of love and friendship amongst women in the sun-kissed California coast and wended its way through the imaginations of all who heard it. All the women reached backwards into their past and related to the present so the smiles of encouragement Colins and Jane had received during their courtship was for real. She looked awestruck at the way her one time teacher sang the sort of words she'd once recited at poetry except that these were hers . To Helen and Nikki, they spoke of what life was like in the faraway club called Chix under rainy London skies and they knew now that Simone and Annabelle's high intelligence would work its way into this performance. This time the applause for the song wasn't rapturous outpourings for spectacular musical energy but a thoughtful giving back of their feelings which had been sung for them.
"This next song is by the poet Walt Whitman which was a favourite when I taught English. Apologies to the poet but I had to change the words around so we could sing it. It stuck with me so when I first learned guitar, my melody got changed around by all of us. Anyway, I hope you like it."
Colins looked worshipfully at the totally charming way Miss Bradley sought approval, this woman whom she idolised. She shook her head in wonder at this incongruity. All at once, Simone's singing declamation of the poem to her slow steady strumming was embellished by the three other women's musical interjections. The song gradually gained momentum as Diane and Erin found it interesting just what sounds they cared to drop into the musical mix. In that way, the lyrics expressing love as dissolving the physical boundaries between two lovers appealed to the intelligence and sensitivities of women who'd come across poetry in high school and hadn't revisited it. The song freaked out Michelle Peters, propping up the bar at the back of the room as she used to sit on the front row in Miss Bradley's class, adoringly listening to her as she strode around reciting the poem.
"This next song of mine has personal importance," called out Annabelle in her clear voice, emboldened by her partner to speak as well as play." It's a love song I wrote for Simone when I thought she was so near but so far away. I guess every woman's been through that."
All at once, her honey coated voice, pitched lower than Simone's, reached out to the audience and tinkling guitars were backed up by a softly buzzing bass and clicking sounds of the drums and finally Simone added her own ethereal harmonies to make a gorgeous confection. .
"In the space between what's wrong and right
you will find me waiting for you."
The contrast between the lilting song and the emotions overflowing from the two women as they sang was overwhelming. Annabelle relived all those moments when invisible ties held her back from the woman who was clearly falling for her while Simone could feel the situation through Annabelle's eyes. It didn't make the song any easier to sing but bursting through all restraints made it a prayer of hope for both of them. These words hit home to all the women in the audiences whose lives were being sung for them. Behind the two singers, Erin and Diane felt comfortable in backing away from the no holds barred rock and roll attack of the first couple of songs as it gave them a chance to feel their way amongst the cracks of the songs and explore their own feelings.
"My sheets are warm
I will shelter you from the storm."
I will shelter you all through the storm."
Those repeated words sent a shiver through Nikki's soul as it expressed so vibrantly that protective streak in her a mile wide that made her want to defend every woman she'd ever loved with her psyche, her intelligence, her passion and her fists if need be. Tears streamed down her face and Helen hugged her warmly, deeply moved. Sadie marvelled at the talents she'd never suspected when Simone and Annabelle had first known her as a customer. Vanessa and Alison felt profound satisfaction as their photograph of the group had been realised in this marvellous performance.
"The answers aren't so easy to find
The questions will have to do
Cause I've lost myself so deep in your life
My only fix is you."
The keening voice hit the spot for all the women who gave an audible gasp that these four women had hit the spot so exactly, It made them wrap an arm round their partner and it drove it home to Colins that what had happened between her and Jane could never be undone and that loving her woman was perfectly natural. Her doubts and fears were forever consigned to the past as a new version of Colins could step out into the world.
"This is an old folk song I heard somewhere. It was written for a guy for his woman. It is so easily adaptable and sounds beautiful," Annabelle called out when they got into their sixth song. They couldn't believe how marvellously the concert as all the ideas they'd talked about, all their rehearsals had led to everything going spectacularly right. They also felt the women emotionally hunger for the eccentric way their songs veered between styles yet covering all bases. This was a meal for the senses.
"Yes and only if my own true love was waiting
Yes and if I could hear her heart a softly pounding
Only if she was lying by me
Could I sleep in my bed once again."
Diane loved the delicate feel of drum brushes as 'Orange Moonlight" got under weigh as it almost didn't have an obvious rhythm at all. The lyrics were so sparse that it enabled all four women to put their music into it it just as they wanted to. Erin's gently zooming bass line took long strides in wandering around in an intriguing fashion as Annabelle joined Simone in delicious harmonies and letting her nimble fingers work in counterpoint to Erin. It conveyed the delicious feeling of sitting by the great Pacific ocean and letting thoughts dreamily emerge.
"This is our second Tori Amos song. I guess you could say we're fans of her music," Simone said with a gentle laugh as the four women got into the next song " A sorta fairytale," announced Simone and away she went, leading off with her sure singing and playing that the rest soon piled into. As Annabelle picked out intricate lead work, she glanced affectionately at her lover whose profile faced the audience. She remembered playing this song for the shy woman whom she'd had to coax into playing the guitar and now just look at the radiant confidence that emanated from her. She was such a star.
"On my way up North
up on the Ventura
I pulled back the hood
and I was talking to you
and I knew then it would be
a lifelong thing."
The lovely lilting song conveyed all the feel of driving along a Californian coastal road which all of them could relate to, Helen and Nikki included. They'd had to fly halfway across the world so they went out of their way to drive this route than those where it was just beyond their backdoor.
"This last song was written by one of the old time male rock and rollers, like the guy who converted our acoustic guitars to play electric. This song is affectionately dedicated to him and also all the women in the world who can do it on the road,"Annabelle called out loudly in a rousing tone of voice, an invitation to party. She felt so good about herself. Right then, as Simone powered her way into the song on rhythm guitar, she loved the way Annabelle had recently taught her to play chords in G, hitting that top string three frets up on every third beat in a four bar. It felt like magic as she and Annabelle powered their singing into one microphone that might have been bending under the shock waves they were generating. Diane grinned away, hair flowing back from her shoulders as she battered her way through drum rolls on top of the kick ass rhythm she was generating. Beside her, Erin played those gloriously old fashioned boogie rhythms up and down her fretboard, hunched in tight over it with her concentration, wanting to give of her best. This was the exactly right song to round up the set with.
"Left a good job in the city
Working for the man every night and day
And I never lost one minute of sleeping
Worrying about the way things might have been
Big wheel keep on turning
Proud Mary keep on burning
Rolling, rolling, rolling on a river."
Simone started to move around on stage, something she'd never done before as she grinned with happiness as she sang while Annabelle's nimble fingers coaxed a distinctly electric rock lead style which was something she had only fooled around at the fringes of before. It knocked her out and made her feel so good and reminded her again that she really had always wanted to be a bit of a rock star and Cat Pegrum could go shove that jeer of hers when they first ever met. She'd denied it in her head at the time and never played a note in public. That was then so why should she deny the truth in herself? She managed to lassoo her psyche down to the ground when she sang out that irresistible ode to an old time Mississippi paddle wheeled steamer. Finally, they ground the song to a halt in a flurry of drum rolls and guitar mayhem, the last song of the set.
"More more," yelled out the crowd as sweat and tears of joy streamed down the faces of four women as they waved at the audience, feeling totally exhausted. The applause went to their heads like the finest wine but there was one slight problem that the straight-talking Erin voiced as she moved closer to Simone and Annabelle.
"What'll we do next? My mind's a blank."
"So's mine," whispered Annabelle as she smiled and waved.
"I've got an idea," Simone said.
"Then do it. We'll back you."
"Let's do 'Amazing Grace' but we're going to make it real. Diane can join us on the singing."
The other two women looked blankly, not sure where this was leading but put their faith in her. Simone stepped up to the mike and replied from them all, feeling as if she was on the stage of the Santa Monica Civic.
"Thank you so much. The last song isn't ours as it's about being saved. I'm still a Catholic girl but I feel that God's been often misquoted. This is about the spirit that saves us and assumes many forms."
The appreciative laughter concealed the question as to just what these unpredictable women were going to do next as they'd effortlessly hopped from genre to genre. Simone turned the volume control down and slowly strummed the introductory chords and clear beautiful singing emanated from somewhere deep within her..
"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see."
The other three women joined in not knowing where this was leading but exhibited blind faith. As Annabelle came to the last line, the Marcel Proust line in the book Simone had once given her hit her emotionally so that tears came to her eyes. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." She knew exactly what Simone had been getting at from when she'd first sung the song for her weeks back and now she could see. She harmonised with Simone with fresh enthusiasm.
"Through many dangers, toils and snares
We have already come
Twas grace that brought us safe so far
And grace will lead us home."
"That's it. We really have run out of songs," Simone said shakily and she led the way out of the multicoloured centre stage as the audience's cheers echoed and reechoed round the hall . The four women left their guitars propped up against the amplifiers and drum sticks on the stool and climbed down, mentally speaking, from the stage as the coloured lights shifted away from their single focus. They felt as if they were scrambling down the high sides of the stage back down to normal living amongst their friends even if the adrenaline rush kept them at an emotional high. They gratefully accepted the plaudits that were heaped on them from friendly women and collapsed into grateful seats beneath them. Miranda came over and thanked them very graciously for their hard work. Only with an effort did a sliver of Erin's down to earth mind nature note that the place was packed out with lots of thirsty women as the club had got very hot. Otherwise, she was as overjoyed as the rest of them to be so brilliantly received as artists, not as machine automatons. Vanessa and Alison nipped to the bar very quickly and bought in drinks for the four of them and themselves. Simone and Annabelle certainly appreciated the long glasses of fruit drinks as their throats were parched. Diane had worked out way more than the toughest gym session could have demanded of her and Erin fancied a drink as being the cool bass player demanded more effort than was apparent. All four of them knew very well that they had to quit being rock stars and act the way they normally did but deep down, they knew they were bitten by the rock and roll bug. Their group was off the launching pad and they had to get more gigs, certainly after Erin had squared their takings from Miranda. All these contrary impulses whirled around in their heads as they chilled out and chatted to their friends who were still their friends.