"We're ready to go!" said Jess
"Are we? This is our first real performance!" said Payton
"Don't worry, guys. We're ready. We've got this." said Maddie
"I know we can do it!" said Jess
"Everyone into my van... we're heading to the Battle of the Bands!" said Ezra
Jess arrive at the concert venue. Dozens of bands crowd around backstage, unpacking their gear.
"Wow... I knew the Battle of the Bands was big, but I didn't know it was THIS big!" said Payton
"How many high schools have bands in this competition?" Maddie asked
"It looks like it's not just high schools... a few COLLEGE BANDS are competing too!" Fiona pointed
"No way! Is that even allowed?" Payton asked
"It's not about the competition. It's about US." said Ezra
"Yeah! We know we've got a killer song, and we've been practicing like crazy." said Jess
"And now we get to play that song in front of a real audience! This is what it's all about, guys. Music connecting us with the fans... connecting us with real people!"
Jess's bandmates unpack their belongings and head to the main stage.
"Looks like we're all ready to go." said Payton
"I can't wait to hear the acoustics of this venue! It'll be like having a built-in reverb on our instruments!" said Fiona
Over the loudspeaker, a voice calls out that it's time for their band's sound check and rehearsal.
"Time to go! Everyone get ready for sound check!" said Ezra
The band members plug into the concert hall's system and check their instruments.
"Check. Check one, two!" said Payton and Fiona
"Just got to adjust my tuning a little... and that does it!" Ezra strums his guitar, and the sound reverberates through the concert hall.
"I could get used to the sound of our music playing out of fifty-foot amps!" said Jess
"The sheer wattage boggles the mind! I wonder what the RMS power is on these babies." said Fiona
Ezra plays a short riff. Music fills the concert hall. "Yeah... that feels good."
Suddenly, Jess hear a voice from behind her. 'Not bad'. "Huh? Who said that?"
Ezra turns around, and a look of recognition crosses his face.
"You... what are YOU doing here?" Ezra and Payton exclaimed. "You know him?!"
Payton sighed glaring at his ex. "It's a long story."
A figure steps out of the shadows...
"Nice to see you Payton. I thought you were a solo act these days." said Jack
"What are you doing here, Carver?" Ezra asked
"Me? I came to win. I'm here with my new band, Jack and the Jills." said Jack
"Stay away Jack." Ezra hissed
"What's the matter, Ezra... afraid history might repeat itself?" Jack taunt
Ezra takes a step toward Jack, but Maddie holds him back
"Easy you need to cool off!" said Maddie
"Get out of here, Jack... before I do something I'll regret." said Ezra
"You're still mad at me? I thought for sure you'd be over it by now." said Jack
"I told you to leave... we'll settle this onstage!" said Ezra
"I'll look forward to it." Jack turns and exits the stage.
"What happened between you and that guy, Ezra?" Jess asked
"He's nobody. Forget him. Let's just finish this last practice, okay?" Ezra asked
"If you say so." said Payton
"Not to change the subject, but we'd also better remember to drop off the entrance fee." said Fiona
"I'm on it! Let's pay the fee and finish our final rehearsal!" Jess left
Payton explained the story. Ezra sighed. "I'm not surprised he did that."
"I can't believe I dated that jerk things got better after I moved on with Tommy."
"Okay, everyone... let's get this right!" said Ezra
Everyone starts to play...
"Time for an epic guitar solo!" said Jess
"You've just got to wait for the right moment to start... right after PAYTON finishes the chorus!" said Ezra
Maddie starts drumming, crashing the symbols and pounding the snare.
Payton and Fiona finishes the chorus, hitting the last note especially hard!
"Our house of CARDS!" Payton and Fiona sang
"Here I go!" Jess nail her section, adding in a few improvisational flourishes.
"Woo hoo! Good job, Jess!" Payton cheered
"Everyone rocked it!" said Maddie
"I was just riffing off those new snare drum beats you added in!" said Fiona
Everyone seems happy with the performance everyone but Ezra. "This isn't working for me."
"Huh? I don't get it. What did we do wrong? Ezra? What did we do wrong?" Jess asked
"You're not playing it right! Can't you just play the song like we wrote it?!" Ezra asked
"But I like the way we improvise... it's more fun." said Fiona
"When you improvise, you take chances. When you take chances, you screw up!" Ezra barked
"Ezra calm down. The band sounded great!" said Jess
"Clearly we have different definitions of 'great'z Just play it right, okay? I'll be back in five." Ezra turns and walks out into the hall.
"What's wrong with him? He hasn't seemed right ever since that skeezy guy Jack showed up." said Payton
"Keep practicing, guys... I'm going to go talk to Ezra." said Jess
Jess find Ezra out in the hall. "Okay, Ezra it's time for you to tell me what's going on."
"It's nothing." Ezra grumbled
"If it's nothing, how come you're yelling at the band for no reason?" Jess confronts Ezra
"I had plenty of reasons! All that improvising is going to ruin our chance at winning!" Ezra yelled
"Ezra... come on. What happened with you and Jack?" Jess asked
"I don't like to talk about it but I guess I owe you an explanation. I've told you before that I used to be in a band.. Well, it was a good band. A great one, actually. It was me on guitar, Jack on vocals, and my girlfriend Lena on bass. Lena was the love of my life... at least, I thought so anyway."
"This doesn't sound good." Jess sighed
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure you can tell where this is going. I showed up early for practice one day and walked in on her and Jack making out. My girl and my best friend oldest story in the book. After that, I was out of the band." said Ezra
"I had no idea honestly, I'm kind of surprised you used to have a serious girlfriend!" said Jess
"Yeah I was pretty different back then." said Ezra
"Maybe getting your heart broken turned you into a little more of a... er... someone who dates casually?" Jess asked
"It's all in the past now, right?" Ezra asked
"Are you kidding? No WONDER you have trouble trusting in your bandmates after getting burned like that. So Jack and Lena they're a couple now?" Jess asked
"That's the worst part. He dumped her like two weeks after I caught them cheating. I trusted him like a brother... and he ruined my life over some little fling."
"I'm sorry that happened... That must have really hurt, and seeing Jack must have opened up some old wounds. But it doesn't change what we're trying to do here. Earlier today, you said you wanted our music to connect with people. I still think we can do that!"
"Can we? I'm starting to think I just need to get out of here."
As you keep talking, Jess hear footsteps approach. The door opens, and the rest of her band comes out.
"The show is coming up soon." said Payton
"We've got something to say." said Maddie
"Sorry, guys, but Ezra and I are talking about some, uh, personal issues here!" said Jess
"No... it's okay. If they've got something to say, I want to hear them out." said Ezra
"Ezra's last band ended up giving him trust issues." said Payton
"But this time it'll be different... and we're going to tell you why!" said Fiona
"Here's the thing, Ezra it sounds like you had some drama with Jack in the past. But that was your OLD band! This is a brand new one!" said Payton
"The point is we don't know what happened in the past but we're here NOW, and we've got your back!" said Maddie
"At our school, we don't betray each other and the same goes for our band!" said Jess
"Whatever happened with your old band, we're different!" said Fiona
"We're on your side. For us it's bandmates once... bandmates forever!" Payton cheered
"Now are you ready to make some rock and roll?" Fiona asked
"You know what? Yes I am! The truth is, you guys are GOOD... and I need to trust you." said Ezra
"Right on!" said Maddie
"Let's go be rock stars!" said Payton
The Battle of the Bands begins! Bands from their rival schools take the stage in turns. Some are a little played-out
"Who's ready for our a capella medley of some 80s songs?" Katherine cheered
Other bands are interesting.
"Britney inspired my fashion sense... and my musical taste! This cover goes out to a certain ex-boyfriend of mine... it's called 'Womanizer'!" Chelsea and Hope cheered
Jack's band is actually intimidating! "Any of you ever heard a song called 'Stairway to Heaven'? Well this song I wrote is even better! The lyrics are inspired by real events. It's called 'Your Girl is a Lousy Kisser'."
"You okay?" Jess asked
"I will be... after we win this thing and send Jack home without a prize." said Ezra
"Let's get ready to go out there and rock!" said Jess
Rodeo Drive walks onstage, and the lights come up. The crowd cheers.
"This is really it!" said Jess
Ezra strums his guitar, the chord emanating through the room and quieting the audience. "Here goes nothing."
Rodeo Drive begins to play and the crowd loves it! Julian's drumbeats are better than ever.
And Payton is killing it on vocals! 'I'm sick of the clubs and the diamonds... but we've got heart in spades...'
And as usual, Ezra's guitar solos are incredible. But it still seems like the crowd isn't cheering as hard as they did for Jack's band!
"What do we do?" Jess asked
"Easy... Jack's band was good... polished. But if you ask me, they were TOO rehearsed. We've got to take this to the NEXT LEVEL, Jess! Time to do your thing!" said Ezra
Just as Payton finishes singing the chorus, Ezra points to you. He wants Jess to improvise! Jess reel off an amazing guitar solo, eliciting a huge cheer from the crowd!
"Yeah! Rock on, Jess!" Ezra cheered
"Thanks, Ezra!" said Jess
As Jess finish the performance, the crowd cheers louder! Now, everyone joins in, improvising and playing more solos! With each new riff, the crowd cheers louder and louder!
"That's what I'm talking about!" Ezra cheered
As the song ends, the audience's applause is deafening!
"Thank you! Thank you, and good night!" Payton bow
Rodeo Drive exits the stage.
"Now it all comes down to the crowd... they'll pull all the bands onstage and let the crowd noise decide the winner!" said Ezra
"In that case, I'll text a couple of our biggest fans out in the crowd and make sure they're EXTRA loud!" Jess text the Cheerleading Team
"Sounds like Rodeo Drive needs us to cheer extra loud!"
"Heh. I was going to do that anyway!" Sierra chuckled
"Cheer for Rodeo Drive." Everyone cheered
The announcer brings out a huge Applause-O-Meter to measure the crowd noise and calls all of the bands up onstage. Each band seems to get more applause than the last, and Jack and the Jills generate a huge explosion of cheering!
"Yeah, yeah... you know you love me." Jack cheered
Finally, the judge announces Rodeo Drive
"Woo hoo!" Chad cheered
The Applause-O-Meter whirs and blinks, filling up all the way! Jess win!
"We did it!" Maddie cheered
"Best band ever!" Payton cheered
"No way I'm losing to your pathetic, second-tier band, Ezra!" Jack glared "I think you just did!" Ezra turns away from Jack to congratulate the rest of the band...
"Looks like you've already forgotten the biggest lesson I taught you... always watch you back!" Jack lunges at Ezra! Security came dragging Jack off the stage
"Only one thing left to do... celebrate!" Payton cheered
Back at school, the band hosts a massive party inviting the whole school. Rodeo Drive performs on stage Autumn took pictures everyone dance on the dance floor
"It's good to see everyone having so much fun... and it's all thanks to you, Jess." Ezra smiled
"No way. At this school, everything we do, it's as a team." Jess smiled back
"Bandmates forever!" Maddie smiled
"Bandmates forever." Ezra smiled
Rodeo Drive hugged as a group
"Time for a group selfie." Payton gather the band for group selfie Payton takes couple of pictures on her phone posting on Facebook.
"Okay... who's ready for an encore?" Jess yelled
The crowd cheers!
"Okay, everyone... here we go again." The band plays another song Ezra wrote