Chapter 694: Club TRIC - Last Tour

Monday, March 13th, Afternoon

Throughout much of the movie, he sat and watched stoically. The only time he reacted was when Kat got up and went outside. Nodding his head, he watched what he felt was the movie's final act, the coda, as you will. Every piece of music, every piece of art has that ending, which could make or break the piece, and here at the end, is where Arne Jared found himself coming to the fore in the tale.

"Brian, for whatever reason, was determined to play music with Kat Hartmann at least one more time," Dell said from the screen.

Images flashed on the screen of Brian and Kat's early life. There were pictures of their early high school days in High-Performance Heart Attack. There were images of their later high school days with the first lineup of Mental Lapse. One photo stood out: Brian and Kat holding the cover art proof for Mental Lapse's first album, Mental Lapse. Kat and Brian, barely adults, held up the sample artwork and smiled. Kat was beaming. The final image was of Arne, Kat, and Brian onstage after a show taking a bow.

"Brian approached me through representation and had a proposal for me," Kat said from the screen, "He wanted to do a limited tour, maybe a handful of dates of us playing and singing together."

Arne nodded and glanced over to his wife. Kat was picking at the lint on her sleeve. She seemed to have zoned out on this whole thing. He and Kat knew the end of this story and the road taken. Kat didn't want to relive it.

"I felt I owed Brian for allowing me to make my life what it is. He seemed to really want to play, of course, I'm a road warrior, and I'll do anything to play in front of a crowd. I brought it up to Arne; I could do it since Nordwind was taking a break. The one condition was Arne was coming along and got equal billing," Kat said.

Arne appeared on the screen. "With Brian's reputation, I didn't trust him alone on the road with my wife. So, while for Kat to stretch out her wings. I wanted to be there," he said, "Trust but verify, as one would say."

More images appeared on the screen; it showed Brian, Kat, and Arne practicing for the tour. They all seemed relaxed and joking. There was a good atmosphere in the group. The final image was at the last tune-up gig; it showed Kat and Arne, with Kat singing, her bass hung around her neck.

Paislee appeared on the screen. "It all started off well, in practice and the warmup gigs. One of the biggest hangups was the two camps saw this differently. The Jareds saw this as a side project and weren't eager to promote it and take away from Nordwind. Brian was seeing this as a re-introduction of himself to the world from his wilderness years and used this to get buzz as Mental Lapse was set to come back," she said.

Dell appeared on the screen and shook his head. He was replaced with images taken on the Scott, Hartman, and Jared tour. Many were quite famous pap shots of Brian misbehaving.

Dell returned to the screen. "Brian reminds me of Animal from Muppets Tonight; when asked to go on tour, Animal shook his head and said Too Many Women, Too Many Towns. Something would just shake loose in Brian, and he'd lose it. Hard to believe considering how good of a family man he was," Dell said.

Kat appeared on the screen. "The first few dates were excellent; Brian was on point, and the old fans came out. We signed old HPHA and Mental Lapse stuff; it was like old times," Kat said, "It was either Chicago or Denver where Brian snapped. Same old Brian. It started with Groupies and escalated to all the cliches."

Images of a hotel room destroyed appeared on the screen. That was soon replaced by Arne, who shook his head.

"I learned on that tour that Brian and good behavior on tour are anathemas to each other. It was about five shows in when he broke and lost control," Arne said.

Kat appeared on the screen, "We're not about that image. Arne and I wanted nothing to do with that. We turned down all extensions and just finished the initial dates," Kat said.

Arne appeared on the screen. "Yes, I was so angry about it that it formed the core of our next album," he said.

Candi appeared on the screen, standing in her bedroom. She looked at a framed poster on the wall. "That's from HPHA just before the split, I was there during the transition from Pyscho to Lucan and ultimately the splintering," Candi said, then pointed to a framed signed Mental Lapse poster, "That's a rare first poster of Mental Lapse, signed by the original line up, see here is Jace's signature," Candi said, then pointed to another frame poster, "A tour poster of Nordwind and Gothic Serpent, signed by both bands."

"Who is BMTK?" Felicia asked from behind the camera.

"Oh, Bring me the Knickers, another band that was on RBR," Candi said.

"Never heard of them," Felicia said.

"You should look them up; they're good," Candi said, "Ah, yes, this is the one you wanted to see, the tour poster of Scott, Hartmann, and Jared, signed from their first tour date on the Sunset Strip," Candi said.

"You have a nice collection," Felicia said.

"Thanks," Candi said, reaching for a laminate, "You'll find this one cool, my laminate as an RBR Staff member for that first Scott, Hartmann, and Jared show."

The scene changed to Candi sitting on her bed. "No, I wasn't surprised that Brian went off the rails on tour. Brian, in his own way, was an addict, and being on the road, the rock and roll lifestyle is his drug. After a few dates, he was back to being a junkie, looking for his fix. Some have even considered him an energy vampire; he feeds off the audience," Candi said.

"What happened that night? You were there," Felicia said.

"Oh boy! Brian was home; my hospital did not service his house in Culver City. I don't know where it happened, his rehearsal space or a hotel room, I just don't know, and it's unimportant. April 30th, Walpurgisnacht, such an irony," Candi said.

"Some parts of my country still light bonfires to celebrate Saint Walpurgis," Felicia said.

Candi nodded, "I was working the ED, my usual rotation. A call came in for a twenty-seven-year-old male, found unresponsive, unwitnessed, and possible overdose. It was my turn for the next patient, so I got the call. The LA Fire Department Paramedic rode in on this one and saw me; he shook his head. That's not a good sign. He gave me the handover report, and I checked his vitals. Looking down, I saw the intubated face of my cousin. Right away, I called for another doctor, medical ethics. He was in bad shape, he needed medical intervention yesterday, and we had no time. So, I began to treat him.

"When the other doctor showed up, I refused to step down. Even though I gave my handover report, I wouldn't stop treating him. They eventually removed me. As soon as the new doctor took over, he looked at Brian and asked how many drugs and how long he had been treated. He said, I'm calling it; what's the time," Candi said.

Candi was still, and tears ran down her cheek. The screen faded to blackness, and Arne felt his heart drop.

Hey everyone!

Your favorite beta reader stopping by to thank you, on Thumper's behalf, for your readership.

Miss Ellie is on Twitter: OfJotsAndT. Might even add a tumblr soon.

With that said, we also have a tumblr, LivingLifeOnTheRoad! This will be the hub for a lot, and the content will be curated by the both of us. More updates soon. We'll curate the content as a team, but I'll be the administrator for the social media. (You can call me Uber)

Hope to see you there!