Steve
I had slipped out of bed while the girls were all sleeping soundly. Sue raised her head, smiled at me, looked at the clock, and lay her head back down. While I was taking a quick shower, Kathy joined me and was very amorous this morning. It wasn't long before the shower degenerated into doing her while she leaned against the wall. When we both successfully and enjoyably completed our coupling, we clung to each other as the water rained on us.
Kathy said, "This is nice. Sometimes I just need you by myself. I love the others, but I do like some special attention."
We kissed enjoyably, finished washing, got out to dry, and I shaved. When Kathy and I arrived up in the salon, Ben and Dewey were both on the phone. I wonder who Ben was talking to.
Kathy and I had picked up mugs of coffee in the galley, which was unusually devoid of any women. Ben hung up and said, "That was my contact in Spain. He has another prospective South American gold mine prospect. I'll have to have someone check it out, but it could be something. This guy has made a killing in the mining business. He does go after other minerals, like coal, and I know he recently has been investing in some premium iron ore mines."
Dewey hung up and said, "That was one of our Amsterdam partners in Hawaii. He tells me that construction has begun on the new resort. It will probably take a year, but I am excited about the prospect of owning another resort there."
I asked him, "The way you've been investing over there, are you considering moving there?"
"Not really," Dewey said, as he sipped his coffee. "But I think I'm going to build a house over there so we'll have a place to stay instead of a hotel. It would be nice to have something that would be more laid back."
Chuck, Lisa, and Julie came up the stairway. I was thinking that those three are becoming a set. Whenever it was possible, Julie was with Lisa and/or Chuck. All three of them had coffee, but Lisa went behind the bar and began building the favored morning drink, Bloody Mary's, as soon as she started, Ben said, "Please make me one, Lisa, I think that would taste good this morning."
Before she could even begin another glass, everyone in the salon asked to her to make one for them.
Lisa didn't break her movements, but set up as many glasses as people present, plus two more. She made the Bloody Marys a little weak, but no one would notice when they drank theirs. Lisa handed everyone a tall glass and put two full glasses on the other side of the place where she intended to sit. Lisa had no sooner climbed onto the tall chair when the Asian sisters came up the stairs. The two gave Chuck, Lisa, and Julie kisses, and had to make an effort to climb up on the tall bar chairs. They smiled sweetly at the rest of us at the bar, then immediately sipped on their drink.
Chuck said, "I wish we could have slept longer, but Lisa and I are so wired that we were being too restless for the others. We decided to get up and shower, and you know how that is. A shower draws a crowd on this boat."
Dewey was laughing and said, "I'm sure glad you remodeled this tub with giant showers. I don't think I've ever seen huge showers before on boats like this. At least, you had plenty of room to work with, and I think it was space well used, especially for the people you have with you."
Merlin, Missy, and Beth came up the stairs, all with wet hair. Beth said to Ben, "You missed out on a good shower this morning, Honey. I think Missy and I fulfilled some of Merlin's fantasies. You would have enjoyed it."
Ben and Merlin blushed, but at that second, Mercy came up the stairs and asked, "Who's the bartender this morning? I need something after being wakened by my parents playing in the shower." Mercy looked at her parents with a raised eyebrow. Merlin blushed again, but Missy just gave her daughter an 'I can do that stuff too' look.
I went behind the bar and built the required number of drinks and did some refills for some of the people who had been there a while. I hadn't finished before John and Wanda, Don and Jan, and Dennis and Marie showed up. I raised my glass at them and all six were nodding at me. Juanita came up and gave Sue, Mercy, and me kisses, then climbed up on another stool. She smiled at me, "Hey Gringo, how about some of that lifeblood to a good chica."
That gave me a smile and I immediately made the sweet Latin lady another Bloody Mary.
Seeing as how almost all of the adults were present, I jokingly asked, "I guess you are all curious why I called this meeting."
That brought some laughs, but I added, "Chuck and Lisa may have a problem. They play a matinee Sunday, and you can bet they won't get out of there until six or seven, maybe even later. If a bunch of us go, we'll be about as late with the traffic. The problem is that Chuck and Lisa have another concert on the Riviera. I know it's only a minimum of a twenty-four hour trip to get to Nice where the yacht club is, but that means they aren't going to be able to practice until late Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. Chuck, do you think you and Lisa should fly there? Maybe you could fly with the band if you think you'll need the extra practice."
Chuck was nodding and said, "I keep forgetting about another concert on the Riviera. Somehow, I think their agent has booked more than one. He's really riding the popularity of the group right now. Probably smart, but they are going to be beat by the time the group gets back home."
Lisa added, "If we were only doing one or two shows, then traveling to the next venue, we could probably handle the strain, but three days in row is really going to sap us. When we get done with the Riviera, especially if we have two or three concerts there, Chuck and I are going to need oxygen and traction."
Chuck held up his hand and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He dialed and after waiting for what was probably several rings, Chuck said, "Late sleeper, huh?"
While grinning, he listened to whomever he was talking to. He said into the phone, "How many shows are we doing on the Riviera and where are they? Are they all in Nice or spread out?"
Chuck was listening with his eyes darting back and forth, taking in what he was being told. He finally said, "Thanks for the information, you can go back to bed now, but you probably need to get up and make sure everything is set up at the stadium. " There was another pause before he said, "Okay, I'll see you with the guys at practice."
Chuck looked at Lisa and said, "Another three the same as here, except after Friday and Saturday night is in Nice, and we're playing in Cannes for the matinee on Sunday." Chuck looked up at me and asked, "How far is it from Nice to Cannes?"
Dewey helped me out and told him, "Less than fifty miles, about the same distance as it is between here and Rome, plus it's less than fifteen miles to Monaco; Nice is right in the middle. I'm partners in resorts and casinos in all three locations, all with the same group of people. While we're there, we are going to do some damage when we hit those casinos."'
I smiled at Dewey's determination to teach some greedy partners a lesson. I hoped we could do that for him and I hoped there would be no repercussions for him.
Taiying said to Chuck, "Sing and I will give you special massages this weekend to help you. You both need to exercise to keep your energy up as well. Why don't you both go to the exercise room and walk or run for about fifteen minutes this morning. It will really help your adrenaline and stamina later."
Lisa looked at an almost full glass and at Chuck's before saying, "What do you think Kemo Sabe, should we forsake the firewater for some exercise?"
Chuck took a big gulp of his drink before setting it back on the bar, and got off his chair to head below, with Lisa and Julie following. Sing was smiling and quietly said, "We are supposed to make sure they get their exercise. We are good for both of them."
Ed showed up and said, "We came by this morning, even though the ladies decided not to tour today. Some may want to take a short trip before going to the concert."
Sue said, "I'm not sure, but if you have something interesting that isn't demanding, I'm sure Merlin would like to see more of Rome, and Glenda and Martin may go. It needs to be something low key and not a ton of walking."
Ed asked, "How about another visit to the Vatican museum for a couple of hours. We didn't get to see very much when we visited before. I think I can get us in without having to stand in line again. I do have an in with people there."
Sue said, "I'll go ask Glenda and Martin and see what they say. I'll get the kids up to see if they might want to go. Taiying, why don't you go ask your other women if they might enjoy a gentle day at the museum. Tell them they will be back in plenty of time to get ready to go to the concert."
Ed offered, "I have to pick up four kids of a man Chuck is doing a
favor for. We can pick them up on the way back to the boat so the kids
can meet and have some fun with yours. I'm sure they speak enough
English they will be able to communicate. The schools here begin teaching English during the first year."
I elbowed Dewey, "I'm going. Come with me as I'm sure the museum is very fascinating."
Dewey nodded and said, "Sounds good to me, I'll go get the sisters up."
Glenda came to the top of the stairs, "I have breakfast ready, the kids are already eating. Sue just told me about going back to the museum. Martin and I want to go too."
Ed was smiling, "This is good; we're going to have a nice group of people. I'll make my call to make sure we can get in my special entrance. Perhaps Steve and Dewey might have a small offering for the museum. That always makes the museum people happy."
I knew that a contribution always oils the way, so I pulled some large Euro notes from my pocket and handed them to Ed. "Will this be about right?"
Ed smiled, "Perfect."
A few minutes later, Chuck and Lisa came up the stairs as Chuck was checking his watch. Chuck said, "See you guys this afternoon. Our ride to the studio should be waiting for us." I watched as he walked down the dock and talked to one of the security people out there.
I got up and went below to have some breakfast with the rest of the family and friends.
The surprise was that the place was jumping. The kids were excited about going back to Rome and about the concert tonight. When I sat at the big table, Greg came to sit next to me. He said, "Momma said that we were going to the concert with some real Italian kids. Do you know who it's going to be, who they are? Do you know how old they are? Will they be able to speak English? I don't know any Italian; I know Spanish, but no Italian."
The kid was excited and full of questions. I told him, "I really don't know how old they are, but it's possible they might be older than you. I doubt your mothers would let you go to a concert with strangers until you're older. What do you think?"
Greg sat there a few minutes, screwing up his mouth as he thought about it. "I'm older than some of the kids, so it might be alright for me to go, but someone like Bonita, the triplets, or the twins would be too young. I see what you mean. It'll be fun to meet some real Italian kids anyway. We haven't met anyone from here and all of us like to meet new kids and play with them."
Greg took off about the time that Mike, Mercy's oldest, came to sit in the same chair. He asked, "Do you know anything about the kids that are going to the concert with us? Maybe we could call them and they can go to the museum with us. Do you think they are our age?"
The kids were really curious about some Italian kids. Ed was eating with us so I asked him, "Did Chuck call these folks yet? Have you?"
Ed said, "I talked to their mother already and she told me their grandfather, Giovanni Martinelli assured her they would be well taken care of. I'm a little nervous about being responsible for some more kids, but the mothers, your ladies, will help me watch them."
I asked Ed, "How about calling their mother and see if they can go with us to the museum. I'd bet they would enjoy meeting our kids and going to the museum with us."
Ed was a little hesitant, but pulled out his cell phone and a piece of paper, and made the call. He was speaking for a minute or so, when he asked me, "The mother would like to accompany us to the museum and if we had another ticket would like to go to the concert."
I told Ed, "No problem. Find out if she speaks English and if her husband would want to go."
Ed spoke to the woman for a few minutes, and had a sour look on his face. I could tell he wasn't happy about something. He finished the call and reached for his coffee mug. After a drink, he said, "The mother speaks English, but the father has left his family. She said he told her he was leaving and she hasn't seen him for over nine months. She says she was going to apply for a divorce, but it's something that is frowned upon in our culture."
Ed was shaking his head when he said, "Knowing her family, I wouldn't be surprised if the lady finds out she's a widow. She is the youngest daughter of Giovanni. I wonder if it was an arranged marriage. That might explain her lack of emotion she had when she told me. Not good, not the Italian way."
When the galley and tables were cleaned up, everyone on the boat and some from the Irish Bell were ready to go out for a short trip to the museum. Ed had called for another bus, sending the first full one ahead. Two security people got on the first bus, and I saw two getting on board our bus with us. We drove toward Rome, but detoured into a nice neighborhood, stopping in front of a good sized home. Ed had been on his cell phone and went to the front door. A woman came out and headed to the bus, accompanied by four kids looking to be near my kids' age."
When Ed entered the bus with the woman, I stood up and welcomed her. I told her my name was Steve Sharp and pointed and introduced Sue and Mercy, who were sitting together up front, telling her their names. She said, "My name is Gina Martinelli. Since my husband has vanished, my children and I are resuming our family name. The children are my son, Giovanni, named for his grandfather, and Sophia, and these two are cousins, my sister's children, Gioia and Mario, they also are without a father."
Greg had come forward and waved at the four kids, he said to them, "Come sit with us kids. Your mom can sit with our moms."
The four children looked at their mother for permission. She spoke in Italian, and the kids smiled and moved past her to go to the back of the bus where a bunch of our children were sitting. The woman, Gina, turned to me and said, "I'm sorry for speaking in Italian, I wanted the children to understand. They are good with the English, but just like Italian, your words can mean many things some times."
Mercy got up and moved across the aisle to where I had been sitting with Dewey. He had moved back to sit with Ben. Sue said, "Sit with me, Gina; we can get to know each other."
As we sat down, Mercy flooded my head, "She is very beautiful, isn't she?"
I was startled and looked at Mercy as if she was crazy. She leaned over to me and whispered into my ear, "You won't believe what Sue is thinking right now, and Gina almost drooled over you when she got on the bus."
I looked at her and said, "No," emphatically. When I looked toward Sue, who was talking to Gina facing my way, I looked at her and shook my head and mouthed "No." No way, no way, do we need to get involved with an Italian lady who doesn't know where her husband is. I had the feeling that this lady, and this Giovanni, might be from a powerful family that I probably didn't want to know anything about. I needed to talk to Chuck as he knows about these people.
Mercy leaned to my ear again, "This person is not involved in what her family does, and the children are innocent, of course. I'm sure she knows her father is an important person within the world he travels in, but she is not a part of it."
I asked quietly, "How do you know all of this?"
She said, "I know from her mind. Mother is inside her head, giving her calming suggestions so she is relaxed with us. Chuck was thinking about these kids last night and he said the same thing, the children are innocent. He didn't think about this woman, but he trusts this Giovanni person."
The only thing I could do was to shake my head and hope Sue minded me. I have not been an ogre with her about the way she collects women friends, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to have a pair of Italian panties notched on her bedpost. Mercy punched me and whispered, "We're not that bad. We just enjoy having some fun and I do think Gina is gorgeous. She is really built, too." She was that.
Oh my, just what I don't need is a bunch of horny women on the prowl. You would think that they would be happy to have the five of them and me. They have all Chuck's women and those ladies at the park that they enjoy for variety. They sure don't need an international plaything. Besides, I've heard these Italian women are very protective and jealous, so she wouldn't be a good candidate for my women.
Mercy said, "You're thinking all wrong, Steve. Gina is very open and very gentle. I love the way her mind gives out warm friendly signals. Do you know she's attracted to Sue? Just look at her devouring Sue's cleavage. That woman is on the verge of attacking her right here. I think she's been without for too long."
"Christ, Mercy, quit talking about it. She's going to hear you and that's just what we don't need. A woman who feels she might be taken advantage of, or feels that we might be predators."
Mercy just smiled, and I could feel Missy trying to give me calm warm feeling, while Mercy teasingly smiled at me.
While we were driving to the Vatican, Ed passed out the headsets again, telling us he had charged all of them. In her halting English, I heard Gina say, "This is good, I will hear English from Eduardo and will be able to know what items are named in English."
We reached the museum in a short time and saw the very long line of people already cued up waiting to get in. The main entrance to the Vatican Museums is through a doorway in a bastion in the walls that surround most of Vatican City, and the main exit is through another doorway through the old defensive wall about 100 feet to the right. This early in the morning, no one was leaving the museum yet, but Ed took us to the exit and we walked right in. Ed handed the doorkeeper an envelope, and proceeded to lead us to the first exhibit he wanted us to see. The Vatican Museums – they call them that, plural, museums – are in a former papal palace and are made up mostly of the papal collections of paintings and sculpture, mostly displayed where the popes put them over the centuries. Some of the paintings are frescoes that are permanently part of the walls of the rooms in which they were painted long ago. There are also some collections of miscellaneous sculptural and architectural fragments from ancient Rome dug up around the city over the centuries.
Part of the former palace is called the Belvedere, Italian for "pretty view", though we couldn't tell much about the view. Ed showed us a headless, armless, legless marble torso of a muscular looking man and said this was called the "Belvedere Torso", and had inspired Michelangelo and other artists to depict similar figures in their paintings and sculpture. "You will see in the Sistine Chapel similar frescoes of similar tensely twisted torsos, only they'll have their arms, legs, and heads," Ed said. He also showed us a beautiful clean, smooth white marble statue of a man, explaining, "This is the Apollo Belvedere, a Roman copy of a bronze Greek statue. It was found near here centuries ago and became part of the collection." We proceeded through the palace, through one ornate passage after another, until we came to a set of rooms with painted walls – painted with paintings, that is. "These rooms were frescoed by Rafael, one of the greatest painters of the Renaissance. Fresco is a painting technique in which the colors are applied to fresh wet plaster and become a permanent part of the wall as the plaster dries. This wall here is probably the most famous, called "The School of Athens", supposedly showing ancient Greek philosophers – but Rafael filled it with portraits of his fellow Renaissance artists. Here is Leonardo da Vinci, over here is Rafael's self portrait, and this bearded fellow looking miserable on the steps is Michelangelo – he didn't get along well with Rafael."
Ed took us along to a round room with columns and sculptures all around the room, and pointed to a sculpture group of an old man and his sons wrestling with big snakes that had come out of the ground. "This is the Laocoon, named after the character from Greek mythology who had offended the gods, and was slain along with his sons by serpents sent by the gods. This was dug up near the Vatican palace about the time of the Renaissance, but Laocoon's arm was not found until recently, when it was discovered that a Renaissance reconstruction of how the sculpture looked in ancient times was incorrect." Finally, we passed through another ornate corridor into the Sistine Chapel. "The ceiling was restored just a few years ago, so you can now see it looking clearer and more brightly colored than at any time since Michelangelo painted it. It had been darkened by the smoke from thousands of candles over the centuries. The ceiling depicts the first few chapters of Genesis, showing the creation of the world and of Adam and Eve, their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and the story of Noah's flood. The side panels between the high windows are of "sibyls" ancient female prophets and fortunetellers. The huge painting on the wall over the altar is "The Last Judgment", also by Michelangelo, though the loincloths on the figures were added later by a more prudish pope. The side walls were frescoed by a group of the greatest painters of the decades just before Michelangelo, of whom the best known were probably Perugino and Luca Signorelli. This is the hall used for the election of a pope, whenever the old pope dies." At that point, Ed took us through a side door and we soon found ourselves in St. Peter's Basilica. "Not too many people know about this exit, though it's open to the public. I just thought we could beat the crowd this way." On the way out, Ed showed us Michelangelo's Pieta, the statue of Mary with the dead Jesus on her lap that Michelangelo carved in his early 20s as proof of his skill, and the bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback that used to stand in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museums, where Ed told us we had seena copy on display.
We had arrived at eight thirty, and found ourselves walking to the buses at twelve thirty. I could tell Chuck's pregnant ladies were worn out, while Glenda and Martin appeared to be pretty chipper. Ed announced, "It's time for us to leave to go for lunch. Should we go back to the boat, or would you like to go to the piazza where there was the MacDonald's with the nice restaurant next to it. The kids were all hollering, MacDonald's, MacDonald's. I told Ed, take us there. I think we can enjoy the neighboring restaurant while the kids have hamburgers.
As soon as lunch was finished, we boarded the buses again and went back to the boat. Ed told us, "The traffic is going to be very bad this evening, so we need to leave about four o'clock. I have permission to access the special seating and club area early, so we will have plenty of time to snack and enjoy refreshments. I've told the agent about the traffic, and I think he will be picking up your Chuck and Lisa around three. Hopefully, they are back on the boat resting."
At the yacht club, the buses parked in an out of the way area, and the drivers came aboard with us. Chuck's ladies went to look for him and Lisa. They found them sleeping in their cabin. The pair must have heard them and woke up, as Chuck and Lisa came up to the salon to visit. Chuck's women had Gina occupied and brought her to meet Chuck. That meeting was something. I could see Gina's eyes actually dilate, becoming big brown orbs. Her breathing became short, and she actually leaned forward to display her cleavage to Chuck.
Lisa was grinning, and I thought she was going to haul Gina off immediately. Sue came over to the group to rescue Gina, but she didn't want to leave. I could see Brandy and Frieda drooling at the prospect of knowing more of this luscious woman.
Mercy was next to me and said, "I think we better put Gina into a glass case or something. She is giving off some strong signals to everyone. She was attracted to you, and now is totally infatuated with Chuck and his women. I suppose she could be a toy for all of us, but her family might object."
I told Mercy, I'm going to shower and dress for this evening. You need to encourage the kids to wash their faces and stay clean. If any of them need to change, they should get it done now.
You really didn't have to worry about the kids; they were showing their new Italian friends their instruments, explaining how they played for the people in the boat. Bonita cued up one of the CDs they had made to show off a little. When Mercy told them what I had said, they took off as a group to go below to clean up and wait for the ride to the concert.
Lisa and Chuck went below with all of his women, and Gina walking with Julie. I wonder if Julie is as much of a predator toward other women as most of Chuck's and mine. The way these women are, us guys are lucky the women keep us around. Missy harshly said into my head, "That's not true. Your women love you dearly. Never doubt them."
I went to change clothes and put on a clean pair of jeans and T-shirt. I washed my face and combed my hair, thinking I needed my beard and ponytail back. I really didn't, as that was somewhat of a hassle. What was surprising though, was that all the boys wanted buzz haircuts, the shorter the better. All of our little girls, except Barb, wore their hair short. Barb's was long like her mother's, Sue's, Mercy's, and Juanita's. Mickey had short hair, but that was probably because of her job as a deputy sheriff.
Chuck, Lisa, and their entourage came from below with smiles on all of their faces. Chuck was rolling his eyes at me as he came to the bar. He said, "I'd love a drink, but I'd better just have some water or juice, since we're going to be working in a few hours."
The two had a couple of big glasses of fruit juice, before Chuck said, "Okay, everyone, we'll see you in the reception area after the show. I'm sure there will be someone to lead you to wherever it is. Our ride is probably waiting for us. The agent said we had to be extra early so we could meet some of the other area promoters and personalities. Enjoy, folks."
All of Chuck's women gave Chuck and Lisa kisses and hugs. I noticed that Julie pushed Gina to Chuck for a very warm kiss and hug. Gina really put some effort into the clutch and kiss, rubbing her chest all over Chuck. He saw me watching and rolled his eyes again. I'm sure his attitude was the same as mine, "No more women."
As soon as the two of them left, the kids were getting antsy wanting to leave for the stadium. It was nearing three fifteen, when Ed said, "We probably better go. I've been called and told the traffic tonight is the usual Friday night traffic. In other words, total gridlock. We better get started."
Everyone from the two boats, and that included all of the Irish Bell's crew, loaded onto the two big buses along with two security guards per bus. We didn't have to worry about our boats, as there were two more security people assigned to each boat. I guess Chuck is important enough to get this kind of attention.
Ed said that during normal conditions, with their usual death defying circus called 'traffic, ' we could make the run in about thirty minutes. It took us an hour and a half to get to the stadium. Our buses were waved to a special parking area where the band's agent met us. As we got out of the bus, he and an assistant were handing out big tags on lanyards to wear around our necks to identify us as special guests. The man asked if we wanted to go to the reception room for a few minutes before going to the box. I thought it would be cool to see what went on in what was called the back stage area, so we paraded through some big hallways to enter a huge room filled with people dressed in everything from fancy evening gowns and tuxes, to shorts and halters on girls, and some girls and guys wearing torn up jeans. We managed to keep the kids together and soon discovered the large crowd at one end of the huge room was around the band, including Chuck and Lisa.
We edged closer and saw they were signing autographs. There were people asking for autographs in English, Italian, German, French, and Spanish. I even saw a few guys in turbans accompanied by women with their heads and faces covered. This place was packed with a variety of people.
Lisa saw us and waved us over. The kids all wanted a hug from Lisa and Chuck, as did his women. Once again, Julie was holding Gina's hand and moved her into position to be kissed very warmly by Lisa, followed by an equally warm kiss from Chuck. He knew it was coming and kept trying to keep people between Gina and him, but Julie was cagey by having Gina kiss Lisa first. After Gina's kiss, I noticed Chuck having to reposition his jeans. That lady must be a good kisser.
As it neared six fifteen, people began to vanish and the band said they had to wind things up. One of the roadies came to us and said, "Let me take you up to the box. You're going to love it. There is even more food up there than there is in here." That would have to be a lot, as there were multiple tables piled high with all sorts of delicacies.
Up in the huge stadium box, we found there were several rows of seats outside the glassed in area for us to sit to watch the show if we didn't want to be inside. It wasn't cold or hot, so it would be pleasant out in the nice seats in our area.
Dewey and many of us had some very good scotch that the bartender served. I was surprised when the bartender addressed us in English. Ed told us that this was probably the most highly prized box seating in all of Italy, and for sure in this stadium.
The big stage at our end of the field had two big screens on each side that were now lit up with the video we had all seen several times of the group jamming with Chuck and Lisa. This was a good way to introduce the two new players to the loud, enthusiastic crowd. All of the seats were filled, and the back field had a solid throng of people standing, just herded together waiting for the show. The bartender said that the stadium only held ninety thousand, but even with one end closed off, the crowd was estimated at over a hundred thousand. He said, "They are just letting more and more people pay to get in and stand on the field and the aisles. It's a good way to have a problem."
There was about a fifteen foot space In front of the stage, with a bunch of guys wearing T-shirts with "Guardia di sicurezza" printed on the front and back. I found out from Ed that meant security guard. They all looked big enough to handle any kind of problem. There were about fifty rows of folding chairs on the field in front of the mass of humanity that was in the standing room only area.
I could see the band members and some roadies moving some stuff around on stage getting ready. All of them looked to be chatting as they prepared. I saw Chuck get his guitar and bass out, setting them up on stands, then spend a few minutes arranging the drums to fit him. You could hear him as he tested each of the drums, followed by a quick roll across all of the drums accenting it with a thump of his bass drum, a rimshot, and a cymbal crash. Just that little unamplified noise had the crowd cheering.
Lisa was checking the tuning of her guitar, while a roadie was going from band member to band member, adjusting their headsets with microphones along with putting additional microphones on stage. The three ladies came on stage, all wearing some naughtily short denim skirts and leather vests. Because of the distance, I couldn't tell whether or not they had on anything under the vests. Knowing this group, probably not.
The roadies began to disappear, lights were coming up on the stage, the video changed to a wide shot of the band on stage, then there was a crashing chord from a guitar.
Kenny was yelling over the crowd noise, saying the name of the band. That must have been the signal for the band to go into a high-energy, real hard rock blues piece that was one of their signature cuts.
The video began featuring each member of the group, giving a good look at Lisa who also had a vest on, but was wearing leather pants. Chuck was wearing what looked like a satin T-shirt and jeans. He was concentrating on playing, and the video and sound showed his intensity. It was neat the way that while the video highlighted each player, their instrument mikes were cranked up. The crowd noise was unbelievable.
I looked back to see Chuck's women, Dewey, John, Ben, and Mac standing at the window. Dewey waved for me to come in. The noise was enough to make me get up to go inside. I noticed that one security guard was sitting with the kids and one was up by the door of the club house.
As soon as I entered the club room, I knew why Dewey was waving me in. You could actually hear the music, while only a little of the crowd noise was being picked up by the microphones, making it secondary to the music. This was much better. I went back out and told all of the adults that they could hear better inside. Most came inside. I was surprised that Frieda and Nancy were two who stayed out to watch and listen, yelling as much as the rest of the crowd.
At the end of that piece, Chuck kept up a gentle beat while Kenny and Fred, the lead guitar, played some background as Kenny introduced each player. The video focused on each player as they were introduced, with Chuck and Lisa getting their share of applause and cheers. At the conclusion of that, the band launched into a really strong blues rock piece that had more blues background than hard rock.
After the band had played four songs, the band members all picked up water bottles for a drink, while they were swapping positions. Chuck picked up what looked like his bass, Lisa switched to the keyboard, Dan pulled a guitar off a stand, and the group went into some traditional blues pieces that were obviously new, as the crowd calmed a little as they listened. When they brought one to a close, the crowd went right back to full volume.
After every four songs, the group would swap instruments around and one had Chuck playing lead guitar. I've heard Chuck play and knew he was a good blues guitar player, but he was awesome on stage. The crowd was going nuts as the piece they were playing had it all, good beat, good blues sound, and some good vocals that had everyone on stage with a part and joining on a chorus. I was amazed; Chuck and Lisa were real professionals, as was the whole group.
When the lights dimmed and Chuck was playing his bass, while Lisa played her guitar, the group began a real down beat blues ballad. Lisa began singing the song, When a Man Loves a Woman, she had been singing on the boat. It was really good. The group went right into another slow blues ballad with Lisa singing and everyone else giving a lot of backup vocals. It was good enough to make you shiver. The crowd almost hushed to better hear the last two pieces. What was wild was that while Lisa was singing, she was really making her guitar wail some blues, while Chuck made his bass literally sing. Who knows how he was able to make all those eerie sounds. It looked like he was playing his bass with only his left hand, just touching and sliding on the strings.
When that piece ended, Chuck did a quick change to his guitar, while Kenny was back on bass. The band went into another pretty high energy blues piece that featured each of the band members again, showing them on the video screen at the same time as their instrument volume turned up. As Lisa and Chuck began taking over the piece, I realized that what we were hearing was a battle of guitars. Lisa would play a real strong riff for several bars, with Chuck adding background, and then Chuck would take over the lead, answering what Lisa had played. The crowd was so loud; I'm surprised they could hear any of the music. This continued for ten minutes until Kenny put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. His microphone had been cranked way up so everyone, including the crowd, quieted momentarily. The group began bringing the piece to a close as Kenny told the audience how great they were and how great it was to play in Rome, Italy. When they finished, they acted like they were going to pack up and get. The crowd hollered and screamed until Kenny yelled and asked, "A little more?"
The crowd, of course, was yelling louder. The group picked up where they had left off, battling between guitars, but this time Fred joined in and it was a three way blues guitar battle that was really good. Ten minutes later, Kenny whistled again and they calmed and closed the piece as Kenny yelled, "We have to go, we're so damned tired we might just sleep on the stage."
The crowd was still loud, but was softening up a little, calming down, but still wired, because of the good music. The concert had started at six thirty and it was now after ten o'clock. I can only imagine how tired the group must have been.
I could see Chuck and Lisa putting their guitars in the cases that the roadies had brought up on stage.
From the corner of the stadium, near where the band was, a white robed guy with a turban came running toward the stage. Chuck caught sight of him, and literally leaped from the stage and tackled the guy. As Chuck began pulling away, I could see he was pulling the robe away from the guy's body. Chuck hit the guy very hard in the chest, picked him up in a fireman's carry, and almost ran from the stadium. A neat trick for a guy with a prosthesis.
Everyone in the clubhouse was holding their breath as we didn't know what was happening. Lisa had run after Chuck as he carried the guy away. We couldn't see them, but several security guards went chasing after them, but the guards immediately came running back into the stadium.
Kaboom!
That was when there was a huge explosion that we could see was outside the stadium. The explosion was big enough that folding chairs were falling over out on the field, glasses and bottles fell over inside the suite, and the heavy glass in the front of the box warped back and forth, but didn't break.
Holy shit, where's Chuck, where's Lisa? The band members were all huddled together on stage with security guards all around them. Police began streaming into the stadium and we could hear fire trucks coming.
Our security guards had pushed all the kids and the few adults that were out in the seats back into the suite, standing guard in front of the suite and outside the entrance door. Some of the kids were crying because of being scared, but the sight was all of Chuck's women standing in a trance, staring at the exit Chuck and Lisa and gone through, waiting for...
TICK
TOCK
TICK
TOCK
TICK
TOCK.
Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
European tours, by Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000