“Hell no, we know where you’ve been,” Kane replied as they all dissolved into laughter.
“Fine, fine,” Shanny muttered. Liam started scrollin’ through his phone, tryin’ to find the schedule. I gave up on reading and just started starin’ at him and the way the sunlight was hitting his hair. I’m so glad I did, because the look he gave his phone when he realized there wouldn’t be a bus was funny as hell. Then he looked over at me and said that he hoped I don’t have my heart set on taking the bus.”
“And what did you say?” Kane asked.
“Not anymore.”
They all laughed at that.
“Mind you, the whole time we were sittin’ on that bench there was this amazing smell wafting down the street and my stomach kept growlin’. I’d already been thinkin’ about finding it, so learning there wasn’t a bus was the final push I needed. I asked if he was hungry, and when he saidstarved, I suggested we figure out what smelled so good. Turned out to be a little Brazilian restaurant, and holy shit. They brought skewers of meat to the table and carved them off on our plates. I’m talking goat, lamb, beef, everything. We stuffed ourselves and just talked while we ate, then we shared an Uber, exchanged phone numbers and kickstarted a series of texting calls and video chats that evolved into something I look forward to as much as getting up on stage.”
Tripp knew he was staring like Shanny had suddenly grown a second head, but Shanny was a beast when it came to performing. He was always up for a show, even an impromptu one, so for him to be interested in a person he barely got to spend time with was huge.
“I know. I keep waiting for it to go away too,” Shanny admitted. “But it’s only gotten stronger.”
“That’s….I got nothin’” Tripp said.
“Seriously? How can you have nothing to say when it was the same thing for you and Zakk?”
“With one huge and glaring exception. He’s in the industry, he knows what we do, who we are, what the shows and after parties are like, and how things can rapidly go from calm to out of hand in the thud of a heartbeat. We know the kinds of things that get exaggerated and blown out of proportion, but your guy is a disconnect. He doesn’t have a clue what our lives are like. I just…I don’t know man, you were laying odds on Kane and Damien, but I think you’re setting yourself up for failure, dude.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Just telling it like I see it.”
“Well now that we have crapped all over Shanny’s attempt at a love life, I’ve got some things I need to show you guys,” Bobby said.
“Go for it.”
When Bobby disappeared into the back, Tripp cast a glance at Shanny who just shrugged. “All I know is its garment bags. He said if I peeked, he would kick off the biggest prank war in the history of all our prank wars and me and my drum kit would be ground zero for the very first one. After he bribed the tech crew into turnin’ my kit into that fuzzy Sesame Street monster lookin’ monstrosity with that wild pink fur and googly eyes, I wasn’t touchin’ shit.”
“And it’s a good thing too ‘cause what I had in store this time was so much better,” Bobby called from where he was rummaging around in the narrow closet space. When he emerged, he held three garment bags that he laid out across the table.
“I thought we could all use a new look for Rocktoberfest, so I sketched a few things out and sent them to Kat and she got these to me right before we had to leave.”
“Promise me there is no fake blood splatter on these this time. I don’t think we need to take the whole bleeding thing or the dawn so literal. I looked like a fuckin’ clown in all that orange and red.”
“I’ll admit that wasn’t my best concept, but it was a hell of a lot better than red and orange flannels and ripped jeans.”
“Actually, I miss that look,” Kane admitted.
“You would.”
Tripp had to admit, the distressed jeans Bobby pulled out and held up for him to admire were pretty awesome. Dark gray for him, black for Kane and denim for Shanny.
“I figured these, with some simple shredded t-shirts and we’d be perfect,” Bobby said. “I already sent Winter and Tavis theirs.”
“I fail to see the need to start off with a holy t-shirt when we all know that after a couple shows, sparks, yanks and everything else, they’re going to be shredded anyway,” Kane grumbled.
“Well, I was kind of thinking that would be the point,” Bobby admitted, tossing them each two pristine t-shirts with a different print on it. Each was from their album covers or the inside jacket of a CD case, spanning all the way back to their beginning as a band, giving them a retro look. “This is supposed to be the road to Rocktoberfest, so I thought it might be fun to wear the journey. Each show leading up to the event, we wear one of these, and at the show, pick one and wear it up on the stage to depict everything we went through to get there. Personally, I’m hoping for a ripped collar and fingerprint sized holes.”
“I like it,” Tripp said, running his fingers along the design on his t-shirts. “The whole story behind it too. Are we planning to shoot some video footage so we can share all of that on the website?”
“Yeah, and maybe keep some clips back if we want to put together a new video. It’s been awhile since we’ve done one.”
“True. Let’s go for it. We can figure out which of the new songs is the best fit once we see what we get on film.”
“Have you done any playing with the set list yet?” Kane asked.