Crescendo

by Laurie Larsen

  With that, the band took off on a favorite ballad, one where Blake could really string out the notes and showcase his voice. He saturated each and every note with his very best effort and lost himself in the song, while still playing to the crowd. Singing for a crowd of this size was an education he never could’ve anticipated, but he was going to take advantage of it.

  After a few more songs it was time to talk to the crowd again, and he said a few words about how great it was to be on tour, and he introduced each of the band members along with where they hailed from. It was a script he’d memorized and he’d repeat on each of the tour sites. Then, back into more fantastic music.

  They played for one hundred minutes solid, Blake operating on a rush of adrenaline. He’d prepared, sure, but he knew these songs like the back of his hand, due to being a fan for so long. When they reached the end of the long set list, he held up a hand, yelled, “Thank you, Cincinnati. God bless!” and they all ran off the stage.

  They knew they wouldn’t be back there for long. It was a game popular bands always played with their audiences. Let the fans yell and cheer for a while, then they’d return to stage for an encore, as if the audience had convinced them to come back. However, sometimes the band had saved one of their recent hits to sing on encore, so obviously, they always intended to come back.

  Blake watched the more experienced band members gulp water, pound each other on their backs and celebrate a great show. All Blake had eyes for was Haley. She came running to him and almost knocked him over with her enthusiastic hug. “Great job! You sounded awesome. You were perfect. Just perfect.”

  He soaked it in, loving her praise, but he knew he wouldn’t be completely convinced until Randall and the rest of the band gave him their critique. Meanwhile, he gripped her body against his and reveled in the best moment of his life.

  A few minutes later, Ricky the drummer ran back out on stage, and the rest of them followed closely behind. Blake planted a solid kiss on Haley’s lips and winked. “Have to go to work,” he joked, and ran back on stage to greet the massive sounds of approval from their people.

  Chapter Thirteen

  THREE WEEKS NOW, THE Frontier Fire tour had been charging along. Every night the crowd was appreciative and enthusiastic, showing their support. Nights in hotels, meals in restaurants, days traveling either on the road or in the air, evenings on stage playing awesome hit songs. It was a dream come true for Blake, and he was working hard and doing well.

  Haley made the conscious effort to enjoy every minute, to not take anything for granted. As much as she enjoyed the excitement, on the occasional free night, a sense of relief washed through her. She didn’t know how Blake was keeping up the pace.

  Thursday, the band had a night off in Savannah, Georgia. Their buses pulled in from Charleston about three in the afternoon and they were awarded with a blissful twenty-four hours of free time till tomorrow’s sound check. Blake and Haley got settled into their rooms and then looked blankly at each other. What would they do with all this free time?

  “How about we go explore Savannah and find some dinner later?” Blake suggested.

  It sounded good to her. They dressed in comfortable clothes and headed out on foot. The hotel was located downtown, making it easy to walk to places of interest. They wandered and ended up in Forsyth Park. Cobblestones covered the walking paths, oak trees covered with Spanish moss shaded their journey.

  After spanning the park they walked through the historic section of the city. “Look at that mansion,” Blake commented, and they walked over to read a bronze etched plate. “It’s antebellum architecture, built in 1850.”

  “Wow,” murmured Haley. Her imagination conjured up women in hoop skirts descending the stairs of the mansion, out into the front yard to climb into horse-drawn carriages, summoned to take them to cotillions and parties. “I wonder if it was any cooler around here back then.”

  “I doubt it. And just think, no air conditioning.”

  They moved on and observed more historic homes, then noticed a horse-drawn carriage riding by on the street.

  “Want a ride?” Blake asked as he took her arm and tucked it in the crook of his elbow.

  “Actually, I’m loving this,” Haley said. “Just walking with you, enjoying the scenery, exploring this beautiful city. I can’t imagine anything more perfect.” She wondered if the love she felt for him was evident on her face as she gazed up at him.

  In a few hours they were starving. Blake hailed a cab and told the driver to take them to one of his own favorite restaurants. The cabbie nodded and drove them straight to The Grey, a restaurant housed in a renovated Greyhound bus depot from the 1930s. Inside, Haley gazed up at the skylight casting spots of sun on the floor. The décor was art deco, and the open kitchen was refurbished from an old cinema ticket booth.

  “I love this!” Haley said with a smile, her heart light.

  They sat and ordered clams as a start, and whole roasted trout as their entrées. They enjoyed a leisurely meal and talked easily about the tour, stories about the concerts they hadn’t had a moment to share with each other. Like the concert in Lexington, Kentucky when a woman standing in the mosh pit directly in front of the stage held a baby up in the air as Blake strode by, hoping he’d lift the baby onto the stage.

  “What? I don’t remember that at all!”

  “I know, you didn’t see the baby. Good thing you didn’t, really. Can you imagine if you accidently dropped or hurt the baby?” Haley said. “Imagine the liability.”

  Blake’s brow furrowed as he thought. “Who would bring an infant to a big concert? Couldn’t the baby get jostled? And think how loud it is in there. Couldn’t that be damaging to a baby’s ears?”

  Haley shrugged and smiled. “Like I said. I’m glad you didn’t see her. You probably would’ve felt like you should lift the baby up. At the very least it could’ve thrown you off, distracted you from your lyrics.”

  “It takes all kinds, huh?” Blake took a long sip of his lemon water. “But in general, Frontier Fire fans are fantastic. So supportive and positive.”

  “Oh, that reminds me. Randall has agreed to put out some Ace in the Hole merch on the sales tables at the shows.”

  “Great. That might give some visibility to us. Drive some traffic to our shows.”

  Haley directed a fond eye to Blake at his comment. Even though he was in the big time right now, he still referred to Ace in the Hole as “us.” He was still a member of the team and had their best interests at heart.

  They wrapped up their dinner with a shared slice of apple pie, then decided to walk the calories off. It was mid-evening; the sun had gone down but since this was a tourist district, the streets were well lit as they strolled. Twenty minutes later, something caught Haley’s eye. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe this.”

  “What?”

  She grabbed his arm and pulled him across the street to face a bar. “Look,” she said, pointing at a banner in the window.

  Blake read it, “Tonight: Ace in the Hole, country cover band.” He turned to her with a grin.

  “It didn’t even dawn on me to check Ace’s schedule tonight. How cool that our night off puts us in the same city as their gig?”

  Blake took her hand and guided her into the bar. It was close to nine, and that was most likely the time they started. Having been in hundreds of bars, Blake located where the band would be hanging out backstage. A quick knock on the green room door and they opened it.

  “Dude!” yelled Robbie.

  “Blake!” yelled Jake.

  Even Sam looked happy to see them both. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “Frontier Fire plays here tomorrow night. We have tonight off,” Blake explained with a wide smile.

  Haley said, “In fact, are you guys still here tomorrow night? I could get you all free tickets to the concert.” Being able to offer them free perks made Haley’s heart feel good.

  “That’d be awesome!”

  “You going on soo
n?” Blake asked.

  “Yeah, you want to sing lead?” Sam asked with a chuckle.

  “No, man. I want to hear you sing lead.”

  Sam feigned a stab to his chest. “Aw, no pressure there, huh?”

  Haley and Blake pulled the small band into a circle and they formed a group hug, then made their way to the door. “Have a great show, guys. We’ll catch up with you afterward.” They made their way back out to the bar and found a table in the corner with two open stools. Haley looked around. Now she remembered. She’d found this place online and booked the band here. It was a pretty good-sized bar with a big crowd and a decent stage along one wall. The band equipment was all set up. She glanced around the crowded room and estimated that about five hundred people were here, ready to be entertained.

  Ace in the Hole took the stage and launched into the set list, starting with a rowdy favorite by Bentley Dirks. They had strategically placed this song at the start because of its probability of getting the crowd riled up. It worked. Sam sounded great and Haley had to admit, he looked good too. Fronting a band required a great voice, but so much more. Charisma, good looks, charm. All those qualities were necessary to engage the audience, and Sam had it all. She smiled over at Blake. She knew he’d recognized it too. Mixed emotions blended on his face. Euphoria that the band was doing so well. Nerves that Sam was giving Blake a run for his money.

  A waitress walked by and they ordered drinks, ready to settle in for a fun night.

  AFTER MIDNIGHT, ACE in the Hole wrapped up with their finale, a slow beloved ballad by Brook Garthson. They had kept their big audience engaged through the whole show, and the fans now sang along, their voices blending as the instrumentals quieted. For a few bars, the audience sang a capella, no instrumental accompaniment at all. Blake’s lips curved into a smile. Effective technique to end the show. The audience enjoyed the solid block of vocal sound of their own creation and started cheering at the serene resonance. Five hundred disparate voices combining as one at this moment to form beautiful music.

  It sent chills down Blake’s spine.

  Being a member of the music community. Combining lyrics and tunes together that spoke to people’s hearts, that described their lives, that entertained them. It was a worthy occupation. It was worth all the effort. He let his thoughts transform into a silent prayer of thanksgiving to his Creator.

  When the show ended and the crowd slowly cleared out, Blake and Haley approached the stage. Blake held out a hand to Sam. He grabbed it and with his other, pulled his cowboy hat off and used his bent arm to wipe the sweat off his brow.

  “What do you think, boss?” Sam asked with a tentative grin.

  “I think you’re awesome. You sounded great up there.” Sam pulled Blake up onto the low stage and into a manly embrace. Robbie and Jake made their way over and pounded Blake on the back.

  “Great job, everyone.” Haley joined them. “Blake and I had fun listening and obviously so did this big crowd.”

  “Good. Despite what social media is saying,” said Sam with an ironic tone.

  Blake frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Robbie said, “We seem to have a hater or two who’s spreading garbage about us all over the internet.”

  Blake turned to Haley. She blinked. “After you guys pack up, can we go talk somewhere? I want to hear about this.”

  They agreed to meet at Blake and Haley’s hotel in thirty minutes. They took the time to walk through the now-cool city streets and clear their heads. Settling into the couch on one end of the spacious lobby, they didn’t have long to wait before the guys had finished their tear down and driven over.

  Robbie pulled a laptop out of his bag and tapped on the keys. “Read the comments,” he said and handed it over to Blake. Haley leaned in close. Robbie had pulled up the Ace in the Hole website. The way she’d designed it, fans could leave comments on the bottom of the home page. A dozen or so comments had been written, spanning over the last two weeks. Blake read them silently, and he knew Haley was reading them too from the gasps coming from her mouth.

  “Ace in the Hole’s new singer sucks. Bring Blake back.”

  “Ace in the Hole used to be my favorite cover band. What happened to them? They don’t entertain me anymore.”

  “Blake Scott thinks he’s a hot shot touring with Frontier Fire. What a loser to leave Ace in the Hole in the lurch. A band manager with the band’s best interest at heart would’ve never allowed him to leave.”

  There were more, with increasing levels of vitriol. Blake closed his eyes and decided he’d gotten the gist and didn’t need to read each and every one. Beside him, Haley’s arm was shaking. She was reading to the bitter end. When Haley flopped herself back, he closed the laptop and handed it back to Robbie. All were silent.

  “Well, that was uncalled for,” Haley said, her voice distraught.

  Jake snickered. “You could look at it this way. A band isn’t a true band until they start getting criticism.” He looked at Robbie. “We’re not that worried about it.”

  Robbie nodded. “It’s not affecting our crowds. I mean, look at tonight. Full house, and they were all having a good time. Most of them stayed through the last set.”

  “But this is outrageous!” Haley spit. Blake looked at her. Her wide eyes and flaring nostrils revealed her outrage. “This is what I hate about the internet. Anyone with a wi-fi connection can go anywhere and post nasty reviews and hide behind anonymity. It’s cowardly. How come no one is coming up to any of us and telling us this to our faces?”

  Jake shrugged. “Because this is a minority opinion. We play to a couple thousand people every week. How many bad reviews are there, ten? Twelve? It’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Well,” Haley said, “I can do something right now.” She grabbed the laptop and started tapping on keys. “I designed the webpage to be able to leave comments. Guess what?” She hit a button with a flourish. “Gone.”

  Blake gave her a questioning look.

  “No more comments. It’s closed down.”

  He studied her, and the emotion playing havoc on her features. She was really taking this thing hard. “That was a little impulsive.”

  She gave an exaggerated shrug. “I’m the webmaster. I decide what goes on the website. And I don’t want that garbage on there.” She slammed the laptop shut and handed it to Robbie. He winced as he took it. “I promise to stay more in touch with your tour and what’s going on. I should’ve been on top of this. I’m sorry.”

  Robbie shrugged. “That’s not why we showed you. We weren’t pointing blame at you at all.”

  “No, but I’m still your manager. I have time during the day when I’m with Frontier Fire to work on your stuff too.”

  “I’m not sure there’s anything you can do about random internet comments, Haley,” said Blake. “Don’t stress.”

  She stood and faced them all. “We worked hard to get where we are today. I refuse to let some internet trolls ruin it for us.” She puffed out a pent-up breath. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my room.”

  They all watched her leave, then after a moment of silence, Sam said, “She’s pissed.”

  Blake nodded. “Yeah. I just hope she doesn’t think she can fight a losing battle.”

  “She’s taking it personally,” Robbie said.

  Blake’s heart ached for her. He’d developed somewhat of a thick skin over the years as a performer. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t fun. Every bad review used to peel away at his confidence. But he eventually realized; as much as he tried, he’d never please everyone. Performance was subjective, and criticism was a part of this business. Haley had never really faced that reality before. It killed him that she was dealing with this pain because of him.

  “Look guys, I’m going to check on her.” Blake stood. “Despite this blip, we really had a great time tonight, and you guys sounded solid.”

  After saying their good-byes, he made his way to the elevator, then tapped his knuckle on Haley’
s door. Waiting a moment, he tapped again. “Haley?”

  A small voice came from inside the room. “Yeah.”

  “Let me in.”

  “I – I just want to be alone right now, Blake.”

  He rested his forehead on the door and ran his hands over the wood. “I won’t bother you for long. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Another pause, and he said, “Come on, babe.”

  A rustling on the other side of the door, and finally it inched open. Mascara-stained cheeks and teary eyes were visible through the strip of light between the door and the frame. Protectiveness flared inside him and he pushed the door open, startling her. He pulled her into his arms. He shushed her, striving for a calming presence. The tension in her shoulders eased gradually.

  “I know I’m ridiculous for taking this so hard,” she murmured into his chest. She pulled back to look at him. “But I have to make this right.” She stepped into the room and he followed her, letting the door close behind him.

  She walked to the desk where she had opened her own laptop.

  “Those comments are gone from our website, and you blocked all others. It’s done.”

  She looked at him with wide eyes, head shaking. “No, it’s not. Look at this.”

  He stepped behind her and looked. She’d pulled up the website of the bar Ace in the Hole had played at tonight. She jabbed an index finger at the comments there. He read quickly and saw that five negative reviews had come in prior to the concert, urging people not to come see Ace in the Hole perform. Another ten came in after the show, with derogatory comments. He sought her gaze. “What the heck? They had a full house. Hopefully nobody read those.”

  “They did. Look, each negative comment was marked helpful.” She scrolled through them, validating her comment. “I looked at all these email addresses to make sure they weren’t the same person posting multiple times. They’re all different.”

  A flush of nausea formed in Blake’s stomach.

  “And look at this.” With a few taps, Haley brought up Ace in the Hole’s summer schedule. “Next stop is in Charleston. Here’s the venue’s website.” She clicked on the link and brought it up. She scrolled to the bottom of the page to the comments. She pointed. Several negative comments had already been posted there regarding the band.