by Mae Temson
I still could not believe she was there even after all that had already passed between us. It had an air of unreality that was somehow magical. She sat at the back of the venue for the sound check and then joined us all for pizza and a beer before the crowds were let in. We sat on the floor of the stage, all of us together. It seemed so right. I could see that the boys already liked her. They were dying to know how we had met and this time it just felt right to tell them everything. This time I wanted no secrets or half truths, no mystery or deception.
We told them the whole story. I even told them that she was origin of the “for A” dedication on all the album. They took it all in and yes I got a little bit of stick for being a romantic old soul after all and they teased me about past times and questioned my ability to commit to one person for more than a few weeks. They offered to buy me some slippers if I was going to go away and retire. Okay, they generally ripped the hell out of me but it was all good natured and I felt like I was surrounded by my family. Abrielle seemed to fit straight in. When I watched her laughing and joking with Dave it was as though she had always been with us and for me I guess she always had. Listened to the support band and getting ready to go on stage it felt like all the pieces of my life had finally come together. It wasn't going to be easy no matter what we thought. Our lives, our professions would often take us in opposite directions but as I climbed the stairs to the stage I could see us together at the Locarno and I could hear her saying
“We can work it out Angel. I know we can.”
25
The gig is going great. Abrielle decided to watch it from the sidelines. Every now and then I catch a glimpse of her, stage left. Dancing sometimes, singing at others and my heart does a dance of its own. She has her camera ready to capture her first experience of our live gigs. To capture me, she says, doing what I love most.
The atmosphere is as great as Dave said it would be. Electric. The air is alive with energy. There is an extra edge to it that a big venue loses. This feels intimate, exclusive somehow. The fans really are right there at your feet. I can see that some of the eternal devotees are here. Crushed up front but singing madly and carelessly happy. Arms straining for any kind of contact. Some throw me gifts and declarations of undying love, others just want the touch of a hand. Tonight I am happy to oblige and my heart is soaring in way I have never felt it fly before.
I am unleashed, inspired, full of life and as we come once again to that mini-set of older songs. Songs I wrote when I was very young, songs I wrote in heartbreak, I look to stage left and mouth “For You.” and I sing them with renewed vigour, alive in the knowledge that soon I will be writing new songs of hope. New songs of love. New songs for Abrielle.