Adventures of Devon Carlton - 6. ADC Chapter 6

A few moments later, everyone was back at the bungalow, and they congratulated Devon for such a magnificent performance, the band manager appeared about ten minutes later with a CD in hand, and he placed it in the CD play and pressed play, where the sound of applause fading came on, soon followed by the sound effects of the first rumble from the wobble board could be heard, they all sat silently as they listened to the recording, and as the singing ended and the bagpiper played a few more notes before ending, and the recording ended just before the first applause began.

“Wow, I’ve got goosebumps from listening to that” Thomas said, “Me too, and I think we could add that to I Tunes, if everyone is in agreement” Robert added, and the band manager and the other members of the band nodded in agreement,

.

“What about you Devon, do you agree, you are the guest artist in this performance” the band manager asked, “Yes sure, that’s fine with me” Devon said, and they all looked on Robert tapped away on his laptop, copying the new recording to the computer, and then transferring it to I Tunes.

“We won’t be able to know how well this is going, till we get to Singapore later tonight, but I hope it goes just as well as the video clips” David said, “On that note, guys we need to get to the airport to catch our flight” the manager said, so Devon, Mitch and Gary said farewell to their new friends, and watched them grab their gear and load it into the waiting bus.

For the next 8 days Devon and his mates kept busy with activities, parasailing, snorkelling and hiking in the jungle, totally unaware of the huge storm of media coverage there was of EQD and their latest I Tunes release, recorded on their last day at an Island Resort in the Pacific, in front of a small audience of resort staff and guests, and featuring the mystery guest artist once again.

When Devon remembered to turn on his mobile on after nearly a week, there were 6 messages on it:

Message 1: “Received your present, hope you guys are all ok, Love Mum”

Message 2: “Well done my friend, you have another hit, see you in mid-December for the concert, EQD”

Message 3: “Hey Bro, I saw the photo you sent to the twins, you are so lucky that you to know them. Love Sis”

Message 4: “Hey Bro, were heard your latest release on I Tunes, a man that is so good. Love Twins”

Message 5: “Hey Bro, I heard your latest release, I am so jealous. Love Sis”

Message 6: “Twins played your latest song to me today, I’m so proud of you, Love Mum”

Devon sent 4 messages back in reply, apologising for the delay, as he had been busy doing all sorts of activities since the band had left, and also, he forgot to turn it back on. Devon went to I Tunes on his phone and saw that there had been 3.6 million sales of the new release in just a week, which was amazing.

Finally, the day came for the trio to pack up and head off to their next destination of New Zealand, they thanked all the staff for their wonderful service, and boarded a bus to go to the airport.

For most of the 12-day tour of the New Zealand islands, they saw some magnificent things and did some wonderful activities, but just two days from the end, Gary slipped and fell down a hidden cavern, and it took over three hours for him to be rescued and rushed to the hospital.

Devon called the travel agent and cancelled the rest of the holiday, and after 4 days in hospital, Gary was stable enough to travel home to Australia, so he could get special treatment for his injuries, and the flight home to Australia was the same day they were due to fly from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia in Argentina, to board the cruise ship.

For the next two weeks, Devon was visiting Gary in the hospital every day, and Mitch came every few days, as he had part-time work that he was committed to.

One afternoon, during a hospital visit, Gary looked at his friend, “Dude, you haven’t forgotten you got a concert to perform at in just under a week’s time” he said to Devon, and a look of horror covered his shocked face, as he had totally forgotten.

“I will call you,” Devon said as he dashed out of the room, and as soon as he was outside, he was on the phone to the travel agent, as he jumped into a taxi to head home, to get organised. By the time he arrived at the townhouse, Mitch had just arrived home.

“When are you going to Edinburgh for the concert?” he asked, as Devon burst through the door, “I had totally forgotten about it, till Gary just reminded me twenty minutes ago.

I’ve got a flight out to London tomorrow morning, and after an overnight stay in the Esplanade Hotel in London, I fly to Edinburgh, arriving at 11 am local time, and I’m booked into the same hotel as the guys, who I’ve tried to call, but they go to message bank every time,” Devon said as he dashed into his room, and began to pack his bag, with 4 sets of good casual clothes, and a set of smart dress clothes, a dinner coat, a warm jacket and three lots of shoes.

Stepping into the lounge room, Mitchell has some lunch prepared and he encouraged to sit and eat something, so he needed some food to get him through the long flight ahead. After lunch, Mitch and Devon relaxed in the lounge, for the rest of the afternoon. After dinner, Devon checked his wallet, found his passport, and he printed out his flight details, his E-Ticket and hotel reservation details, and placed them in his wallet, before having a long hot shower, and dressing in loose travel clothes for the long journey ahead.

When Devon reappeared from his room, he sat down in the lounge next to Mitchell, and he sent a text message to the members of EQD,

“Hey Guys, had some real dramas here, Gary fell into a hidden cavern, two days before leaving NZ, took three hours for rescuers to get him out and off to the hospital. He was well enough to fly to Oz 4 days later and is now in hospital recovering.

A few hours ago he reminded me that I was meant to be going to Scotland, which I admit I had totally forgotten about, as I was too busy taking care of Gary, I have a 3 am flight tonight to London, staying at Esplanade Hotel overnight, before flying to Edinburgh the next day, I’m booked into the same hotel as you guys, so will catch up with you then. Tried calling you all, but went to message bank. Dev.”

The 22 hours direct flight was comfortable, as the travel agent had booked a 1st class seat, and Devon arrived just before 4 pm local times, a chauffeur car was waiting for Devon, and he was taken directly to the Hotel, and once checked in and settled, he had the same driver give him a 2 ½ hour tour of the city, returning just on dusk to the hotel, in time to get ready for dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Feeling a bit jet-lagged from the flight, Devon returned to his suite, and went to bed early, as he had to be up at 5 am to catch his flight to Edinburgh at 8.30am.

When he woke in the morning, there was still no replies from any of the guys, he was getting worried, so jumping onto his laptop, he did a search of concert dates and locations in the UK. ‘EQD, performing in Edinburgh, Scotland - December 12th – 16th @ 7 pm at the Edinburgh Entertainment & Exhibition Centre’.

Devon looked at the date and time on the bottom corner of the computer – December 12th 1145hrs, Devon was shocked, as he thought it was just one concert on the 16th of December, quickly he showered and dressed in his best clothes, before going downstairs for a light meal.

When he arrived in Edinburgh, and as he checked in, he asked at the receptionist for information about finding the EEEC building, and the concierge arranged a chauffeured car to pick him up and take him there.

Devon looked at the clock on the wall and it read 12.45am, Devon was getting more and more worried, and when the car arrived, he jumped in and asked the driver to be as fast as he can, as it was urgent that he get there fast.

Once at the building, he found the front door and the ticketing office, then he had to stop and think how he was going to approach this without revealing too much about him.

Just at that moment, his phone beeped with a text message;

“Hey, Dev, glad you can make it, sorry about the confusion, the huge demand for tickets, forced us to add more concerts, but ahead of the planned one concert, where are you? Rob”

Devon smiled and sighed in relieve, that finally there had been a response.

“I’m in the front foyer of the EEEC building, trying to work out a way to contact you when you text me, as I have tried calling and texting you guys over the last two days”.

“Can I help you sir?” the lady at the ticket counter asked, Devon, looked up at her then suddenly remembered where he was, “Oh sorry, no thanks, I'm all good” and he waited. Another minute later the phone beeped again;

“Sorry about that, all our phones got hacked into, had to get new ones, and took a few days to get all the phone numbers from our contacts lists, and a bit longer to get text messages, save this number as my new number, the old one is shut down. We will be there in a few minutes, meet you there in the foyer”.

“Sir, if you’re not getting a ticket, then I am going to have to insist you leave” the lady said, “No, it’s all good really, I’m just waiting for someone” Devon replied and he saw her storm off to a back room, two minutes later two security guards appeared and grabbing hold of Devon by the arms, they literally carried him out the front door and down the stairs, dropping him at the bottom, which caused Devon to stumble and fall down, just as a big limousine arrived stopping in front of Devon as the guards dropped him.

The guards recognised the 5 young men that stepped out of the Limo and froze as the band manager stepped up to the first guard and with their faces just inches apart.

“I suggest you contact the EEEC manager and have him down at this location in ten seconds, before I have him and you two idiots on assault charges on a close personal friend of the EQD band members” he said before stepping back and looking over his shoulder, where all 5 members where squatted down, checking Devon that he wasn’t hurt in any way, then helping him to stand up again.

The band members and Devon climbed back into the limo and drove off towards the backstage entrance of the building, while the band manager was having a heated discussion with the complex manager and the two guards, and also with the ticket counter lady.

Eventually, the two guards were sent home, forfeiting their days’ pay, and the ticket lady was reprimanded and sent back to work, the complex manager said he would refund 50% of the venue hire fees and gave a formal and sincere apology, before escorting him backstage via the administration area.

In the Green Room, Devon had recovered with his encounter with security, and the complex manager once again apologised, before making a dash back to his office, and the band manager went in search of the stage manager, to check readiness for the concert, and to make some slight adjustments to lights and microphone requirements.

Half an hour later, the band manager reappeared with the stage manager following, and they fitted the 6 young men with radio microphones, before the stage manager lead David along with his bagpipes and Devon, to the rear upper level of the complex concert hall, where the balconies to the sound and lighting control room are located.

David would be standing on the left balcony, where some low white & coloured lights would shine on him during his playing of the pipes for STORM, while Devon will be on the other side, with a slight shadow silhouetting his body shape, but no more.

When the music on the sound system played, with real-life sound effects of rolling thunder, the howling sound of the wind and the crack of lightning, and good lighting effects, it made Devon shudder at first, and David noticed and smiled and gave the thumbs up, as the singing began down on the stage, when it came to the third verse, the lights came on around David as he began playing and some very dim lights came on around Devon, and he was about to start when he saw Robert, Hugh and Thomas waving from the stage, and David stopped playing the bagpipes.

“Hey you in the light control booth, turn that bloody lighting down on the lone singer, we can see his face from here, and we only want to see a silhouette” Roberts voice boomed through the microphone, it took another three try’s before the guys were happy with the lighting levels on Devon, and Robert was pretty pissed off by this stage, and called for a break.

When David and Devon reached the Green Room, which was quite a hike, Robert wasn’t there, but they soon heard him, upon the balcony where they had come from in full voice. “Look Mr, if you can’t get someone here in fifteen minutes, who can do this job properly, then we are out of here, and you can explain to our fans why an incompetent organisation like yours can’t do their job properly”, then the door slammed which echoed throughout the building.

When Robert arrived in the Green Room, he smiled “Let’s see if that gets their arses moving for a change”, and everyone just laughed. After a bit of a chat and a drink of juice, they returned to their places once again, 2 new sound & lighting controllers were in the booth, and they did a check to ensure the levels were correct, David added from his side, that at no point are the lights to come up on the lone singer, as he is not to be identified by anyone.

Finally, they finished the songs to the group’s satisfaction, and when Amazing Grace went smoothly too, Robert called for a break before the concert.

It was 3 pm by now, and when they arrived in the Green Room there was food and drinks on the table for them, and they sat around, eating and chatting waiting for when it was time to begin the concert.

The Band manager had arranged for a seat near the very back on the upper level available for a special guest of the band, which is really for Devon, who will act as if he is just another concert fan, to arrive at the front door with his ticket and take his allocated seat, then when the times came for him to perform he would get to his place via the staff access door, which he was given a pass card for.

At 6.30 pm, Devon left the green room and slipped out through the back staff door unnoticed, and he walked around to the front foyer and joined the queue to see the concert, like all the other concert goers, with his stage microphone turned off and hidden around his neck, under a scarf, Devon took his seat, just two rows from the very back, with an aisle seat, and he waited for the lights to dim, it was at this point that he realised that he had only heard the guys sing two songs live, and all the rest on the CD Recordings, so this would be the first time he would be seeing them live in concert.

Just before the lights dimmed, his phone silently vibrated in his pocket;

“Hey, Dev. Enjoy your first EQD concert, and take a deep breath before you start and enjoy the moments and have fun. James, Rob and Co.”

Devon smiled at the message and put the phone away, as he sat back to enjoy the concert. “Hello Edinburgh, thank you for having us here tonight” Hugh’s voice came over the speakers, and the music began for the first song, and by the time the fifth song was halfway through, Devon as really relaxed and enjoying the show, when his phone vibrated again.

“Ok Bro time to get to work. You’re up next with Amazing Grace, Dave”

Devon slowly got up and walked to the door at the top of the stairs and turned immediately right and through a black door, instead of going through the second set of doors into the lobby. Climbing the stairs quickly he made it to the next door and placed the card against the scanner, which showed a green light, and he quietly opened the door. Looking around the booth he saw David who gave him the thumbs up, Devon took off his scarf and put the microphone in place, and he waited for the other song to finish.

Once the applause had died down, Hugh’s voice came over the Mic again, “Ladies and Gentlemen, EQD is proud to present to you, our very special guest, the angel of our group, singing Amazing Grace, here is Carlton”, and the applause began again, as Devon took a deep breath and turned on his Mic.