he’d worked with. They had history, and the conversations were low-key small talk, observations about the lay out, differences to other gigs. It was fun to watch him light up on those occasions when a fan recognized him and asked for an autograph or a picture, but even they were usually cool, not squealing like they might with a real celebrity.
And he was mine, all mine.
As the sun began to set, we needed to think about food and the band’s performance ahead. Back in the tent, Noah was awake, Micah and Rick had arrived, and it was time to get to work.
I took plenty of pictures of the preshow activities. It was surreal to see it all going down from a few feet away. Roadies bustled everywhere, mostly asking me to either move out of the way or to help carry some piece of equipment. I chose to fall back rather than screw something up. The sea of humans in front of the stage undulated like an ocean tide.
And then it was time. The final act of the night was announced to a deafening roar. The lights dropped. Shane gave me a kiss and crept to his drumkit. Micah, Rick, and Noah held back, and a spotlight hit Shane the first time he struck his drums.
Chills.
As Shane pounded out a rhythm, the crowd clapped along. Rick walked out and laid down the bass line. The crowd erupted in cheers at the unmistakable beginning to “Close Enough.” Noah strutted out under his own spotlight, bowing and waving to screams. He grabbed his guitar and lit up the night with electricity. Finally, Micah walked out center stage, and everyone went nuts. He grabbed the mic and broke out in the first lyric.
The world spins and spins and spins
Gravity pulling me back
Back to you
People crushed against the front barricade singing along, crying, losing their goddamn minds. I was losing my goddamn mind. The guys were so charismatic and talented. And I was so close, I could see drops of sweat flying off their hair. I could see the looks Noah and Micah shot at each other as they coordinated telepathically. I could see Shane’s muscles as he relentlessly destroyed his drumkit. Rick stood still, nodding to the rhythm as he performed to perfection.
The whole show was brilliant.
Normally, at the end of a concert, I’d stand with the crowd demanding an encore, and after another song or two, the arena lights would come on, cuing the end of the show. The band disappeared into another dimension. Gone. Whisked away.
I hadn’t expected the chaos on the other side. As soon as the guys stepped off the stage after the last encore, they were surrounded by people with various jobs. Techs shoved water bottles into their hands. Noah poured his over his head. Roadies began breaking down the instruments. I was jostled out of the way and fled to a less crowded spot behind the stage, near the safari tent, where Shane found me.
He was more sweat than man at that point. Rather than reach for me, he said, “Give me a few minutes to change. We have to head over to some afterparty for a little bit. You can come with us, or if you want, I can send you back to the hotel.”
I chortled. Like hell I was going to miss out on a new experience.
“I’ll wait for you here.”
He smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
The pandemonium continued around me, and I suddenly felt incredibly awkward and out of place. There was no sign of Micah, Noah, or Rick either, so I attempted to slink back into the safari tent to hide out, but a muscular man in a black T-shirt blocked my path.
“Miss, you can’t be back here.”
I started to lift my VIP pass before it occurred to me that maybe Shane had been my true ticket into this area. “I’m with the band,” I said, hearing how lame that sounded as it came out of my mouth.
“Well, you’re going to have to wait out here.”
He led me away from the tent toward a rope, behind which a group of twenty or thirty women and a few men craned their necks to peer around the stage.
When I joined the crowd, one lady said, “Nice try.”
She had salon-perfect highlights in her straight blond hair. Her makeup had survived the heat of the day somehow, and her clothes weren’t wrinkled, dusty, or moist from sweat. I’d avoided most of the festival filth, but she