In the warehouses in Los Angeles county, the rehearsals went on five days a week, at least seven hours a day. Jake and the Nerdlys continued to alternate back and forth between the two locations, doing everything they could to help make both shows everything they could be. The peace between the former Intemperance members not only held, but actually strengthened to a considerable degree. Jake and Matt did not socialize with each other. They never went out and had beers together, or hung out together the way they had back in the Intemperance days, but they enjoyed a mutual respect for each other’s work ethic and musical talent. When Jake suggested some change or tweak to the planned performance, Matt always listened to him and considered what he was suggesting. And if Matt disagreed with what Jake was suggesting, Jake always listened to his reasoning and they would put their heads together and try to come up with a mutual solution. So far, in every case, they were able to reach a conclusion without any sort of bitter argument or harsh words. Jake still did not know if this new Matt had appeared because of maturity and self-reflection or if it was simply desperation. In the end, he decided that it did not really matter.
In Celia’s warehouse, her show shaped up nicely as well. Miles O’Leary proved to be a quick study when it came to picking up Laura’s sax parts in Celia’s show and expressing them with his own phrasing and talent. As long as he kept his THC level therapeutical, he was pretty badass with his instrument. As for his other quirks, the band learned to live with them. All except the hygiene issue. Jake, as the titular head of the production, had been the one to lay down the law with him on this issue.
“It’s like this, Miles,” Jake told him one Friday after the rehearsal. “We love what you’re doing here, but there is something we need to address.”
“What would that be?” he asked calmly, his eyes red and half-lidded from the latest pipe hits he had imbibed in.
“To put it quite frankly,” he said, “you stink.”
“Stink? I’m playing my heart out for the lass! How can you say that?”
“Not that kind of stink,” Jake said. “The literal kind. You smell like a dirty sweat sock that someone has been blowing bonghits into. Your breath is terrible. And all of this only gets worse the more you stand up there under the lights and play. I have been asked by multiple members of the band to address this situation, so I’m going to lay down a new rule for you.”
“I had no idea that I was offendin’ people,” he said, quite clearly taken aback.
“You have been, I’m sorry to say. And these are people that you are going to be traveling in a small plane with, in limousines with, that will be hanging out with you in cramped dressing rooms. So, here’s the new rule: You shower at least once per day while working with us and out on the road on days there is a performance. You brush your teeth. You wear clean clothes after you take such a shower. There is laundry service out on the road so this should not be a problem. You will adhere to this rule faithfully and without fail. If you do not, it is quite possible that Coop, Charlie, and Little Stevie might resort to physical violence against your person.”
“They would do that?” O’Leary asked, shocked.
“In a heartbeat,” Jake told him. “Especially Charlie. He’s already a whacked-out germophobe. Your dirty clothes and unbrushed teeth are making the man psychotic.”
And so, O’Leary agreed to abide by the new rule. And, so far, he seemed to be doing so. Though his hair was still long and scraggly, his mustache and beard untrimmed and wild, he no longer exuded that offensive odor during rehearsals and his clothes were now different from day to day and seemed to be recently laundered.
By July 31st, Faithless the song was the most popular hard rock tune nationwide. Faithless the CD had sold just a bit more than thirty thousand copies. Matt and his band (with Jim the paramedic always nearby, back on the payroll at Matt’s expense) finished their last of three full dress rehearsals for the two hour and twenty-minute set. There was no opening band going out with them. Matt’s first date was to be August 8, a Saturday night, in Bangor, Maine. The tickets for that show, none of which were less than $100, the most expensive of which were $350, had sold out within hours of being released. Reports were that the scalpers were offering the tickets up for more than $500 and were getting buyers. The next ten shows following Bangor had also sold out.
Jake and the Nerdlys attended all of the dress rehearsals. All of them went well. The road crew and the techies were all in the groove by this point and Matt and his band had rehearsed enough to put on the show in their sleep if they had to. Of course, the Nerdlys fretted about the sound, but that was as inevitable as the tide coming in. Jake found no fault with anything and, though he had only seen Matt perform at the TSF, he knew that this set was much more dynamic, much more energetic, and considerably more technical and sophisticated than his last tour by a factor of three at least. Matt fans were going to love the show. He had no doubt about that.
Jake hung out after the last performance and watched as the road crew went to work. This would be their first dress rehearsal of the tear down and load out process. All of the trucks were parked out in the parking lot, ready to be loaded up. The crew would disassemble everything and pack it up, leaving the warehouse completely empty. The timeline they were shooting for was three hours, but they would not likely come close to that on the first attempt. Tomorrow, they would all return in the morning and put everything back together again. They would then tear it down again and repack it. And then they would do it all again the next day. After that, they would head out on the three-day drive to Bangor, Maine where they would assemble everything for real in the Bangor Memorial Auditorium.
Jake was not involved with the tear down and assembly process. It was not his area of expertise by any means. He just wanted to watch the beginning stages to make sure everything was going smoothly. It was. All of the roadies involved were veterans of the process, most of them from Matt’s previous tours. And the new techs who dealt with the video gear and the cameras and the projectors all seemed to know what they were doing as well.
He watched in satisfaction for a bit and then checked his watch. It was now 4:38 PM. And it was Friday. That meant that he and Laura had a little appointment to keep over at Celia’s place after they were done with their rehearsal for the day. He smiled in anticipation. It had been that time of the month for Laura last Friday, so they had not gotten together then. He was eagerly anticipating a little fun and games with the ladies on this evening.
Just as he was turning to go, a voice called out to him. It was Matt. He was standing on the edge of the stage, drinking a bottle of beer and smoking a cigarette. He had changed out of his stage clothes and his hair was wet from his shower.
“What’s up?” Jake asked, walking over.
“There ain’t no fuckin’ groupies here, that’s what’s up,” Matt said sourly. “I can’t wait until we’re actually out there and getting the gash.”
“I guess I was remiss in not arranging for some dress rehearsal groupies for the dress rehearsal performance,” Jake said.
“Yeah,” Matt said, shaking his head. “What kinda fuckin’ boss are you anyway?”
Jake chuckled a little. This was the first time Matt had referred to him that way, at least not in a sarcastic manner. “Sorry, it’s my first Matt Tisdale tour. I’m bound to leave a few things out here and there.”
Matt shrugged. “Did the fuckin’ Nerdlys leave?” he asked.
“Yeah, about twenty minutes ago. Good show by the way. You’re gonna knock those motherfuckers dead once you start doing it for real.”
“It is a good set,” Matt said, nodding. “Our best yet. Anyway, I just wanted to see if you wanted to come back and have a couple beers with us before we cut out.”