Page 50 of Follow the Rhythm
But now that I was at the venue, I was second-guessing my choices. Backstage was always freezing, no matter where we went. At least the boots kept my shins warm.
I found Charlie in the wings, talking with Stevie. His back was to me, so Stevie saw me first.
“What are you doing here so early?” she asked suspiciously.
“Good morning to you, too. I wanted to seeyousince you’re such a delight,” I replied with a saccharine smile.
Charlie turned around, and his eyes almost popped out of his head. A thrill of power ran through me at his reaction, along with a flutter of desire.
“I wanted to watch the load-in process,” I said to Stevie.
“Well. As much as it pains me to say this, it’s probably a good thing you’re here. The truck with half the LED screen set up is already at the next venue,” she said, glaring at Charlie.
“What? How?”
“That would be a question for the tour manager here.” She gestured to Charlie.
“It was a miscommunication,” he said, sounding more annoyed than I’d ever heard him. “It’s too far away for the driver to make it back in time. So, we’ll need to get creative.”
Creative. I could do that. “What equipment do we have?”
“Half the LED panels and rigging are here, but fuck if I know what we’re supposed to do with it,” Stevie said irritably.
“Let me get my laptop,” I said, my mind’s gears already whirring.
Four hours later, we somehow had the stage ready for soundcheck. Instead of the one large screen that the set usually had, I’d worked with the riggers and Josh, the video director, to create clusters of screens across the back of the stage. Stevie had been extremely unhelpful at first, but as the design came together, she changed her tune.
With Josh’s help, I reworked the video files to create shorter clips that would play intermittently between the smaller screens and rotated with complementary visuals. We had to accommodate the space where the tree would be, too, without making it look like there was an awkward hole. There had been a lot of heated arguments.
I was in the booth with Josh and Eddie, wrapped in an oversized cardigan I’d grabbed when I got my laptop from the tour bus, while Stevie directed adjustments from onstage.
“Play it again,” I said to Josh. “And can we bring the lights down slightly, Eddie? Some of the screens are getting washed out.”
Eddie grinned at me. “You got it, boss.”
Josh cued up the last track of the complicated middle section, and I watched, pleased. The effect was actually really cool. We played my illustrations on the larger screen clusters so they were still visible, even from the higher rows. I’d checked it out myself.
There were still a ton of things I wanted to adjust, but I was pretty happy overall. Especially since I had no clue what I was doing beyond directing a bunch of people to match the image in my head.
“Looks great, you guys,” Stevie yelled from the stage. “Can we get soundcheck underway?”
Eddie and Josh looked around, and I realized they were deferring to me. A combination of panic and pride flared inside me.
“Yeah, I think we’re done,” I called back to Stevie.
I went backstage to find some food. I’d been working so hard I’d forgotten to eat, and my stomach felt like it was digesting itself.
Stevie waylaid me, and I braced for her usual unpleasantness.
“Hey. You did a good job today. It looks intentional.”
I looked at her suspiciously. “That’s it? No backhanded remarks? No doubt about my abilities or qualifications?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” She held out her hand. “Forgive me?”
I shook it, feeling magnanimous. “Fine. Now where’s the food?”
Before I made it to where catering had set up, I found Charlie. He’d been in and out all day, checking on the progress of the stage design.
