Loaded Six String

[Jack Lifeson]

The Landrover pulled up to the parking meter directly across from the club named Legion, and was placed into park. Jack removed the keys, swinging them and whistling as he unlocked the trunk and removed a guitar case from his vehicle. Making sure to look both ways, he crossed the street on a very slow, typical, rainy Wednesday night. The middle of the week was probably the slowest time for any business, clubs especially. He stepped up to the two gentlemen at the doors, and began to fiddle with his wallet. "Uh..." He began, moving to the zipper. "I'm actually here to just do a..."

"Jack Lifeson?"

He looked up and stared at the security, who stared at each other with grins on their faces. "I saw you at the Blues Club last week. Wow man, you really know how to play. Say- you're not going to be playing here, are you?"

"Well..." He rubbed the back of his head, adjusting the shoulder strap of the case. "That's kinda why I'm here. I sort of want to play a medium sized venue. And Club Legion was recommended to me." He shrugged a little, chewing a bright orange pick in the corner of his mouth, shivering slightly as the water rolled down his leather jacket.

"Well good luck man, can't wait to hear you play." The security on the left said, opening the door for him and gesturing with his other arm to come inside. Jack walked in to have a bar atmosphere hit him more than a club. The stage was empty, two dozen regulars sitting at the bar and other places sat around talking quietly while the bar tender drummed his fingers on glasses just to get them dirty- a make work project to fill an empty and squeaky clean sink.

"Well, uh..." Examining the interior of the place, he shrugged once more and quietly made his way up onto the stage, seeing a patch cord and an unused Marshall amp sitting there, collecting dust. No one looked up to the stage, no one applauded. He removed the Ibanez Artcore guitar from it's case, plugged in quietly, turned on the amplifier, and attempted to find the cleanest channel as quietly as possible. Still no one paid attention.

He wiggled his fingers, blew on them, and then turned the volume up to an amount where he would become the perfect background noise for a conversation. His fingers picked easily along the frets, and his left hand danced along the polished fret board as he seemed to mimic every instrument in 'Europa' with pure ease. Slowly conversations stopped, people craned their heads to look at the stage, and they saw a wet young man playing a Tuck Andress compilation of the classic 'Europa.' Hands went to mouths, men's eyes widened, and the bar tender stopped his make work project.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

ooc: --Insert apologies for delay and for short reply. Not like I had HUGE stuff to work with. Exert control where necessary to put things forward a little.--

ic:

"Kaz....We need a talk."

Glancing up from a thick ledger in front of him, Taiku took a moment to raise an eyebrow before responding with a nod to the chair in front of him. Rene, stepping into the office fully, approached the chair and took a seat. There was a rather demure look on her face, and as he closed the ledger over, he rested his arms over one another.

"Then, let's talk."

"Well, it's like this....The band for tomorrow night have had to cancel...."

"...You are kidding..."

Shaking her head, Rene spoke but Taiku didn't even register the reply. This was the ultimate nightmare for anyone in his line of work, and he was going to have some real work on his hands finding a replacement.

"Please, tell me there's a good excuse for it."

"Their lead guitarist was in a car accident. The guys pretty messed up, but according to doctors reports he'll be alright, just needs to stay in bed for a while and heal up."

"...That'll do it."

"So, what're we going to do now?"

"Hell, I'll make some calls and see what I can sort out. If I can find a replacement act, then I'll be able to switch it over and ride it out. Not the end of the world by any means, but it's cutting close..."

His words trailed off as he turned his head. Sounds from inside the club often reached the office, and for the most part he deliberately tuned them out. It was background noise, and more than anything he could effectively gauge the crowd from the sounds it made. Fights were easy to pick out if the bouncers weren't able to see them, reactions to the entertainment...It made for a crash-course in psychology of sorts.

However, the sound of a lustrously picked guitar song caught his ears from the floor, and with a furrow in his brow he approached the large one-way window and looked down. It was still quiet, still early, and as such the stage was even easier to see than usual. On it, to a hint of surprise, was a young man who strummed and picked his way through a song that, to Taiku, was admittedly one of the best pieces of playing he'd heard in a long time.

"He's good...."

"Yeah. Real good."

Without another word, he swiftly turned and walked from the office. In less than thirty seconds, he was standing in the main bar floor, leaning against the bartop and listening to the young man play his way through the last echelons of the song along with the other regulars who lingered their attention to the skilful playing. By the time the player had come to a stop, Taiku had begun to approach the stage, hopping up with a quick step and stopping a few steps from the youth.

"You make a habit of this sort of thing...?"

The cocked eyebrow was there as he spoke, and whilst the words were indeed loaded, there was little real animosity in the elder mans voice as he awaited a reaction.

[Jack Lifeson]

As his hand smacked the last few strings, it came to an abrupt ending when the man he was waiting for came up onto the stage. When the guitar was silenced, conversations started up once more and the small atmosphere of mindless chatter returned. The dance floor was still empty, but the tables seemed to have doubled in populace. Jack however, paid no mind, and focused directly on the owner himself; the man himself standing right before him. "Well..." Jack began messing about with the volume knob until it was set to zero. The amplifier's hum was instantly cut out, so the two could have a conversation without being interrupted by unneeded feedback.

"Uh. No, not really. Just kinda saw an empty stage. I don't like empty stages- did I bother you?" He removed the patch cord and wounded it up, walking over to the amp and placing it up on the head unit. Turning to face Taiku, he set the guitar leaning against the amplifier with his other hand. "I was just waiting to see if I could talk to the owner... And- well, uh, I think you're probably the guy, right?" He turned his right wrist and pointed an index finger at Taiku from the hip, cocking his head to the right.

"I was going to propose, y'know, if I would be able to do a little gig here some time. A little gig for a big place- I hear this is one of the most hopping places in town... But it's a club, and, uh, if'yheard what kind of music I play- I don't know if it'd do too well with the Triphop or whatever crowd." He rubbed the back of his head. "And I'd sort of need a second guitarist for some stuff... This is all kinda last minute, sorry." He held out the hand he had previously used to point, and blew some hair out of his eyes. "Name's Jack. Jack Lifeson. You may of heard my name, apparently I'm known in the local music scene, for some reason..." He frowned slightly, showing that the statement held no ego, and a pinch of confusion.

He looked over his shoulder momentarily to make sure the semi hollow guitar didn't move from it's position, and that the amplifier was still warm, but not heating. As he turned his head he scanned the crowd again to see a more bar mentality still. He could also see, through an open door, a larger crowd of people lining up at the doors. A DJ of some sort would probably come on soon if it got a little too busy. Despite being a musician, Jack liked the quiet and hazy atmosphere of a quiet establishment, some times. With his hand still out, he turned his head back to face Taiku, raising the hand lightly to show he had not forgotten.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

"No, not at all..."

At being asked if he'd been bothered by the young man, Taiku was quick to respond with a short shake of his head as he spoke. Fact was, he'd been 'disturbed' by it, but not in a way that had caused him any annoyance. A moment later, however, any trace of the exchange had moved on as the young man questioned whether he was the owner. It was a slight surprise that someone didn't know who he was, though the obvious suspicion was there. With a flicker of a smile creeping onto his lips, he nodded slowly at the comment and listened to the proposition made to him, his arms folding loosely over his chest.

Reaching forward to take the hand when it was offered, he shook it firmly a moment before letting go. "I'm Taiku Akimoto, and I'm ashamed to say that I hadn't heard of you. At least, I hadn't heard of you yet, clearly, because with playing like that you've got some definite potential to be huge."

Turning, he would begin to make his way from the stage, looking back over his shoulder at Jack.

"C'mon. Let's take a seat over here..."

Pulling a chair out from under a nearby table, he would sit into it and lean idly on the tabletop as the younger man would take his own seat, speaking without prompt as he addressed the proposition made to him.

"Couple of things to clear up first, so you're not getting the wrong idea of this place. Firstly, 'triphop' isn't exactly the biggest selling point here. Legion isn't a specifically set club for one type of music, we play to the crowd and do what we think will bring customers in. Nothing ever appealed to me about music without some sense of rhythm to it, and I'm more than aware that focusing on one style keeps the other potential customers out."

A waitress approached them, and whilst Taiku simply shook his head, he would offer Jack the opportunity to request a drink if he so chose...When she left, he continued again. "Anyway....As far as giving you a gig, I've not got a slot free for a couple of weeks at the moment. However, I like the way you play, so I'll put an idea your way. My act for tomorrow night have had an incident, their guitarist got hurt in a car crash, so they're not going to be able to play. I note you say you'd need a backup guitarist for some stuff. What kind of a set could you put together on your own if there wasn't someone available?"

His eyes watched patiently for Jacks answer, and with an expressionless face, he waited in silence.

[Jack Lifeson]

He packed himself up, making sure that everything was all good to go come exit time. Hopping off of the stage he took the designated seat that was offered to him by the owner and leaned back on two legs, placing his hands in his lap with the fingers interlaced. He gave the waitress a puzzled look upon offering any possible drinks, and thusly she sighed and left.

"Some stuff is unoriginal material from the best era in music." Jack replied. "Dire Straits, Iron Maiden, Golden Earring, The Police, Jethro Tull..." He scratched his nose, continuing on briskly. "I could perform the number I did up there, tonight, though it does need a little bit more work. I thought I was going to break the things neck, I was hitting it so hard." Jack shifted his weight forward, planting the front two legs of the chair down onto the table.

"But with my drum machine I could do about forty five minutes worth of playing, which isn't entirely too bad. But it depends on what the show tomorrow was going to be doing- a two hour set, a three hour set... Entirely possible." He drummed his fingers against his chin, letting out a long 'hrm' of contemplation. "Tomorrow though... Never been given a gig so fast... But I can't leave a stage empty in this city." Jack tilted his head to one side, giving an awkward nod. "Alright man. I can pull something together for you, for tomorrow."

He looked over his shoulder to the stage, staring at the guitar case and the unused and cooled down amplifier. Amazing He thought. Just a few feet of elevation and some shining lights gets me so high. He gazed all over the stage, then to the sporadic amount of people. "Thursday..." He turned his head to look to Taiku. "Friday's a holiday for the high schools and colleges." He thought, aloud. "Sounds like a plan, man." He nodded, offering a hand once more. "Sounds like a plan."