Becoming

I Live My Way

Dave arrived at Steve's place in Essex and walked into the studio to hear the bassist in one of the sound booths, in a hushed argument with Rod. "...gonna look bad for us! Like he's thinking about leaving or something."

Rod sighed. "No, it's not, don't be daft. It's two mates, whose wives are also friends, travelling together as they'd planned a joint holiday for their families well before this show got laid on for us. If Dave intended leaving Maiden, he'd have done so when Adrian did, or he'd have suggested Maiden disband after Bruce left. Instead, he encouraged you to find a new singer and keep going."

"Well, yeah," Steve conceded. "But still... if it was Psycho Motel, I'd not be so worried, but it's Bruce."

"Look, I get that you're worried," Rod said, sounding a little more conciliatory. "I know you're concerned that the fans haven't taken the change at vocalist nearly as well as we'd all hoped, and I know that Maiden going on right before Bruce will invite comparisons that we'd all rather didn't happen. That's on me, I should have asked who else was in the lineup and when they were playing before I accepted the gig. That said, don't go taking your nerves out on Dave, not when he asked me ahead of time if it was okay if he travelled down to London with Ade after the show and I told him yes."

"I won't," Steve said with a sigh.

"Worry more about Blaze, and figure out what songs to do that'll best show off what he can do, rather than forcing him into going beyond his range," Rod advised. "I know the fans want to hear the older hits, but we both know he can barely sing some of them on his best days – not because he's bad, but simply because his voice isn't nearly so high as Bruce's. We've only got a forty-five minute set anyway, so for sure leave off Number Of The Beast and Hallowed Be Thy Name."

Steve frowned but nodded. "Yeah. That's easily enough done. And I need you to..."

Dave, having heard more than he'd really wanted to, opened the door to the Barn and let is slam shut behind himself as he called out, "Hello? Are you out here, Harry?" acting as though he'd just entered.

"Good to see you, Davey," Steve said, emerging from the sound booth, followed by Rod. "How was the trip over?"

"Not bad," Dave said. "Stopped off in New York City on the way through for a change, didn't want to foist myself off on Nathalie with Ade out on tour. No need to risk rumours of an affair between us, by me visiting when he's not home, even if I had to pay extra for the hotel."

"Probably smart," Steve agreed. "Rod tells me you'll be staying behind when the rest of us leave Bulldog after our set, that you'll be travelling with Ade as he'd planned on his family visiting yours whilst he's on tour break with Bruce?"

"Yeah," Dave nodded. "I did ask if you needed me to return to London with you, but Rod said it was fine if I wanted to stay behind and travel with Ade. And I rather figured that he and Nathalie would appreciate an extra hand whilst travelling with three sprogs, too."

Steve chuckled at that. "Yeah, I s'pose that does make sense," he said ruefully. "Now that my older four are all in school, they're with their mum during the week, but I've found it's hard enough for me and Emma to manage dinner out with our two, so I can't picture flying with them. And Ade's three are all school age now, right? So they're more than old enough to run off to look at things and get lost."

"Exactly," Dave agreed. "When's everyone else due to arrive?"

"Nicko's flight got delayed, he called earlier," Rod said. "But he should be landing in London in a couple of hours and then he'll get the train to Essex and a taxi here as you did. Janick planned to collect Blaze and they should be here any time now."