new life | depeche mode

Chapter 14 - The First Gig

After I help Andy settle his things, I decide to go use the payphone in the hall to give Teresa a call. I put my coins in the slot, and dial her dorm room phone. She and her roommate, Janice, share the fee for the phone.

"Hello?" I hear a voice say, it's Janice.

"Hey Janice, it's Eve."

"Teresa's little sister? Hey! She's, uh, not here right now." Janice says.

That's really weird. "Okay, well can you tell her whenever she gets back that I called her right before Martin's gig to say hi?" I ask.

"Yes, I will let her know. Nice chatting with ya, Eve." Janice says, and before I can respond, she hangs up on me.

"That was weird." I say aloud. I turn around to look, and there's no one else in the hallway. Thank God no one heard me talking to myself! I walk back to the backstage area, and I spot Dave sitting against the wall, two six packs of Lager surrounding him. He's mumbling something, at first I can't hear it over the wind of French Look onstage. As I get closer to him, I can hear him repeating over and over again, "I don't want to do it."

He looks up as I sit down next to him, and gives me a weak smile.

"How are you feeling?" I ask him.

"Like shit. I was a fool to think I could perform in front of people." He says, clearly upset. He takes a sip from his can.

"You will be fine, Dave. You have an amazing voice, and you have three of your closest friends to back you up onstage. And I'll be in the wings to support you all." I tell him reassuringly.

"I'm afraid people are going to think we suck." He finishes his can of Lager and goes for another one.

"Whoa, buddy, I'd slow down. How many have you had? You don't want to out there drunk and do something really foolish. Nerves and alcohol aren't a good mix."

"It's not me who gets silly when they're drunk, it's Martin. Besides, I need some courage."

I take a can, open it, and drink a few sips.

"I did pay for that, you know." He says in mock annoyance.

"How much was it?" I ask.

"£5.10"

"Let's see, 5.10 divided by 6........ I'll give you the .81 in change later." I joke. "Besides, you can't drink this all on your own, I'm helping you."

Dave turns to look at me. "Eve, can you sit in the front row? I'm so nervous I want to puke, and yes, I realize that maybe the alcohol isn't helping. I'd like to see you out there, in the crowd, instead of in the wings. You're my best friend, you know."

I nod. "You're my best friend too, and of course I'll sit in the front, if I can find a seat! Now I'm gonna go find Andy and Vince, and tell them to break a leg."

"Be careful, Vince is pissed that Martin's in both performances. He wants him to choose, us, obviously. And don't I get a 'break a leg'?" Dave asks me.

"Yes, you do. Break a leg, Dave! You're gonna kill it out there." I say. I give him a quick hug, get up, walk to the door that leads to the wings of the stage, and push it open.

***

"H-hello everyone! I'm Dave, the singer for Composition of Sound. That was French Look, and now the moment you've all been waiting for, um, us! We have a great setlist for you tonight, first off is one of our original pieces, called Ice Machine!" Dave says into the microphone. With every word he says he sounds more confident. There are a few cheers, mainly from me, Gemma, and some of Dave's friends from his London days. Gemma didn't know about my original plan to watch from the wings and had saved me a seat.

The intro for Ice Machine starts, and then Dave starts singing. I hum along, I've heard the boys play it a few times before when I've crashed their practice sessions. After Ice Machine is a cover of Roxy Music's Virginia Plain. I look over to Gemma who is nodding her head in rhythm. She's a big Roxy Music fan, which is funny because I don't think 2017 Gemma even knows who they are. Next is Mirror Is Standing, then Television Set, which Jason, one of Vince's friends wrote. Then it's Photographic, and Gemma and I both know the lyrics. We mouth the words together, and I think I see a smile from Vince. He's probably pleased that someone knows one of his songs. After Photographic ends, I hear the intro for Tora! Tora! Tora!. 2017 Eve takes over in my mind, thrilled that I'm hearing one of my favorite songs from Speak and Spell live. That's when it hits me, how lucky I am. I'm living in my favorite decade with my favorite band. I quickly pull my head out of the clouds so I can enjoy Tora! Tora! Tora! and the rest of the setlist, Big Muff and Sunday Morning. Martin is such a great songwriter, and as much as I like Vince, his writing is more like poetry than lyrics.

When the band files offstage, Gemma turns to me. "We are so cool! I'm dating the frontman and you're dating...the synth guy!" She giggles.

I roll my eyes in a joking way. "That's not the term for Andy's role in the band! Whatever, we need to get backstage and congratulate them."

I grab Gemma by the wrist, and we push our way through the crowd, to the back of the auditorium. A girl doesn't look where she's going and slams right into us.

"Hey! Watch it!" I say, annoyed.

The girl turns to face me, and to my surprise, it's Teresa!

"Surprise! You wouldn't think that I'd miss my boyfriend's double header?" She says cheerily.

"I called your dorm, and Janice was very suspicious, now I know why!" I say, and the three of us make our way backstage. Teresa tags along behind us, so she can surprise Martin.

As we get closer, we hear shouts coming from backstage.

"Clarke! Where's Clarke? I'm gonna give that bastard a piece of my mind!" The three of us instantly recognize the voice of Paul Redmond, one of Martin's bandmates in French Look.

"Whatever we're walking into, I don't like the sound of it." Gemma says, as we open the doors to the backstage area.