7 days in limbo [Billie Eilish]

DAY I.2: look at all those chickens

As usual sound check began with drums and the rhythm section before moving on to guitar and vocals. Balancing everything out ended up more difficult for my team than expected.

Up in the sound booth I pulled the headphones from my ears and leant back as soon as we were done. I listened to Finneas play the first chords of a song. The siblings wanted to try out a few openings to finish off.

Billie sang the first notes into the empty venue. It was like a bucket of simultaneously ice cold and lukewarm water purring over me. Goosebumps crept down my neck from the top of my head down my spine.
It was like being touched to the marrow. I shuddered at the fleeting but intense sensation.

My team continued the sound check with the opening band after Billie and Finneas left for their break. I worked along and pretended I had not just been seriously bewitched.

At 6:30 p.m. the doors where opened. The hard-core fans had been queuing outside since the afternoon.
I was alone in the control booth since my colleagues had left. The venue was seriously short on staff and I had agreed to manage the opening band on my own even though I was by no means a professional.

As the crowd poured in I ate an avocado sandwich and had two cups of coffee to curb the exhaustion. By the time the hall was filled I was throwing popcorn in the air to catch it with my mouth.

"Mara? Can I come in?"

My chair was tipped back and I almost fell over when the door opened.

"Oh, what are you doing here?" I managed to ask after recovering from nearly breaking my neck. Billie had entered the booth.

"Can I watch the band from up here?" She looked curiously through the window at the crowd.

"Of course. Make yourself comfortable." I set my popcorn aside and gestured towards the chair next to me. As long as she was fully dressed I should be able to behave like a functioning human being.

"Sometimes I watch the fans too. That shit is funny."

"They'd totally lose it if they knew."

"One hundred percent. I like how I can see them and they don't even know."

We watched the fans fight viciously for the front row. The venue was packed by now.

"What's that for?" Billie asked when I reached over for the camera I had set up earlier.

"I wanted to record a time-laps of the crowd. It's for a video I have to shoot for the Hunted Hall YouTube channel."

"I thought you're a technician."

"I am. Well, not really. I'm just doing an internship at the venue right now and I kind of have to do everything."

"Do you like it?"

Her interest took me by surprise. I had misjudged Billie when I had assumed she was like everybody else in the industry. Some artists did not bother interacting with the staff yet alone remembered their names or asked questions about them.

"The internship? Yeah," I nodded, "it's basically free concerts every weekend."

"That sounds dope."

"It is but it's is a fuckton of work. Half the time I feel like I'm running this shit show- I mean, like, the venue, not your show."

Billie laughed and I looked at my hands. I was still holding the camera. "You know what?" I began again, "I know I should have scheduled something but I forgot and earlier I was too nervous but... would you be cool with a quick interview? For the video."