Chapter 59

It was Friday afternoon when Richie started feeling nervous, he knew it was silly but it had been a while since he stood on a stage as large as this one and getting back to performing was always a little daunting.

Sound check had been delayed as they had stayed with Tico for as long as they could. Their flight could not be pushed back any more for them to still have time for sound check and everything else before the show.

Perhaps his nerves were caused by the plane preparing for landing, outside the window he could see the ground coming closer and closer. He had flown too many times to remember but there was always that passing thought that if something went wrong, it would not end well.

Not much later, the plane landed and sped down the runway until the brakes slowed it to a taxi-ing speed and continued it's way to the gate.

"So Rich will be at the venue when we get there?" Jon asked him.
"Yeah, I sorted everything out. We just need to get there."
Jon nodded. "Okay, then sound check as soon as we get there."
Richie agreed with him. "Yes, then we get ready, eat and hit the stage."
"Don't beat up our stage." Jon said with a straight face.
"You're hilarious."

Sound check went much easier than two weeks ago in a small studio and they easily rehearsed a couple songs as Rich already knew all their most known songs from the times he had played drums when Jon performed solo.

Richie had been correct in his choice that this would be the easiest way to find a stand in drummer. It surely made sound check go very smoothly. The setlist had not been set up yet but Richie had decided on which of his songs he did want to perform tonight and was happy to introduce Rich to his music as well. He was most happy when Jon stayed during the song rehearsal and took his instructions on guitar without a complaint. He had expected Jon to let him be and not partake but he was glad he was incorrect about that. If Jon took part in this, it would be easier to transition between songs during the show, if they decided to do it before encores.

After a few tries he was happy with how it was sounding and gave the leadership roll back to Jon, asking if there was anything else he wanted to go over before they all got dinner and got ready for the show.

Backstage, they all departed in their own direction. Jon headed to his dressing room and Richie followed David in search of some dinner. His nerves were making him hungry and he just wanted to fill his tummy so it could calm down.

Together with David, he had dinner as he texted Sarah to catch up on how her day was going. He was always happy to hear how she was doing and looked forward to the video chat that had become an evening routine now. With the time difference, he was lucky she was still awake when he arrived back at his hotel. Soon, he would be closer and the time difference would not work in his advantage as much anymore.

Returning back to their dressing room, both of them were given the final setlist for the evening. Seeing his own song it, nicely in the middle of the show, made him feel proud. That's all he would need to be included in this whole thing, just some acceptance of his own creativity.

Having been able to work on his album alone and tour for it alone, had made him the happiest he had been in a while and being able to continue to share that while on tour now meant a lot to him. Their artistic differences had been rough on the band but this was a fair compromise.

He sent Sarah his last text, letting her know he was getting ready to go out on stage and finally kick off the tour after their short delay. Proofreading his text made him excited and nervous at the same time. He hadn't been out on a stage in a while and only a few weeks ago he would not have been interested in going onto that stage but here he was, ready to do it all again.