Stepwise Pagoda -- Genesis By Nykki The Witch +++++ 12:45pm: All Areas Rehearsal Studio, Hourly Room 7 Jack looked around the room. Mike was obviously here already, his old Fender Twin already set up. A few vintage effects pedals were connected between the amp and the old battered Fender Telecaster guitar that Mike favored. Next to Mike's gear sat a big bass cabinet with a small rack on top. In the rack sat one of those high end integrated bass processors and a 400-watt power amp. On a stand next to the cabinet there were two bass guitars -- a Yamaha 5 string bass and a Carvin 4 string. "Hmmm. Nice gear. Hope he can play." Then he noticed something else -- a single keyboard, sitting on a stand. Jack mused to himself, "He's either into Rush, Led Zep, or both." Jack surveyed the drum area. It was obvious the drummer liked drums. He counted 8 drums and 6 cymbals, but based on the way they were arranged, he suspected this drummer would want more. He set his guitar case down in the empty spot and then went out to the car to get the rest of his stuff. He ran into Mike talking to ... Tony was his name. The Singer. Jack had spoken with him once before, at the last battle of the bands where his old band, A-roar-a, took second behind Tony's band The Troubleshooters. Both bands were coming apart due to internal pressures, so Jack and Tony had talked about possibly hooking up. Today would prove if it was feasible.... "Hey Jack. I was just talking with Tony here. We know a lot of the same stuff." Jack nodded. "Cool. Gimmie a hand?" "Sure." Mike grabbed Jack's speaker cabinet out of the back of the truck. As Tony reached for the amplifier head, Mike stopped him. "No, grab the bag. Jack doesn't like anyone moving Charlie but himself." Tony looked down at the amp, and noticed the name on it. "Charlie?" Jack smiled. "It was one of Charlotte Caffey's amps back when she toured with The Gogos. My parents bought it at a sale out in L A. My uncle is an engineer, so he tuned it up for me and made some modifications to it. It has an extra rhythm channel and the Eq section has been tweaked. It has speaker switching, plus, my wireless is built into it." Jack hoisted the amp and headed inside. Tony lifted Jack's duffel bag and replied, "Cool, Can't wait to hear it." As Jack pulled out his pedal board and hooked up thick cables to his amp and speakers the other two players came in. Tony tapped Jack and Mike on the shoulder to get their attention. "Jack, Mike, this is Johnny and MadDog." They shook hands and then took their places. Jack popped the latches on his case and reached in. Allister, Jack's hot rodded custom guitar, fell perfectly into his hand. He slid the black leather strap over his head and hit a switch on the instrument. A red LED came on near the bridge, reflecting faintly on the satin black finish. Jack tapped a couple of pedals and quickly tuned. He looked up. "Ready." Mike looked at Tony. "Run through the Jungle?" Tony nodded. "Then Wheel of Fire." Jack looked up. "Agreed." Mad Dog hit his sticks together to set the time, and they dove into the CCR tune. "... Lonely lonely lonely Lone---ly time!" The mad rush of sound as the group finished up Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" rolled on and then stopped, perfectly, all at the same time. No one said anything for a second. Finally, Tony broke the silence. "Fuckin' A! That's rock and roll!" Everyone took this as a cue to talk at once. When Tony pulled out his cigarettes it was obviously time for a break. As Jack and Johnny stood outside while Mike and Tony smoked, Maddog could be heard inside adjusting his drum kit and cursing. Jack was quiet for a second, and then turned to Johnny. "Say, man, what's that all about?" Johnny smiled. "Maddog does that a lot. He's really particular about how his kit is set up. Not something you'd expect from him." "Say, why does everyone call him Maddog, anyway?" Johnny rolled his eyes. "It's a very old nickname. Ever meet Buddy Jenson? The guy who sells pretzels from a cart in the mall?" "Big guy, talks with a lisp and walks kinda funny?" "That's him. Buddy grew up in the same neighborhood as Maddog. Used to be the local bully. Maddog's real name is Raymond Paul Croccerelli. Well, Maddog's mom called him Paulie when he was younger - still does sometimes, in fact. Buddy decided to start calling him "Paulie wanna Cracker." Pissed Maddog off pretty bad every time he heard it. In fact, he hates parrots for that same reason. One day, Buddy decided to really annoy Maddog, and 'Dog lost it on him. Dog was about 30 pounds lighter than Buddy, but he still beat Buddy into the hospital. I've never seen anyone more pissed off, and Buddy learned really fast that he screwed the pooch. Dog started of by kicking the hell out of Buddy's left knee while repeatedly punching him in the head. Nearly took Buddy's ear off. When Buddy went down it was pretty much over, but Maddog just kept beating Buddy up, getting even for all the abuse. The teachers grabbed Maddog right as he was about to curb stomp the guy. He got the nickname Maddog from that, and it stuck. No one ever messed with him after that, and no one EVER called him Paulie anymore, except for his mom. Anyone who doesn't call him Maddog calls him Ray." "Wow. Is he safe to be around now?" "Yeah, he channels his aggression into his drumming." A loud stream of curses rang out from the room. Jack looked into the room. "I can see that. He is good, though." Johnny nodded. "Yep, that he is. He has a different sense of meter that lets him do some pretty interesting fills and turnarounds, and he seems to mix styles a lot on his playing. I'm impressed that a self-taught guy is that good. He's picked up on some good technique somewhere." Jack paused while Johnny took a drink of his soda, and then replied, "You're not too bad yourself, Johnny. You and Maddog work well together. But I can tell you; Mike is not going to be happy the first time you play keys on a song. He's got a thing about keyboards." "His problem. Some of the stuff we do needs keys. Like Stairway. Born to Be Wild. Working for the Weekend. You know, the stuff people pay to hear." Johnny's intensity level was increasing as he spoke. This was obviously an issue for him. "Hey, "Jack said as he put his hands up in mock surrender, "Not my issue, I was just letting you know." "Thanks for the warning." Tony and Mike stepped back from the rail and turned around. Tony walked up to Jack. "Dude, your guitar tone rocks! You were right about that amp. So, what do you think? Pretty kick ass, eh?" Jack nodded. "Yep. We mesh pretty well. But the real test will be how our originals work together." "Yep. Let's get on it. Oh, and we need to plan rehearsals. I can get us gigs at about six different places pretty much any time we're ready." "Cool. We need to find some place cheaper to practice, though. This place is fine for auditions, but it's too expensive. I don't make that much right now." Tony smiled as Johnny looked up at the sky. "Don't worry, we have that covered. Now, all we need is a name....."