#Wake - In Concert At The Royal Albert Hall

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔒𝔣 𝔐𝔢𝔯𝔠𝔶 – 𝔑𝔬 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔗𝔬 ℭ𝔯𝔶

#The Sisters Of Mercy #Wake - In Concert At The Royal Albert Hall #No Time To Cry #Format: #2 x Vinyl #Released: #1987 #New Wave #Alternative Rock #Post punk #gothic rock #goth rock #UK #Recorded at the Royal Albert Hall #London #18th June 1985

[hordebreaker]

I heard about his death from Alan Rogan, who rang me early in the morning at Rod’s flat. I burst into tears, I felt completely bereft. I couldn’t bear the thought of a world without George.

When I left him for Eric, he had said that if things didn’t work out, ever, I could always come to him and he would look after me. It was such a selfless, loving, generous thing to say and it had always been tucked away at the back of my mind. Now that sense of security had gone. I was devastated. I’d known that his death was inevitable, but I’d kept hoping that, with all his money, they would find a cure for him. At the end I hadn’t grasped how ill he was as I hadn’t seen him for a few months. The last time had been at my cottage: he had phoned to say he was coming to Sussex to visit Ringo and Barbara and wanted to see me—I think he was curious to know where I was living. I was so glad we’d had that last meeting.

Danae Brook, a Daily Mail journalist whom I had known slightly, on and off, for some years, was due to come to the flat at ten o’clock on the morning George died. She wanted a photograph I had of somebody she was writing about. I was walking about like a zombie when, suddenly, she was there and wanting to interview me. I didn’t say anything to her but when her piece appeared it was all about how we had modeled together and been chums, and she had been with me soon after I received the news that George had died. I felt exploited.

His funeral was in Los Angeles. I didn’t go, but I was invited to the memorial concert, which took place a year later in the Royal Albert Hall, organized by Eric. I couldn’t go: I had booked a spiritual holiday in Peru. Instead, I watched it on video. On the day, I took myself away from the rest of the group and spent the day high in the mountains, thinking of George, the tears trickling down my face. I was happy to mourn him alone and in my own way.

You never know with grief how long it will last, but I think I’ll miss him for the rest of my life. We shared so much and grew up spiritually together and there are so many things that no one else knows about that we did together; and for many years there were so many questions I wanted to ask him and so many things I needed to speak to him about. And then there were the dreams. I would dream he was alive and I would say to him, “Oh George, it’s so wonderful that you are alive after all, this is so fabulous; I knew they had all made a mistake.” Some dreams can be incredibly vivid and so very real and then I would wake up and within the first couple of seconds I would think he was alive, and then that wave of reality would wash over me as I became more conscious. - Pattie Boyd, "Wonderful Today".

#george harrison #pattie boyd #george and pattie

[harrisonarchive]

George Harrison hanging out with Phil Everly, Ron Krasinski, Ian McLagan, and Philip Donnelly after an Everly Brothers concert in Adelaide, Australia, circa 1984/1985. Photographer unknown.

“The Beatles were always big Everly Brothers fans, but I’m not sure if they ever played this one [‘Let It Be Me’] in the early days. However, George did go to see them at the Royal Albert Hall on their reunion tour in 1983 [23 September], and I think he went home afterwards and recorded this the same night. We first came across him singing this on one of the demo reels, but then we found this multi-track version a bit later. On first listen I thought it might have been George harmonising with Jeff Lynne, I didn’t realise it was two Georges, but Olivia put me straight.” - Giles Martin, Music Radar, 18 May 2012

“Among those [tracks] she [Olivia Harrison] most prizes on this first release [Early Takes Vol. 1] are ‘Woman Don’t You Cry for Me,’ which takes on a benedictory tone in the wake of Harrison’s premature death, and her husband’s rendition of the Everly Brothers’ ‘Let It Be Me.’
‘I remember the Everly Brothers had just come to England and that’s when he recorded that song,’ she said. ‘Anything he did when I was around was special for me. I really wanted those tracks on there.’” - The L.A. Times Music Blog, 2 May 2012 (x)

#George Harrison #quote #quotes about George #The Everly Brothers #Harrison covers #Phil Everly #George and Olivia #1980s #Let It Be Me #fits quuee like a glove

[krispyweiss]

Movie Review: “Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall”

Like the Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival never played more than an hour in concert. For CCR, 45-minutes-and-out - no encore - was the rule.

When the latter finished slaying a sold-out crowd at London’s Royal Albert Hall in April 1970 in the wake of the former’s breakup, CCR could claim the mantle of biggest band in the world.

So says narrator Jeff Bridges at the conclusion of “Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall,” a new documentary that features the titular show alongside a short history of CCR up to that point.

The companion LP - At the Royal Albert Hall - inexplicably presents the songs in slightly altered running order. It’s spectacular, but short. So the film is buffeted with background on the group’s origins and its 1970 European tour to stretch it to almost 90 minutes.

Beginning in El Cerrito, Calif., where drummer Doug Clifford, bassist Stu Cook and guitarists Tom and John Fogerty first came together as Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets and, later, the John-fronted Golliwogs, “Travelin’ Band”’s front half is based around rarely- and never-before-seen footage of the foursome as they evolve from obscure local act to worldwide phenomenon.

Early videos of a dimly lit, mustachioed John Fogerty miming “I Put a Spell on You” alongside his clean-cut bandmates and later gems from Woodstock and inside their rehearsal space - the Factory - with its apropos-of-everything, blue-velvet drapes are priceless.

Footage of the band exploring European cities and playing their stages build up to the unedited concert at Albert Hall, which is jaw-dropping in its spartan presentation and musical and intensity.

The stage is small and unadorned. There’s no light show. And the audience is virtually on top of the band.

John Fogerty plays his guitar solos while facing Clifford. Cook and Tom Fogerty occupy the other side of the stage, sharing a mic for backgrounds on tracks such as “The Night Time is the Right Time” and “Proud Mary.”

“Born on the Bayou” simmers like cooking gumbo. The triple-time pairing of “Fortunate Son”->”Commotion” roils over the side. And “Keep on Chooglin’,” which closes the show with John Fogerty alternating between harp and axe solos as his bandmates vamp, just sizzles.

It’s easy to forget just how good Creedence Clearwater Revival was during its all-too-short time in the spotlight. “Travelin’ Band” - particularly the concert sequence - is a powerful reminder.

Biggest than the Beatles?

Nope.

Fab in their own way?

Absolutely.

Grade card: “Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall” - A

9/27/22

#creedence clearwater revival #travelin’ band creedence clearwater revival at royal albert hall #john fogerty #tom fogerty #stu cook #doug clifford #jeff bridges #the beatles

[noloveforned]

a little thought exercise for you this afternoon. imagine waking up on thanksgiving morning and realizing you still need to go to the grocery store before you can cook dinner. that's kinda how it feels when bandcamp fridays coincide with my radio show. i've finally gotten a bit better at the balancing act so we've got all the trimmings for tonight's show on wlur from 8pm to midnight. all you need to bring is yourself (and maybe a drink if you'd like one!)

there are also plenty of leftovers for you- last week's show is up on mixcloud (also seen below).

no love for ned on wlur – march 29th, 2024 from 8-10pm

artist // track // album // label the spinanes // hawaiian baby // rummy 7" // imp chastity belt // hollow // live laugh love // suicide squeeze non la // every lie // like before // mint the mystic tide // why // frustration // numero group rick white // these days // twenty golden hits of the eighties // (self-released) antenna // antenna state // antenna cassette // urge dancer // rein it in // ten songs i hate about you // meritorio essential logic // shabby abbott // john peel session on february 21st, 1979 10" // precious bzdet // starania // maybe it is enough? cassette // tetryon tapes the intelligence // always be kidding // now, squirm! // vapid moonlighting inc. sub verse // chance romance // scaling triangles compilation // zaius tapes anohni // it’s my fault // my back was a bridge for you to cross // secretly canadian beyoncé // ameriican requiem // cowboy carter // parkwood entertainment al harper // some day i'll be a farmer // the analemma observation league // take a turn etta james // my mother-in-law // tell mama // cadet cat power // tell me, momma // cat power sings dylan: the 1966 royal albert hall concert // domino cassie kinoshi's seed. // gratitude, part iv // gratitude // international anthem alice coltrane // shiva-loka // the carnegie hall concert // verve mike and tony seltzer // skurrr // pinball // 10k lilblackkids featuring sainvil and jassxnc // tcl // planet of the blues: part two // epistrophik peach sound e. live // city girl // cloud vibes // star creature maxo featuring zelooperz // playdis! // debbie's son // smileforme liv.e // bma // demos part 1, august and september 2023- sometimes they can't stay (ideas you love) ep // (self-released) the high llamas featuring bonnie "prince" billy // how the best was won // hey panda // drag city ruth garbus, sam gendel and philippe melanson // nature's piano // earth flower // fresh bread vagabon // autobahn // sorry i haven't called // nonesuch nights templar // o dhalgren // year two // reapo present electric // winged victory // present electric cassette // paisley shirt touch girl apple blossom // sidewalk // ep - ep // summer shade #poundsign# // coffee flavored friend // house of faith demo tape 1993 ep // speakeasy studios sf

#wlur #radio shows

[onewithnomightypowers]

clandestine (chapter 5)

PAIRING: Tom Holland x fem!Reader

SUMMARY: Y/N is an up and coming actress, married to a once hotshot actor, Harrison (Haz). What happens when her co-star, Tom, makes her realise that she is stuck in a loveless marriage. A marriage starts crumbling and a new romance stars brewing.

chapter 5: the rumour has it

A/N: i do not encourage cheating. i hope you guys like this chapter!! feedback is always appreciated. thanks for reading <3

warnings: drinking, cursing

word count: 1.6k

important: bold and italic are character thoughts

series masterlist   main masterlist   chapter 4   chapter 6

The video of Y/N and Tom singing ‘SOS’ broke the internet. It was trending for at least four days. The whole internet, already on the witch hunt to find evidence of a relationship, was being fed. The paparazzi were circling around like vultures. The threat of being outed made them hide in their caves.

Haz was coming to London in two days. Y/N was trying to rid the house of anything and everything that hinted that Tom had been staying with her. Between the paps, shooting, and Haz, she couldn’t find time to meet Tom and give him his things.

There were Polaroids scattered all over the house. While she was packing a box to parcel to Tom, she found a Polaroid on her glass coffee table next to her ‘vanilla sage’ candle from Bath and Body Works. In the photo, Y/N was lying on her stomach on the hardwood floor in her living room, a gin and tonic next to her. Tom was sitting on the floor with his right arm extended to take the photo. They were both smiling.

She remembered when he took that photo. It was the same day she found a vintage vinyl of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s ‘on verve’, during her exploration of Camden market. They decided to have a listening party of that album on the floor. Tom found his new favourite song that day, ‘let’s call the whole thing off’. She smiled at the memory. Instead of putting it in the box, she went into her room to put it in her wallet where only she could find it.

Y/N noticed her phone vibrating next to her purse. It was Harrison.

“Bonjour mon amour”,

“Hi Haz, did you board the flight?”

“Just did; listen you don’t have to pick me up from the airport, I know you are busy at work”

“Fine. Text me when you land”

“Su-“, she hung up the phone.

I can’t believe I have to live with this man for a whole week.

Haz came in late at night, even though his flight was supposed to land at 5pm. Y/N was already sleeping. When she woke up around 8 next morning, she found, much to her surprise, Haz snoring next to her. Last night she made sure that there was a pillow and a blanket on the couch for him, a subtle way of saying ‘I don’t want you sleeping in the same bed with me’. Also because she thought he knew about the affair and wouldn’t want to sleep next to her.

God, I wish I had another bedroom

Y/N was sitting on the bar stool with her laptop on the kitchen island, going through her mail while drinking coffee. Haz had just woken up from his deep slumber, and found his way to the kitchen to fetch him some coffee.

“Good morning!” she said enthusiastically, without looking up from her laptop screen. She had thought it was a sleepy Tom, coming out of the bedroom to make himself tea.

“Morning”, Haz said as a reflex, rubbing his eyes. Y/N’s smile disappeared upon hearing the sound of his voice.

“Did you make breakfast?” Haz asked while pouring himself coffee into a mug Tom had gifted Y/N.

“I made myself breakfast when I woke up, three hours ago. Was I supposed to make breakfast for you too?” It was a rhetorical question. Y/N noticed the mug, it made her uneasy watching a man she doesn’t love drinking from a gift given by the man she did love.

“There’s eggs and bread in the fridge, help yourself”, she pointed at the refrigerator.

As Haz cracked open an egg on the pan, Y/N received an email from Greta.

“Good news, Netflix bought the distribution rights to Greta’s movie, she just sent me a mail”

“Oh”

Oh? Seriously, oh?

“They are planning the premier for this Friday, do you want to go with me?”

“I don’t think so, I don’t really like the people you work with” he was putting butter on cold bread.

There is nothing more tragic than love turning into hate. Tragedy had struck their marriage. The rest of the week, they only spoke when they absolutely had to. It was like living with a roommate, you share a bed with but cannot share your day with.

--

It was Friday, the day of the movie premiere. Y/N was excited to see Tom after a week without him, which felt like an eternity to her. She was wearing a silver colored floor length gown with heavily studded earrings. Her hair was up in a bun with two strands out, to shape her face.

Since it was Netflix, the event could afford to take place at the Royal Albert Hall. Y/N had only been there once, for an Arctic Monkeys concert. When she stepped out of the car, she was met by blinding lights of the cameras. She walked over to the whole cast on the red carpet. The only thing she could hear was the deafening noise of photographers screaming to look towards them and in between, tabloid journalists asking her questions about her life and rumours.

Y/N was still pretty new to walking red carpets because she had mostly worked on indie films that couldn’t afford a grand premiere as most of the money would go towards entering different festivals. Y/N was wearing a mask of pure joy on her face but Tom could see right through it. He could see how uncomfortable Y/N was feeling.

He walked towards her, “you look gorgeous darling” he whispered in her ears and for a second that mask she was wearing became real. They both posed together, but regretted it immediately. The whole media went on overdrive, seeing them together.

“Are you guys seeing each other?” a person from the left screamed.

“Y/N, did you leave Harrison?” someone from the right asked

The voices were coming from everywhere. All they could do now was walk off the carpet. Tom had arranged for Y/N to sit next to her during the screening. His hand was linked with Y/N’s the whole time. He could feel her shivering.

“Are you cold?” he asked her.

“Not really”, she took a long pause. “I am just nervous about my performance in the movie and I guess the questions really got to my head, it’s all making me very anxious”

“Don’t worry babe, everyone is going to love you in the movie, and those hunters out there are shell of a person, all they care about are these bullshit rumours. They don’t deserve a house in your thoughts”

“Shhhhhh” someone whispered from the row above theirs.

Y/N’s phone was vibrating, it was Harrison’s fourth call in fifteen minutes.

Why is he not getting the hint that I don’t want to talk to him

She ignored it.

A few minutes later, her phone rang again.

What if it’s serious?

She got up and went outside of the theatre to take the call.

“What is it, Haz? You know I’m busy right now”

“Umm, are you Y/N?” A man with a heavy, older voice said.

“Yes?” She was confused. “Who is this and how do you have my husband’s phone?”

“Your husband is trashed, ma’am. He passed out on my bar counter about half an hour ago. Your number was on his emergency contact list so I'm calling you to pick him up”

“I’ll be right there, can you tell me the address?”

“Yeah sure it’s 141 Albert Street, Spread Eagle”

Tom came out of the theatre.

“Is everything okay, Y/N?”

“I have to go pick up Haz, he’s splashed out on a bottle somewhere, bloody fool can’t even walk”, she said whilst texting her driver to pick her up.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, I need to deal with this alone”

She walked out the back gate and got in a black Audi.

The paparazzi had noticed her early departure, so they started following her recklessly.

It was a corner pub, the bar was at full capacity. Y/N saw Haz with his head down on the counter, an almost empty tequila bottle next to him.

“Haz wake up, come on, we need to go, get up darling” Y/N was trying to shake him awake.

“O-oh Y/N, y-you’re he-ear”, he was slurring his words.

“Yeah now let’s go”

He started to get up, Y/N had her one hand on his back and the other on his forearm, to support him.

“Honey I th-think I’m going to puke”, he looked sick.

“Is there a restroom here?” She asked the bartender. He pointed towards the corner of the room, a dimly lit area.

“Thank you”. She helped Harrison to walk to the restroom.

The washroom felt like their marriage. They were cramped up in it. The whole room was pure white but also yellow, caused by the lack of cleaning. There were no windows and had only one white florescent light. It was suffocating. The room made her realise that she could not hide from the inevitable, anymore.

Has was on his knees, holding on to the toilet seat with his dear life, puking all the poison out. Y/N was standing near the sink, taking off her statement earrings. She could see a vulnerable Harrison in the reflection of the mirror.

“I want a divorce”, she whispered, loud enough to be heard in this stifle room.

@mysticapples17  @storybookholland

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland x actress!reader #tom holland smut #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x fem #spiderman x reader #spiderman x you #spiderman #marvel #marvel fanfiction #harrison osterfeild x reader #harrison osterfield #taylor swift

[cilldaracailin]

These Are The Days Of Our Lives

Hello my Tumblr Lovelys,

Happy Tuesday!

Here is the next part of this story for everyone and I am giving you some you tube links for some of the songs Robyn loves at the concert, if anyone is interested. 

Ludovico Einaudi

Le Onde

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg-0DFNTBm0

I Giorni      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uffjii1hXzU

Nuvole Bianche

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyY4IZ3JDFE

Just wanted to add some music to this add because for me, for some chapters in the story, music helps me write and for this one, these songs helped a lot.

Hope you all enjoy!

Suze xxx

7

“But they say if you dream a thing more than once, it's sure to come true.”

Taron turned his head to follow her as she left the box and then sank into his chair. Every instinct inside him told him to follow her, to not let go her go alone but their evening was so very different to the last one they had together and with his privacy a bit more in secret at the Royal Albert Hall compared to his own movie premier, he knew Robyn would be fine, mingling in the with crowd. He pulled his phone from his pocket, wanting to give his mam a quick text and as he was typing up a quick few words, his phone vibrated in his hands as a message came through. His face turned to a smile when he saw a text from Robyn, a picture in their WhatsApp conversation.

“No line, here is the cubicle door. All locked.”

His worries lifted as did his lips and he was still typing in his reply when another picture came through.

“All done, just topping up the lippy.”

The photo of her reflection in the mirror, pouting his way made him chuckle and he finished his reply, sending it onto her. He finally sent the quick text to him mam, a second to Richard and then got to his feet, making his way to the table where the waiter greeted him with a smile.

“Two glasses of champagne please.”

“Of course sir.”

With pristine, well-rehearsed and steady movements, the waiter popped a bottle of champagne and poured two crystal clear glasses with the bubbly alcohol and handed them to Taron.

“Thank you.” He said as he took them and made his way back to his seats and just as he sat down, he felt that calming hand on his shoulder and Robyn slipped in past him.

“See? Safe and sound.”

“For you.” Taron handed her the glass. “And thanks for the bathroom commentary.”

“You are welcome. Thought you would like it.”

“Might have to borrow that shade of lipstick from you.” He took a sip from his glass.

“Anytime you want.” She replied after taking a little drink from her own glass. As Robyn took another sip her eyes looked up the ceiling and slowly she brought her glass back down to her lap, while her gaze continued to stare above her. Round white discs decorated the ceiling, hanging down in no particular neat order but making a statement all the same, a light red hue glowing behind them.

“They are sound discs. Helps the even distribution of sound throughout the whole theatre so no matter where you are sitting you have the most perfect audio. Any type of event. A concert, movie or theatrical performance, every seat has the same experience of sound.” Taron explained.

“Pretty cool.”

“Yep.” Taron drained the last of his drink. “I am going to get some water. Would you like anything?”

“Water would be great.” Robyn drank down her champagne in one go and handed him the glass after he had gotten to his feet.

While Taron went to get them something else to drink, Robyn took her phone from her bag and wasn’t surprised to see a text from Claire. Opening the message, she rolled her eyes and quickly replied with a vague answer, knowing her friend was going to hate the reply. Taron came back to his seat as Claire replied with a swear word and angry emoji and Robyn chuckled to herself as she felt Taron settle beside her.

“Claire?” He asked, so glad to see her face in genuine smile, handing over a cold bottle of water to her. Taron was happy to stop after one alcoholic drink knowing he had to go back to a demanding script on Monday and a lingering hangover from drinking too much bubbly would not help his already overwhelming pressure on set.

“Yup. Giving her as little information as possible.” Robyn took her water from him and placed it on the floor beside her bag.

“You are terrible.” Taron opened his bottle of water and took a long drink. “How are her and Nick getting on?” He asked as he screwed the lid back on the top.

“Like a house on fire. Claire has been asking for your number to thank you for talking to him, helping Nick to make the first move.”

“I do believe it was your little dare that helped him make the first move.”

Robyn chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose.”

“They wouldn’t have kissed if you hadn’t of kissed me.” He said, his voice a little quiet. “Get your forfeit from her yet?”

Hearing his quick change of subject from their kiss, Robyn followed his lead. “Nope not yet. I am still trying to come up with a good one. I fully intend to make it a good one.”

“Can I be around when you do?”

“I am sure that can definitely be arranged.” Robyn agreed. “Maybe you can help me think of something.” She could see his right arm resting on the arm rest between them and lay her left arm around his, linking their fingers, his hand warm and comforting in hers. “Thank you for not getting mad at me for breaking my promise of asking you for help.” She whispered very quietly to him, her voice cracking a little. “I am trying to be better.”

Feeling his heart ache, a shiver run through him, Taron squeezed her hand. “You have nothing to thank me for. It’s what I told you I would do for you and as I have said before, I don’t want you to change.” He leaned his head closer to her so their temples touched. “Just lean on me a bit more.” He moved to kiss her temple and after a second kiss gave her hand another squeeze. “Now no more sadness, I know you are beyond excited for this concert and I want you to enjoy every bit of it.”

“You will enjoy it too?” Robyn asked him. “Not going to fall asleep on me?” She felt so much lighter after Taron was so gentle with her, his words kind.

“I do enjoy all genres of music Robyn and I am looking forward to the concert as much as you are.” He smiled as she turned her head to look at him. “Though I am looking forward to watching you watching him but I have a feeling I am going to be ignored for the next two hours.”

Robyn fully grinned. “And I will apologise now for zoning out on you or trying to get over the balcony, maybe playing out the melodies on the arm rest.” She took her hand from his and tapped her fingers lightly across the back of hand as an example. “I owe you one long cuddle and deep head massage after all of this.”

Taron shook his head. “Not at all. This your birthday present.” His head turned a little as he heard voices behind him, more guests of their shared box making their way to their seats. “But maybe we can share a cuddle later?”

Robyn nodded. “Deal.” She slipped her hand back into his.

“You want my jacket?” He asked her over the hum of the few people moving to sit behind them. “As usual you are a little cold.”

“I have my shawl, thank you.”

He watched as Robyn swung her shawl over her shoulders, pulling it around herself. “Are you always cold?” He asked. “I am genuinely interested.”

“My hands are normally cold but lately I just seem to have an all over chill at times.”

“You are not getting sick are you?”

Robyn shook her head. “Nope.”

“Sitting with your aircon on full blast?”

“Nope. Hands normally cold, rest of me not so much. I was roasting last night.”

“You wore the pyjamas meant for winter. It was a given that you were going to roast.”

“True. You don’t have to be worried Taron. I am in perfect health; I have always had cold hands. A little tired but who isn’t.” She tapped his nose. “Turn that frown upside down.”

Taron couldn’t help but smile at the return of her playful mood. “I call for a lie in tomorrow.”

Robyn nodded. “I am very much in favour of that idea.”

“You are looking after yourself, right?” He asked seeing the lights of the dome starting to dim.

“Are you?” She returned quickly.

“Yes.” He saw her quick turn of her head towards him. “I will go to Matthew to talk to him on Monday.”

“I will call you if a bad dream wakes me.”

With a silent nod as the remainder of the house lights went down, Robyn’s head turned towards the stage and immediately leaned forward as Ludovico Einaudi walked on stage, dressed impeccably in a black suit and white shirt. She got to her feet along with everyone else, clapping loudly, the composer taking a bow twice before he took a seat at the piano. Robyn sat on the edge of her red seat, waiting with baited breath for his hands to touch the keys, to hear the first sound of a note and as simple broken chord was played, her eyes closed and her whole body relaxed to the sound of the music.

Taron watched fascinated as Robyn’s shawl fell from her shoulders as she leaned closer to the balcony her eyes closed, her whole body taken in by the music after only a few notes. He knew he had his favourite artists but for Robyn it was as if she was completely lost in the music within seconds and he smiled as she moved even closer to the balcony so she could fold her arms over the red felted barrier and leaned her chin on her hands, completely captivated by the piano sounds. A part of him could feel her pull away from him but he inwardly scolded himself for suddenly feeling jealous of a man playing piano. Taron had seen her Spotify playlist, scrolled through her music on her phone and knew it was more than just music to her. It was an escape from a reality she had a hard time dealing with and seeing the way she became so engrossed in the music as she played it, understood the importance of something as simple as the piano music he could hear. Instead, he leaned forward to place a hand on her back, letting her knew he was there and she turned her head to give him a smile before taking up her previous position of leaning on the barrier mesmerised by the composer on stage.

As the soothing sounds of Le Onde played through the theatre, Robyn’s face broke into a smile, her right hand automatically playing the notes on the balcony in time with the ones she heard. One of her favourites and first composition of his she had learnt to play, it was beautiful and stunning live. Her view was terrific and only as the man sat at the piano could see really appreciate the expensive box she sat in. The piano was positioned more sideways than she had first thought and Robyn could not only see the keys but also his hands as he played and she was fascinated by the smoothness and faultlessness of his playing, not one mistake or hesitation to be heard. She knew she had moved away from Taron but she couldn’t help herself and needed to get as close as she could, to fully watch and take in the beautiful music and playing in front of her.

Clapping hard, along with the rest of the audience, after a fourth solo piece, the orchestra walked on stage and took their places with her instruments and they accompanied the piano for a number of wonderfully composed pieces, Robyn finding herself moving her right hand as if she was conducting them, playing air piano, just out of habit as it would be her norm when listening to the music on her couch. Even though she was enjoying every moment, after half an hour of sitting as she was, she could feel a twinge in her lower back and had to move into her seat, feeling the nudge from Taron as she got comfortable in her chair and realised that the view from sitting in her seat was just as spectacular as leaning forward. She nudged him back and settled beside him, their arms side by side on the arm rest.

Robyn sat in her chair perfectly still, except for her hands tapping out notes along to the beat and Taron chuckled as she almost launched herself at the barrier again nearly an hour later as what he presumed was another of Robyn’s favourite songs was played and she was using the top of the balcony once more as an invisible piano, playing along, her eyes closed at one point for a long time, her whole body lost in the music. As the tune filtered to his ears, he recognised it as one Robyn had played a little bit of for him but judging by her hand movements, she had learnt how to play the whole song and getting caught up in her love for the music being played and her beautiful joy, leaned forward to join her, slipping his left arm around her waist.

Robyn felt the warmth on her right side and knew it was Taron but she was so caught up in the music, she didn’t really acknowledge him not wanting to miss a note or moment of bliss from the stage. Watching the Italian composer play live was such a different experience to watching videos on the internet and it was such an incredible feeling getting to see him play the pieces she loved to play and practiced constantly to learn.

As the music changed and he ran into his next solo piece, she took a long breathe as her most loved piece filtered to her ear and she felt Taron move a little closer to her. Closing her eyes, she was only aware of the music all around her, her hands copying every note perfectly in time with that played live in front of her and not even realising it, Taron had moved his right arm closer to her and she was taping notes out on his arm and even less so the two tears that trailed down her cheeks as she became entranced by the music. It had taken her weeks to learn this song, hours of sitting and playing but it was the most wonderful distraction from the mess her life had become and helped to heal a shattered heart as she concentrated on loving something other than a piece of shit of a man.

Taron knew he should have been concentrating on the actual composer but he was so taken aback by how quick Robyn’s fingers played out the beat of the notes on his arm, by how she hit each note perfectly and as he looked to her face, became concerned with how emotional she had become, how tears were on her cheeks, her eyes still closed, her focus once again on the music and he was yet again seeing a new side to her, that vulnerability she was slowly letting him see coming through. As the song slowed down and the crowd erupted, jumping to their feet in applause for the set of solo songs, he kept his arm around Robyn’s waist and hugged her sideways as they stood, watching as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. He dropped his hand from her waist and bent down to pick up her bag and routing through found a pack of tissues and pulled one out handing it to her.

“Thanks.”

“Means a lot to you.”

“So much.” Robyn dried her cheeks. “Got me through some shit times.”

Taking her hand, Taron sat back in his seat, Robyn back in hers and he wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, not caring who was behind them and as Robyn lightly leaned against him, he was very happy to give her a little comfort as the orchestra picked up again and a more lively song played.

Robyn kept the tissue in her left hand, worried she was going to get overly emotional again and let Taron keep her right hand in his, both on his lap as they sat close together for the last twenty minutes of the concert. If she could have clapped harder, she would have and on their feet at the end, the standing ovation lasted a long time and Robyn stood and watched every musician leave the stage, a little bit of hope inside that there would be an encore but as the house lights came back on, her heart dropped a little but she was smiling and unbelievably happy.

Turning to Taron who had sat back down in his seat she sighed. “Thank you.”

“You are more than welcome.” He watched as Robyn sat back in her seat, another happy sigh filling her whole body. “Better than a Welshman with a Care Bear?” He asked her.

“Better than a Care Bear.” She answered. “Nowhere near as special as a Welshman.” She said firmly. “Thanks for the tissue.”

“No worries. You ok?”

Robyn nodded. “Sometimes it gets to me. He is my go-to calm down music so it brings up some memories.”

“I get that chicken. Happens to me when I listen to Bowie sometimes.”

“Remember when we said how Tiny Dancer has nice memories for us? And doesn’t remind us so much now of when you were in the ambulance?” She saw Taron give her a little nod. “I will listen to Ludovico Einaudi and play his music and remember this night. It only has good memories now.”

Taron stood up and reached for her hands and once she took them, helped her to her feet and drew her close to him for a hug, knowing she needed one and him too because once again he was getting a glimpse into a past he did not like and needed a distraction and hugging Robyn always distracted him.

She didn’t even hesitate to snuggle into him, her face resting on his shoulder as his dipped into her neck and as she brought her right hand to the tight hair at the back of his neck, she felt his smile on her skin and laughed as he lifted her off her feet for a moment before setting her back down. “You are setting the bar very high for the presents Taron.”

“And baking too.” He added, laughing hard as she lightly slapped the back of his head.

Robyn happily would have hugged him all night and the next day too, breathing in his familiar scent, just holding him and being held back in a loving embrace. Whatever damage Keith had done to her heart was mended in the last few seconds of that hug and as Taron kissed her cheek when he let her go, Robyn didn’t see Taron standing in front of her any more but a man who she knew she could turn to for anything no matter how small and if she did happen to call him in the middle of the night because of a bad dream, knew he would happily take the call without question.

“Robyn?” He asked watching as she stared at him, his eyes opening as she moved her face a little closer to his and placed the lightest of kisses to the side of his lips, moving to kiss his forehead in that loving way she always did.

“Thank you for everything you have done for me today.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” He winked.

“Oh dear, what else do you have planned?”

“Well, nothing but you never know what could happen.” He looked to the exit of the box and saw the stewards waiting patiently for them to leave. “Want to take a trip to gift shop on the way out?”

“Best birthday ever!” Robyn exclaimed, picking her shawl up from her chair. She had been so caught up in the concert, she couldn’t even remember when it fell from her shoulders.

“Let me.” Taron took the blue shawl and carefully wrapped it around her. “Don’t need you getting cold.”

Once Robyn had her bag, they walked out of their box, thanking the staff and Taron guided her back to the lifts and to the gift shop which was a little busy but he stood close by her side paying for the programme she picked up. He had called Anthony as Robyn browsed the items for sale in the shop and when they reached the place where the black car had dropped them off, Anthony was there waiting for them.

“Good evening Robyn, Taron. Have a nice night?”

“It was wonderful.” Robyn said, smiling as the driver used her name.

“Yeah Anthony. We had a great time.”

Taron didn’t even get a chance to make the first move to get Robyn to nestle into his side because before the car even moved, she had lifted his left arm over her shoulder and cuddled into him, her left leg crossing over her right, her left arm draped lazily over his stomach. His eyes closed a soft smile on his lips as she initiated the cuddle and he gave her left shoulder a light rub, feeling a long breath fill her body, so similar to the one had taken too. They didn’t talk to each other and once again it was Anthony interrupting the comfortable silence in the car to let them know they are at Taron’s apartment.

Robyn had her shawl pulled tight around her as she walked alongside Taron to his door, stepping into his dark home as he let her in first. She used the light of the door to find her way to the couch and sat down on the soft material, blinking a little as bright light flooded the apartment when Taron turned on the lights. She watched him empty his pockets, putting his phone, wallet and the programme onto his coffee table and dropped onto the couch right beside her.

“You lost your words?” He asked.

“A little.” She answered him.

“Can I get you anything?”

“Not at the moment. You have done so much already.”

“Always willing to do more.”

“As well as stealing my words.” She joked, leaning her head onto his shoulder.

“Want your care bear horse?” He asked.

“Nope.”

“Want some cake?”

“No thanks.”

“Want to change into your pj’s?”

“Nope. Wearing the fancy dress for as long as possible.”

Taron smiled. “Want a cuddle?”

“If there is one going.”

“Always.”

Robyn kicked her heels off and curled up onto her right side, leaning into Taron’s left, her knees resting on his legs, her head under his chin. She re-thought her position for a second and sat up before Taron could even get his arms around her and carefully took the hair comb from her hair and stretched forward to place it on the coffee table, moving back to Taron, tucking her body into his.

“Just in case.” She said into his shirt. “Thank you Taron.” She prayed he felt the squeeze she gave his side, the light kiss to his chest, hoping he properly understood how much the whole day never mind the evening meant to her.

Taron didn’t answer her but held her close, letting her snuggle right into him, very much enjoying the affection he could feel from her. He had never known her to be so quiet, always having something to say or needing to make sure he was ok but the tables had very much turned and he found himself perhaps for the very first time, because even when Robyn was having an off day, he was still her main priority, willingly letting him take care of her properly for once, letting him in, being a girl for want of a better word. There was no doubt in his mind that his wonderfully strong willed and stubborn Robyn was still there but as he placed a very light kiss on her hair, he very much liked the other side she was showing him, giving him the perfect opportunity to build her trust and be the man she deserved to have in her life.

Robyn lay with her eyes closed in a haze of happiness and love, adoring the beat of his heart under her ear and his stomach moving under her hand every time he breathed and it was always something that calmed her, knowing he was alive and well. She burrowed a little further down his chest and could feel sleep calling her.

“You plan on sleeping here all evening.” Taron whispered to her, feeling her body move a little after being so still against his.

Robyn laughed a little. “Maybe.”

“Would you not prefer a soft comfy bed?”

“You are soft and comfy.” Robyn answered, her eyes opening at she realised the words she had said to him.

Naturally Taron’s heart jumped as her response but he tried to hide it with a laugh. “And sleep in your dress?”

“It’s comfortable.”

“So, it seems.” Taron mused.

“What do you mean.”

“Robyn you’ve been asleep for the near part of the last two hours.”

His words made her sit up fast, surprise written all over her face. She reached for his left arm and her eyes opened when she read the hands on his watch. “Jesus Taron. Sorry! I didn’t even realise I had fallen asleep.”

He only smiled at her. “It’s ok. You seem to need the sleep. You did say you were a little tired earlier.”

“A little tired. Not in the need for a nap again tired.”

“Guess I was too comfy and warm.” He teased “You sure you are feeling ok? You are cold and tired, normally the sign of a cold and being the expert on hiding a cold, I should know.”

“I am normally cold and I guess just too much excitement today. I am sorry I fell asleep on you again.”

“Don’t be sorry. I did it to you last night.”

Robyn looked down as she heard Taron’s stomach rumble, a smile on her face. “I really do believe that you have not eaten all week and it is catching up on you now.” A look of guilt filled Taron’s features and Robyn didn’t miss it. “I know it is quite late but shall we get you something to eat?”

“Well, I had planned on having our little cakes but someone gave them away.”

“You have a large cake in your fridge but surely something more than cake would be better.”

“Chicken it’s after midnight.”

“Has the time ever stopped you eating before?”

“I doubt there is anything in my fridge that can make a meal.”

“Well let’s go and see.” Robyn went to get up from the couch but stopped and sat back down beside him and gave him a firm hug. “I don’t have the proper words to explain to you what today has meant to me and thank you just doesn’t cover it all but thank you.” She took her arms from around him and stood up from the couch, walking into the kitchen. “You want to help me?”

Taron nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat before he got up, praying for his racing heart to slow down, his hands to stop shaking. Just like that his protective Robyn was back and he wished she could just stop for more than two hours and let someone else really take care of her but he would take those two hours over nothing at all and he got to his feet, taking his jacket off as he walked to join her in the kitchen. He threw his jacket back onto the couch and stood beside her as she stared into his fridge.

“So, we got some peppers, mushrooms and milk that has been out of date for five days.”

“And birthday cake.”

“And birthday cake, two slices of left-over pizza and some tomatoes that probably have seen better days but are useable. You are really not eating at home are you.”

“My days are long and there is catering on set. I get home around eleven every night and crash on either the couch or my bed.”

“Breakfast?” Robyn asked him.

“Coffee.” He could feel the disapproving looks rolling his way as she closed the fridge. “I eat, I do.”

“You got any pasta?”

“Somewhere.”  He moved past her and routed through his presses, finally pulling out an unopened packet of penne pasta. “What you thinking?”

“I know it is late but you feel like some pasta bake? Can be put together and made in about half an hour.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Taron followed Robyn’s directions as she asked for different kitchen utensils and as she got the pasta boiling, he was chopping up the peppers. He moved to the mushrooms and Robyn found some garlic and an onion as she looked for a baking dish for their dinner. She chuckled at him as he squinted while cutting the onion, the fumes from the vegetable immediately making him cry.

“Taron no!” Robyn called but her warning was too late and he already rubbed his eyes with his hands and she saw his flinch as his eyes stung more.

“Oh, ow fuck. Ow ow shit!” Taron dug the heel of his hands into his eyes as they reacted to the raw onion on his hands.

Robyn rushed to wet a clean tea towel and ring it out, moving back to Taron. “Here.” She took his hands away, using a little force as he protested. “Let me help you.” She placed her left hand on his right cheek and very lightly rubbed the wet towel over his closed eyes, hearing him groan. “It will take a few wipes.” She swiped his eyes again. “I am going to wet the towel again. Don’t touch your eyes.” Making a second trip to the sink, Robyn quickly wet the tea towel and didn’t ring it out as tight so it still held some water. She moved back to Taron who stood very patiently, his whole face a little pained with his eyes still closed. She used a little bit more pressure this time when cleaning out his eyes, but still being careful. “Ok open for me.” There was some hesitation in his movements and very slowly he opened his eyes, blinking a lot as he tested to see if they still hurt. “Any better?” She asked him.

“Much.” He blinked hard again and felt Robyn take his hands when he went to rub his eyes.

“Let’s not do that again.” His lower lash line was red and she could see he was still feeling a little the irritation from the onions he was cutting. “You have sensitive eyes.” Robyn said still holding the tea towel in her hands in case he needed it.

“Apparently so.”

“Me too.”

“Is that why you asked me to cut the onion?” He took the tea towel from her and wiped both his eyes again, the coldness from the cloth really helping to ease the tingle. “So you wouldn’t cry and do this?”

“Not at all. Just needed some help to cut the vegetables. I didn’t think you were going to rub your eyes with your hands like that. I will finish the onion if you would like.”

“Would you mind?”

“Not at all but let me see you before I give you a different job. I need to make sure you can see properly in case you cut yourself.” Placing her two hands on his cheeks, she ran her thumbs under his eyes. “You will live but I will get you to grate some cheese for me instead and I will finish the onion. Give your hands a really good wash first though.”

“I will.” Feeling a little stupid at what he did, Taron made sure to wash his hands thoroughly twice with soap and the moved the grate the cheese Robyn had set out for him. His eyes were still a little tender but he finished the cheese easily. “What next?”

“Frying pan with a little bit of oil.”

Taron got the heat on his hob going and added the garlic and chopped onion when Robyn gave it to him, giving the start of their base for the sauce a stir. Once it was soft, he took the vegetables from Robyn and added them to the pan and kept an eye on them as behind him Robyn chopped up the tomatoes and then using a potato masher she found, squished them down into a chunky sauce.

“Veg is done.” Taron told her as he gave the nicely browned vegetables in his pan another stir.

“Perfect.” She brought her tomato sauce over and poured it into his pan. “Keep stirring.”

“Yes chef!” Taron called with a light chuckle as he mixed everything together. “I miss this.”

“Miss what?” Robyn asked as she shook in some salt and pepper to the frying pan.

“This. Cooking with you.”

Robyn grinned. “Cooking with me or getting a fresh home cooked meal?”

“Both.” He replied as she threw in a pinch of some herbs, Taron not even knowing he had herbs in his kitchen. “I liked getting to do this in your home every night. It is not something I get to do when I am working so it’s nice to get the chance too.”

“Well, when you have catering and are working, I can understand why you wouldn’t.” Robyn checked the pasta. “But it is nice to cook something yourself.” She lifted the saucepan from the hob and moved to the sink, using the lid the drain the water from the pasta. “A home cooked meal is always enjoyable.”

“Yep. This is bubbling.”

“That’s ok. You can turn the heat off and come over to me with the pan.” Robyn now stood at the island with the drained saucepan of pasta. “Just pour it in here unless you want a smooth sauce. We will have to blitz it.”

“Nope I am ok with the chunks of vegetables.”  He carefully spooned the sauce into the pasta and as he put the frying pan into the sink, Robyn mixed their pasta bake together. He came to stand next to Robyn and then had a second thought and walked to the coffee table to get his phone, turning his camera on as he walked back to his island. “Smile.” Robyn looked to him and smiled after he had taken his first photo.

“What are you doing?”

“I never got the photos last time of us making sandwiches in the fancy fancy clothes. I am not making that mistake again.”

Robyn grinned as she looked to her dress. “It is what we do in your London home now isn’t it.”

“Seems to be.”

Robyn transferred the pasta and sauce into the pyrex baking dish. “You want to sprinkle the cheese on top?”

“Please.” Taron added more cheese then was probably necessary to the top of the pasta. “Oven?” He asked once done.

“Yep.” Robyn opened the oven for him and he carefully placed the dish on the middle shelf and closed the oven door. “And in fifteen minutes or so we shall have some pasta bake.”

“That gives me enough time to change.” Taron said. “And if you want to take the dress off, you can too though I know you are becoming partial to a fancy dress.”

“I think it might be nice to put something slightly more comfortable on.” She ran her hands down the side of her dress. “And you know, in case I use you a pillow again, may as well be appropriately dressed for that.”

Taron nodded and they walked to the bedroom, pulling his shirt from his trousers and opening the buttons as he walked. “Fifteen minutes enough time for you?” He asked as he sat on the bed to take his shoes off.

“Loads. Won’t take me long.” Robyn took her toiletry bag from her case and some clothes to change into. “I will take the bathroom.”

Robyn closed the bathroom door behind her, dropping all of her belongings on the ground. She looked in the mirror and once again was taken back by the woman who stared back at her. A flush on her cheeks, a glint in her eye and with her whole posture straight and tall, Robyn smiled to herself. It had been a long time since she felt so comfortable in a man’s presence and the fact that twice in the last twelve hours, she had fallen asleep in Taron’s arms, just said so much to her. Not to mention that her emotional reaction in the theatre hadn’t made him run away either. She sighed and knew she had passed that point of no return where she would do anything for Taron and although that had been her way since she had met him, now it was because she loved him and loved him dearly. She quickly took off her make-up and unpinned her hair, tying it up out of the way, slipping into a pair of black running shorts and blue long-sleeved t-shirt, a sports bra on underneath. She left her toiletry bag in the bathroom, knowing she would need it in the morning and carried her dress out, giving the bedroom door a knock before she walked in.

“Come on in Robyn. You don’t have to knock.”

“Just in case you are in your nudey nudes.” Robyn chuckled as she walked into his room, Taron in his own pair of shorts and a t-shirt, hanging his suit back up in his wardrobe.

“No such luck chicken.”

Robyn laughed a little and put her dress on his bed, taking her garment bag from her case so she could keep her dress neat and tidy by placing it inside it. Once zipped up, she placed it laying across her case, Taron coming to stand beside her.

“Something smells cooked in the kitchen.”

“Probably our very late-night dinner. We should have stuck with the cake and some tea.”

“Really?” Taron asked as they walked back to the kitchen.

“Yep. It is so late. You are not going to sleep.”

“Robyn, do you even know me at all? Sleeping is my favourite thing to do and sleeping on a full stomach? My second favourite thing to do.” He stopped in front of the oven and carefully opened the door. “And that is done.” The cheese was a golden yellow colour and bubbling in the heat of the oven. “And looks delicious.”

Robyn watched Taron lifted the hot dish of dinner from the oven and placed it carefully on a heat resistant coaster so it wouldn’t burn his countertop. She grabbed two plates and put them in the oven before he closed the door and then turned the oven off. “The heat will warm up the plates for us so the pasta doesn’t go on a cold plate.”

Less than a minute later, Robyn took the hot plates out and Taron happily dished their home cooked meal out, Robyn stopping him from filling her plate too much.

“This smells amazing.” He said as he took a seat on a stool at his island. “Thanks for cooking this.”

“We did it together.” As Taron tucked into his food, Robyn filled two glasses of water for them, placing one in front of him. “Thank you. So good.” He said through a mouth of food.

Robyn smiled and sat beside him, picking up her own fork and tasting their pasta bake, agreeing with his comments. Their last meal, if you could call it a meal, was their afternoon tea which was over ten hours ago and the tasty pasta was filling and perfect even if they were eating dinner near one in the morning. Taron went for another scoop while Robyn filled her glass with some more water. She sat back on her stool, smiling as Taron polished off all of the food on his plate.

“I have a question.” He said to her as he picked up his glass of water.

“Shoot.”

“You admit to being cold but yet insist on wearing shorts to sleep in.”

Robyn smiled into her glass. “Well because you insist that we have to share a bed and we both know you just ooze heat from your core, I have to comprise by wearing shorts.”

“You don’t wear them at home?”

Robyn shook her head. “Pyjama bottoms.”

“So, the shorts are just for me?” He grinned, laughing when Robyn rolled her eyes and slapped his arm lightly. “Anything to be cosy right?”

“Yep.” She said through a yawn. “Oh sorry. No idea where that came from.”

“It has been a busy day.”

“It’s been a most perfect day.” She corrected.

“Let’s tidy this up and hit the hay. We can turn a movie on. You can choose.”

Robyn smiled at him. “Any movie?”

Taron went to speak but stopped realising what he had agreed too. He sighed. “Your choice.” He waited for her to pick one of his movies, waiting for her to say Rocketman but she surprised him when she told him he could choose. “Wait what?”

“I will watch anything and you know that.”

“Except anything scary.”

“Except anything scary.” She agreed. “Going by my sleep pattern today, I will probably be asleep before you, so you can pick.”

They tidied up the kitchen, putting their used plates in the dishwasher and once they had wiped the counters and sink and put the left-over pasta in the fridge too, Taron turned off all the lights and followed Robyn towards the bedroom.

“Give me two minutes.” She had stopped at the bathroom.

“Sure.”

After she used the toilet and brushed her teeth, she turned off the light and walked into the bedroom. Taron was still in his bathroom but she climbed up onto his bed, taking her side and slipping her legs under his duvet, shuffled down and laid her head back on the pillow. Her eyes automatically closed and she felt another yawn coming through, her hands covering her mouth as she stretched happily. She settled comfortably on his soft bed but her eyes opened when she remembered that she left her phone in her clutch bag on his couch. She kicked her legs to get the duvet off so she could get up to go and get it.

“What did my duvet do to you?” Taron asked as he wandered out of his bathroom.

“I left my phone on the couch. I was going to get it.”

“You stay there. I will get it. Mine is in the kitchen too.”

It took Taron less than a minute to grab their phones and he closed his bedroom door when he came back into his room. He handed Robyn her phone and crawled over the bottom of the bed to get to his side but crawled back when he remembered he hadn’t turned off the main light. They were plunged into darkness for about five seconds as Taron made his way across the bed again and was able to turn his bedside light. He slid his legs under his duvet too and laid back against his pillows. Picking up the TV remote, he turned his flatscreen on and went straight to Netflix, doing a quick scroll before settling on a random adventure type movie. Although Robyn said she would probably fall asleep pretty quickly, now that he was cosy in his bed, he felt the same and wasn’t too concerned with the movie he chose. He turned to lay on his left side, his arm under his head, looking to Robyn who was on her back, her hands on her stomach, fingers linked together. She was never one to sleep on her back and her still position made him smile a little.

“So that’s the end of the birthday cuddles then?” He chuckled, her head turning so she could look at him.

“I am just wating for you.”

“Sure.” Taron moved over to her a little and turned over onto his back, so their shoulders were touching. “I think you are just tired.”

“Happily so.” She assured him. “Best birthday ever.” Robyn turned onto her right side, slipping down the pillow so her chin was on his shoulder.

“Now you are ready for a cuddle.” Taron lifted his arm and Robyn moved so her cheek rested fully on his shoulder, her left hand moving to rest over his heart.

“Thanks Taron.”

“Anytime Robyn.”

Taron pulled the duvet up so it covered Robyn to her chin and reaching for the TV remote, he turned off the movie playing in the background and then his bed side light. He had no interest in it and happily closed his eyes enjoying the warmth from Robyn and the way as always, she just fitted right into him. He cherished these moments with her and before, where it was a need that pushed them together in the same bed and possibly convenience, now it was his own selfish need that almost pinned for her feminine curves against his side. Robyn was asleep within minutes of snuggling into him and his mind worried for a moment at her tiredness but with the excitement of the day and the emotional journey she went on, he just figured she was a little jaded. Telling his mind to shut up, to go to sleep, Taron turned his face so his nose was buried into Robyn’s hair and moved to place his right hand over her left which was still placed over his heart.

#Taron Egerton #Taron Egerton Fanfiction #Taron Egerton Fanfic #Taron Fanfic #Love #Birthday Surprises #Love Music #Music #ludovico einaudi #Piano music #Cuddles #Trust #Emotions #Support #Spending time with friends #Naps #Robyn and Taron

[niallercanons]

niall headcanon where he proposes to you in an empty arena <3 i love your work!!

This is such a cute request and I’m so glad you like my writing! This request also works so well with Niall’s upcoming live stream concert at the Royal Albert Hall that I had to fit that in with this.

(TW: None!!)

(Word count: 538)

So Niall and his team have been planning a live stream concert coming up soon to raise money for touring crews affected by tour cancellations due to the pandemic and give the fans an opportunity to donate while enjoying a show.

After some meetings and negotiations, things were set and confirmed: Niall would be having his concert at the Royal Albert Hall, a gorgeous and prestigious venue to play at.

Niall was super excited about this concert and you were so happy for him.

During lockdown, Niall had been so gutted to have to cancel his upcoming tour and not be able to perform in front of his fans.

He felt even worse when he realized that meant that his touring crew would be out of work until tours started again which would take a while at this rate.

Now, he’d be able to do both while remaining socially distant.

The concert would be pre-recorded and then streamed in all the different time-zones so people wouldn’t have to wake up at odd hours to watch.

On the day of recording, you accompanied Niall to the venue and watched him perform with his band.

You could see it in his eyes how much he had missed performing and cheered him on through the entire setlist.

After finishing his setlist, he thanked everyone for watching and making donations and the cameras stopped rolling and people began to clean everything up and leave for the day.

Niall stayed behind and talked to almost every crew member, helping them put away equipment and thanking them for the work they’ve done.

Once he was done doing so, it was just you and him left at the venue as everyone had gone home.

You left the stands and went to him, hugging and congratulating him for the concert.

“I’m glad I was able to do this, hurts my heart that crew isn’t being taken care of by the government so I wanted to try and help them.”

You agreed with him. You’ve had friends and family that worked as touring crew who had no idea where their income was coming from during this pandemic.

“This year has put a lot of things in perspective for me. Plans change quickly and people will just have to roll with the punches to survive. Another thing is that life’s short and we have to make the most of it in hard times.”

Niall got down on one knee, his hands reaching behind his back and you knew what was coming next.

That didn’t stop the tears from flowing down your face so freely, happy tears to be specific.

“Y/N L/N, I don’t want to spend another single day without you by my side. I love you so much and if there’s anything I’ve learned during this mess of a year is that I don’t want to ever live without you so will you do me the honour of-”

You didn’t let Niall finish his speech before you tackled him to the ground, screaming yes over and over again.

The sound of your happy sobbing and Niall’s laughing reverberated off the concert walls, as Niall slipped the ring onto your third finger on your left hand.

Here are the links to buy Niall’s live stream show tickets and the link to donate to the We Need Crew relief fund UK  if you’d like to see Niall’s show or donate to the fund. Whatever you can give helps out touring crew across the UK. If you’re not from the UK, this is the global relief fund for touring crew. Without them, concerts would absolutely not be the same and we wouldn’t even be able to have them, pandemic or not. So once again, please give what you can to those links and if you can’t (which is absolutely ok), try spreading the links around and raising awareness about them.

#niall horan imagine #niall horan blurb #niall horan fanfic #niall horan headcanon #niall horan oneshot #niall horan x reader #niall horan #niall james horan #njh #solo niall #niall imagine #niall horan fluff #one direction imagines #one direction imagine #one direction x reader

[doomedandstoned]

The Great, Big

MONOLORD

Interview

~Words & Photos by Angelique Le Marchand~

This afternoon, I am catching up with Gothenburg’s finest doom import MONOLORD at the iconic Royal Albert Hall for an interview, just before they take on the stage. They will be opening for Black Label Society, concluding a European tour of twenty-one dates with the Californian metal legends. I arrive at 5pm, taking time to admire the stunning dome-shaped Victorian concert hall, exquisitely decorated by an opulent mosaic frieze. Inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Victoria in 1871, the 5000-capacity concert hall is a true iconic London venue and a special treat for any concertgoer. The fact that tonight Royal Albert Hall is indulging in a doom and heavy metal program is very unusual, as it is normally known for its opera and classical music concerts.

I walk past a respectable number of hirsute gentlemen dressed in bikers’ leathers and denim sleeveless jackets covered in BLS patches, who are already lining up hours before the show to get in front of the stage -- a surreal slighting outside this opulent Victorian building. I make my way to the stage door where I am greeted attentively by an older gentleman in a Dickensian 3-piece suit who fits comme-il-faut in the plush Victorian reception area and I am quickly granted access. Drummer Esben Willems arrives to our interview suite first, followed by bassist Mika Häkki and vocalist and guitarist Thomas V. Jäger. Monolord immediately come across as a very warm bunch with gentle manners, too, as each courteously knocks on the door before entering the room.

We promptly break the ice by discussing our love of coffee. As coffee connoisseur myself, I am curious to find out how they cater to what, for me, are essential needs while temporarily living on a tour bus. I express relief as Thomas tells me that they have a proper coffee machine on their current sleeper. The band recall with good humour having to power-up solely on a disappointing light-brown substance served in gas stations on their recent tour in the States. "I don’t know what it is," says Mika. "It looks brewed, but it tastes like something completely different." "It’s not coffee," adds Esben. "It’s hot and it’s light brown, that’s it. It tastes horrible!" Following along with the topic of bare essentials on tour, I am curious to hear what Monolord have on their rider, if they have a rider at all, and keen to find out if they have any strange items that could somehow get us to know them a little better. My curiosity is instantly met with a witty comeback.

Thomas: "We don’t have such strange things; we have a framed photo of Bill Ward."

Mika, protesting: "But that’s not strange!"

Thomas: "No, but that is to others."

Mika: "Ah! To others. Ok then, I got ya."

Doomed & Stoned: "Some people have fresh socks!"

Esben: "We should have fresh socks. People have told us this. We should learn to have that."

Thomas: "But we might not get the framed photo of Bill Ward. And the expresso."

Esben: "That’s right! So we have to choose."

Mika, laughing: "We have to prioritise!"

Esben: "Bill Ward over socks."

Road Stories

Monolord are a band that spends a lot of time on the road, touring extensively since the release of their first album Empress Rising in 2014, with the past twelve months being particularly frenetic. While all three members of the band agree on missing their home life, Mika explains he is also missing his two dogs left in the caring hands of his wife, while Esben expresses being apart from his 3 year-old little boy is the roughest part. Living on a tour bus for such extended periods of time can take its toll on your body as it’s near impossible to get uninterrupted sleep between two dates due to bumpy rides constantly waking you up as soon as you manage to drift off. Thomas recalls driving through Northern France to get to London being a particularly rough one, while Esben compares crossing through parts of Poland to "driving through cornfields." "It’s like all the roads around Berlin. You know when you’re arriving in Berlin, because it’s jumping all the over the place," Mika recalls. Thomas adds that you might just finally manage to fall asleep when the bus stops, in which case you may have arrived at the next destination. "But then it’s time to go up and eat breakfast, so you can’t sleep anyway. So, you have to choose between eating or more sleep." In light of the fact that Monolord have been on the road for nearly a month now, it is understandable that sleeping would come up so high amongst home comforts the band are missing the most. "So that’s why we need Bill Ward," laughs Esben.

Monolord recall their tour Down Under with Ufomammut in 2016, which is amongst their favourite. Monolord and Ufomammut met in New Zealand, immediately hit it off and very quickly decided to go organize a short co-headlining tour. "They were super sweet, really nice guys to tour with," remembers Esben. "We met them on a few other tours when we crossed their paths in Europe after that. It was really good!" Mika finds it hard to pick his favourite tour or show, as on every one of them, something he will never forget happens. Amongst his personal highlights are their first tour in the States, playing at London’s Koko in May 2016, and their show at the iconic Gramercy Theater in New York, which was a particularly unbelievable experience, in his opinion. Esben recalls viewing the footage on YouTube since. "I just remember the feeling whilst getting to the US for the first time, the first show -- and the first show was there. It’s a great feeling watching that," he says. "I haven’t actually seen that!" Mika pipes up, surprised, "I’ll have to look it up!" "You haven’t?" Esben replies. "It’s great! It’s all grainy and it looks like it’s 1991!"

Aside from being an important milestone in Monolord’s touring career, the show at the Gramercy Theater also sounds like a rather hectic experience. "We were dead when we got there," remembers Mika. "We had the whole long process of applying for the visas and got them early morning on Tuesday. Early morning on Wednesday, we flew to New York. We landed at 2pm and at 4pm we had to be at the venue." "For sound check," adds Thomas, "and then we were the first of three bands, so I think we played at seven. I don’t think we had any time to even eat. Then we played the set and met a lot of people, as we were selling merch ourselves. I think at the end of the night, everyone bought us drinks and so we were just standing there like bluuuuhhhhh," concludes Thomas, miming being completely zombified. Monolord only recall finding themselves in a nightmare situation once on stage, with Mika’s bass amp breaking down halfway through their first song at a festival in Portugal. While Esben and Thomas continued jamming, it felt like an incredibly long ten minutes for Mika, with nothing at all coming out of his amp, despite trying to switch bass to no avail, and while the sound engineers couldn’t figure out what was broken.

So what do Monolord listen to on this tour bus that has temporarily become their second home? What kind of music is going to lift them up when they battle the effects of sleep-deprivation and get them onto those stages, sparky and refreshed night after night? Monolord do not do tour bus playlists, as they don’t tend to listen to music in that way, although Thomas says that they will occasionally play some slow, mellow acoustic songs. They are, however, very serious about their equipment load-out routine. "We’ve got a load-out playlist," declares Thomas, dead serious in a soft-spoken voice. "That’s George Michael and Gerry Rafferty. Just two songs, going over and over again to make load-out easier." Mika interjects, "Because everybody loves saxophones," giving the statement about "Careless Whisper" and "Baker Street" a little more substance.

The band had no hesitations when Black Label Society contacted them regarding opening for them on the European leg of their tour. "We thought about it for about one minute and said yes," Thomas remembers, "or maybe two minutes, but we didn’t wait that long!" he laughs. "I only heard half of the question!" adds Mika, "and I already made up my mind!" I speak about the BLS fans I spotted already queuing up outside the venue upon my early arrival. "When they open the doors, there’s like fifty people running to the front of the stage, and that’s where they will stand the entire evening," says Mika. "Every day!" supplements Esben. As a Monolord fan, I find it inconceivable that some of the people attending the dates on this tour would merely stand at the front to wait for BLS to come on stage and let Monolord’s set wash over them, and I’m surprised to hear that this can be the case. I’m curious about the reception from BLS fans that might possibly be hearing Monolord for the first time, and whether or not they are a tough crowd to win over. "For some, I think it’s way too far away from BLS. They’re just, I love BLS, this is my stuff, I really don’t like this at all," observes Esben candidly. "But also, every night there’s somebody emailing us and saying, Oh, I’d never heard about you, you guys are awesome! which is great," Mika adds.

Monolord have a very tight thirty-five minute slot on this tour. We laugh at the thought that all the band need is to play a couple of their longer songs, such as "Empress Rising" and "Forgotten Lands," and that could be their set pretty much over. "We have a well-oiled machinery to be on time every night, so we can’t change it up much, we go with the same songs," says Thomas. "All it takes is a malfunction of something like a cable, or whatever, and we have to shorten some parts of some songs." Both "Empress Rising" and "Rust" seem to provoke a particularly strong reaction in the audience during the shows. "The first time we played in France on our last tour -- our headlining tour, people were singing a lot on 'Rust'," explains Mika. We realised, What’s going on?!" "Rust" has a very catchy melody, coupled with horror-fueled lyrics -- an interesting contrast that might be the reason why it seems to grab the band’s followers so strongly, despite being a relatively new piece within their discography.

In The Beginning

The band chose their name after meeting Christer Ström of Mammoth Storm. He damaged his hearing in one ear, which sparked discussions about him being only able to hear in mono. As he plays in a prominent band in the scene, this earned him the nickname of "Monolord." The name stuck, and the Gothenburg trio adopted it for what was initially a side project. Very quickly, the venture progressed to becoming Monolord as we know it. "The side project was when we had kind of a break from the band it was a side project from," Esben says, explaining that both he and Thomas more or less only worked on the new venture once they felt they needed to play their new material. "So Mika came on board and we just felt right, almost immediately," continues Esben. "When we started to work on it, that was it!" Mika agrees. As Monolord covered "Fairies Wear Boots" by Black Sabbath, I ask them if they feel that being compared to the legendary band started with this release. "I think that all bands in this genre are compared to Black Sabbath," Esben remarks. "Sooner or later!" adds Thomas. Esben suggests that any interview with the band would usually come with a customary, "What’s your favourite Black Sabbath album?" We do agree that being compared to Black Sabbath is hugely complimentary, nonetheless.

The release of Monolord’s new album Rust was met with considerable critical acclaim and viewed to be their best offering yet, both amongst fans and the press. I’m interested in finding out what the most complimentary milestones have been for the band since the album came out. "There’s been a lot of reviews and kind words, and it’s always good to hear. Someone that gives your record a really good listen and can make note of small things, that maybe I’m the only one hearing, this small piece here," says Thomas. "When people notice those small things, I think it’s great! It’s like the record is well-produced and well-arranged. It’s really great to hear." Esben evokes a particular review of Rust by a writer who had followed the band from the beginning and had given complimentary reviews of all their previous works. "He really didn’t think that anything could top the previous ones, but he thinks that Rust did. That made me really happy. It was beautiful reading it."

The fact that Monolord released Rust only seventeen months after their previous full-length album Vænir and thirteen after the release of single "Lord of Suffering" and "Die in Haze" is hugely impressive, considering they have spent a colossal amount of time on the road, and I enquire on how they have found the time to work on their new material. "We rehearse quite a lot between tours," Mika tells me, "so we always bring out some new stuff and we always have some stuff that we didn’t finish, so we continue working after the next tour. The work never stops." "I think we had some ideas and riffs that we didn’t feel we had time to arrange for the record before this one," adds Thomas, "so, some parts of that we can bring in again and some of it is just new stuff. We try to, even when we’re rehearsing for a tour, throw in a new song to feel it. And maybe in six months' time on some of the tour, we might place some new material live to see how that feels before we record next time."

RUST by Monolord

A good picture is worthy of a thousand words, goes the common adage. This certainly proves to be the case when it comes to the photograph selected for the art-sleeve of Rust. As a photographer, I found it not only stunning, but I became fascinated by the story behind it. It depicts two cars planted vertically into the ground to prevent helicopters landing, in an undisclosed and troubled region somewhere the Middle East. While I was conducting my research, I was unable to track down the artist or any other photographs of helicopter traps in that region, despite being thorough and trying my luck with different and lesser-known internet search engines. Interestingly, this subject proved to be neither very accessible nor well documented -- possibly too sensitive or too disturbing a symbolic representation of our times.

The photograph fits ridiculously well with the themes running through the album: horror, destruction, war, misanthropy, and the ingenuity of humanity when it comes to obliterating its own kind. Esben tells me that the photographer is Arash Naghizadeh. He follows him on Instagram, and so do Monolord as a band. Esben kindly promises to send me a link to the photographer’s social feed. Both Thomas and I agree that it almost looks like it’s staged, although remarkably, it is not. "Our label guy suggested this to us. He had found the picture and we learnt about the history and the setting of it. It’s a beautiful photo of something really horrible," says Esben, encouraging me to look at Arash Naghizadeh’s portrait work, which he finds breathtaking, in addition to his documentary work. Mika chimes in that the band did find other photographs of this particular helicopter trap, but this one stood out as the most striking amongst them.

Monolord’s writing process has been largely documented over the years in interviews with the band, so I simply ask them how they feel they have progressed since writing Empress Rising. "Have we?" jokes Esben. He notes that it takes some time to find a band’s identity and become a unit. The process doesn’t happen overnight. "And we have toured a lot since then, spent a lot of time together on stages and in the studio," he comments further. "A lot happens in that process." "Empress Rising was more or less just when we started the recordings," says Thomas. "It was just me and Esben, and we recorded the album without goals. We just recorded the songs because we thought they were good songs and recorded some guitars and some drums. Then Mika came in and put on the bass, and then we felt like, Wow! This is something we need to focus on! But we became more of a band afterwards." Mika feels Empress Rising is quite raw. Thomas agrees, reflecting on how the raw feel of the piece may owe to the guitars and drums being recorded at the same time. "I think we got better at songwriting and also recording. We recorded ourselves, mixing and mastering it, so I think we’ve been getting better at everything as a whole process."

Monolord are planning to continue recording and mastering future works themselves, although they do not rule out potential collaborations with producers outside of the Monolord family. "I guess we just started that way and continued that way," says Esben. "It’s not been that we have to do things always this way and that this is the formulae, so let’s see what happens." Mika feels that being able to control all levels of what’s on the table by keeping production in house is a big advantage for the band, but he also sees the positive side of getting an external viewpoint thrown into the recording process. Regarding future works, the band is happy to allow a natural and organic progression, rather than considering aiming at specific directions. "It’s usually organic," affirms Esben. "We don’t make the decision that now we’re going to do this in a specific way, we just work with the material we have and that guides us. Cheesy as it sounds, it’s hard to force something into a frame. I think it doesn’t make sense." Mika concludes that there has to be passion involved and a clear sense of direction for all three of them, in order for their pieces to work.

Slaying In The Algorithm Dystopia

We are part of a modern ecosystem hostile to alternative culture. Streaming services and online file sharing have caused album sales to plummet. As a result, labels, promoters, bands, and pretty much anyone involved in the music industry is having to rethink how to distribute their meagre resources. As social media advertising reaches out to more music fans, it is favoured to the detriment of our music press, which is already under threat due to depressing circulation figures. In other words, the music industry has become codependent on the algorithm, but the algorithm is popular culture’s best friend -- and hostile to alternative culture. Throw into this head-spinner of a mix the slaying of our music venues, usually in favour of real-estate development (35% of music venues have disappeared in the UK in the past ten years), and you have to come to the conclusion that perduring as an underground band has become no short of a miracle. As Monolord are a relatively fresh band, and are achieving just that, I’m eager to find out not only how on earth they survive, but thrive.

Film by Billy Goate of Doomed & Stoned

The relationship between Monolord and social media is very positive, which is refreshing considering the current concerns regarding social media working against cultural undercurrents. Over the years, social media has enabled the band to reach out to a consistently growing audience. "I think social media is the biggest reason we’ve had this success at all, through Instagram and Facebook. I mean, it’s our biggest platform of all," Esben observes. Monolord have a very deep connection with their fans and are very enthusiastic about social media giving them the opportunity to interact with them. "We try to respond to everything," says Thomas. "Some nights, people send us pictures from during gigs, such as Instagram stories. They tag us and send us videos. Some nights there is pretty much a lot to go through, but if you take your time to just say thank you, I think it means a lot to them." "And it means a lot to us!" Esben adds. "It’s great. It’s a way to get a Thank you, it was a great show. Thank you! Glad to hear it, always! That’s why we do this, that’s why we get on stage." The band also welcome fans using their phones at gigs and we discuss how important it is for music fans to take personal memories of shows away with them. Mika recalls an amusing anecdote of someone standing in front of him at a Black Angels concert in Berlin with a laptop at arm’s length, recording the entire gig until he was asked to move, only to trouble somebody else who was too shy to complain. We do, however, agree that things are changing and most people have a better awareness of using their electronics in a more tasteful manner these days.

With their growing success, Monolord increasingly find themselves in a position where they are solicited to support new bands starting out. They are usually contacted via social media or by email for advice and asked for their impressions on those fresh bands’ new material. "It’s so easy to send material to everyone on the internet," Thomas observes. "We sometimes receive iPhone recordings of a young band that want us to listen to their music," adding that demos recorded that way are sometimes of poor quality, which impacts opinions on whether or not the songs actually could work. The conversation takes an unexpected turn, and I feel for those guys upon hearing that some of the bands contacting them can be a little pushy in their communications, as Esben explains. "They contact us and they expect us to do a lot of things, like sending us an email and expecting us to land a contract with our label and getting really angry if we don’t." It must a little tricky to find the right balance between being willing to show support and being able to take a step back in those cases where you do not feel passionate about the material received in that way. "That’s the base of the music business: contacts," Esben feels. "Always." As much as he listens to a lot of music and will gladly give new bands a play, humility and honesty are important to him.

Regarding my concerns about music venues closing down at an alarming rate, Mika confirms that this is not an issue confined to London and the UK. It is also affecting the music scene in Sweden indeed. He tells me the fascinating story of Truckstop Alaska, a great venue in Gothenburg currently under threat by plans to build the tallest skyscraper in the Nordic Countries within its vicinity. Truckstop Alaska is perceived by developers as an eyesore, and already rehearsal spaces for local bands situated nearby have been shut down. "It is a problem, especially for underground music for smaller venues," Mika relates. "They keep disappearing, because the city doesn’t think of them or that audience as anything they can gain from."

The story of Truckstop Alaska’s battle against an invisible enemy who simply want them out of this part of town is nothing short of the myth of David and Goliath. Truckstop Alaska is a cultural association with a very respectable fifteen years of putting on shows under their belt. Their venue has been established at its current location for ten years. Things were running smoothly until the 20th of April this year. The association had only gone ahead and booked North Carolina Stoner legends Weedeater to perform that night, when the venue was raided by the Police flanked by local authorities. With no prior warnings, they declared their bar illegal and confiscated all their beer. The situation is pretty dire for Truckstop Alaska, with uncertainties resting above their heads regarding the future of the association, together with concerns that may no longer be able to rent their premises from the landlord.

Despite coming full frontal with extreme obstacles to continuing the showcasing of bands from our scene, the Gothenburg iconic venue is soldiering on with their initial plans of putting on another show in June, even though they are no longer allowed to serve alcohol. A show that, no doubt, will now turn into a "two-fingers up" at the establishment since the events that took place at the Weedeater show. "If you come to these shows," write the members of Truckstop Alaska on their Facebook page, "Take the situation for what it is. Take care of yourselves and each other. And don’t forget to have a little bit of extremely fucking fun while you’re at it! We (as in us and you lot) are Truckstop Alaska and we are going to make these shows a part of Gothenburg’s music history worth remembering!" All hails to those guys and good luck fighting the good fight!

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[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

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[aion-rsa]

When Paul McCartney Braved the Set of Roger Corman’s The Masque of the Red Death

https://ift.tt/3p32HBm

Jane Asher is as well-known for acting as she is for dating an ex-Beatle, and in 1964 she brought Swinging London to the canteen of Roger Corman’s The Masque of the Red Death.

Based on the gothic short story “The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy,” the film remains the most ambitious installment in Corman’s Edgar Allen Poe cycle of movies, contrasting the bleak landscape of a dying village with the psychological torment of six rooms of color, and one with no color at all, just a deep black with a blood red crimson glow cast on it. Vincent Price stars as the sadistic and satanic Prince Prospero, whose darkness reigns over his dominions. 

Price wouldn’t be this malignant again until 1968’s Witchfinder General, which was retitled The Conqueror Worm, even though it had nothing to do with the Poe story. In Masque, he throws decadent orgies to distract himself from the catastrophes which rage out of his control around him. The Masque of the Red Death came out in 1964, but shot in London during the titillating Profumo Scandal of 1963, and the pampered and entitled characters Hazel Court (Hammer’s Curse of Frankenstein) and Patrick Magee (Dementia 13, A Clockwork Orange) played could have stood in for unholy political unions. The 19-year-old Asher, as virginal peasant girl Francesca, personified the bright lights of the other side of town.

Asher was an iconic face of Swinging London and the emerging youth culture of the early 1960s. Probably best recognized as the little girl who makes friends with the astronaut in The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), she was a child actress who first appeared on screen in the 1952 film Mandy. Before Jefferson Airplane warned about chasing “The White Rabbit,” Asher played the title role in Argo Records’ productions of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass in 1958. While her parts in films like The Greengage Summer, and the 1962 Disney production of The Prince and the Pauper increased her visibility, it was a spot on the BBC’s Juke Box Jury which forever tagged her name with the pop revolution which was swinging through London in the wake of the racket coming from the seaport of Liverpool.

Asher was 17 in 1963 when the British magazine Radio Times assigned her to cover a Beatles concert at the Royal Albert Hall. “Now these I could scream for,” she declared in the story when it came out. Asher’s onscreen persona and public profile personified hope and helpful activism which may have seemed naïve to the Prosperos of the older generation but lurked outside their castle walls. Asher’s flame-red hair promised as much of a danger to the old guard as the Red Death. And he brought that optimism to the set of Masque.

“Jane Asher was wonderful to work with,” Roger Corman tells Den of Geek while talking about the restoration of The Masque of Red Death. “She was a very young girl. She had worked on the stage. I think she was in the Young Shakespeare Group. And I don’t know if it was her first picture or not, but she was very good. She was an excellent actress and very good and easy to work with.”

Asher’s Francesca is so accommodating, she tells Prospero’s mistress Juliana, “I will do what I must to save my men. But if they die, I will die — and so will Prince Prospero.” Asher’s performance is fragile and courageous, giving the character sensuality and dignity. As part of “the Resistance,” she is a worthy opponent for Price’s dark prince. Although she is uneducated, she can counter his Satanic philosophies and self-serving moral relativism. She is also the stand-in for the audience to relate to as she ventures through the colored rooms with her eyes wide open, occasionally in shock.

The first cut of the film shocked the Catholic Legion of Decency in the U.S. and the British Board of Film Censors, which bemoaned the “Satanism and erotic costuming” on the screen, according to the booklet which comes in the restoration package. Corman cut nine frames from the scene where Francesca is stripped down and thrown into a bathtub because it gave the illusion of nudity. The removed frames ensured Asher’s breasts would not appear on screen.

Offscreen, Asher was just as fresh and friendly as her character. The actress was also dating a very famous musician, who happened to write a big hit for the band her brother, Peter Asher, was in. Den of Geek asked whether Asher introduced Corman to any of the other players in Swinging London.

“A little bit,” Corman says. “Jane and I used to have lunch together in the studio commissary. And on a Thursday, she said a friend of hers was traveling through, on his way to London the next day. Would it be all right if he came and watched a shooting during the morning, and we could all have lunch together? And I said, ‘Sure, fine.’

“So, I got a director’s chair, sitting next to mine, during the shooting. And it was a nice, young guy, and we talked during the shooting. And I explained to him a little bit between shots, how it all worked. And then we all, Jane, and he and I, had lunch together. And it all went very well. And at the end of the lunch, I said, ‘Jane tells me you’re going to London. What are you going to be doing in London?’ He said, ‘Well, I’m with a singing group from Liverpool, and we’re going to be making our debut tomorrow night in London.’”

Yes, it was Paul McCartney.

By that point, Corman had already made the jukebox movie Rock All Night, which featured the music of The Platters, and would go on to produce the 1979 punk movie classic Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. That film starred The Ramones, who got their name from Paul McCartney when he tried out the stage name Paul Ramon. But Corman had no clue who he was talking to back then, and the Mersey musician kept up his part in the masquerade of red sauce.

“He was very cool,” Corman says. “He knew that as an American, I didn’t know who The Beatles were, or what he was. And as he left, I said, ‘Well, good luck, Paul, on your debut in London tomorrow night.’ And I remember he was very cool. He understood, and he didn’t want to say, ‘Listen, buddy, we’re the number one group.’ He just said, ‘Well, we’re a singing group.’”

Whatever show it was Paul’s singing group was in town for, the band apparently passed the audition. “Then I saw the paper Sunday morning headlines, ‘Beatles conquer London,’” Corman remembers.

Read more

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How The Beatles Break Up Happened

By Tony Sokol

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By Mike Cecchini

While McCartney never came back to the set again. It wasn’t the last informal encounter the two legends had. “We were at an Academy Award party, which was I think the Vanity Fair party, and I saw across the room Paul McCartney,” Corman recalls. “And I said, ‘Oh, there’s Paul over there.’ And my wife, Julie, said, ‘Let’s go over and talk to him.’ And I said,’”No. I had lunch with him 60 years or so ago. He isn’t going to remember some guy he had lunch with 60 years ago, and I don’t want to intrude’ because he was in a conversation.

“And Julie said, ‘Well, I want to meet Paul McCartney.’ So, she went over and talked to him, and he came over to see me. As he approached, he said, ‘Masque of the Red Death.’ He knew exactly where we’d met.”

Shortly after the filming of The Masque of the Red Death, McCartney moved into the attic of Asher’s parents’ 18th-century London townhouse. McCartney and John Lennon wrote many of their signature songs in a music room in the basement, including “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

Asher inspired McCartney to write classic love songs like “All My Loving,” “And I Love Her,” and “Here There and Everywhere.” Their relationship also drove him to pen the equally classic “We Can Work It Out,” “You Won’t See Me,” and “I’m Looking Through You,” which McCartney says, in the biography Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, “I seem to remember after an argument with Jane.”

Jane’s mother, Margaret Asher, taught McCartney to play the recorder, which was used on the song “The Fool on the Hill.” That song was written about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and Asher was part of the Beatles’ entourage on the band’s meditation retreat to India.

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After The Masque of the Red Death, Asher would go on to star in Alfie opposite Michael Caine in 1966 and continue a diverse artistic course. Besides being a consistent presence on film, television, and stage, Asher has written three novels: The Longing, The Question, and Losing It.The Masque of the Red Death will be available on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital on Jan. 25.

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[keepcalmandcarryfire]

11?

Describe my ideal day? Hmm... I wake up early, work on a bunch of my art and other projects, go for a long bike ride, and hang out with my friends. And if we’re talking a truly perfect day, I time-travel back to Zeppelin’s Royal Albert Hall concert and hang out backstage. 

Thanks! 

[capenafuerte]

Wake (Choruses from Under the Rock), The Sisters of Mercy In Concert at The Royal Albert Hall. Concert recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK on June 18, 1985. The very last concert of The Sisters of Mercy in the final constellation of their second stage. https://www.instagram.com/p/CBlCvafpQ_m/?igshid=1dqpakik2ud1l

[viv-heart]

7 times

Dramione, Muggle Music AU, Do you believe in love at first sight? No? Neither does the famous pianist Draco Malfoy - at least until he finds himself mesmerized by a young woman he doesn't know. Written for Moonsong78 Links: ao3 | ff.net

AN:I wrote this while severely sleep-deprived (I was awake for over 32h...) so I hope it makes sense and is still enjoyable.Anway, this fic is a gift to Moonsong78 for being one of the people who left most comments/reviews on my fic Of ends and beginnings. Thank you so much again and I hope you like this!Thanks to Nantai for betaing The first time he sees her, it’s an early Monday morning and Draco steps out of his car. He is walking to his favourite coffee shop in the middle of London, deep in thought, when he hears the squeal of brakes and cursing. He turns around and looks at a young woman with dark skin that contrasts with Draco’s pale one and brown curly hair falling loosely over her shoulders, glaring at him in anger. She is not a supermodel, but not ugly either and Draco finds himself drawn to her. He is about to say something, when she races on her bike past him, leaving him standing in the middle of the street in confusion. The whole encounter doesn’t last more than three seconds.

The second time she is sitting in the concert hall during a rehearsal of the National Symphony Orchestra and Draco thinks for a moment that she is asleep. He notices her legs wiping with the beat and realizes that she has closed her eyes to concentrate on listening. “Who’s that?” Draco asks his friend Pansy who is running the Orchestra. “Her name is Hermione Granger. A friend of Blaise’s,” she motions to the conductor. “Studies music theory or something if I am not mistaken. Why do you ask?” Draco shakes his head and follows Pansy to her office to sign the papers for his next tour that starts in London.When they are done and he has managed to get rid of Pansy Hermione’s gone.

The third time he sees her is during one of Blaise’s frivolous parties. He is sitting at the piano, giving a private concert and she is standing there, her eyes closed again, listening closely. He gives the best performance of his life. The applause is overwhelming and she smiles at him and Draco wants nothing more than to talk to her, but he has to talk to investors and he knows it. It’s already late when he is through with the social calls he is obligated to make and he fears that she is already gone. He can’t believe his luck when he finds her chatting with Blaise in a corner, a glass of Champagne in her hand. He approaches them and Blaise beams at him. “Draco!” he exclaims. “I believe you haven’t met my friend Hermione yet.” “Draco Malfoy,” Draco says and kisses her hand and instead of blushing like he had anticipated she rises an eyebrow. “Pleased to meet you,” she says. “Your performance was extraordinary.” “Thank you,” he smiles, intrigued by this unusual woman. He hasn’t seen much of her, but he can already tell that she won’t treat him like the star he is even though she obviously knows who is standing in front of her. “So what do you do?” he asks her when Blaise excuses himself as some of the investors demands his attention. “I study music theory and history,” Hermione says and watches him for his reaction. Draco gives her a charming smile. “Here in London I assume?” he asks and she nods. “How did you come across it? Do you play an instrument?” Hermione looks away as her cheeks get a slightly red tint. “I don’t. I am really bad at any kind of producing music. I can’t even properly play the flute and let’s not talk about singing! But I love music and I just wanted to spend the rest of my life surrounded by it and-” Her eyes are positively glowing with passion as she talks and Draco doesn’t even know when he moves and suddenly he is kissing her and she is staring at him in surprise for a split second, before she closes her eyes and kisses him back. “Let’s get out of here,” he whispers when they pull apart and she takes his hand and they are at his flat in a blink of an eye, kissing again, tugging at each other’s clothes hastily. He bites her neck as he pushes the straps of her dress down and it falls and pools at her feet and Hermione is unbuttoning his shirt but he doesn’t have time for that so he moves away and pulls it over his head. He looks her appreciatively up and down and she pulls him closer and soon enough they are just a tangle of limbs in his sheets, kissing, moaning, biting as he trusts into her. When he wakes up the next morning she is gone.

The fourth time he sees her it is just barely a glimpse of her hair as she climbs into a cab in front of the Royal Albert Hall and Draco can’t do much but watch it disappear in traffic. 

The fifth time, he is drunk out of his mind as his friend Theo drags him into yet another shady bar. They are celebrating Theo’s promotion and Draco is laughing at something his friend said when he sees her. Hermione is glaring at a customer from behind the bar and trusts a glass into his hand before taking the money. When she offers him the change, the customer seizes her forward and tries to kiss her. Draco is moving forward without thinking but Hermione doesn’t need to be saved. She punches the man with her free hand and he stumbles a few steps back. He wants to try again but a bouncer is standing next to him already and guides him out of the bar. Hermione sighs and looks around for waiting customers and that’s when she sees Draco. “What are you doing here?” she asks, sounding exhausted. “Celebrating with a friend,” Draco gestures in the vague direction of Theo, managing to sound somewhat sober. “Are you alright?” Hermione relaxes visibly. “What do you want?” she asks, ignoring Draco’s question. “You,” he blurts out without thinking and she snorts. “Sure,” she says and turns around to serve another waiting customer. “I am serious,” Draco tries. “You are drunk,” she replies without looking at him as she pours some vodka into shot glasses, before placing them at the counter. Draco waits till the man leaves before speaking again. “Doesn’t change the fact that I want you. Go out with me.”Hermione snorts again. “You don’t even know me.” “Is this what this is about?” Draco leans over the counter and Hermione shakes her head slightly in the direction of the bouncer that everything is under control. “You don’t want to get out with me because I don’t know you?” “No,” Hermione says flatly. “But let’s be real here: you are one of the world’s most famous pianist and I am just some university student. You are talented, good-looking and rich and I am not. I don’t want to be the girl who is tossed away the moment someone better appears and someone will. I enjoyed the one-night stand and it was fun while it lasted but that’s all.” Draco can’t believe what he just heard. He is furious. “For god’s sake, are you listening to yourself?” he hisses. “I don’t even give a damn what you think about me but how the hell are you thinking so low of yourself? Blaise told me that you are one of the smartest people he has ever met and that means quite a lot considering it comes from him!” “But that’s not what men want!” Hermione fires back and Draco stares at her in shock. “Who the fuck told you that?” he asks, cold fury in his voice. There’s nothing more attractive about a woman than her intellect, except her passion for music maybe, and Draco can’t believe someone would say otherwise. Hermione trusts her chin forward and doesn’t respond and Draco runs a hand through his hair. “Fine,” he mutters. “I won’t force you.” 

 The sixth time he sees her it’s the evening of the first performance of his new tour. He just walks backstage from the stage when he sees her standing next to Blaise, waiting for him.“It was breathtaking!” someone says and Draco gives them a fake smile and asks himself why she is there. He isn’t paying proper attention to those coming to congratulate him and simply thanks them. Only when Hermione and Blaise come over he is back in reality.“The performance was amazing, Mr. Malfoy,” Hermione says and Draco realizes that she hadn’t told Blaise about their little encounter either. “Thank you, Miss Granger,” Draco replies casually and grins at Blaise. “Are you two coming to the after-party?” “I can’t,” Blaise says. “Pansy isn’t feeling well. The pregnancy is taking a toll on her. But I am sure Hermione would be honoured to accompany you.” Hermione gives him a forced smile at that and Draco doesn’t know what to feel. It seems he is somehow getting his date anyway, even though Hermione doesn’t seem too happy about it. She relaxes considerably as the evening progresses, drinking one glass of Champagne after another and by the end of the evening Draco has her pinned against a wall, moaning his name as he kisses her senseless. He can’t even say he is surprised when he wakes up alone the next morning.

The seventh time he actually seeks her out. It’s early evening and he hopes she is working as he walks into the bar he had found thanks to Theo. It seems luck is on his side as Hermione is standing behind the counter, putting away glasses. “Date me,” Draco says instead of a greeting and Hermione looks up in surprise. “I told you already-” she starts but Draco cuts her off. “You told me that you are scared and that’s fine. Someone hurt you. I respect that. But you are a charming, intelligent and pretty woman. You can’t hide forever. All I am asking you is to get on a date with me.” Hermione hesitates, but nods finally. “One date,” she says and a wide smile spreads over Draco’s face. “But I don’t do sex before the fifth date,” she adds and Draco laughs. “I can wait.”

#dramione fanfiction #draco/hermione #Dramione fanfic #Dramione fic #dramione #draco malfoy/hermione granger #draco x hermione #draco malfoy x hermione granger #Draco Malfoy #Hermione Granger #Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fic #hp fanfic #hp fanfiction #hp fic #blaise zabini #pany parkinson #theodore nott

[incrediblyexpandedhorizons]

Jevnation’s top 5 albums of 2018

Kustin here, will be calling myself Jevnation from now on. Time passes quicker than most people may be aware of and as it shows, the members of IEH is certainly moving on to different, new things and interests (and names ;) ). But the love for music is always here to stay and it is in my interest to share my own list of top albums from last year that’s given aural pleasure and new sensations that helped enrich this year and the future to come. There are more albums that’s been on my mind and I’m likely to follow up with worthy mentions. But knowing me, I am a terribly slow writer trying to find words to express my experiences with the albums that crossed my life and ears. Hence this list being a couple of months overdue...

Without further ado, I present to you my top 5 albums in no particular order. Perhaps you’ll find some new gems to check out...!

Cardhouse - City Blur Genre: Electronic/alternative rock The Liverpool band Anathema is seeing evolution and re-invention of their sound constantly, flirting more with modern electronics that graced their recent albums lately. Their current keyboardist/drummer Daniel Cardoso has fit well into the band's current formation and played competently in live shows though his apparent, creative mindset wouldn't be showcased there as much as it would show in his own debut, solo record he produced. Enter, Cardhouse! (I see what you did there, Cardoso)

The music in it is tricky to categorize but does deliver its own thing; a unique combination of alternative/indie rock with modern, electronic production and a dark, aesthetic foundation for the album. Cardoso handles all the instruments and programming that's well calculated yet sounding so unchained. (Yes, he did the Elvis cover here, too)

His crooning vocals go around the mid-high register, which adds to the melancholic value of certain songs but also belts out some yearning tones that adds some weight to the music. The vocal production is also enhanced by applying light pitch vibrato reminiscent of Daft Punk and distortion for intense moments, respectively.

Overall, City Blur is an engaging journey through the nocturnal soundscape that's defined by the electronic-rock hybrid and I anticipate a continuation of Daniel's creative, solo outputs in the near future.

Stand-out tracks: Ink, Forgotten, Monster.

Michael Romeo - War of the Worlds Pt. 1 Genre: Progressive power metal, Symphonic Metal Symphony X is going low since they released and promoted their latest album Underworld, leaving the members to pursue other projects while recharging. The classical-influenced axeman Michael Romeo, however, channels some of the 'X to his solo project, orchestrating new music while taking in other influences and musicians on board. They all fit like a glove together while the fresh singer John Castellano delivers nicely the melody lines, having the timbre and attitude of Kelly Sundown and occasionally reaches up the raw power of Russell Allen.

The record is a sci-fi concept album about the tense relationship between man and machine, making for a blending pot between metal, orchestral music and electronic music at some point. The Symphony X fans will rejoice to the band still sticking to the familiar songwriting, as much as I got instantly engaged in the first half of the album featuring tight songwriting, virtuoso musicianship, memorable hooks and meaty riffs.

Some curve-balls are thrown in, most prominently in the track "F*cking Robots", which I could describe it as a call-and-response between man and machine riding on EDM-metal crossover. Overall, the record had me blown away so here's to hoping the 2nd part holds candle to its predecessor, which might see the light of day this year or next.

Stand-out tracks: Fear The Unknown, Black, Djinn.

Mike Shinoda - Post-Traumatic Genre: Alternative hip hop, rap rock, alternative rock Following the tragedy that has befallen Linkin Park regarding Chester's suicide led by depression, the fellow band members have decided to take a hiatus in order to cope with their terrible loss. Whatever happens to LP remains uncertain by this day but Mike Shinoda has decided to write his difficult experiences and laments, after losing his close friend, into his solo rap album.

As it's a less common genre in my musical taste, Post-Traumatic is a mixed bag of musical elements embraced in Mike's recognizable rapping and songwriting akin to Linkin Park. The songs mainly contain electronics and sample-based beats but there are some rock music implemented in the album. Mike's lyrical deliery walk a fine balance between clear re-telling and poetic expressions, for the listeners to get a share of his states of mind throughout the griefing period that led into this album's production. There's also a handful of songs that feature guest artists that make fine contributions without taking over.

Post-Traumatic is an emotive concept rap record that is pretty dark and honest to its subject matter, with a vulnerable and cathartic side as presented by the LP vocalist, musician and producer. It was surely a difficult record for Mike to put together; the results show how he went through terrible times but forges on as a musician and living person.

Stand-out tracks: Over Again, Lift Off, I.O.U.

Phideaux - Infernal Genre: Progressive rock (Crossover) The wait has been long and Phideaux Xavier finally shows he's still around in the music world, juggling between his jobs as a series director (General Hospital) and his solo prog rock band. The previous album was released in 2011 but seeing that his band's trilogy had yet to finish their concept album trilogy that started with The Great Leap (2006) and Doomsday Afternoon (2007), the time finally came for them to wrap things up after 12 years of waiting. The fans could rejoice for Phideaux's return, as the years of teasing are finally through.

With plenty of materials to go by, Infernal is a double-disc album that follows the musical blueprint similar to Doomsday Afternoon and their recent albums, comprised from mainly 70's progressive rock, chamber music, neo-folk, psychedelic and gothic rock. This results in the decet (10 members!) band going on their adventurous mix of musical ideas that make every song stick out in their own way, characterized by their familiar use of mixed vocals, instrumental effects from modern and early technologies as well as a rich variety of vintage synth sounds.

The concept theme carries on towards its conclusion, touching more upon the dystopic science fiction that concerns a "Big Brother"-like society and ecological disasters. The tracks flow together and contain many cross references, lyrically and musically, that connect them within Infernal and the previous albums.

By the release of this final part of the trilogy being a fact, not only is it welcome for the fact that Phideaux can now put his mind to rest and move on with new, creative ideas but that Infernal showcases the band I've grown to love playing on a strong note as ever.

Stand-out tracks: The Sleepers Wake, The Order of Protection (One & Two), Tumbleweed

Alter Bridge - Live at the Royal Albert Hall Genre: Alternative metal, Hard rock, Symphonic rock, Post-grunge Live albums don't merit easily in the top lists as much as studio albums, so they have to contain something exclusive enough for a listener to buy it along with the studio album (regardless if they're playing your favorite songs in it or not). But a trend has been growing with rock bands doing live concerts, which is adding extra section musicians or even a full orchestra to add to the band's musical performance. The 90's had Metallica realize "S&M", Dream Theater made "Score" a reality in the 00's and this decade had a decent amount of progressive bands perform in Plovdiv, where a local orchestra has made a niche in augmenting the bands' classics with classical instruments (pun intended). It's probably no wonder that Alter Bridge would follow suit and do their own live take with an orchestra; an idea sparked by their manager that stuck fast and came to fruition.

Their setlist include tracks from every album released before-hand and don't shy away from songs that may have been played less live, on the principle of how well they fit with the orchestra. The best example would be "Words Darker Than Their Wings", which gives a more soaring air combined from the musical elements of epic rock and symphony. The heavier songs gain more dramatic weight delivered through while the balladic tracks are brought out in new shine, well worth hearing in Alter Bridge's both sides of spectrum. There's some behind-the-scenes footage coming up between the songs, which I find helps make a good connection with the viewers and fans to see the process that lead to the band's historical show.

For fans and new listeners alike, I'd proudly call "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" their go-to live album for the diverse yet accessible setlist and the orchestral addition to their music.

Stand-out tracks: Blackbird, Words Darker Than Their Wings, In Loving Memory

#top2018 #Top Albums #progressive rock #Progressive Metal #Power Metal #electronic rock #alternative metal #alternative hip hop #heavy metal #alternative rock

[watusichris]

Becoming the Band: A Primer

Even today, nearly half a century later, one marvels at the mystery of the Band’s arrival on the music scene. They presented themselves as ciphers; though they seemed to have stepped right out of the past, they didn’t appear to have a past themselves. Oh, we received information about their history, but it seemed to conceal as much as it revealed. It was no surprise that the first major story about them, an Al Aronowitz piece in the Aug. 24, 1968, issue of Rolling Stone, swathed them in shadow. In the Elliott Landy photo that graced the magazine’s cover, the five members are squeezed together on a bench, facing a river or small lake, their backs to the lens.

When it materialized out of the ether in 1968, Music From Big Pink was hard to figure out on a first listen, or even on a tenth or twentieth. Who was playing what? Who was singing? How many singers were there? Where did those horns come from? Were all those weird sounds coming out a keyboard, or were they transmitted from Mars? And what the hell were those strange, cryptic songs about? Who were those curious characters that inhabited them: Crazy Chester, Miss Moses, Lonesome Suzie? What’s that Bob Dylan painting supposed to mean? Who are these guys?

The record conjured a powerful mystique, and its sound rippled through hippiedom like a musical smoke signal. Its sequel The Band, released 14 months later, was earthier, more straightforward; if Big Pink resembled some magical text translated from a hitherto unknown language, the sophomore album played like a raunchy history book. And yet, by the time it landed, we still knew very little about the Band. The vast majority of their fans, and they had rolled up a few by then, hadn’t even had a chance to hear them perform live – they had played just two concerts by the time the second LP reached stores in September 1969.

They had a secret history, it seems, a long one, one that predated their justly acclaimed debut, which could hardly be considered a real debut at all. Finally based in America after a long apprenticeship on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, with side trips to Europe and the Antipodes, and a fateful siege of woodshedding in West Saugerties, New York, they weaved everything they had learned into their music. And they had learned much, for most of them were whey-faced teens, almost absolute beginners, when they began. It’s a rich tale, best heard in the music they scattered in the early days of their career.

Most now know that they had their genesis as members of the Hawks, the backup band for Ronnie Hawkins, an Arkansas native who discovered he could make more money playing rockabilly, blues, and R&B covers in the clubs on Toronto’s Yonge Street than in the buckets-of-blood back home. So he settled in up north, with fellow razorback Levon Helm serving as his drummer and musical director, reeling in young, feisty Canuck players to fill out his outfit.

They came aboard one by one, like the Magnificent Seven: Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel, all in their teens and spoiling for adventure, were recruited by Hawkins and Helm. Keyboardist Garth Hudson, the senior member of the band, by then in his late 20s, completed the crew when he signed on in 1964.

Hawkins and his band, christened the Hawks, made music for clubs where chicken wire was strung in front of the stage to deflect flying beer bottles; in time, they would encounter the one-armed stripper who worked in Jack Ruby’s bombed-out Dallas joint.

The task of making music that would entertain some of the most drunken and pugnacious clientele in the Northern Hemisphere resulted in recordings, made for Roulette Records, the province of magnate/mobster Morris Levy, which displayed an intense ferocity and an authentic bluesiness. You can hear “Who Do You Love,” “Further On Up the Road,” and “She’s Nineteen Years Old” – covers of Bo Diddley, Bobby Blue Bland, and Muddy Waters numbers, respectively – on the superlative retrospective The Band: A Musical History. It was tough stuff, played with no frills.

Hawkins took the Hawks to finishing school, but the boss proved too parsimonious and dictatorial for their tastes, so they dropped out and went along on their own, cutting singles for Roman, Ware, and Atco Records under the names Levon & the Hawks and (ugh) the Canadian Squires. Their 1964-65 45s – “Leave Me Alone,” “The Stones I Throw (Will Free All Men),” “Go Go Liza Jane” – were written by Robertson, and display a folksiness as generic as their titles. They were more at home slugging it out in support of John Paul Hammond, the mush-mouthed, blues-singing son of Columbia A&R man John Hammond, who had signed Bob Dylan a few years earlier.

It may have been fated that the Hawks would end up playing with Dylan. A Canadian connection apparently brought them together. If working with Hawkins had been the musicians’ secondary education, they received their post-graduate degrees, master’s and Ph.D, behind Dylan, then entering his acid dandy period and looking for a band that could put electric flesh on the poetic bone of his careening new songs.

In the immediate wake of his uproarious debut with an electric band (mostly Paul Butterfield’s) at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, Dylan enlisted the Hawks to back him on his first rock ‘n’ roll tour. Their initial American dates with him – which coincided with some ill-fated recording sessions for his next album – are poorly documented on recordings, but the limited evidence – most notably a date in Berkeley, California -- show the group groping toward a grander ensemble conception.

They tried their best in the studio, but they did not really succeed. They cut a venomous remake of Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window,” but the single was a resounding flop. Worse, attempts to cut more sprawling, vaporous tunes like “Visions of Johanna” and “She’s Your Lover Now” came to naught; on the huge, comprehensive set of Dylan’s 1965-66 studio recordings, The Cutting Edge, you can hear him vibrating with frustration over his musicians’ incomprehension. He soon decamped to Nashville, bringing only Robertson with him, and employed Al Kooper and some top session men to bring Blonde On Blonde to fruition.

By the time more live dates began in February of 1966, Levon Helm – who had been hip-checked to the side by Dylan in the New York studio – had wearied of being booed and exited for a job on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. First with studio man Sandy Konikoff and ultimately with Mickey Jones of the Trini Lopez and Johnny Rivers bands on drums, the rest of the Hawks played on in the U.S., Australia, and Europe.

Many of the outraged crowds spat fire and brimstone at Dylan and his over-amped punks, and they spat back. The often frenzied performances of ’66 were comprehensively compiled on a recent Columbia box, Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings; the best electric sets – Manchester, Paris, London – play with a silken grandeur, and sometimes with bristling animosity. (“Play fucking loud!”) In that day, hearing these high-volume shows must have been like sticking your head into a jet engine.

By late May, when the tour concluded in London, Dylan was hurtling toward a wall at light speed; you listen with horror to his incoherent stage rants during the final gig at the Royal Albert Hall. Two months later, he broke some bones in his neck in a bad motorcycle accident near his secluded home in Woodstock, New York. He burrowed into hiding to recuperate, but he soon would have the company of his backup band again.

They trickled into town. Robertson, who had grown close to Dylan on the European dates, showed up first, late in the year, ostensibly to help with the editing of an impressionistic film drawn from footage of the ’66 European concerts. In the early spring of 1967, Manuel, Danko, and Hudson reached Woodstock; they set up shop in a garish pink ranch house in West Saugerties. (Robertson was already ensconced with his fiancée in a house of his own, not far from the manse of Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman.)

Thus bunkered, far from the day-to-day tumult of the record biz, the Hawks began their doctoral work, sometimes in Dylan’s living room, more frequently in the basement of the communal Big Pink house.

What became known as the Basement Tapes (after a fraction of them were first bootlegged for the first time in 1969 on The Great White Wonder) can today be heard as a sort of private musical symposium. At first, Dylan and his group ranged through nearly every imaginable style of American music – blues, R&B, folk, country – and ran down some English and Celtic antecedents as well. (On their own, the group, who knew their way around horns, would bring jazz to the table as well.)

First came covers, but then new original songs followed: mostly by Dylan, but some of them penned with Manuel and Danko as well. Inspired now, with a world of music flowing easily through them, they began to write songs of their own – allusive, funky songs that veered afield from their earlier work on their own. You can hear them on A Musical History; a few are included in doctored form on the 1975 Columbia set The Basement Tapes. Some of these songs – “Word and Numbers,” “You Don’t Come Through,” “Ferdinand the Imposter,” “Ruben Remus” – would be demoed, only to disappear. Others – the ripping “Yazoo Street Scandal,” “Katie’s Been Gone,” “Orange Juice Blues” – would be professionally recorded but remain unreleased. Others still would form the basis of a debut album.

After the group was put on the market by Albert Grossman and signed to Capitol Records, the promise of that album finally lured Levon Helm back into the fold, and he settled in with the rest of them at Big Pink. The die was now cast: They were a new act now, and their old handle would not do. What to call something so rich and strange? Some jokes were proposed: the Crackers, the Honkies. In the end, the moniker they chose for themselves settled comfortably on their shoulders, at once generic yet encompassing everything that flowed into their music: The Band. And thus the mystery began.

 (For more about the Basement Tapes: http://watusichris.tumblr.com/post/105449885597/a-dylan-a-day-annex-i-the-basement-tapes)