Hard Rock Unrehearsed by Rene Van Dalen Read Free Book Online

and were a gift from her uncle, a gift that appeared regularly every few months.  The guys were joking and punching each other and she could see the tension in all of them, tonight would be their first time going on without Richie.  They were missing him and she swore to herself that she would not let them down.  She just hoped the damn fans would not hate her on sight!
    And then it was show time and she no longer had time to obsess about anything.  The guys ran on while she stood next to Luis, waiting for Trace to make the announcement.  The crowd roared as Trace gave his signature scream into the night and light flooded the stage.
    “Hello Miami!”  He shouted as he stood right on the front of the stage, grinning as the crowd shouted back.  When they calmed down he started speaking.
    “As you all know a few days ago Richie overdosed and we almost lost him.  He’s doing better but he has a long road to recovery and he will need all the love and support all of us can give him.  He’s really sorry he can’t be with us for the next six weeks but he’ll be with us in spirit as we finish the American leg of the Big City Tour.”  Holding his hand up to silence the screaming fans he looked back at where Jade was waiting in the wings.  “I’m sure you have seen the press releases that Jay Gallado will be filling in for him and that she has his full support.  So without dragging it out any longer.  Here she is, our drummer for the next six weeks, Jay Gallado!”
    Jade hugged Luis and walked out on stage, a pair of sticks in one hand a bottle of water clamped in the other.  She got a mixed reaction, some screams, some boo’s but that was to be expected as she settled herself behind the drums and ignored the crowd.  She had a job to do and bugger it if she would let anything stop her from doing it.
    She hit the snare as they had rehearsed and Storm Front was off and running.  Jade lost herself in the beat, in the sheer physicality of her job as sweat streamed down her.  It felt as if the night had just begun when the last note screamed into the fans and the band left the stage waving.
    Tag was there with her towel, giving her a quick dry before she had to go back out to play an encore.  Her hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to her forehead and cheeks, damned new hairstyle!  The wings were packed with security, friends and family of the band and some hangers on who had VIP passes that couldn’t be cancelled.  She ignored them and focused on the job.  Her heart hammered in her chest, adrenalin so high it felt as if she was flying.  And then she was back on stage slamming through the four songs Trace had chosen to finish off the night.  The crowd went wild when they stood on the front of the stage waving their goodbye.  A guy against the barrier in front kept shouting her name, calling to her.  Jade laughed and lobbed her used sticks at him before she ran off with the guys.
    Backstage was pandemonium!  Tag immediately gave her a bottle of water she chugged gratefully before taking the towel he held and drying her face and arms.  The guys were surrounded by the friends they had invited and by Givens’s family who lived in Miami.  Jade grinned as Luis made his way to her, hugging her tight.
    “Great job sweetheart.  You totally rocked it like I knew you would.”
    “Thanks Papa but I’m wet and stinky and I’ll make you wet and stinky.”  Jade laughed as she wriggled out of his arms.
    “I don’t care baby girl.  You were magnificent, absolutely magnificent and if hugging you makes me a bit wet and stinky I don’t care.”
    “You had better care ‘cause you don’t want the press smelling you.  They’ll call you Smelly Delgado before you know it.”  She teased.
    “Who’s a smelly Delgado?”  Diego’s voice sent her already racing heart racing even faster.
    “Your Dad if he keeps on hugging me.”  She laughed as she turned to him.
    He stood so close she could feel the heat of