Live Youth take to the stage, bringing their distinct set of looks and personalitiesith them: Keyboard player Levi was stood in black skinny jeans and a tight fitting, button up shirt which stuck to his tiny, skinny frame, short hair with a long fringe swept to the side and brown eyes darting around the park. Jason was stood behind his guitar with his hair in long brown and blond dreadlocks, tanned skin and bright blue eyes smiled, his dimples getting deeper as he did so, taking in the biggest crowd he'd ever played to - Live Youth had gone on a break shortly after he and Levi joined. Then there was the members that came from Rebel Uprising: Dean, Guy and Tyler, all tall with mid length brown hair and green or brown eyes, all looking like models with even, clear complexions and toned bodies - all three the reason why Live Youth had so many female fans. Only one person was missing.
Gemma was still stood backstage, playing with the bar in her tongue, the way she always did when she was scared or nervous - she even had teeth marks in the bar from Billy's trial. She looked into the mirror willing herself onto the stage, before sinking into thoughts of Billy, thinking maybe this was all for nothing after all.
"What the fuck, Gemma, get on here!" Tyler's voice snapped Gemma out of her thoughts. She took one last deep breath, then straightened down her fitted shirt and ran up the stairs and onto the stage, just as the intro of 'The Next Step From Here' played out. The crowd shouted and screamed as she began singing one of Live Youth's best selling singles.
"Now, I wanna take this chance to thank each and every one of you who not only came to watch the show today, but who also performed for us - give it up for all the amazing acts you've seen today!" Gemma waited for the cheering to calm down, before continuing. "I wanna thank all of you for coming out and waiting around, in the open air in the freezing cold, wet, windy weather for so long, it means a lot. And it just goes to show just how dedicated we are to this. I hope this shows each and every lawyer, judge and member of parliament that we cannot and will not back down until we get the justice we deserve - no matter what we have to go through to do it! However, there are some, it appears, that for some reason, think that Billy Maddison is not innocent." The crowd booed angrily. "You may have seen one of them on Jonathan Ross last night, on some kind of Mighty Boosh fucking sandpaper dress thing... what was that?!?! Apparently she wanted to 'show her personality'... I think she did. Shit personality, shit clothes, you know what I mean?!" The crowd cheered again. "Anyway, this song is for her. Him. Whatever". With that, the guitars and drums started up for 'Hermaphrodite Whore', a song written about Miss Vanity before Live Youth had their break. The song was gritty, full of hate and malice for the woman that almost broke up Gemma and Billy's wedding just a few months before.
"Okay," Dean began, as the song came to an end. "A lot of the time, when me and Gemma are trying to write songs, especially ones that are very close to our hearts, we find it a little hard to open up our minds and to actually write something that we believe is good enough. Believe me, we've tried so hard to write a song specifically for Billy but none have fit just how big today is, none have come close to expressing Gemma's love for him and none have come close to revealing just what an injustice his imprisonment is. But some other songs just seem to fit what Gemma feels, what we feel and what most of you feel perfectly, so we will have quite a few of those covers in the show... starting with this!"
With that Levi began playing the iconic piano opening to Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing'. Gemma smiled as the audience began to cheer, calling out "C'mon, help me out here". The crowd began to sing with Gemma, almost drowning the front woman out. "Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train going anywhere..." Gemma smiled, her green eyes sparkling with happiness. God, she had missed this. As the song approached the chorus, and the boys began to join in on vocals, Gemma began to walk towards the front of the stage, towards the out held hands of the fans. "Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues, Oh the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on". Dean walked forward to join her as the guitar playing became more complex, the audience cheering him along. As the end of the song came nearer, Gemma jumped down to the front of the crowd, holding out her mic for them to sing along. "Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling, streetlights, people, woah. Don't stop believing, hold on!" 150,000 people sang the end of the song, the sound loud and overwhelming, before the end of the song signalled an eruption of cheers.
Gemma jumped back on stage. "Oh, my God, you guys are amazing!"
The band played their way through a few more high tempo, original songs which got the audience jumping around, including a new song 'Natural, Born Survivor', written for Billy recently which the fans knew, thanks to the internet.
"Okay, this next song we're gonna use to slow it down just a little. You're all gonna know this song as well, so feel free to join me!" Then, Gemma began singing with no backing at all, her voice the only sound cutting across the park, on key, emotional and cutting. "Another day has gone, I'm still all alone, how could this be, that you're not here with me? You never said goodbye, someone tell me why, did you have to go and leave my world so cold?" As the chorus approached, Levi began playing the keyboard, and Tyler softly applied some rhythm, while the guitarists went to get a drink. By this point, the audience had their lighters out, some of the female Billy Maddison fans were crying as the audience joined in "you are not alone, I am here with you. Thought you're far away, I am here to stay, you are not alone". Gemma was getting goosebumps from hearing the audience, and it was only now that she realised just how much support Billy had and it was a struggle to remain on key without her voice cracking for the big, final note, but she just about managed it before the audience erupted, screaming and shouting Billy's name.
The band continued their long set, trying to get through all the songs they had picked in the time available. They had a range of songs picked out which Gemma felt was fitting for Billy and they picked a handful of the best ones, inclluding Daughtry's 'Learn My Lesson', a little known song in the UK, but the beautiful rock ballad fit perfect. "Tonight the sunset means so much, the one thing that you know you'll never touch, like the feeling, the real thing, I reach out for that sweet dream, but somehow the darkness wakes me up. And I felt this emptiness before, but all the times that I've been broken, I still run right back for more. You'd think that I'd learn my lesson by now, You'd think that I'd somehow figure out, that if you strike the match, you're bound to feel the flame. You'd think that I'd learn the cost of love, I've paid that price long enough, but still I drive myself right through the pain, yeah well it turns out I haven't learned a thing".
Live Youth then go back to continue their high energy, high powered, blistering performance, performing When You Feel Me and then It's My Life by Bon Jovi - a song picked out because of its "inspiration and reluctance to give up and bow down to pressure asserted by others", before the band finsihed their breathtaking set with another beautiful ballad, which gave Gemma the chance to show off not only her deep love for Billy, but also the beautiful voice that got her famous, the tender, melodic, powerful voice that had got both Rebel Uprising and Live Youth recognised the world over.
Again, the song consisted of only Levi's piano playing and Gemma's voice as it echoed around the park, which had fallen silent as the audience enjoyed the meaningful, final song by Live Youth - the last song of the Free The Innocent gig.
"Hello world, I hope you're listening, forgive me if I'm young, or speaking out of turn. There's someone I've been missing and I think that they could be the better half of me. They're in their own place, trying to make it right, but I'm tired of justifying, so I say to you come home, come home, cos I've been waiting for you, for so long, for so long. Right now there's a war between the vanities, but all I see is you and me, and the fight for you is all I've ever know, so come home..."
By the end of the song, Gemma had tears rolling down her cheeks, as did members of the audience. Levi walked out from behind his keyboard, and up to Gemma, who had her arms raised, giving the audience a round of applause and mouthing 'thank you', before hugging Levi, and the pair walked off backstage.
Setlist
The Next Step From Here
Hermaphrodite Whore
Don't Stop Believing *-*Journey cover*-*
I Told You I Loved You (And That Hasn't Changed)
Natural, Born Survivor
You Are Not Alone *-*Michael Jackson cover*-*
No Faith Without Love
Learn My Lesson *-*Daughtry cover*-*
When You Feel Me
It's My Life *-*Bon Jovi cover*-*
Come Home *-*One Republic cover*-*
