OOC: I dunno about anyone else, but i'm feeling pretty pleased with myself.

OOC:How many people can TDB accumulate?

The Dirty Bastard isn’t a foreign place to Mind. Many a drunken mishap has happened here, but tonight they’re here for something special. The place itself had a lovely nostalgic feel to it. There were many bands that could beat Mind; they had to fight hard to keep their lead. Despite the fact that they had to contain their set list to one tonight, they were adamant they were going to make it last forever.

There was little talk outside the hotel. The whole band was trying to relax before doing the song. To calm the nerves, they were smoking. Even Robert, who was usually anti-tobacco, was smoking. “We might as well quit now. We’re never going to win this.” Harry said solemnly. “We’re in first position now, I’m not fucking letting go of it. Harry, you’re always a downer on things. Remember last time? What we promised? Keep that in your minds, guys.” Jason replied. An awkward silence pursued after that for a couple of minutes as Jason then took his coat off. “We ready?” he said, and a sigh followed from Harry. They then continued to walk into the hotel, preparing to get onto the stage.

Aaron was talking to some girls by the bar as the instruments were being set up. Trying to look cool, he leaned against an invisible pillar, resulting in him falling arse over tit. The girls laughed and walked away, whilst Jason walked up to Aaron saying, “Amateur. It’s time to go.” On that note, they walked up to the stage and the lights dimmed slightly. As the lights dimmed, so did the talking. Aaron played one quiet, ambient note on his guitar for a sound check as Jason prepared to make his speech. “Well man... I can’t believe we’re here. To think that we joined this thing for fun! Seriously, this is fucking immense. Out of all the bands playing in this battle, you’d think that we’d be the ones out first! We love all you guys, thanks to everyone who voted us. Over the past few months, we’ve made a lot of friends, and we’ve all been united through one thing. The love of music. Music has the power to distort people lives, it can make people cry or make them laugh. Music is a force that no-one can live without, it provides entertainment, but it can also be a way of life. For Mind, we are the latter. This may sound a bit clichéd, but we don’t care about the money or the fame, we just want to enjoy music and for other people to enjoy our music. Music has saved my life on numerous occasions, and I’m sure it’s saved yours too. So, as we prepare to perform the song, just promise us one thing tonight. That one thing is to enjoy yourselves. Okay, enough of that corny shit, this is one of our favourite Mind songs, My Fall From Grace!”

As the cheers grew louder and louder, they started to play the extremely intricate and delicate riff, with Jason on the acoustic and Aaron playing on the electric. Usually, the live version is done faster than the studio version, but this time they did it slower. By doing this, they could jam better and extend the song at the same time. As well as that, it also allowed Robert and Harry to have a 5 minute break, before they had to enter the song. Jason’s voice was really on key tonight, he hit all the high notes almost perfectly as Aaron kept playing along. When it reached the breaking point, where Jason had to extend his scream and the other instruments came in, he said “Are we having a good time then?” to an eruption of cheers from the audience. He then made the scream for about 15 seconds, also changing to his double-necked electric. The rest of the band pounded into the song and it became mosh-worthy. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much space to mosh in. During the squidgy centre of the brilliantly technical solo, they went into a reprise of the ballad from their first album, Moon. After doing the riff for about 3 times, they then continued with the solo. This provoked a large reception from the true Mind fans, since the song was only really known by the diehard fans.

Once the solo had ended, instead of ending the whole song, they proceeded to jam for a couple of minutes. It was metallic, but the jam had heavy psychedelic influences mixed inside as well. The drums had just dropped out and Jason had switched again, this time to an Indian sitar. Once Aaron’s guitar riff had dropped out, it left just the sitar and Harries heavy bass line remaining. About 30 seconds afterwards, the bass had dropped out, leaving the sitar to play randomly. This continued for a minute, before they all came back in ferociously for the last 10 seconds of the song.

“I don’t know about you, but that kicked my arse.” Aaron snickered afterwards. “You’re all beautiful. Thank you very much!” he finished, before they made their way to the bar. They all laughed heartily and Harry bought a round of drinks. There was a constant stream of fans shaking their hands and taking photos of them. Although Robert was a bit reluctant at first, they all made sure the fans got what they wanted. “Now we just have to wait, I suppose.” Said Jason merrily.

OOC: I'm not that happy with this RP, but I hope it'll do :/

Unlike other competitors The Dirty Bastard Hotel and Casino is sort-of an unknown territory for Ryan Ross Hernandez, even though he is one of the somewhat veterans still going strong in this competition he isn't one of the usual's that attends The Dirty Bastard partly due to the fact that Hernandez doesn't even live in the country. So performing at the venue was a new experience for Hernandez. Ryan arrived in London less than 2 hours before he was scheduled to perform one song and with just the bassist and drummer being able to come along in this last minute trip, no real material was practiced beforehand. With no sleep in the last 48 hours Hernandez was suffering from a serious case of jetlag but it was too late to back out of it now. Hernandez has become rather comfortable playing arenas or even theaters but a pub-like venue was something strange for his adapted live performances. Especially for a competition, but Ryan had no problem playing just one song and bailing out as soon as possible. While on the plane trip to London, rather than getting some rest, Hernandez spent most of the flight figuring out which song to perform with such short stage time. Of course his first intent was that it had to be a blues jam which could range from anywhere as short as five minutes to as long as fifteen minutes which Hernandez has done in the past. Ryan and his partners in crime decided upon a not so bluesy song but they would do the best they could to make into their comfortable style. Whether the audience at hand would enjoy his laid back live performances but since it was to a bunch of drunks Hernandez was rather confident he could come out big.

About 10 minutes pass between the time the last band exited the stage and Ryan and his slightly smaller band than usual is set to perform their one-song set. The lights dim down with just one bright light shinning above the stage, just a couple of seconds later, three lights sitting alongside the amplifiers shine the stage reversely from the crowd view. Very calmly without a flashy intro, Ryan Ross Hernandez and his backing crew walk onto the stage to their respective areas on it. As usual, Hernandez takes center-stage with a custom designed Fender Stratocaster guitar hanging on his back by a guitar strap. Pino Palladio, bassist stands towards the left of Hernandez, seen tuning up his bass. Farther behind is Steve Jordan on drums, not very far from the other two but far enough to give them comfortable breathing room. Ryan, like he expected, receives a mix reaction from the crowd, mostly the women in the crowd cheer, excited for his appearance but others aren't very pleased to see Hernandez, whether it be because they don't enjoy his music or just hate him as a person, planning to use this as a bathroom break. Hernandez takes a step back from his microphone and plays two chords to check if the tuning of his guitar is correct for the song at hand. While each participate is only allowed to play one song, nothing say they have to get into the song right away. You know what that means kids, gather around for Ryan Ross Hernandez's Banter Time.

Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Good evening. Good evening, drunks, junkies, metalheads, and all the other people out here that follow a 'hardcore' lifestyle. In case you've been living under a rock the last couple of years or don't own a television, computer, or another form of mass media. My name is Ryan Ross Hernandez. That guy you hear gossip about him dating this famous woman or that one. The guy you're probably sick of hearing, but has never had a public scandal like many of my fellow peers have had. I've never been arrested, I've never had an overdose, I've never disappeared for no apparent reason. I have never done none of that stuff yet I'm mentioned every week in every gossip magazine just 'cause I live in this vulture of a city called Hollywood.

So, anyways. Excuse my rant there. If you've ever seen me live, or watched me on YouTube or whatever kids use these days. You'll know that I like to speak my mine whether what I have hanging heavy on my head. Sometimes it's prophet like, others they don't even make sense to me but I can't always come up with most clever, witty lines and phrases.

I got one song to work with and I think you'll all enjoy this tune because it isn't by me, actually. It is a psychedelic rock song, originally but we've made it into a blues jam. Nonetheless this song is, bold. I'm a bold artist. Like this song, I'm as bold as love."

That makes refernce to the track about to be performed, a Jimi Hendrix cover, "Bold as Love". No later than two seconds after Hernandez finishes that remark, he leads the rest of the trio into the song with a thundering guitar riff, along with his falsetto vocals. From moment one in the song, it was clear the song wasn't gonna get the crowd jumping, dancing or starting any near mosh pits, but it got even the metalheads to bop their heads along with Hernandez's very bluesy guitar licks at times making you think who is this jamming guitar player, performing inside Ryan's body. Right before the chorus, the rest of the trio joins in with mostly finger picking basslines and jazzy drum beats by Jordan. Although Hernandez is unable to move a lot around the stage, we see him hopping in front of the microphone stand while he sings and increases the pace of his guitar chords. About two minutes into the song, the drums beat almost turns into a drum roll to let the audience know something special is about to happen. Hernandez starts moving back from the mic stand as his full focus goes to his guitar playing. He seems daze off as he plays those chords that were made famous by Jimi Hendrix decades ago. His closes his eyes as he stands on top of his own amplifier to continue to his solo. Sure, the strange face gestures, Ryan does when guitar solos are still present but he makes sure that all the audience's attention is own his guitar skills. After a minute of soloing, Ryan returns to his microphone, slowly winding down his guitar riffs. A slow cymbal crash along with the deep basslines continue, without Hernandez's guitar.

Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Alright so check it out. I've tried every approach to living. I've tried it out. I haven't tried everything but I've tried every approach. Sometimes you gotta turn everything to get the approach right but whatever. I've tried it all. Went out bought a bunch of stuff went, "Eh, I don't like this," I kind of came in and out of that a couple of times. Thought I would shut myself off. I thought that's what you need to be a genius, to be liked and loved. You had to be an asshole. And if you can make so many people hate, so many people will also love you. I though it would balance out, you know. That hasn't worked either.

I'm at a good place in my life. I've paced myself pretty well. I'm turning 23 on April 12th. I've seen some cool things. Made a lot of stuff happen for myself. I made a lot of stuff happen for me, myself, and I. That is a really cool sentence when you're in your twenties. But all that means is that, somehow or another you've found a way to synthesizes love, to synthesizes care. You can't be a dick and expect to get that. What I'm saying is that I've missed with all approaches expect one and it is gonna sound corny but that's just love. I've done everything in my life that I want to do except just give and receive just love and care for my living. And I don't mean roman candle, fireworks, Hollywood, hot-pink love. I mean like, "I got your back love!". I don't need to hear, "I love you," those words mean nothing if you don't show it. And some of the people that tell you they love you are the same people that'll be the last to have your back.

So I'm gonna start being myself and experiment with this whole love thing. Giving love, feeling love. I know it sounds really corny and it is a miracle someone hasn't thrown a beer bottle at me. But it is the last thing I gotta check out before I check out.

Mister Jordan, take me to the solo one more time 'round! Thank you London!"

Hernandez and his trio play a more earnest version of the previous solo lead by Ryan's guitar. He hops on spot not far from his microphone stand as he adds in some 'Yeah's' every now and then while he solos. Without slowing down the pace or lose any energy, Hernandez starts to sing the final chorus to the classic Jimi Hendrix song. Palladio complements Hernandez's outstanding blues rifts with matched beat and bass that is eerily reminiscent of rock bassist legend John Entwistle of The Who. Steve Jordan is a one of a kind drummer and with his jazz style he can really match the improvisation of Palladio and Hernandez with his quick timing and ability to extend to outrageous beats. All three talented musicians end a already high energy song with even more intensity.

Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Thank you! We'll see you some other time!"

The trio take a quick bow and with that the lights dim once again with the three heading off the stage quickly. Unlike when they first came onto the stage, they are exited off the stage with mostly cheers and applause, although the naysayers are still out there.

Setlist:

Bold as Love (Jimi Hendrix cover)

(OOC: Eh, not happy with this but then again when I'm I ever happy with a roleplay I make. Although with one song I didn't have much to work with. So this really was a challenge since I'm use to making witty, long ass roleplays.)

Edited by user 02 April 2010 16:33:14(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

On the flight to England from Tokyo Pilot were discussing what song to play. What a challenge, one song. How could a band that had released 11 and a half studio albums condense their career into one song? "Do we play Part-Time Assassin? That's sort of our quintessential song." "Maybe one of the newer ones?" "What about Lightyears, we always finish with that?" "Something completely unexpected, like Area 51? Or maybe Ambition?" The argument wen round and round and round, but the band was forgetting that they had been treating this competition as a reason to do different things. Up until the third round they had experimented with playing songs they hardly ever played and coming up with new ways to add to the experience. Stephen, cocky as he is, was the one who articulated it first.

"There's no one song we can play that somes us up and will do justice to the night, so let's make one. Let's just go out there and fucking jam for a few minutes. If we crash and burn, we crash and burn, but fuck it." At this the rest of the band made approving noises, while other passengers in first class asked them to please mind their language.

So now Pilot are at the dirty bastard, enjoying some pilseners before going onstage, chatting with other people in the bar. It feels good. It feels like the gigs they played, relentlessly touring Australia as teenagers before they got famous. They felt young again.

When they took to the stage Clint took the role of frontman and greeted the crowd.

"Hello Dirty Bastard. This place has been a sanctuary to us at times when we've been over here making records. Now we want to repay it with something special. The song your about to hear has not yet been created. It is somewhere out in the cosmos, ripe for the plucking and you shall be the first to hear it. This song is a gift to you and it shall be called Dirty, Jamming Bastard"

Stephen starts them off with a military-sounding drum beat. Andrew joins in with a simple bassline as Clint and Murray (who is on guitar for this song) let notes ring out long and bent. At a gesture from Nick the band stop and Nick opens with the line You drank the poison, you took it right from my hand, before the band kick in again with more urgency. Stephen is banging the cymbols and Clint has a bluesy riff going.

Stub out your cigarette in the clutch of a man
Turn down the radio if it's hurting your ears
You're filled with pretence and it shits me to tears

Following this 'verse' Stephen and Clint do a call and respond between drums and guitar that builds up into a cacophany of noise before the band go back into the riff they were playing for the first verse.

I am a traveller and you are my landscape
Watch as your rivers run over my landscape
Where is your ocean? Where is your ocean?
Where is your ocean?

Murray takes centre stage, walking up next to Nick to bust out a riff that goes a little sloppy after a few bars. Clint comes to the rescue, taking aguitar solo from on top of Stephen's bass drum.

I know you're sorry but you left me empty
And there's nothing now, there's nothing now
Attached at lips and we smash our hips
Then there's nothing, why is there nothing?
And the fire in this room creeps between me
I am a prisoner and you are the scenery
Catch my breath for a second then it's over
And there's nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing

"Thankyou Dirty Bastard, good night."

Setlist

Dirty, Jamming Bastard (Improvised Jam)

OOC: I almost cried when I saw asdfs and Panic!s RPs. To be honest though, there's no escaping here :(

No votes so far, and the deadline is tomorrow - fantastic shows though! (:
-Katie.

Edited by user 03 April 2010 23:49:55(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

OOC:When's the deadline?

OOC: I think he means for voting. And I think it's supposed to be tomorrow.

It is tomorrow. Who's going through to the semis is announced on the 5th.