Arizona State University - Tempe, AZ - 3/4/2011 - "Just Another US Tour" - 7.45pm

Arizona State University is full to the brim, picture the scene if you can...a packed audience standing on the floor, screaming at an empty stage "IN-FI-NITE IN-FI-NITE IN-FI-NITE" cheering the songs on the PA, and generally having a good time. They have a long wait ahead of them however, there's still around two hours until Infinite are due on stage, and another three bands to watch first.
People begin stamping their feet on the wooden floor, getting progressively faster until almost everyone in the crowd is jogging on the spot like some sort of overpopulated gym. The deafening Infinite chants start up again, and a massive surge of the crowd leads to people on the barrier at the front having to be dragged out to safety. It was all so different just a few moments ago though...

Backstage, a blonde girl walks into a green dressing room. She looks exhausted, and as she walks across the floor, she glances at a mirror on the wall, which has lightbulbs surrounding it, like some sort of cheesy backstreet theatre. The girl looks at her reflection, ruffles her hair a bit and sighs. She rubs her eyes and walks over to a leather sofa in the corner, grabbing a bottle of Diet Coke en route. She collapses onto the sofa, throws her head back onto the relaxing headrest and sighs again. When she lifts her head again, she is wearing the biggest smile ever seen, and she chuckles to herself a little, before cracking the coke and taking a massive gulp. It was all so different just a few moments ago though...

(Approximately 30 minutes earlier) - The crowd in the Arizona State University are talking amongst themselves with a quiet rumbling echoing around. The scene is reminiscent of many an early time in a concert. There are some people, desperate to be at the front for a close up view of Eric Quillington later tonight, who have piled in early and have no intention of leaving their spot. But most of the crowd are still outside buying beer at the bar, and having a chat with their friends. Some people are singing along voiciferously as AC/DC's "Back In Black" blares through the PA system of the venue.

Backstage, a 20 year old, blonde English girl, far from home, takes a sneak peak out from behind the side stage area.
"oemjeee its so empty out there....like no one's going to care at all! Ohnooeess!!" She turns to her manager with pleading eyes, begging him to tell her she doesn't have to go on stage.
"Come on K," he tries to reason, "You've played plenty of shows by now to not give a fuck what the crowd thinks! Go on!"
As the AC/DC track fades to silence, and the crowd wait in anticipation, Katie Coyle feels a tightening in her throat, it feels so dry, and she feels like she can't breathe. As the houselights fade to darkness, an American voice shouts across the stage,
"Are you ready Miss Coyle? You're up, let's go, have a good one! Break a leg!"
Ready to flee, Katie turns and bumps into Nicole Wood from Suburban Sunrise. Nicole, a friend of Katie's, gives the singer a big hug, hands her her guitar and tells her to knock 'em dead."

Back out front, the crowd are getting impatient. Some guys in the corner are screaming along with the music "I'M BAAACCKKK IN BLAAACK!" and the girls and guys on the barrier stare at the empty stage, waiting for something to happen. The rumble of conversation from the bar area outside can be heard in the hall, as most of the audience are still out there.
All of a sudden, the PA fades to silence, AC/DC singers in the corner boo jokingly, screaming "AC FUCKING DC MAN!!" and then high fiving each other. The house lights fade, and then after a slight delay...

Katie Coyle takes a deep breath, smiles one last time at her friend Nicole, and walks out onto the stage. There are a few whoops and a warm applause, as she walk rather apologetically to the front, acoustic guitar in hand, and smiles to the small audience in attendance, as she reaches the mic...

...after a slight delay, a small blonde girl with an acoustic guitar walks on from the back of the stage. A couple of girls on the barrier let out little whoops and some people applaud. The girl looks nervous, and then she lets out a little smile and waves at the people on the floor. Slinging her guitar over her shoulder and walking to the mic, she at last addresses the crowd...

"Hi guys, Arizona...ummm, for those who don't know me, my name's Katie...umm Katie Coyle...this song is called Etchings, and it's about a guy I knew in school who used to carve my name on everything."

A girl at the front cheers, alone, and the girl on the stage strums her guitar once, and nods to the band behind her. The drummer counts four beats out, and the girl finger picks a quick paced, folky sounding intro on her guitar. For the first time tonight she looks at home on the stage, smiling and nodding along in time to the song's quirky pace and up beat lyrics which Katie sings in her beautiful voice, telling the tale of a closet stalker/part time graffiti artist.

By the time she reaches the second last chorus, people in the crowd are humming along, and some people have even started to pick up the lyrics to the chorus and have started to sing along. Girls at the front row were even starting to bounce along in time to the funny lyircs and jumpy sound of it, as Katie lightly ridiculed her high school....just as the song reached it's crescendo...

...just as the song reached the crescendo, Katie tought to herself, "ok...one last chorus, I'm gonna give this my all!"
"Did you see me stan..." just then, a massive crash stops Katie in her tracks. She looks back, fearing what she is about to see is not some disaster that will be forever etched into the minds of the audience, who will always remember who was on stage "that night". As she turns, she sees her session drummer, Steve, lying flat out at the back of the stage. His stool is rolling around on the floor beside him, and some roadies at side stageare stifling laughs to the best of their abilities.

Katie had to think fast....she turns back to the crowd with tears in her eyes, and a wobbling sound in her throat. Her pleading eyes look down at the girls in the front row....all she can think is "speak! Speak! please! Come on!"
After what feels like a lifetime, she finally finds the power of speech,and can hear the panic in her own voice,
"...oh, I uhh, I dunno if anyone saw what happened there...but my drummer Steve...ummm, he just leaned back too far, and he fell off the drum riser," she tries to explain, as she can feel the tears welling up. "I'm really, so..."

..."I'm really so..." the blonde girl on the stage looks terrified, totally at the mercy of the audience. But she is interruped by a laugh, and then sarcastic chants from most of those in attendance of "STEVE YOU SUCK!!! STEVE YOU SUCK!! STEVE YOU SUCK!!" Steve runs to the front of the stage, with his drum stool in his hands, and jumps up on an amp, lifting the stool high above his head as he does so. The crowd cheer loudly for him, and some people, quite a lot in truth, have started to filter in from the bar to see what all the hilarity and commotion are for. Steve leaps down from the amp, takes a bow in front of the audience, laughs and goes back towards the back of the stage, stopping momentarily to whisper something in the blonde girl's ear...

Katie stands frozen as Steve jumps down from the amp and takes the adulation of the crowd...as he runs back past her towards his drums he stops and whispers to her "Use it! go on K, use the energy...number 3!"
Katie's mind has been scrambled by what just happened. She thought she was done for...but did Steve just save the day? He did...right? Number three? What the hell is he talking about?
She looks down at her own feet and sees the setlist stapled to the front of the stage...."oh..number three, I get it" she thinks to herself...

...Chants of "STEVE STEVE STEVE STEVE" can still be heard as the swelling crowd shows it's appreciation for the drummer, as the blonde girl suddenly seems to spring back from the standing coma she was clearly in....she walks back to her mic,
"Alight guys! One more time for Steve!!"
The crowd cheer once again and the drummer plays a drum fill on his kit, like the comedy things from TV.
" We were gonna play a different song now...but because we thought we didnt really fit in with this rocky show, being acoustic and all, we had another one planned. Would you like to hear a rockier tune? Yeah... okey dokey!"
The blonde girl smiles for the first time since Steve fell, and a roadie walks on and hands her a different guitar, an electric guitar. She walks back to the mic,
"okay, this one's by a band you may know, a band I personally LOVE...ohemjee! they are a little known band called PARAMORE!"

As the first notes of Misery Business kick in, katie finds herself, guitar and all, leaping all over the stage. She plays like her life depends on it, knowing she was just given a massive lifeline by the crowd (and Steve), and she looks like she is really enjoying herself. As she gets ready to go back to the front and start singing the song, Katie is stunned to see how much the crowd has swelled since the opening track. She is also amazed to see them bouncing in unison to the Paramore song as she and her band give it all they've got.

The crowd, a lot ofwhom are here to see the rockier bands later on in the night, scream along to Paramore's Misery Business, as te blonde girl on the stage leaps around, jumps whilst she is singing, and stands back to back with other band members as she strums out the song on her guitar. She is really getting into it, and in turn, so are the crowd. The energy becomes electric as both Katie and the crowd get into the swing of things for the first time...

As Katie plays the last note of the song, she is surprisingly high fived by Matty, her guitarist who has run from stage left to congratulate her. What stuns the 20 year old even more is the massive cheer which hits her like a huge fluffy crowd from the audience. She just can't stop herself from smiling, and a warm feeling fills up inside her, as her fears fade away. She throws the devil horns in the air, and laughs, queueing another loud cheer from the audience. She walks back to the stage front, and back to the mic...

As the blonde girl walks back to the mic under a barrage of cheers, there is a huge smile on her face for the first time in the whole show. She speaks again, in a much more assured tone this time.
"Like actually so much thanks guys! That was awesome! Did you enjoy that one? yeah! Me too. I really did! I think I have time for like another three songs right?" she turns away to the side stage...

Katie shoots her manager a quick glance to confirm the time she has left....he is shaking his head, and mouths the words "only one more left!" For a second, katie's heart starts to sink, but she is too pumped with confidence and adrenaline to even let it phase her now, and turns back to the crowd
"They say we only have time for one...(the crowd boo sarcastically)...but we don't give a fuck do we??" she shouts, totally taken aback at her own brash attitude, this is the first time she has ever swore on stage, which makes her laugh. "Okay, well, this one is called In My Mind and it goes out to my great friend Nicole from Suburban Sunrise, who gave me the confidence to come out here tonight! 1...2....1....2...3...4"

The blonde girl launches into a quick strumming folk song, which sounds reminiscent of Amy Mcdonald, and stamps her right foot in time to the catchy tempo of the tune. The crowd clap along in time to the music as the band and Katie nod their heads and play out of their skins, all with massive smiles on their faces. The band continue playing the song as Katie rattles of a list, kate nash-esque, of things that in her mind, annoy her about a guy. She doesn't mention who he is, but her mischievous smile suggests that there is certainly a particular guy in mind. As the song finishes, she salutes the crowd, and they cheer back at her, really feeling the energy that she has created from the whole Steve thing. She walk to the front of the mic,drinking in the adulation of those in attendance...

Katie walks up to her mic, shocked and in total awe at the reaction HER song has just got from the audience. She walk to the mic
"You ok there Steve, sitting tight still?" she asks with a quick glance to drums, the crowd laugh and cheer and chant for Steve again as he plays a funky little drum fill. Katie laughs as Steve jokingly throws her the finger.
"Ok, so we don't have time for another track (boos) but we are going to play one anyway!(cheers) This one, was my debut single...does anyone here know it?"
Katie looks down as two girls on the barrier cheer and jump up and down.
"Okay, these two girls do, " she chuckles, "so this song is dedicated to them." I hope you all have a wonderful night. We thank you for your kindness, and Steve thanks you for your patience! This song, is called Only my Eyes.

The blonde girl dips her head down and starts to play the final track of her set, the song begins with one quiet, minor strum on the guitar, followed by four taps on the body of the hollow instrument, and then another few minor chords. Katie's haunting voice comes in at this point, humming gently over the chords, before fading, and being replaced by one final, louder chord.

A slow picking of the strings in single note fashion, (akin to Radiohead style stuff) accompanies the opening verse, and the soft, London accented voice of Katie Coyle drifts effortlessly over the instruments dulcet tones....

"I was all alone when you called
You said we needed...to be alone
To feel what we were going to
You quoted love...with all the world"

A small bridge of slightly faster picking on the acoustic slowly returns to the same tones as before...

"I never knew that it could be so hard
To see so much
To be so fond
Of knowing...what you couldn't tell"

The world tell hangs in the air for a few seconds before a subtle drum beat plays and Katie's guitar strums some minor chords, a sad kind of tune, which leads into the slightly louder, and faster chorus, accompanied by drums

(Chorus)
"It's only my..eyes that cry
I knew you wanted me to go
It's just outside I weep
And never really felt so low
If you could just see that this was all a mask
You'd feel so red, embarrassed
I know you're scared to ask."

The chorus finishes, and the chords turn back to the slower picking again, this time with the subtle drums ticking along softly in the background. A second guitar plays some very soft chords in the background as Katie sings another verse.

"I sat there with you in the sun
Staring deep into those dead-brown-eyes
I couldn't believe you were not aware
That to you, I was not the one"

Some very deliberate continual chord strokes repeat for around ten seconds, before the chorus chords come back in.

(Chorus)
"It's only my..eyes that cry
I knew you wanted me to go
It's just outside I weep
And never really felt so low
If you could just see that this was all a mask
You'd feel so red, embarrassed
I know you're scared to ask."

The final verse is played with the deliberate jumpy chords throughout, as it builds up to a crescendo of Katie's frustration at the man's unwillingness to see what she saw he felt for her. The crowd clap along in time to the verse as they sense the tempo change

"You told me we were through
And then you looked into my eyes
I knew you still could not tell,
and so I took a deep breath, (and I told you.......)"

The final chorus is played in a very upbeat manner. There is a key change and the whole thing feels bright and airy.

"It was only my..eyes that cried
I knew you wanted me to go
It was outside I wept
And never really felt so low
You couldn't just see-ee that it was all a mask
I watched you red, and embarrassed
But...you...still...could...not...just....aaasssskkkkk ."

As Katie's haunting tone dies away, it is replaced by the slow acoustic picking from the opening of the track....which gradually slows, and slows to nothing.

The crowd cheer as katie takes a bow in front of them. There is real appreciation here for a young girl who has turned this around after a disastrous start to the night. She smiles so ecstatically as she throws a few guitar picks into the first few rows and blows kisses to people waving at her.

Katie lifts the mic off the stand and addresses the crowd one more time.



"Thank you again guys! You have no idea what it means to us to be accepted here, on our first visit to your country! I love you! This was awesome! I've come so far from performing in little digy pubs in London, and you guys make all my efforts worthwhile.
Right now, I'm off to relax! i'll be out there with you guys later to watch SUBURBAN SUNRISE AND INFINITE!!!!!"
With that, katie waves one last time and walks off the stage. Steve is waiting there at the side and gives her a massive hug as she walks off the stage. She thanks him, before she walks behind the curtain and the sounds of the crowd begin to fade...

Arizona State University is full to the brim, picture the scene if you can...a packed audience standing on the floor, screaming at an empty stage "IN-FI-NITE IN-FI-NITE IN-FI-NITE" cheering the songs on the PA, and generally having a good time. They have a long wait ahead of them however, there's still around two hours until Infinite are due on stage, and another three bands to watch first.
People begin stamping their feet on the wooden floor, getting progressively faster until almost everyone in the crowd is jogging on the spot like some sort of overpopulated gym. The deafening Infinite chants start up again, and a massive surge of the crowd leads to people on the barrier at the front having to be dragged out to safety.

Backstage, a blonde girl walks into a green dressing room. She looks exhausted, and as she walks across the floor, she glances at a mirror on the wall, which has lightbulbs surrounding it, like some sort of cheesy backstreet theatre. The girl looks at her reflection, ruffles her hair a bit and sighs. She rubs her eyes and walks over to a leather sofa in the corner, grabbing a bottle of Diet Coke en route. She collapses onto the sofa, throws her head back onto the relaxing headrest and sighs again. When she lifts her head again, she is wearing the biggest smile ever seen, and she chuckles to herself a little, before cracking the coke and taking a massive gulp. It was all so different just a few moments ago though...

Most Attractive Male - Jason Smith (OOC: I am fucking ADAMANT I will win this one.)