OOC: This is the result of extreme boredom and trying to get into the swing of live RPing again :P I would appreciate comments, but I admit that this is shockingly bad. Plus, I acknowledge the fact it's a bit blocky. Meh. Just pretend you've read it anyway.
So...
Hey! It's Jason here... I am actually delirious with joy at the moment. This has probably been the best gig of my life, here tonight. Small, comfy and more passionate than anything I have ever done before. The gig itself didn't last long, but is was just so energetic, everyone was getting really into it... that's what I like in a live performance. Even at Nou Camp, Wembley... they've been fantastic, but this just blows it all away. I want to share this experience with you, so I got a camera man to take a video of it all. It will be released as a DVD later this year, with freebies, including a Jason Smith voodoo doll and a piece of my hair :)
Here we are:
JASON SMITH DESTROYS NEW YORK... ACOUSTICALLY
Imagine he was wearing a hoody over that. Imagine he was also playing the guitar one handed at this point. Photoshop, do your worst.(OOC: Apologies for size.)
It is just about half 7 when Jason Smith walks out on the stage to the rapture of about 3,000 fans in this bar in New York. The bar is overfilled and every nook and cranny of it is stuffed full of a variety of different fans, from the metalheads to the hipsters to the girls who don’t actually know any music by the man himself. People are outside, heads against the walls trying to hear the slightest bit of music, whilst phone paparazzi are also on their tip-toes trying to catch a glimpse of Jason. Jason liked these gigs though... they were more passionate. More personal than just belting out the same tunes over and over again to hundreds of thousands of people. These gigs allowed freedom.
He slowly walks out in his black hoody and blue jeans complete with glasses, smiling and waving at the crowd enthusiastically, holding an oak brown acoustic guitar. Sitting himself down, he slings the guitar so it lays comfortably in his lap, whilst giving it a few test strums and muttering to a technician standing beside him. After shooing him off and clearing his throat to test the microphone, Jason finally decides to get on with the gig. “Hey guys” he says jubilantly, to the delight of the audience, “my name is Jason Smith and I’m going to be playing a few songs for you tonight... they will be a mixture of my solo stuff, a Mind song or two maybe, and a couple of covers as well. This first one is from my new EP, The Sounds of the Severed and it is called
Scared of You.” Cheers come from the crowd, as Jason smiles and begins to play the upbeat, bouncy song. Quite a few members of the crowd knew all the words to this song already, so sing along with Jason. On the “doo-doo-do” part, Jason lets the crowd sing it and they do so passionately. He chuckles a bit, before proceeding to finish the rest of the song. Once it is finished, the audience start to applause and cheer, bringing a large grin to Jasons face. He hadn’t performed a live show like this in a while. He holds up his hand to indicate that the cheering should stop for a moment.
“Thank you New York... so very, very much. Ummmmm... this song I’m about to sing now is one of the ones that I’m probably going to be remembered by. It’s only been out a couple of years, so I won’t call it a classic. That would be arrogant anyway. It is by Mind and it’s called...
The Aeronaut.” Jason says quickly to the delight of everyone. It is true that this is probably the most well known song he’s ever written. Performed acoustically, it gives it a sense of delicacy and beauty that is completely different from its electric version. Whereas the original sounded quite spacey and alien, the acoustic version makes it sound very earthy. You can barely hear Jason sing over the sound of the crowd chanting along to every single word, to the confusion of the regular drinkers in the pub and the people who have just been dragged along, not having an idea what’s going on. On the last line, “she moves me” Jason rips out a massive scream, sounding weirdly effective for a space rock song that is being done acoustically. The crowd go completely mental after this, causing Jason to almost cry from the joy. This was the confirmation he needed to know that people still genuinely cared about his art.
Photo one of him getting mobbed. Ha! Look at that dude beneath him. He looks so happy.
“I love you guys. You rock! Anyway, this next number’s a song that I... want to dedicate to someone who I really should have treated better than I did whilst I still had the time. I completely disregarded her and... I wish I didn’t now... yes, it’s true that she did some unforgivable, unforgettable things to me, but... it wasn’t her fault. I should have listened to her. This is for you, Kestrel Wolfe. It’s by the Smashing Pumpkins and it’s called
Soma.” This shockingly sombre speech from Jason surprised the crowd, even more so after he kissed his fist and raised it towards the sky, looking upwards, but they still cheered as soon as he announced the song and started to play the smooth, slow intro. The song is performed beautifully, especially since Jason lacks that annoying nasal voice of Billy Corgan. When it comes to the part of the song that would usually break down into a massive electric guitar riff, Jason plays it softly on his acoustic instead, not wishing to break the delicacy of what came before. He finishes the song to more rapturous cheering, before going straight into a song from his first album, Still Waters. He doesn’t feel the need to introduce it since most of the people there would recognise it as being
In the Tundra, a gentle acoustic song. Some ambient sound effects are needed in the background to give it the feel that Jason wants to portray, but it still seems very natural and the effects are barely noticeable. It is a difficult song to sing along to, since it mostly consists of vocalisations as opposed to a normal verse-chorus structure, so the audience just stand and watch in awe of Jasons musicianship.
Jason waits a while to change his guitar to a banjo to a couple of laughs and whoops from the crowd. Jason smiles and grabs hold of the microphone. “I know what you’re thinking... trust me, it’ll make sense in a second. This one’s called
In Love.” He says as he starts to play the complicated banjo riff with deliberately amusing looks on his face, making the crowd giggle slightly. Once he goes into the actual part of the song, his face is utterly focused on the banjo as he starts singing along. A few of the crowd know the song, but it hasn’t been released yet, so they’re frowned upon as leakers. The crowd clap along at the appropriate times and Jason goes through the happy song note perfectly. On the bit that Andrea does in the recorded version of the song, Jason manages to make his voice go to an impossibly high pitch. The song ends in fashion, with Jason segueing into
Duelling Banjos from the film Deliverance. He plays the first part of it, and, whilst doing so, speaks loudly into the microphone “please welcome for this song... my good friend Aaron Del Petro!”. The sturdy Mind guitarist then makes his way to the stage with a banjo of his own and starts to play the other part of the song. Jason and Aaron then proceed to battle with their banjos (no euphemism intended) for about 5 minutes, until everything finally ceases. “Thank you very much Aaron!” Jason says as Aaron leaves the stage, waving and smiling, before Jason returns to his original guitar again.
He coughs slightly, before bringing his face to the microphone and speaking. “Righty ho... thanks for that. I will now proceed to play you a song entitled “
The A Team” by Ed Sheeran. I believe it’s what all you young whippersnappers like these days. But seriously, it’s a lovely song, and I hope you enjoy it now...” Jason proceeds to play the song, singing in a slightly lower pitch than in the original by Sheeran. Most of the crowd know the song and a few sing along to it. However, the entire bar is now clapping along to the beat as Jason indicates with his foot. He finishes up the song to more positive reception and takes a long drink of water, completely draining it, before throwing the bottle out to the crowd. A girl jumps up and grabs it, proceeding to flash Jason, who just waves politely. He then sits on the edge of the stage with his microphone and takes a bill out of his pocket. He gives it to a starry-eyed fan at the front and says “Dude, can you buy me a beer? Keep the change”. The fan rushes to the bar and does so, giving the beer to Jason with shaky hands. Jason then smiles and drinks the beer slowly, before wiping his mouth and returning to the stool with his guitar. Whilst the crowd are still talking amongst themselves, he quickly takes out his phone and spends a couple of minutes on that “Just a little interval there, sorry about that, ready for more music?” he says quietly, to a massive reaction. “Okay, here we are... I still have a few more songs to go. What should I play? Taking requests. I know I said I don’t in Fame, Fortune, an Ego, but I am taking requests today... what would you like, young madam? Don’t do that, you’ll get cold... how ab- oh, he’s fainted. What about you, dude in the “Man, Smith, Legend” top?
Nothing Ever Bothers Me Now is it? I’ll try man... it’s hard to do a symphonic black metal song acoustically, but I’ll have a go.” He laughs and proceeds to play the fast Danny Elfman-like rhythm to the song. He operatically sings the verses with a funny face, causing a few more chuckles from the crowd. When it gets to the chorus, he does the black metal screaming very crisply, and it somehow sounds more sinister in this environment, with no obtrusive instruments behind it, only a singular acoustic guitar. Some people are singing along, but not many can match Jasons high pitched screaming.
When it gets to the end, Jason goes into a massive strumming flurry and accidentally snaps a string, to the amusement of many. “Well, shit...” he says, laughing, causing some other more wary fans to start relaxing as well. “Has anyone got another guitar I can borrow?”. A man grabs a guitar in the corner of the bar and rushes forward to hand it to a grateful Jason. Jason nods, smiles and shakes the mans hand before sitting back up again. “I’m afraid I need to go in a second... one more song, yeah? This is a little ditty called
Here Comes the Sun. After recent events, it’s starting to mean more and more to me. Life goes on, does it not? Bad things happen, sure... but it won’t kill you. I guess we all just need to move on.” He says with a sense of bliss as he starts to play the song. Practically all of the crowd are singing along and those who aren’t are just cheering and clapping. He proceeds to play an absolutely note perfect rendition of the song. When it gets to the final moments, he stands up from his stool, and walks into the crowd, who scream with joy. He takes off his hoody, revealing a grey t-shirt on it and throws the hoody out into the crowd, where it is then ripped to shreds. Luckily, the bodyguards make sure that he isn’t completely mobbed. He runs through the crowd, playing the guitar quite quickly, shouting random compliments at everyone who he encounters and eventually makes his way past the other side of the barrier. This means he’s nose to nose with the crowd, but they can’t reach him. “You are all very, very beautiful people... thank you so much. I love you all!” he shouts, before slinging his guitar around his neck and giving it to a technician. He then proceeds to get a pen out of his right pocket and sign some people at the front. He doesn’t leave anyone out from the front 3 rows as he does so, but eventually gets told by a member of his entourage that it’s probably best he leaves on a high. He does so and walks out of the bar, deliriously happy.
Photo two of him getting mobbed. Looking for excuses to post pictures by this point. Oh, and, uhhh... he changed his shirt. Mid concert. I can't explain that.
Setlist:Scared of You
The Aeronaut
Soma (Smashing Pumpkins cover)
In the Tundra
In Love
Dueling Banjos (from Deliverance) (with Aaron Del Petro)
The A Team (Ed Sheeran cover)
Nothing Ever Bothers Me Now
Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles cover)
Thank you very much!! - Jason "Fucking" Smith.
OOC: If you have got to this point, I congratulate you.
