fandomtownies | Groovy Tunes; Thursday [11/07].

Entry tags:

Groovy Tunes; Thursday [11/07].

Stewart had no idea if this whole Open Mic night thing would get any traction. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of musicians in this small community, or, if there were, they probably weren't interested in a thing like this. But he felt compelled to try it anyway, and, if anything, he was itching for a place to perform his own remixes, and if that meant co-opting the space he'd already managed to co-op as a sort of manager while he was here, then so be it.

He was just going to desperately try not to think about his failed raves in the past, and that as long as he managed to be performing in front of more than just two people like--

No. No. He wasn't going to think about that. He was going to check the sound system and levels for about the fiftieth time, but he was absolutely not thinking about that right now, at all.

Groovy Tunes is open!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Come on into the store during regular hours to shop, browse, mod your service, or help distract Stewart with something other than audio equipment and stage set-up!

Things will get started at 7 pm, but in the meantime, you can just sort of hang out and mingle...assuming people even actually show up.

Summer had actually received a personal invitation to this, via a clear effort at a 'casual' text, to which she was tempted to respond with a simple 'lol no'. But Stewart hadn't pressed the whole mix tape thing, she was honestly curious if this would be a disaster, and also she wanted to support local business and community events and maybe even if it wasn't a shitshow, it might help Stewart socialize better with people who weren't, you know, her.

So, yeah, sure. She'd come check it out and still sort of marvel that this place still sold cassette tapes, but, like, also phonographs and victrolas, because living in a dimensional time hub was fucking wild.

Or maybe it was just hipsters still? Whatever.

And there was Stewart, sliding from seemingly nowhere, until he was beside Summer, hands folded in front of him with his shoulders slightly curled in and his head shifted her way as he greeted her. "Summer."

And there was Summer, jumping slightly and letting out a surprised little "Ah!" And when she realized that it was just Stewart, she sighed, hand to her chest with a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head.

"I swear to god," she said, "how you could actually do that while wearing that has got to be some creepy little bottom-feeder basement dweller superpower or something, jesus."

"I have an apartment, Summer," Stewart countered, with a faint scoff, although that did almost make him want to finally clear all the storage out of the basement of this place and consider the apartment space down there for himself, just to...well, prove her point? Which may seem counterintuitive, but if she wanted to envision him as some basement dwelling lurker...who was he to deny her that??

There was a slight pause, a bit of hesitation, before he added, "I'm glad you could manage to make time in your busy jet-setting schedule to stop by."

Charlie was here to play, but she was also here to enjoy whomever might show up. Plus, you know, she worked here - theoretically, at least - so it was good to support the store.

But mostly she was here to play and listen.

Stewart would say he was relieved to see that Charlie had come in that evening, but he absolutely was. He had been meaning to talk to her about these open mic nights, but, well, life just seemed to keep getting in the way, and he found himself relying on their shared love of the performance to entice her to join him on the stage that evening.

It felt good, knowing that he had been correct in that assumption.

(It might have felt better, though, knowing it probably wouldn't be just him performing after all).

"Charlie," he greeted, with a nod. "I am pleased you have decided to join in on representing our fine shop of musical goods."

"Like I'd have missed this!" Charlie said cheerfully. "It's a pretty awesome idea - even if it's just fun for us. Maybe eventually more people will be curious and stop by!"

Belle was there to listen and observe and enjoy. Hopefully.

She had no idea what the evening might entail but it sounded interesting and Stewart was an enigma.

"Belle!" Graham was, as always, thrilled to see her, and waved excitedly in greeting. "Hi! Were you here just to watch tonight, or were you thinking of performing? Have you ever been to one of these before? Do you think it's a lot like karaoke? Or is it different? It's kind of exciting being here in the store in the evening, I'm used to coming in during the day when Charlie works, but never late like this! It's pretty nice, huh? A little too late for Triumph, though, he wanted to take a nap, and who could really blame him, you know?"

Graham's enthusiasm was one of his finest qualities and Belle waved back before heading to give him a hug.

"I've never been to one of these, no, and I honestly can't recall if I've been in the shop at all! If I have it's been a long time. And no, no performance from me!"

Perish the thought!

This sort of thing definitely sounded like it was right up Charlie's alley, so of course was going to show up to cheer her on! He was curious, too, who else might perform, and might have been wondering whether maybe some interpretive dance would by allowed for this sort of thing...

Charlie was delighted to see Graham and would absolutely support any version of interpretive dance!

"Graham!"

Edited 2024-11-07 15:21 (UTC)

Maybe they needed to join forces and she could provide the music to interpretively dance to!

"Charlie! Hey! How's it going? I'd asking if you're ready to get up there and blow us all away, but I already know you are!"

Charlie would be down for that!

"Not sure I'll be blowing anyone away," Charlie said with a grin, "But if people want to hear some good celtic folk music, they'll be hearing it!"

"You always blow me away," Graham informed her, and, out of anyone else, it might have sounded like some kind of cheap line, but it was clear as day by the smile on his face that he meant it with utmost sincerity, "so there's at least one! I can't wait to hear it! You're always so good when you play!"

"You're so awesome," Charlie said. "Best friend ever! I hope you like the songs. I've gone more chill folksy this tinme."

Arden popped by to see what was happening and how it was going. Part of her was tempted to go up to the mic and sing but also...hmm, what if she didn't? Because it would basically be karaoke. But like...not even with backing tracks?

Yeah, uncertain.

"Arden!" Oh, Graham was so stoked to see so many of his friends dropping in on this, it really made his excitement buzz and made him pretty sure this was going to be a lot of fun, even if he didn't know what to expect from it. "Hey! Did you come to watch everyone perform, too? Ooooh, or are you thinking of performing as well? Ohhhh, I bet they'd be great!"

"Graham!" Arden said, giving him a hug. "Yeah, I came to watch everyone. This sounded like a lot of fun - I mean, who doesn't like getting to see their friends performing? And, are you thinking of performing?"

Look at her dodging his question! Winning!

It was such a good dodge that Graham didn't even notice it (for now!), although, in his defense, there had been hugging, and he was easily distracted by hugging!

"I don't know!" he admitted cheerfully, with a laugh and a shrug. "I'm not much of a singer? I suppose I could get up there and tell a story; I am a good storyteller! Also, I was thinking of maybe some interpretive dance? It's not something you need a microphone for, so I'm not really sure if that would be allowed for an Open Mic night?"

It was then that he realized that Arden hadn't said if she had any plans of getting up there.

"Oh! Is there something you might do, too? It is, after all," he flashed her a convincing grin, "an Open mic!"

Rude. Incredibly rude to sylphs.

She internally sighed. Well, she'd tried. "I was kinda thinking about maybe singing? But I'm not really sure. Like, this isn't karaoke or anything."

Not only had Summer accepted his invitation and Charlie had answered the siren call of the stage without him having to actually talk to her about it, but it would seem that he's already surpassed his incredibly low expectations of not repeating the incident of the rave at the Ag Hall all those years back and was relieved to see more than just two people there.

And, yes, though he wouldn't deign to speak such things aloud, he was honestly feeling grateful that one of those people was Arden, as well.

"Arden," he greeted, tipping his hat along with it in an absolutely unnecessary twirl before setting it firmly back on his head. He firmly refused to acknowledge that he felt anything that could be called nervousness bubbiling up inside of him, and, in defiance of it, tried to find some snarky remark, but could only seem to find sincerity that he would have to use ostentatiousness to obfuscate it.

"How magnanimous of you to grace us with your presence tonight."

Arden raised an eyebrow at him. "I've been looking forward to it," she admitted. "Open mic nights always sounded cool. Figured it'd be neat to check out what you were gonna do with yours."

See, Stewart! Sincerity wasn't that hard.

Counterpoint: actually it was that hard, especially considering how it was almost as difficult to receive such a sincere answer as it would have been for Stewart to give one. He regarded this response with no small amount of suspicion, but then seemed to realize exactly who he was talking to and concluding that, yeah, no, with Arden? She probably did mean that.

And he wasn't sure exactly what to do with that, especially with the ghost of the Ag Hall rave so close in his mind that evening.

"I've...curated," he tried, "a very...palpable set that also stays true to my..." An arm swept out grandly in front of him, "unique musical vision. I...hope you'll find it enjoyable."

There, Arden. There, you can have one morsel of sincerity in there, though it was quick to be followed by something that might look quite a bit like defensive caution.

"Although I understand it's not for everyone."

"If there's anything I know I can trust you for, it's music and putting on a show," Arden said, amused. "I promise that whatever reaction is, it's going to be honest. I'll always give you that."

Charlie was totally up for being Arden's backing track if she wanted! "Hey, Arden! I'm glad you came!"

For the most part, after his set was finished, Stewart was mostly just there to ensure that if anyone else wanted to get up there, they could, cautiously wary and curiously watching the crowd for a gauge of how things might be going, and if this was something worth continuing or just some fleeting hope floundered.

Or just come up and perform! No sign ups or previous arrangement needed, that's the whole point of the mic being open. Somehow, Stewart doesn't think there's going to be too much of an issue penciling anyone into the...packed schedule....

Of course Stewart had his turntables up and ready to go, because the whole point of putting together this open mic night thing in the first place was to have a good excuse to get some DJing in around here! And for his For his inaugural set at the Groovy Tunes open mic night, Stewart, dressed in his classic OG gold holographic suit, figured he would start out standard but strong, with a bold proclamation of what he was about at his very core, starting with some solid Slipknot, which he then bled seamlessly into something much more conventional and familiar. That then tumbled into a touch of classical, which found its way into some Yoasobi, before closing it out with a little RaTM and SaoD.

And it all ended abruptly with that last note cutting off, along with the lights, and then a pause, before ducking his head, tipping his hat, crossing one foot over the other to spin around and snake his way off the stage.

The music was mostly unfamiliar to Belle. So was Stewart, for the most part, but he was interesting and Belle clapped for him once his hat was tipped.

Okay, this was actually a pretty baller DJ set. Arden applauded as he tipped his hat and slithered offstage

Charlie was happy to be here, even if she didn't expect many other people to come. She started out with her own version of Andy M. Stewart's rollicking The Errant Apprentice with all it's silliness, moved over into Janis Ian's touching tribute to Mary Black.

Next was a nod of the hat to her Canadian upbringing with Charles de Lint's Cherokee Girl which always made her think of herself for some reason and ending strong with the powerful Lion in a Cage by Dolores Keane. She loved the mixa of airiness and powerful beat to the song, and it was a great one to get people joining in to yell "Mandela will Be free, Mandela, Nelson Mandela".

Did you hear powerful African drums coming out of thin air for that one? Hmmm... Charms were so handy!

Edited 2024-11-07 17:53 (UTC)

More applauding and cheering from Arden after Charlie's performance!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Groovy Tunes; Thursday [11/07].

Shop - 11/07.

Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Re: Come Watch the Show - 11/07.

Performances - 11/07.

Re: Performances - 11/07.

Re: Performances - 11/07.

Re: Performances - 11/07.

Re: Performances - 11/07.

Re: Performances - 11/07.

OOC - 11/07.