The Ill Fated Slumber Party

In a seedy back alley in Fortitude Valley Zeke bounces back and forth. Inside his housemate Josh, aka Hugo the spaceman runs the final soundcheck without him. Zeke tells me he can not believe the change in fortune and Neither can I. Ten weeks ago this scene was three years down the track. But the plucky Zeke has somehow arsed his way into the middle of his wildest fantasies.
Rewind ten weeks and you see me and Zeke standing on a corner in West End. His housemate Josh, aka Hugo the spaceman, has just tasted his first success. A song on triple J. Which is good, Zeke assures me, it’s really really good. He repeats this over and over through ever tightening clenched teeth. Maybe, he suggests, maybe I should hit the road again. Get some gigs in Melbourne or Sydney. No Zeke, I say back to him, just tough it out, you’ve got a seven year plan remember, you’ll get there, just have faith.
Now here we are ten weeks later. Standing in an alley that resembles a junkies paradise. Behind Zeke is an empty building I’m sure I could find a way into and avoid paying any rent. And he’s bouncing. This is going to be awesome, he says through ever tightening clenched teeth. Though this time they clench for good reasons.
This is the big time, though they start at the small end of it. A thirty minute slot at eight pm in the Big Sound festival. This is just the start of great things for both though it may be as close to a collaboration as the rock gods will allow. But when they met this was the plan, to get out and show the world what they were made of. And now its happening.
We go inside, Zeke continues talking while carrying his guitar with him. Its a sort of security blanket. His own little grounding stone. And he never shuts up. We walk downstairs as I pretend to scope out the venue. Helping him work through his nerves. Ten minutes to go and Zeke is still talking. Slowly a crowd assembles. Zeke heads backstage with five minutes to go. His final words, I got a haircut today, I’m not really sure about it, but it should be good , its going to be great.
And it is. The show begins with Hugo the spaceman, aka Josh, setting the cosmic mood. A voice reminiscent of childhood sci-fi movies introduces and explains the grand concept to us all. Spaceman hugo has travelled to the distant fruity galaxy where he meets Ellen, the beautiful vocalist and energetic focal point of theatrics whom he calls onto stage. As the show begins the crowd moves from the upper deck down to the dance floor, entranced by the story of Hugo and Ellen. But as soon as the music starts they return to their phones.
I watch the scene and can’t help but feel I’ve stumbled into a slumber party. Albeit a really cool slumber party. Josh, aka spaceman Hugo, in his silver onesy with fluorescent pink highlights and glam rock face paint pumping out cool tunes for his friend Ella, who lip-syncs the performance, dancing like a preteen whose mixed fairy floss with red cordial. All that was missing was the obligatory hairbrush and the ill-timed embarrassing intrusion of a parent and the scene would have been complete.
The interest levels wax and wane. People leave and are replaced. Some scream and clap after each song, some converse in low whispers I cannot decipher, none dance. Three songs in its hard to tell how things are going for them. At points there seems to be more people playing with their phones then watching the show. Then Zeke struts onto the stage, space goggles on, an unbuttoned white shirt and a brand new haircut. The crowd watches the increased theatrics with interest. The phones drop for a second and every one holds their breath. He picks up the guitar, plugs in and disaster strikes, a loud static buzz cuts all the sound on stage in half. I blame the haircut, the rest return to their phones for further status updates.
Looking nonplussed, a professional attitude comes over Zeke, the naive optimistic bounce of the alleyway is gone. Replaced by a no nonsense pragmatic stalk. Now he’s looking big time. To the right of stage Hugo the space man and Ella carry on, ignoring the repair job taking place on the left side of the stage. Midway through the song the problem is fixed. Then almost as if it were designed that way Zeke brakes into a beautiful funk wah riff. Ellen highlights the moment by dancing with the ethereal addition to the spacey sound, and I notice Zeke’s strut has changed. No longer the careless dreamer he strums like a battle hardened veteran. With a steely gaze focused on the rest of the trio he rounds off the performance. Suddenly i am not watching a slumber party.
He slinks off stage after his part is played with the same grin he uses when everything has fucked up. retreating to the safety of backstage to comprehend the travesty that has just occurred. Shortly after he is joined by Josh and Ellen who walk off stage with the music from Josh’s laptop sitting atop a prop turntable blaring away.
The music plays off and finishes on its own accord. The crowd claps and cheers then disappears. The trio reemerge to pack up their equipment. the show is over and reality is setting back in. but they are already dreaming of the next performance. Their minds whirring about what just happened and what they need to fix for the next night. A later slot and hopefully more fans. This time they’ll get it right, the lessons were learned, no mistakes this time. The ill fated slumber party is complete but the show, as always, continues.