14703/A night with a bird at the club.

A night with a bird at the club.
Date of Scene:	14 February 2023
Location:	Club Evolution, Mutant Town
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Cannonball, Black Canary

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Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie is at the club as it his normal. He is wearing his dress shirt with the club's logo above the chest pocket. He is currently at the bar talking to one of the bartenders, making sure everything is in order there. It maybe an odd place to see the young man, but he seems to be handling the job well.

Black Canary has posed:
"Alright," the feminine voice intrudes. "Let's get this sh... kit set up in time for the sound check!" The diminutive blonde in the artfully torn catsuit with the artfully torn hot pink mesh shirt on top and the artfully smudged makeup and the artfully mussed hair barks orders to three other people while carrying what looks like two large bass drums in their boxes. Another person seems to be carrying more parts of the drum set: smaller in bulk individually, but for that larger in number. Two more people come in with guitar cases strapped to their backs and assorted amplification equipment being manhandled between them in a precarious stack.

The blonde drops her drums off, turning to the others. "You guys set up while I talk to the manager, K?"

She then looks around, picking anybody who looks managerial and walks up to them.

Sadly this isn't Samuel. Samuel looks too young to be anything but a waiter.

"Hey, listen, we're here for the gig?" she says to a random well-dressed guy that holds himself with some authority. The confused man frowns. "Ashes on Sunday?" the woman prompts. "Our manager set up the gig."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie is still over at the bar. He finishes talking to the bartender, and pats the man on the back, telling him he is doing a good job, but making sure he works on a few things he needs to improve. He will look about and as he sees the woman and the band, he starts to walk over, but is stopped by a guy a few years younger, with red hair and red wings. Sam nods, to him and says "Yea yea, ok." He pats the younger man on the shoulder, and heads on over towards Dinah.

Black Canary has posed:
The man's confusion grows as Dinah continues talking. "So, just want to make sure the arrangements are clear? Water is free and clear, plus one alcoholic beverage, nothing over eight bucks, before, during, or after the show at our discretion. Paid in cash, with tax receipt. And we stick around for an hour afterward in case there's fans who want to interact. Was that the arrangement?"

Finally the man gets to use his words.

"Lady, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Before he can continue, explaining that it's because he's not actually the manager, Dinah reacts. "Dammit! Didn't Bert arrange this?! He told us the gig was clear!"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie walks over and says "Yea, Ah talked to him earlier today Ms. Drake." He offers his accent is not as strong as it once was living here for close to a decade now, but it will never be totally gone. He offers his hand and says "Ah'm Sam Guthrie, Ah run the club here." He offers to her in introduction.

Black Canary has posed:
Dinah's face drops, eyes widened a bit. She looks at the person she was just berating, then back at Samuel. "You're Sam Guthrie?" she asks, slightly incredulously. "And he is...?" She gestures to the distinguished-looking guy.

"A customer," the man says, clearly amused. "Just here for a drink and a show."

...

You can hear a pin drop in the small, coincidental lull.

Then Dinah shrugs and starts talking to Sam instead. "So, good, it's all clear then. Eight pieces plus, if needed, an encore, right?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods his head and says "and a free drink on the house for you sir." He then looks over to Dinah, and says "Sounds like a plan, you get to pick all but two, gotta play Ah want to be part of you and Screaming for Vengeance, the rest Ah leave up to you and what order you play them is your choice. Are you wanting to do a merch table, or meet and greet afterwards?"

Black Canary has posed:
"Yeah, we got merch. Bert said standard house cut on sales?" Dinah's eyes are hopeful.

On the stage the band professionally starts setting up the kit and doing quick equipment checks. Notably absent is ... a microphone. For the front woman.

"We were planning on playing the only two pieces people outside of the inner base knew anyway," she laughs, then. "Anything I should know about vis a vis the clientele? Is this a rough joint, a party joint, or a listening joint?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks to her and says "Na, you get 100% of the Merch, Ah don't see a reason we should get any of that, it is yours." He tells her. "Most of the time, more listen/dance, with a few partiers, depending on the night. The only time we have any trouble is from outside the club. Roadhouse rules have worked pretty well to keep the club a friendly environment."

Black Canary has posed:
"My favourite kind!" Dinah says with a grin. "Don't want none, don't start none. Also, climbing on stage is consent, as far as I'm concerned." She winks at Sam. "But I never say in advance what it's consenting to. Keeps people on their toes."

She looks back at the layout of the equipment, pursing her lips.

"I don't drink until after the performance myself. Wanna join the band afterward at the table? Maybe get some photos of us to put in a vault until we become big and rich and famous then you can frame them and put them on the wall."

Sarcasm? From Dinah Drake? NEVER!

"And if we disband before then, photo paper is great for starting fireplaces. Burns like the dickens!"

With that she waves and bounds to the stage, eschewing the stairs and just casually jumping to her spot. Where there still isn't a microphone.

"OK, guys, quick sound check," she says, her voice astonishingly loud for being unamplified. "Hold your ears!"

And with that the band does just that: a quick check of the amps and connections to ensure everything is both hunky and dory. Their choice of sound check: Heard it through the Grapevine. Just a few bars while Dinah adjusts feeds until they have a good sound.

"OK, thank you for bearing with us folks!" she says to the audience. "We've got a great show lined up for you and we're going to start up with an energy boost. This is ... SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE!"

And the guitar and bass kick in alone. Then the drums. Then the iconic opening scream fills the room to overflowing.

The rest of the set proceeds apace in their eclectic numetal/punk style with Dinah alternating between crystal clear vocals and sounds that should only come from the throats of wild animals in pain or angry.

Or as it is for Ashes on Sunday: Tuesday.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods to her and will make sure to get an autograph for his sister and his brother both. He knows Jay wants one, but also wants to be saw as a fellow musician, so Sam will willing to be the fall guy for looking like a Dork, you can ask his friends he does it well. The place is set up well, and while a lot of bands play here as they have an open mic night on occasion some big names have played here as well. The crowd is a decent mix of humans and mutants, and seem pretty much well behaved. There is an area set aside for moshing, with a sign. "Try not to hurt one another" (Club not responsible for injuries)

Black Canary has posed:
As the set progresses, Dinah ... joins the mosh pit. To the eye-rolling of her bandmates. This causes somewhat of a sensation, but she blends in quickly despite it being her voice that fills the venue. She rapidly becomes, however, the sole person standing in a circle pit, the crowd rushing in a circle around her like some kind of private whirlwind of humans.

As the set seemingly ends, instruments going silent and the limited lights shutting off, leaving the band in shadow, they still hadn't played their contracted radio piece: I Want to be a Part of You.

Until, from the darkness, Dinah's voice pours out, filling the venue again, but with sweeter, gentler, more calming tones. The lights fade in and she's back on the stage, clothing looking a bit worse for the wear from her moshing run (and is that blood at the corner of her mouth?), singing her heart out about some schmaltzy unrequited love.

Finally the set ends, including the encore, an AoS cover of the ancient and obscure punker track Johnny B. Rotten, and Dinah, looking exhausted, but happy, waves Sam over to the merch table.

"Sorry guys," she says to the lined up fans. "Venue get priority."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will make his way over, but he does move to the side a bit so he can talk and they can still interact with the fans. The way he acts shows someone who has hung out with bands before. He looks over to her and says "Seems like you had fun out there wile doing your show." He offers with a smile. He does motion to someone and the red headed winged guy brings waters over to the band and sees if they want anything harder.

Black Canary has posed:
"If I'm not having fun, what's the point of doing it?" Dinah asks with a laugh. She pauses only long enough to order a triple bourbon before turning back to Sam. "But yeah, I like to connect with the fans." Bodily, apparently. "And I also like to keep the mosh a bit under control. There's always some jerk going at it too hard, so ... things happen."

She winks then, and turns to the table.

"Anything you need 'for a friend' or 'a niece'?" she asks over her shoulder. "We've got pre-signed glossies and blank ones for personalized. Thumb drives, natch, with FLACs of the songs, including the last six live shows always. Name your poison."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and says "Well my brother Josh, and my sister Paige are both fans, if your feeling really generous maybe a third to the little ones. It would be a bit much to ask ya to do one for each of my brothers and sisters, only known one person who wanted to go through that much trouble." He says and yea he dated her and she had a hit love ballad named Sam.

Black Canary has posed:
"What? Three signings?!" Dinah clutches her chest in badly-acted shock, then eyes the line up that promises a whole lot more than three signings in the offing. "I'll see if we can sign that many before our fingers drop off and we have to head to the hospital to reattach them."

And in short order, Dinah browbeating her bandmates, Sam has in his hand three each of individual stills plus a band still, the individuals signed by the portrayed person, and the band shot signed by all, personalized as appropriate to Paige, Josh, and the Best of the Best Gang.

"Here you go. Pics are easy to comp. Glad you didn't ask for a tee. Those are pricey!"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie chuckles a bit and nods his head a bit and says "Yea, trust me, my closest is full of tour Ts from a couple bands." He admits "I need to get my brother to put one together for his band so I can add it to the collection. I will take one of you guys but will pay for it.

Black Canary has posed:
"Oh, your brother has a band? You should book his act here alongside us sometime. Maybe we can do a jam session live." Dinah's smile is kind, but a little indulgent, assuming, likely, that this is a garage band. Which isn't a bad things. I mean that's how Ashes started...

"So tell me, what's the deal with the club anyway?" she asks as she starts the fan selfies (free!), signing (paid!), ogling of the cuter guys (free!). Of all the band members she's the least comfortable with this except for the drummer (who seems intent on being as far away from the people as possible unless they really want to). It's not that she's stand-offish, but rather more that she really seems nervous of outshining her bandmates. So she forces herself back so they can get some spotlight time.

"The name is interesting," she continues. "Club Evolution." She sweeps her arm over the clientele. "Means something, does it?"