i wake up one day and i’m in a band

i’m playing at a winery in the country somewhere

a friend picks me up from my hotel

and we chat and i sing some silly songs about her name

the drive and company pleasant

i smoke a bit

when we get to winery the weather is sunny

the heat is over powering me in its steaminess

we try to find our way in to where the tin cabins await us

to my astonishment one of the young guys on duty recognizes me

i’m so sad i’m gonna miss ya man…its my 18th birthday tonight!

anyway the tin cabins located

the sound from the band on before is pounding

the bass booms the drums bang inside or out the cabin its too much

it wasnt the bands fault mind you

it just was the way the sound came down the line

anyhow i do yoga have another smoke

i feel a bit despondent

i do chi gong ah…thats better

i draw chi power to me

i dont know anything much right now

i wait as a vessel to be filled

the other dreamplayers in the band ask me which songs to play

dreamily i say

anything you like and i’ll be happy

i am not nervous i am not anything

i wait i wait i wait

we walk towards the stage and the sun goes in behind amassing clouds

yes ! i say to whoever was there

we stand on the side of stage

thousands of people out there waiting to hear some more music

suddenly we’re on

we hit our first song and we lock it down

and the spirit approaches me and i let it in

and it surges through me i express it wildly with my left leg

the beat the volume the excitement the storm

suddenly i love it i love it beyond almost anything

oh i am  loving every beat every  note ever word

and i feel the storm come with exuberance

as the air is charged with those negative ions

oh that storm air makes me so excited

i throw myself utterly into the arms of the music

and it catches me and stands me bolt upright

and i hammer down on my bass guitar it is weightless

i am weightless i am in the eye of the storm

lightning starts to shoot across the darkening sky

i smell the ozone i will the flash

i urge the music on

i urge the storm on

this is crazy but i feel the storm responding to the music

i know i’m mad but i feel the storm suddenly interested in our songs

and the lightning moves closer

the guitars shriek the drums beat down like monsters

the bass throbs in my hands

one tiny pluck of it creates a sound

that kicks you in the heart for miles around

the tiniest whisper of my amplified voice carrying across the fields n hills

as i look into the gathering dark clouds

a phrase goes thru my head

how great thou art !

this display of power

the greenest green land surrounded by grapes and vines

this afternoon in 2012

we have connected with the people and the storm

the storm is sent to us

the storm the lightning

its getting fucking dangerous

we launch into our last number

its another slow burning pounder

and halfway through

the warm gentle rain comes down

and all of it was meant to happen

theres people climbing up the masts with tarps for the PA n lighting rigs

its chaos

and for those locked in with us

we drank deep of the storms energy

and we emerged renewed