Evie got home from the studios and was filled with motivation to work on set for the tour. Seeing Taylor perform live in front of her was really inspiring, nothing anything could have had prepared her for.
Taylor was right where Evie dreamed to be; She was successful with the one thing the loved, music, and he did not have to fight for anyone’s attention anymore. But Evie also knew that she herself was already more successful than ever. She had a decent fan base, she got to be at award shows and the thought of the upcoming tour filled her with excitement of what was to come.
Evie threw herself on her bed in her room which left a bit messy after Taylor had invited her to meet her. But still, her room war so cozy at night with all of her chain of lights, her art posters on the walls and the colourful decoration that found its place here and there. Her room was her safe space and the place where she wrote most of her songs. Evie grabbed her phone to take probably the 100th look at the set list in her notes app when she got a notification.
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“She’s so nice”, Evie murmured to herself and a big smile formed on her face. She couldn’t wait to experience the tour, with the amazing crowds, the travel, the danders and of course, with Taylor herself, a big inspiration.
– End of July –
Months later, the tour wasn’t far away anymore. Actually, the first show was in two days and Evie was bundle of nerves. What if no cared about her? What if everyone would just arrive a few minutes earlier to only see Taylor? What if she’d disappoint the crowd? These kind of thoughts filled her head and the only way to distract herself was singing. When she sung, she only focused on the sound and on the lyrics which made it hard for her to lose herself in discouraging thoughts. Luckily, she got the chance to sing as much as she can as her management told her to rehearse at the stadium. She had arrived in Florida just a day earlier and checked in at the hotel, which was a fancy place where most of the crew stayed.
She arrived at the stadium at 1 pm and it was already packed with crew members and stadium staff. Everyone was busy preparing everything for the big day and Evie was scared to disturb anyone. She was relieved that a crew member picked her up at the artist door and brought her to the dressing room that was supposed to be hers. It even had a little sign at the door saying “Evie Jones” which made this whole situation feel a bit more real. This wasn’t a dream. This was her life and it was about to change. “You can change here if you want and you’ll be expected on stage in five minutes. Just follow the signs.”. The staff member left her alone in her dressing room, a room that felt way too big for her alone. She was happy that she still had her band behind her back, amazing and talented people she met through the management. Sarah played the piano, Jack the bass, Ben the guitar and Nick took over the drums. Unfortunately, her band was supposed to arrive a day later which left her on her own on that day.
“You can do it, it’s just a rehearsal and you only perform in front of staff members who probably don’t care.”, Evie told herself in the mirror because she had to something other than pacing around in her room to pass the 5 minutes until stage time. Finally, it was time for her to rehearse and she made her way to the left side of the stage where was supposed to get her microphones and her in-ears. After that was done it was time for her to face the stag. A staircase led to it and she could feel her legs shaking. She had performed before but this stadium was overwhelmingly big, nothing she had done before. But she made it to top despite her body’s reaction and found herself on this huge stage. She felt like an intruder. This was Taylor’s place, she could fill out the stage effortlessly and she had worked her ass of in the past to stay on this stage. But Evie had no time to think about that further as an another crew member waved at her from the audience and asked her if she was ready for the first song. She wasn’t ready but her body somehow reacted automatically and answered in a nod.
A few seconds later, the backup track of her first song “Hello Darling” started playing and she started to sing the first line. And it felt good. Everything changed from that moment on and Evie could only concentrate on her performance. She stage was still huge but she had no other choice than to use it, run around, twirl and imagine how a stadium packed with fans will feel like. She didn’t feel out of place anymore, this was where she wanted to be and it was worth fighting for. After the first song was done, she immediately started with the next, which was a song called “summer rain”. Taylor told her to sing it as the second song because it had an upbeat sound and was supposed to excite the audience. It felt like the right choice because Evie found it helpful to start her show with easier and positive songs. Evie was in full performance mode and didn’t notice it when a woman sat down in one of the first rows at the front
of stage. But she heard someone clapping after the music faded out and found Taylor in the audience who was dressed in workout clothes.
“Well, thanks”, Evie said into her microphone and bowed shyly. “I am enjoying the show so far! I’m exited for the upcoming song choices.” Taylor said loudly and smiled at her. Evie smiled back and had no chance to say more because the next song already started playing. Everything went smoothly and the set list felt just right; There was a good combination of upbeat and slow songs and it was so much fun to perform, even just in front of Taylor and staff members who paid little to no attention to what was going on on stage. After her set was finished, she left the stage and got handed a water which was really needed.
“I loved it and the people are gonna love it.”, Taylor said to Evie when she appeared next to her. “Thanks, I worked a lot and it went quite well. I’m
still nervous for the actual show tho…”. “Don’t be. It’s so much fun and I have never experienced a bad crowd before. They will welcome you with open arms and I am pretty sure that there are going to be a lot of people who know and love your music already.”. Taylor tried to encourage Evie and gave her a warm and ensuring look. Evie was thankful for it and was grateful that she had Taylor by her side who was a professional and a good help. They chatted a little more about their travel to Florida, the weather forecast for the shows until Taylor told Evie about the crew dinner which was a tradition and took place the night before the first show of the tour. “It takes place at 8pm and it’s super fun. I have to rehearse now but I’ll see you there!”. They exchanged a hug and Taylor ran off to her dressing room where she had to change in her show outfit. Evie also went back to her own dressing room and collected her stuff to go back to the hotel. There was still some time until the dinner and she didn’t want to attend in her leggings and t-shirt.
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