it's just another graceless night
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The Garage, London, Martha Hendrix' home for the evening.
Martha Hendrix was to play a one off gig at the garage in London, which sold out within a day of the tickets going on sale. After coming back from opening Catfish and the Bottlemen's UK tour a couple months ago, Martha has been writing and creating music to release an album. This was her first return to the stage in two months.
It was going to be a special one, her two best friends in the audience as always. Kyra, Simone, and Martha were flatmates when the three of them first moved to london. Despite not living together anymore, their bond is greater than ever.
'You look insane.' Simone exclaimed, fussing over Martha who hated ot be fussed over.
'This is gonna be fucking incredible.' Kyra grinned, wrapping an arm around her best friend. 'I invited some guys from the bar last night, they're in a band too so, were eager to come.'
'Cool.' Martha nodded her head. 'Yous better go, I don't have long until I'm up there.'
'Alright, rockstar.' Simone smiled, hugging Martha one more time and squeezing her face with excitement. 'Go smash it.'
'Love you!'
Martha was a bag of nerves in the wings, awaiting the cue to take the stage and play the songs she wrote on her bedroom floor at nineteen. Everything changed after the catfish and the bottlemen tour, so many more people were listening to her EP's and showing up to her random shows like this. It meant the world to Martha, this was her wildest dream unfolding before her eyes.
The lights went out, and she wandered invisibly to her spot on stage. The people in the front row could see her but that was all, and all they did was stare up at her with eyes of admiration, the kind of look that made everything feel worth it.
When the lights went up, Martha went straight into her first song, 'Perfect Places'. Her music meant the world to her, and to see the smiles on the audience's face, hundreds of people singing and dancing to lyrics she poured her heart and soul into, it's the kind of feeling you could never describe.
Martha scanned the room for familiar faces. There was a small section dedicated to her friends, not thatshe had invited many. Kyra and Simone were thefirst ones she spotted, they were dancing and screaming the words like this was the best concert they had ever been to, to them, it was. Bob and Benji form Catfish were there too, watching proudly as Martha headlined her own show which had doubled in capacity from before her time with Catfish.
There were some other familiar faces which caught her off guard though, she knew exactly who they were, but did they know her? How could they? Martha couldn' fathom the fact that those four guys could possibly know her name, and were nodding along to her songs out of politeness.
Simone and Kyra were talking to them though, in the break of the songs Martha would look up and catch a whisper, which only added to the confusion. There was no way her best friends had invited those guys, there was no fucking way.
Martha was good at playing things off though, and if anything, she felt she had to prove herself evenmore now. She gave it her all, more than ever. The crowd helped her case, jumping to upbeat songs and swaying with flashlights on to more quiet intimate ones. It made Martha smile, the impact music has on people speaks volumes words can't.
She knew she was good looking too, that everyone in the room watched her in awe as she paraded round that stage like she owned it, and for tonight she did. It was mesmerising to see her perform, you couldn't blame her for the fact all the videos posted of her went semi viral.
'Ugh London I don't wanna leave you!' Martha smiled into her mic, staring out at the cheering crowd of 600 people all there for her. 'So I'll play you one more song, this is my song about the end, seems fitting for the final song. I love you all forever beautiful people.'
Martha blew a couple kisses into the crowd, looking over at her group of friends who were cheering for her accompanied by four men she had never met. 'I know The End ' was a song she wrote a forever ago,, the first song she was ever proud of enough to release. The irony is writing about the end, only for that song to kick start her career.
It was the perfect song to finish the show with, and she always did. It brought her immense joy, the fans all singing 'the end is near' with her as the instrumental takes the show into it's end. It was a perfect ending and it gave her the opportunity to take in the crowd one final time without having to worry about singing.
As she blew kisses and waved goodbye, she handed out guitar picks and passed her set list to a few girls in the front row who seems to have had an absolute past with her tonight Martha loves the connection she has with her fans, she feels as if they're her best friends and yet she doesn't know them personally.
Off stage, she knew it wouldn't be long until she was reunited with her best friends again, her best friends who has had to have words with about the lack of warning they had given her for who she was bringing to her show.
'Martha!' Simone explained, grabbing Kyra as they ran up to her, throwing themselves into her arms, overcome with pride.
Martha dragged them into a room backstage, panicked about whether everybody else would be just behind them or not.
'You did not tell me it was Inhaler that you met at the pub!' Martha exclaimed.
'You know them?!' Kyra asked.
'You don't?!' Martha retaliated, and she shared glances between them said enough. 'Guys!'
'What?' Simone laughed. 'They invited the three of us out but we said we had your gig so they asked to come and then they'd get us a drink after.'
'Oh my god.' Martha said, her hand over her mouth. 'You two amaze me, genuinely.'
It was seconds after that the room became filled with people who had all come to support martha. Bob from Catfish came to give her a hug and so did benji. She liked their company and had gotten close with the whole band, however perhaps too close at one point and things went sour, hence the fact only two of them had shown up tonight.
Simone and Kyra stood behind Bob laughing at me, because it was clear Frankie was in some state of panic, which Frankie didn't think she was at fault for. The four of them walked in, went straight towards Kyra and Simone, seeing as they are the two that invited them here, to her gig.
Benji went over to talk to them too. Catfish have met inhaler so they were another familiar face.Frankie, however, was still utterly starstruck. She was like that for the first part of her tour with catfish until she grew close friends with them all, so maybe she had no right to be nervous.
Two of them walked over to introduce themselves, and she met them halfway. She felt obliged to thank them for coming and play it off like she wasn't in awe of the sight before her eyes.
'Amazing gig by the way,' Ryan said, 'I'm ryan by the way, this is Elijah and that's Rob, and Josh there. Your friends invited us.'
'Yeah, they said.' Frankie chuckled nervously. 'It's nice to meet you guys, I'm a big fan, can't lie.'
'So are we.' Elijah laughed, taking Frankie by surprise.
'Yeah, nearly died when Kyra told us to come to her best mates gig only for it to be Martha Hendrix.' Ryan chimed in again.
'I've for the limited edition of your EP cd.' Elijah said, and Martha just gasped in response, unintentionally.
'Shut the fuck up.' She exclaimed. 'That's fucking crazy, I don't believe you.'
'Scouts honour. Huge fan, Martha.' He smirked. 'Good to finally meet you.'
'See! I told you it was no big deal!' Kyra joined them, an arm around Martha's shoulder as she teased her over the fuss she was making about inviting these guys from the bar, who weren't just 'these guys' to Martha.
Martha wore her favourite pair of red jeans and paired it with red lipstick which ad smudged ever so slightly. She couldn't justify more than £8 on lipstick and preferred the messy look of the cheap stuff anyway. She felt more rock and roll that way, and that's all she wanted to feel.
The idea of going to the pub with inhaler tonight terrified her, she was a bag of nerves. They hung around waiting though, so she felt obliged and as she tossed on her leather jacket, she reminded herself that perhaps it doesn't get much more rock and roll than this.
Spontaneous plans with a rock band you're obsessed with, unknowingly they were fans of yours too. Call it fate, the pub was always destined to have them introduced to one another. Thank god Martha's friends were a lot more sociable than her is all she thought, she'd never have invited some guys from a bar to her show. She didn't have the guts, no matter how rock and roll she convinced herself she was.
Simone took us to a nearby cosy kinda place. It was lovely enough, but not the kind where you're shouting over one another. Three vodka soda limes, two lagers, a Guinness, and a glass of red were present on the sticky wooden table, as the seven of them crammed themselves into some dimly lit booth in the corner.
'How did yous meet then?' Rob asked, looking over at the three girls sat together at one side of the circular booth.
'We were flatmates when we all first moved to London, one of those flat share things and we got lucky as fuck.' Simone smiled, tossing an arm round both of her friends sat at either side. 'Martha's the cool one though, told yous you'd love her gig.'
'We've seen her before.' Josh said. 'We went to a catfish show in Dublin.'
Martha's jaw dropped and instinctively she just picked up her drink to sip from. She wasn't good at all of this and didn't know how to react to compliments. It made her shy, being the introvert of her friends, especially when they're the type to brag about how great you are. It comes from a great place and Martha is always so appreciative, however at the end of the day she'll always curse herself for her naturally awkward nature.
'See, Martha's humble, that's why she needs us.' Kyra chuckled.
'What the fuck happened to catfish by the way?' Ryan asked, and naturally the heads turned Martha's way.
'Dunno, seemed to just be a bit of a clash, butting heads and all that.' Martha shrugged her shoulders. 'Seemed fine while they were touring.'
'Van was getting it from the media like, Christ.' Elijah added, and once again heads turned Martha's way. They all knew she was rumoured to have a fling with van, Simone and Kyra knew exactly what it was, but they knew not to mention it. 'Everyone was calling him a wank.'
'Wouldn't know a thing about that.' She joked, gaining laughter from the whole table. When you're quiet, the stuff you say seems to matter and jokes like those never fly over anyone's head. 'My round surely?'
She shimmied out to buy a round of drinks, remembering what it was everyone had ordered before. Martha wanted to thank them for coming to her gig, it meant alot to her for her friends to be there, and she'd never forget thst performance, never in a million years.
Before she knew it, Elijah had joined her at the bar, mumbling something about helping her carry the drinks over which she paid no kind to. The way he looked down at her, standing in such close proximity had her stomach taken over with butterflies, and his smile was beautiful, she noted that the second she was graced with that very expression back at the garage.
'...three vodka soda limes, and then a shot of tequila too.' Martha asked, leaning over to speak to the bar tender. Elijah looked confused over the shot, but she just smiled back at him. 'Liquid courage.'
'If that's what that is get me one as well.' He joked, however Martha didn't hesitate. When the woman placed down two shot glasses, a lime and two sachets of salt, Elijah looked confused. 'What'd I do with the salt? I'm not a shots kinda guy.'
'Do this...' Martha explained, showing him where to put the salt. 'Lick it, shot, then bite the lime. Makes it taste less like...I dunno, death.'
'Alright.' He chuckled, 'well cheers to Martha Hendrix showing me how to shot tequila.'
The two of them screwed their faces up. It was too early in the night for tequila and they both knew it, perhaps Elijah was just as awkward as her though, and he saw it in her. He admired the way she carried herself, it was no secret that he hadn't taken his eyes off of her and him following her to the bar was an attempt at conversation where the others wouldn't listen. He didn't know what to say though, and neither did she.
'Bad influence already, Martha.' Elijah shook his head, his face screwed up at the lingering taste of tequila. 'Only known you bloody half an hour and you've attempted murder.'
'Oh grow up, it's just tequila.' Martha joked back at him.
'Just tequila she says.' He rolled his eyes sarcastically. 'I like you already.
☆☆☆
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@marthahendrixxx
london!!!! best gig in a long time<3 thanks for coming i love you all endlessly.
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@kyraaa.wltr: my fav rockstar
@marthahendrixxx love u
@gracieabrams: cutie
@marthahendrixxx: <3
@username: inhaler at a martha hendrix gig!?!?!?!