Chestnuts Roasting – Wayne 36

 

[For back story go here: Story so far at 30 Nov 2020 and more recent Wayne eps.]

[Other back story through in-links.]

The music flowed from Wayne’s fingers. It was a great feeling and, he thought, the perfect way to spend the early evening. Front room – Dave’s off course – stripped down equipment, just choosing whatever songs appealed to him at the time from the back catalogue, new stuff, even the odd cover version. And every now and then a singalong. He wasn’t certain an artist of his calibre should really be indulging in Mariah Carey, but some Christmas songs were stand out classics and there was no arguing when you hit the first chords.

This was part of ManzDown’s ‘increasingly eclectic mix of cultural references’ as highlighted by the end of year music review in one of the broadsheet papers. Gone was the ‘edge of panic’ which the reviewer thought had epitomised his early years, here instead was a more assured musician who had used the past year to reflect on what it meant to make music rather than what it meant to be part of a scene, or even to be famous. ‘A less hyper Taylor Swift’ drawled the reviewer who had placed ManzDown in the top ten musical influencers for the year and number three in the ones to watch for 2021.

Quite how the reviewer would respond to his version of All I Want For Christmas Is You was anyone’s guess. A make or break career move which would either catapult him into the mainstream or spit him out of music credibility altogether. He’d never find out, this would never be broadcast or played anywhere outside his and Daves’ flats.

And Wayne didn't care. It was only a song. A Christmas song. And the write up was a strong enough piece to over shadow anything a tabloid could cough up in his direction, if they or Cassie ever dared.

“It’s kind of like a dress rehearsal,” said Wayne. “This is the kind of thing we could do quite easily in someone else’s house. I think it’s sounding pretty slick.”

“You always sound pretty slick,” said Dave, handing him a mince pie at the end of the ‘gig’. “You can be way more confident about that.”

With Cath disconnected, Wayne started idly strumming through the opening chords of Do They Know It’s Christmas from the basic guitar tutor book in front of him. An early Xmas present from Dave. His phone went off. He saw the number and answered.

“Blast from the past,” he said. “How are you?”

“Mate, not bad,” said Jezzy. “Wanted to wish you the best and say well done on a sick year.”

With the demise of BarnStormerz and the pandemic in general, Jezzy had been stacking shelves in the local supermarket to make ends meet. This had worked out OK until the last week when finally he felt he couldn’t take any more and threw in the towel. Christmas had got the better of him, he said. It was bad enough when you were just trying to buy stuff, trying to get everything together to sell as well was a step too far.

“Man, I miss the world,” said Jezzy. “All those times, the scene, the tours, the music. Gotta get back there.”

Wayne sympathised and talked for a while recognising the need to raise his spirits. “Gotta stay positive for the next year man,” he said. “I know its all crazy but you never know what’s around the corner, waiting for you. Or waiting for you to discover.”

He signed off, sat back and relaxed.

“So, what have we now?”

“Wall to wall snacks, nibbles, cakes, tarts and Christmas telly as far as the eye can see,” said Dave. “We have Netflix, iPlayer, Disney, Sky, Prime and even the good old TV channels which actually broadcasts stuff and everything according to a listing in a thing called a magazine.”

He waved the Radio Times at Wayne. “Feels like a different world but we can still entertain ourself like a pack of heathens. Like we were 12 months ago.”

“When do we start?”

“Whenever you like,” said Dave. “I reckon we have enough time to get through all of it.”

Wayne smiled and put his feet into his other early Christmas present. A single large slipper which was designed for both feet. They dialled up an old Christmas Top of the Pops and as Noddy Holder screamed IT’S CHRISTMAS, Wayne held mistletoe over Dave’s head and they kissed.