Max came out and said they were ready for the band, so we went on stage. Being shy, I grabbed the mic and stepped to the center of the stage.
“You ready to have some fun?!” I called out.
They’d set it up so they were only using half the arena. The stage was pushed back to give people room if they wanted to be in front. I would guess there were probably close to three thousand people there. They seemed ready, by their response.
“I’m David A. Dawson, and I’ll be your host tonight. Some of you might have seen me in the movie Star Academy. If you haven’t, it’s in theaters right now,” I said in an unapologetic plug.
I was a little surprised when I got a few cheers.
“Take your shirt off, Stryker,” a girl called out.
I ignored her and continued.
“I’m sure you didn’t come out to see me. We have a special treat before our governor and Senator Dixon talk. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this band perform before. You might want to come down and dance a little because they’re a lot of fun. I give you Birthrite!”
The band broke out into the Violent Femmes’ Blister in the Sun.
I walked back out front to do my signing and photo job. The girls were killing it; they were the perfect college-crowd band. The only thing missing was several kegs of beer.
◊◊◊
The plan was for the girls to play for thirty minutes, and then the politicians would talk. Word must have gotten out that the band was good because people from all over campus started to show up. Max was ecstatic and let the girls play for an extra fifteen minutes. Governor Higgins found me finishing my job of being photographed and handing out pictures to registered voters. He wanted a picture of the two of us. I convinced him to take one with Ian, Ava, and Brook. I thought Ian would have kittens, he was so happy.
We walked back in as the girls were finishing up. Jett spotted me and winked. The governor worked his way through the crowd, shaking hands. I smiled when I saw him do what I usually did. I wondered if my granddad had taught him that.
Birthrite finished their last song.
“We had a great time, and you were a fantastic crowd,” Jett said. “Now, I want you to put your hands together for someone I consider a friend. He’s a model and actor. Please give a warm Northern Illinois welcome to David A. Dawson!”
The band began to play Hall of Fame. That made me smile because it was the same song they’d played when I was a guest on Our View, a daytime TV show. I came out, waved at the much larger crowd, walked up to Jett and danced with her as she sang.
I got the crowd swaying. There were a lot of students down on the floor to get close to the band. I have to say the band played a great version of the song. When Jett and the girls finished, I clapped along with everyone else, and she handed me the mic. The students clearly wanted more. Max looked like he wanted to move things along, but he’d sent me out to MC.
I leaned close to Jett so she could hear me.
“You have another song or two?” I asked.
Her smile was worth any grief I would get from Max.
“Do you want to hear them play some more?” I boomed into the mic.
The crowd made their feelings known. I noticed Governor Higgins and Senator Dixon talking in the wings, watching us.
“Governor Higgins and Senator Dixon, come out here for a moment,” I called.
They both gave me a startled look, but this wasn’t their first rodeo. They both came out and waved at the happy crowd.
“What do you think? Should we let Birthrite play a couple more songs?” I asked them.
The governor grabbed the microphone.
“I bet you’d rather listen to them than us. Would you agree?” he asked.
The crowd cheered, and he handed the mic to Jett. They broke out in their version of Boys (I Dated In Highschool), a quirky, fun song. They then they played something a little more top-forty in Miss Movin’ On. When they were done, I stepped back on stage.
I thanked them, and then the music cued for Senator Dixon. He was also running, but his job was to fire up the crowd. I’d been given a page of his accomplishments, which I recited from memory. My acting had really paid off. From there, I was done, because the senator would introduce Governor Higgins.
They had chairs set up behind the speakers, and Max pointed to one next to Betty, the governor’s wife. I was happy to see the Davises and Ms. Dixon were also on stage. They had great seats to hear the senator and the governor give their fiery speeches to encourage everyone to get out and vote in the upcoming primary.
◊◊◊
Max rounded us all up after the rally to tell us what our marching orders were.
“I have a packet for each of you with an itinerary for the rest of the weekend. We’ll be spending two nights in The Peninsula Chicago, located in the River North neighborhood. You’ll be sharing a room when we can, to save money. We’ve covered your room cost plus fifty dollars a day for incidentals. If you go over that amount, it’s your responsibility.
“Please remember that you’re representing the governor and senator, so try not to get arrested,” Max said with a smile.
“What are the plans for the next two days?” Ian asked.
“There are four events planned for tomorrow. Three will be at universities: University of Chicago, Loyola, and DePaul. We plan to follow a similar process to what we did today. Meet-and-greet with voter registration first; second, we’ll have the band play; and then the governor and senator will speak, along with some local candidates. We’ll pack up the band and everyone working the first part of the event, then move on to the next college and repeat the process.
“That evening there will be a fundraiser dinner, which you’re all welcome to contribute to, but it’s not required,” Max said.
“What about Sunday?” Ian followed up.
“Sunday, we’ll put on an event at Northwestern. Same format as the others. We’ll try to get you out by one,” Max said.
Max looked at his notes to see what he’d missed.
“If the press approaches you, please refer them to me if it’s about the campaign. I’m sure you can handle anything else. Oh, and just valet park your cars at the hotel. We’ll have buses for everyone on Saturday. My cell number’s in the packet if you need anything.”
Max let us go at that point. I looked in my packet and saw that I had a room to myself. There was also an invitation for a private get-together tonight in the governor’s suite. I strolled to the locker room to get my things. I was happy to see the campaign team had taken all my boxes of photos. Brook had told me we’d handed out over 500 of them tonight.
I came out and found that Jett and the band were doing an on-camera interview with Channel 9, Chicago’s flagship station. Brook stood beside me.
“I’m rooming with Angel. She said she’d take my parents to the hotel because Jett wanted to ride with us. She’s pretty cool,” Brook admitted.
I had to agree, Jett was pretty cool. I watched her interview and made some mental notes to help her get better. Angel was watching like a hawk but wore a big smile when it was done. This series of shows would be great exposure for the girls and help them sell some CDs or book some gigs.
When they finished, we all hiked out to find my car. Jett claimed shotgun since she claimed to know where The Peninsula Chicago was located. She directed me to the highway, and we started our trek to probably my favorite city. Granted, LA had better weather, and there was a lot to be said for New York. What I liked about Chicago was the people. I know it was stereotyping, but Midwesterners were much more polite than New Yorkers and had a better work ethic than people from LA. That didn’t mean that New Yorkers couldn’t be friendly, or people from LA were a bunch of slackers. It was an in-general type of thing.