Sold Out
Punk Rock Help Quest
Main Characters / Extra Characters
My Classmates
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Requirements
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Requirements
Bob leans against the locker beside yours.
Bob: You’re a real person, right, Danny?
Danny: Um, I think so? Nishan says that the whole universe might be a computer simulation but--
Bob: I mean, REAL. Like, you’re true to yourself and your feelings in a world full of phony people. That’s what rocks about you.
Danny: I try.
Bob: You wanna swing by my place after school? I’m playing a show with my band, Rumpus Riot. We’re debuting a new song, and I wanna see what you think.
Danny: I’ll be there!
Time - 5 hours
After school, you walk up to the garage where Bob and the members of Rumpus Riot are tuning their instruments.
Bob: Danny! All right, everyone’s here! Okay, guys, on my count...
Danny: Wait, what? I’m the only one here!
Bob: What are you talking about? We’ve got fans! Look, right over there!
Bob points to two little kids sitting on a worn couch.
Bob: I mean, they’re the kids our drummer babysits, but they love our stuff. Go grab a seat with them!
Soon, you’re on the ratty couch between the two boys, watching as Bob grabs the mic.
Bob: And a one, two, three, four!
Bob’s band launches into a blistering, deafening mash of harsh guitar, crashing cymbals, and yelping vocals!
Danny: Whoa!
Bob closes the song by climbing on the bass drum... and leaping off with a flying kick!
Bob: Woo! Thank you! That was called ‘Have Nine Lobotomies, Get Your Tenth Free.’ So, Danny... what’d you think?
Danny: I gotta say... You rocked my face off!
Bob: You know, that means a lot, coming from you. Punk is all about expressing yourself as big and as loud as you can, and you GET that. I know you’d tell me if you didn’t like it. You’d never be fake. That’s as punk as it gets!
Danny: Of course I’m upfront with you, Bob. You’re my friend.
Bob: I know, but I’m also not dumb. I know my stuff ain’t everyone’s cup of mainstream tea. To find an audience, we need to be playing more shows... a LOT more. Only problem is, getting gigs means you have to suck up to The Man.
Danny: I’m not so sure, Bob. I’d bet there are venues out there that want you exactly as you are.
Bob: For real? Think you could hook us up with them?
Danny: Sure! You just need a demo tape to show around!
Requirements
Soon, you and Priya are wheeling heavy carts and trunks into Bob’s garage!
Bob: Whoa! What’s all this consumerist stuff?
Danny: It’s Priya’s recording equipment!
Priya: This gear is top of the line. Highly sensitive. I even used it to sample the flap of a butterfly’s wings for a dubstep bass drop.
Bob: That’s... actually pretty hardcore!
Priya: Help me get set up!
Time - 6 hours
After a long taping session, Priya and Bob are hunched over a laptop, playing back the recorded song.
Bob: Not bad, not bad... but it still sounds too pristine. Too manufactured. It needs to sound more raw! Like you gave a guitar to a honey badger! Let’s turn up the distortion!
Priya: But the signal-to-noise ratio--
Bob: Exactly! Less signal, more noise!
Priya drops a few settings and hits ‘play’. A coarse, thrashing guitar part nearly blows out the speakers!
Bob: It’s... it’s beautiful. Thanks, Priya! Put the song onto this cassette tape!
Priya: A cassette tape? That thing must be older than we are!
Bob: We’re keeping it old school.
Danny: And once the demo’s on the tape, I’ll send it out to some venues!
Back at school, you’re walking with Bob when your phone buzzes.
Danny: Bob! I just got an email, and guess what? The management at Club L’Homme wants to meet to discuss a gig for Rumpus Riot!
Bob: Club L’Homme? Is that a joke?
Danny: You’re not happy?
Bob: Sure, I mean, Club L’Homme’s the biggest, fanciest venue in town. And they sell out all their shows, but... It’s so stodgy and mainstream. They usually only accept acts that are the sonic equivalent of warm milk. But I guess even they couldn’t resist the raw emotive experience of Rumpus Riot’s ‘Cologne By Skunk’.
Danny: Well, if you want the gig, we need to head over to the meeting right now.
Bob: Hang on, I don’t exactly rock at dealing with suits...
Danny: I know who can handle the business side for you.
Requirements
Maddie and Brandon meet you and Bob outside the elegant, pillared facade of Club L’Homme.
Bob: Thanks for coming, guys. I know you’re wild for this contract negotiation stuff. Are you ready?
Maddie: Aw, yeah! These suits won’t even be able to handle our rhetoric!
Brandon: We’ll melt their faces with a hysteron proteron!
Danny: A what?
Bob: I have no idea what that is, but it’d make a cool song title...
Danny: Are you guys okay? You seem a little... amped up.
Maddie: We listened to punk the whole way over here! Refused, Misfits, Minor Threat... and now we’re ready to rock!
Brandon: Plus, if we plan on changing the government from the inside, we need practice taking on management types like these guys! If they don’t give us what we want, we’ll just walk out of there without even saying ‘Thank you for your time’!
Maddie: So punk rock!
Time - 9 hours
You and Bob are waiting anxiously outside Club L’Homme... when the front doors fly open! Maddie and Brandon come leaping out, playing air guitar!
Maddie: Woo! Yeah!
Brandon: Take that, establishment!
Bob: What happened in there? What’d they say?
Brandon: The bosses loved the demo song you sent. They said it was right up their alley.
Bob: Wait, seriously?
Maddie: They want you to play a gig... this weekend!
Bob: Whoa, this weekend? How long a set?
Brandon: They want thirty minutes of songs just like the demo track.
Bob: Oh boy...
Danny: What’s wrong?
Bob: I don’t have a half hour of material! Punk songs are, like, two minutes each! No way I can write enough songs before this weekend...
Danny: Not without help, you can’t. I’ll reach out to some songwriters at school!
Requirements
You and Bob meet up with London, Kat, and Hsin at the Musician Hangout. Surrounded by instruments, you all jot down your ideas for new songs...
Hsin: How’s this? ‘This red ink in my heart spills onto another page in this book of sadness.’ I think Sunny Day Real Estate would be proud.
Kat: I’m leaning more towards an operatic aria, Donizetti-style. ‘Enchantment lifts my soul to the heaveeeens!’
London: Better idea! We just do a cover of Pharrell’s ‘Happy’!
Bob: Listen, guys, punk is abut being blunt and true about how YOU feel. It’s not echoing someone else’s style. Dig deep and express yourself! That’s the whole point! To stand up to everyone who’s telling you what to wear, what to like, how to act... Find your own voice!
Kat: Hmmmm, that might just give me an idea...
Time - 8 hours
After an inspired songwriting session, everyone presents their new material to Bob...
Hsin: I pushed through the sadness and got in touch with my ager! I totally let loose!
Kat: I wrote about how my parents are always saying I have to be perfect. The rudimentary structure of punk actually allowed me to orchestrate a genuine, unvarnished truth.
London: At first, I couldn’t come up with my own stuff, but soon I was pouring out my heart about the camaraderie and betrayal of glee club frenemies!
Bob: Do you know what this means? You’ve just gotten your first dose of punk. You, like the world, will never be the same.
Danny: So do you have enough songs to fill the whole set now?
Bob: Oh yeah. These songs will have people headbanging in no time. But the show at Club L’Homme is coming up soon, and we need to practice! Do we have any money for new instruments?
Requirements
Danny: Are you guys all ready to practice?
Bob: Born ready.
You and Bob hand out a set of cheap second-hand guitars to the members of Rumpus Riot.
Bob: And a one, two, three, four!
On Bob’s count, the whole band smashes their guitars to pieces on the ground!
Danny: OMG! What are you doing?!
Bob: Ohhh, you thought I meant we had to practice the songs? Come on! They’re all, like, the same three power chords! Playing’s the easy part. What we need to practice is rocking out! Stage presence!
Danny: But they’re guitars! Why would you smash them?
Bob: That’s the point, Danny. It’s shocking! Provocative! Challenging!
Bob ands you a cheap guitar with a cracked fretboard...
Bob: You give it a try while we play!
Rumpus Riot kicks off their new song, ‘Anachronistic Anarchy.’ You take one look at the old guitar and throw it into the sky! While the band rocks out, you spin around and sling the guitar as high as you can into the air! It sails through the sky... before shattering into splinters against the driveway!
Bob: Woo! That guitar took flight! Epic, Danny!
Danny: That was pretty awesome!
Later, Rumpus Riot practices stage diving! Bob climbs up on a shelf in the garage...
Bob: You guys better catch me!
Danny: We got you!
Bob leaps from the shelf! You and the band hold out your arms and catch! Together, you’re able to hold up Bob’s weight!
Bob: Woo! How sick was that?!
The next day at school, Bob runs up to you between classes.
Bob: Did you hear? Tonight’s show at Club L’Homme sold out!
Danny: Wow, that’s huge, Bob!
Bob: We gotta get to the venue! The rest of the band is there already!
Requirements
You climb into Bob’s car, and the two of you speed off toward the venue.
Bob: I still can’t believe this is happening. A punk band selling out Club L’Homme? This is it, Danny. My chance to get my voice out there.
Danny: I know you’ll make the most of it.
Bob: Everyone’s so used to the mainstream sheep stuff that plays there... they’re in for a wake-up call tonight! Check it. I bright the demo tape that got us here, so we can get psyched up!
Bob pops the cassette into the car player and jams the ‘play’ button... But the speakers start playing a soft alt-rock ballad!
Bob: Wait, what is this?!
Time - 10 hours
Bob drives in disbelief, listening to the soft rock coming from the band’s demo tape.
Bob: ...how could I be so STUPID?
Danny: What happened?
Bob: Don’t you get it? We recorded on a tape that already had this wimpy stuff on it! It all makes sense now... why a stuffy place like Club L’Homme would even want us. It’s because this is what they think we play!
Danny: But that voice singing... it sounds like you, Bob.
Bob: It IS me. Just not the real me. It’s from a couple years back... before I found my voice. When I was first getting started, I played stuff I knew other people liked, because I wanted to be heard. But then it hit me... if they’re not hearing the real me, what’s the point? I mean, I was just lying about who I was.
Danny: I gotta say, though, Bob... this old song of yours is actually pretty great! The guitar part is so complex, the melody’s catchy... and you’re actually singing instead of kinda just yelling!
Bob: Yeah, I could play thirty minutes of twinkly stuff like this in my sleep. But it’s not who I am...
Danny: But, Bob... the club management is expecting music exactly like this! What are you gonna do?
Bob: I have no idea.
You and Bob arrive backstage at Club L’Homme, where the rest of Rumpus Riot is waiting. You hang back as they debate their options while peering anxiously through the curtains to the packed house. After a couple minutes, they embrace and start setting up...
Danny: So you’re gonna play the show after all?
Bob: We may never get a chance to play a venue like this again, Danny. We can’t just throw that away... but I... I... Oh, I don’t know! What the heck are we supposed to do?
Danny: You’re a punk, Bob. The last thing you want is one more person telling you what to do. The only person who knows the answer to that question is you.
Just then, the crowd beyond the curtain starts chanting over and over... ‘Rumpus Riot! Rumpus Riot!’
Bob: Listen to them, Danny... they want us to play. They EXPECT us to play. We gotta do this.
Bob turns to the rest of the band.
Bob: All right. Rumpus Riot... let’s give the people what they want.
Requirements
You head out front to join the crowd just in time to see Bob and Rumpus Riot shuffle on stage! The crowd cheers in anticipation as the band addresses them...
Alexandra: How are you all doing tonight?
Luke: We are Rumpus Riot!
Blaine: Are, uh... you guys ready to rock?
Another cheer goes up all around you.
Bob: This first one’s called, uh... ‘Lost Like Tears In Rain’...
The bandmates nod to each other and start playing a soft ballad of shimmering guitar, brushed drums, and crooning vocals.
Danny: Wow, I know it’s a little cheesy... but this song’s actually pretty good...
The crowd immediately takes to it, swaying to the music. Some onlookers take out lighters and wave them aloft... But you can see the band looking at each other with a deep pain in their eyes.
Alexandra: ...
Luke: ...
Blaine: ...
Bob: You know what? Enough, just everybody stop!
The crowd gasps as the song stops suddenly!
Danny: What’s Bob doing?!
Time - 8 hours
The packed crowd at Club L’Homme looks on in shock as Bob stops the band in the middle of their ballad.
Bob: All right, people, listen up! Before we started playing, we introduced ourselves... but that was a lie! What you just heard... that’s not us. That’s not Rumpus Riot!
Alexandra: We’re about challenging people! We’re about standing up to anyone who tells you who to like...
Luke: How to act...
Blaine: Or what music to play!
Bob: Now this... THIS is Rumpus Riot!
Perfectly in sync, the whole band launches into a bristling, frantic punk song! Alexandra leaps around, scratching at power chords while Luke lays down a thudding bassline! Blaine’s snare cracks a rapid, syncopated backbeat!
Bob: ‘Waiting in line for the coming attractions! Talk, talk, talk, talk is louder than actions!’
Danny: Whoa!
All around you, attendees share shocked looks! Some love the new sound, pushing up front to dance... while others stream for the exits!
Bob: Yeaaaah!
Suddenly, the sound cuts out, and the lights go down!
Alexandra: They’re pulling the plug on us!
Immediately, a troop of bouncers storm on stage and pull the members of Rumpus Riot behind the curtain... But you can see a bright grin on each of your friends’ faces!
Blaine: Wooo! The signal cannot be stopped! Well, maybe temporarily...
Bob: Thank you! Thank you, and good night!
The next day, you stroll up to Bob’s garage and find the band rehearsing.
Danny: Back at it already?
Bob: Yep. Brand new song.
Luke: It’s about getting dragged off stage at a big show!
Danny: You guys don’t seem to upset about not getting to play at the big venue...
Blaine: Are you kidding?
Alexandra: I don’t think Danny knows yet! Check it out!
Bob hands you a phone, opened to Twitter. The feed is full of people tweeting about Rumpus Riot!
Bob: After last night, EVERYONE’S talking about us. A video of the show went viral, and all these people are saying it’s the most punk thing they’ve ever seen!
Luke: Our Facebook likes quadrupled overnight!
Blaine: And that’s not all. We booked a gig at The Stench!
Danny: The what?
Bob: The Stench is basically the anti-Club L’Homme. Instead of stuffy and sleepy, it’s intense and insane! It’s a basement, but with, like, great acoustics, you know? And only the coolest punk bands get to play there. The show’s tonight. You coming?
Danny: Can’t wait!
Requirements
That night, you and your friends walk into the cramped, graffitied basement known as The Stench... And find Bob and Rumpus Riot playing in front of a small crowd of sweaty teenagers in tattered shirts and black leather jackets!
Bob: ‘Draw a line in the sand! And shout, this is who I really am!’
Julian: Whoa! This place is like the locker room after a game!
Mia: Yeah, now I get why they call it The Stench.
Payton: Oh, come on! Let’s dance!
On stage, Bob spots you and shoots you a wink in the middle of the song.
Bob: ‘It’s you and me against the world! So let your flag unfurl!’
Bob heaves a guitar overhead and smashes it into the stage floor! The crowd roars in approval!
Bob: Woooooo!
After the show, you catch up with Bob and the band as they pack up their instruments.
Danny: That show was crazy, guys! Everyone loved it!
Bob: Yeah... it kinda was, huh? Our voice is getting out there, one grimy basement show at a time.
Danny: Yep. YOUR voice.
Bob: You know, I wanted to thank you. You got my head straight about why I got into this in the first place. That crowd at Club L’Homme, the cheering... it’s way easier to sell out than I thought.
Danny: Everyone needs friends to have their backs, Bob, but in the end, it was you who knew deep down who you were.
Bob: Ain’t that the truth. Well, we’re outta here. I think this show might’ve inspired a new song or two!
Danny: Oh yeah? About what?
Bob: About how you can do anything if you’ve got good friends by your side.
- Bob
Bob leans against the locker beside yours.
Bob: You’re a real person, right, Danny?
Danny: Um, I think so? Nishan says that the whole universe might be a computer simulation but--
Bob: I mean, REAL. Like, you’re true to yourself and your feelings in a world full of phony people. That’s what rocks about you.
Danny: I try.
Bob: You wanna swing by my place after school? I’m playing a show with my band, Rumpus Riot. We’re debuting a new song, and I wanna see what you think.
Danny: I’ll be there!
Time - 5 hours
After school, you walk up to the garage where Bob and the members of Rumpus Riot are tuning their instruments.
Bob: Danny! All right, everyone’s here! Okay, guys, on my count...
Danny: Wait, what? I’m the only one here!
Bob: What are you talking about? We’ve got fans! Look, right over there!
Bob points to two little kids sitting on a worn couch.
Bob: I mean, they’re the kids our drummer babysits, but they love our stuff. Go grab a seat with them!
Soon, you’re on the ratty couch between the two boys, watching as Bob grabs the mic.
Bob: And a one, two, three, four!
Bob’s band launches into a blistering, deafening mash of harsh guitar, crashing cymbals, and yelping vocals!
Danny: Whoa!
Bob closes the song by climbing on the bass drum... and leaping off with a flying kick!
Bob: Woo! Thank you! That was called ‘Have Nine Lobotomies, Get Your Tenth Free.’ So, Danny... what’d you think?
Danny: I gotta say... You rocked my face off!
Bob: You know, that means a lot, coming from you. Punk is all about expressing yourself as big and as loud as you can, and you GET that. I know you’d tell me if you didn’t like it. You’d never be fake. That’s as punk as it gets!
Danny: Of course I’m upfront with you, Bob. You’re my friend.
Bob: I know, but I’m also not dumb. I know my stuff ain’t everyone’s cup of mainstream tea. To find an audience, we need to be playing more shows... a LOT more. Only problem is, getting gigs means you have to suck up to The Man.
Danny: I’m not so sure, Bob. I’d bet there are venues out there that want you exactly as you are.
Bob: For real? Think you could hook us up with them?
Danny: Sure! You just need a demo tape to show around!
Requirements
- Bob
- A Level 5+ DJ (Priya)
Soon, you and Priya are wheeling heavy carts and trunks into Bob’s garage!
Bob: Whoa! What’s all this consumerist stuff?
Danny: It’s Priya’s recording equipment!
Priya: This gear is top of the line. Highly sensitive. I even used it to sample the flap of a butterfly’s wings for a dubstep bass drop.
Bob: That’s... actually pretty hardcore!
Priya: Help me get set up!
Time - 6 hours
After a long taping session, Priya and Bob are hunched over a laptop, playing back the recorded song.
Bob: Not bad, not bad... but it still sounds too pristine. Too manufactured. It needs to sound more raw! Like you gave a guitar to a honey badger! Let’s turn up the distortion!
Priya: But the signal-to-noise ratio--
Bob: Exactly! Less signal, more noise!
Priya drops a few settings and hits ‘play’. A coarse, thrashing guitar part nearly blows out the speakers!
Bob: It’s... it’s beautiful. Thanks, Priya! Put the song onto this cassette tape!
Priya: A cassette tape? That thing must be older than we are!
Bob: We’re keeping it old school.
Danny: And once the demo’s on the tape, I’ll send it out to some venues!
Back at school, you’re walking with Bob when your phone buzzes.
Danny: Bob! I just got an email, and guess what? The management at Club L’Homme wants to meet to discuss a gig for Rumpus Riot!
Bob: Club L’Homme? Is that a joke?
Danny: You’re not happy?
Bob: Sure, I mean, Club L’Homme’s the biggest, fanciest venue in town. And they sell out all their shows, but... It’s so stodgy and mainstream. They usually only accept acts that are the sonic equivalent of warm milk. But I guess even they couldn’t resist the raw emotive experience of Rumpus Riot’s ‘Cologne By Skunk’.
Danny: Well, if you want the gig, we need to head over to the meeting right now.
Bob: Hang on, I don’t exactly rock at dealing with suits...
Danny: I know who can handle the business side for you.
Requirements
- A Level 7+ Student Gov (Maddie)
- A Level 7+ Student Gov (Brandon)
Maddie and Brandon meet you and Bob outside the elegant, pillared facade of Club L’Homme.
Bob: Thanks for coming, guys. I know you’re wild for this contract negotiation stuff. Are you ready?
Maddie: Aw, yeah! These suits won’t even be able to handle our rhetoric!
Brandon: We’ll melt their faces with a hysteron proteron!
Danny: A what?
Bob: I have no idea what that is, but it’d make a cool song title...
Danny: Are you guys okay? You seem a little... amped up.
Maddie: We listened to punk the whole way over here! Refused, Misfits, Minor Threat... and now we’re ready to rock!
Brandon: Plus, if we plan on changing the government from the inside, we need practice taking on management types like these guys! If they don’t give us what we want, we’ll just walk out of there without even saying ‘Thank you for your time’!
Maddie: So punk rock!
Time - 9 hours
You and Bob are waiting anxiously outside Club L’Homme... when the front doors fly open! Maddie and Brandon come leaping out, playing air guitar!
Maddie: Woo! Yeah!
Brandon: Take that, establishment!
Bob: What happened in there? What’d they say?
Brandon: The bosses loved the demo song you sent. They said it was right up their alley.
Bob: Wait, seriously?
Maddie: They want you to play a gig... this weekend!
Bob: Whoa, this weekend? How long a set?
Brandon: They want thirty minutes of songs just like the demo track.
Bob: Oh boy...
Danny: What’s wrong?
Bob: I don’t have a half hour of material! Punk songs are, like, two minutes each! No way I can write enough songs before this weekend...
Danny: Not without help, you can’t. I’ll reach out to some songwriters at school!
Requirements
- A Glee Club Member (London)
- A Virtuoso (Kat)
- An Emo (Hsin)
You and Bob meet up with London, Kat, and Hsin at the Musician Hangout. Surrounded by instruments, you all jot down your ideas for new songs...
Hsin: How’s this? ‘This red ink in my heart spills onto another page in this book of sadness.’ I think Sunny Day Real Estate would be proud.
Kat: I’m leaning more towards an operatic aria, Donizetti-style. ‘Enchantment lifts my soul to the heaveeeens!’
London: Better idea! We just do a cover of Pharrell’s ‘Happy’!
Bob: Listen, guys, punk is abut being blunt and true about how YOU feel. It’s not echoing someone else’s style. Dig deep and express yourself! That’s the whole point! To stand up to everyone who’s telling you what to wear, what to like, how to act... Find your own voice!
Kat: Hmmmm, that might just give me an idea...
Time - 8 hours
After an inspired songwriting session, everyone presents their new material to Bob...
Hsin: I pushed through the sadness and got in touch with my ager! I totally let loose!
Kat: I wrote about how my parents are always saying I have to be perfect. The rudimentary structure of punk actually allowed me to orchestrate a genuine, unvarnished truth.
London: At first, I couldn’t come up with my own stuff, but soon I was pouring out my heart about the camaraderie and betrayal of glee club frenemies!
Bob: Do you know what this means? You’ve just gotten your first dose of punk. You, like the world, will never be the same.
Danny: So do you have enough songs to fill the whole set now?
Bob: Oh yeah. These songs will have people headbanging in no time. But the show at Club L’Homme is coming up soon, and we need to practice! Do we have any money for new instruments?
Requirements
- Practice!
- Spend 50,000 coins
Danny: Are you guys all ready to practice?
Bob: Born ready.
You and Bob hand out a set of cheap second-hand guitars to the members of Rumpus Riot.
Bob: And a one, two, three, four!
On Bob’s count, the whole band smashes their guitars to pieces on the ground!
Danny: OMG! What are you doing?!
Bob: Ohhh, you thought I meant we had to practice the songs? Come on! They’re all, like, the same three power chords! Playing’s the easy part. What we need to practice is rocking out! Stage presence!
Danny: But they’re guitars! Why would you smash them?
Bob: That’s the point, Danny. It’s shocking! Provocative! Challenging!
Bob ands you a cheap guitar with a cracked fretboard...
Bob: You give it a try while we play!
Rumpus Riot kicks off their new song, ‘Anachronistic Anarchy.’ You take one look at the old guitar and throw it into the sky! While the band rocks out, you spin around and sling the guitar as high as you can into the air! It sails through the sky... before shattering into splinters against the driveway!
Bob: Woo! That guitar took flight! Epic, Danny!
Danny: That was pretty awesome!
Later, Rumpus Riot practices stage diving! Bob climbs up on a shelf in the garage...
Bob: You guys better catch me!
Danny: We got you!
Bob leaps from the shelf! You and the band hold out your arms and catch! Together, you’re able to hold up Bob’s weight!
Bob: Woo! How sick was that?!
The next day at school, Bob runs up to you between classes.
Bob: Did you hear? Tonight’s show at Club L’Homme sold out!
Danny: Wow, that’s huge, Bob!
Bob: We gotta get to the venue! The rest of the band is there already!
Requirements
- Danny
- Bob
You climb into Bob’s car, and the two of you speed off toward the venue.
Bob: I still can’t believe this is happening. A punk band selling out Club L’Homme? This is it, Danny. My chance to get my voice out there.
Danny: I know you’ll make the most of it.
Bob: Everyone’s so used to the mainstream sheep stuff that plays there... they’re in for a wake-up call tonight! Check it. I bright the demo tape that got us here, so we can get psyched up!
Bob pops the cassette into the car player and jams the ‘play’ button... But the speakers start playing a soft alt-rock ballad!
Bob: Wait, what is this?!
Time - 10 hours
Bob drives in disbelief, listening to the soft rock coming from the band’s demo tape.
Bob: ...how could I be so STUPID?
Danny: What happened?
Bob: Don’t you get it? We recorded on a tape that already had this wimpy stuff on it! It all makes sense now... why a stuffy place like Club L’Homme would even want us. It’s because this is what they think we play!
Danny: But that voice singing... it sounds like you, Bob.
Bob: It IS me. Just not the real me. It’s from a couple years back... before I found my voice. When I was first getting started, I played stuff I knew other people liked, because I wanted to be heard. But then it hit me... if they’re not hearing the real me, what’s the point? I mean, I was just lying about who I was.
Danny: I gotta say, though, Bob... this old song of yours is actually pretty great! The guitar part is so complex, the melody’s catchy... and you’re actually singing instead of kinda just yelling!
Bob: Yeah, I could play thirty minutes of twinkly stuff like this in my sleep. But it’s not who I am...
Danny: But, Bob... the club management is expecting music exactly like this! What are you gonna do?
Bob: I have no idea.
You and Bob arrive backstage at Club L’Homme, where the rest of Rumpus Riot is waiting. You hang back as they debate their options while peering anxiously through the curtains to the packed house. After a couple minutes, they embrace and start setting up...
Danny: So you’re gonna play the show after all?
Bob: We may never get a chance to play a venue like this again, Danny. We can’t just throw that away... but I... I... Oh, I don’t know! What the heck are we supposed to do?
Danny: You’re a punk, Bob. The last thing you want is one more person telling you what to do. The only person who knows the answer to that question is you.
Just then, the crowd beyond the curtain starts chanting over and over... ‘Rumpus Riot! Rumpus Riot!’
Bob: Listen to them, Danny... they want us to play. They EXPECT us to play. We gotta do this.
Bob turns to the rest of the band.
Bob: All right. Rumpus Riot... let’s give the people what they want.
Requirements
- A Classmate Except Danny and Bob (Alexandra)
- A Classmate Except Danny and Bob (Luke)
- A Classmate Except Danny and Bob (Blaine)
You head out front to join the crowd just in time to see Bob and Rumpus Riot shuffle on stage! The crowd cheers in anticipation as the band addresses them...
Alexandra: How are you all doing tonight?
Luke: We are Rumpus Riot!
Blaine: Are, uh... you guys ready to rock?
Another cheer goes up all around you.
Bob: This first one’s called, uh... ‘Lost Like Tears In Rain’...
The bandmates nod to each other and start playing a soft ballad of shimmering guitar, brushed drums, and crooning vocals.
Danny: Wow, I know it’s a little cheesy... but this song’s actually pretty good...
The crowd immediately takes to it, swaying to the music. Some onlookers take out lighters and wave them aloft... But you can see the band looking at each other with a deep pain in their eyes.
Alexandra: ...
Luke: ...
Blaine: ...
Bob: You know what? Enough, just everybody stop!
The crowd gasps as the song stops suddenly!
Danny: What’s Bob doing?!
Time - 8 hours
The packed crowd at Club L’Homme looks on in shock as Bob stops the band in the middle of their ballad.
Bob: All right, people, listen up! Before we started playing, we introduced ourselves... but that was a lie! What you just heard... that’s not us. That’s not Rumpus Riot!
Alexandra: We’re about challenging people! We’re about standing up to anyone who tells you who to like...
Luke: How to act...
Blaine: Or what music to play!
Bob: Now this... THIS is Rumpus Riot!
Perfectly in sync, the whole band launches into a bristling, frantic punk song! Alexandra leaps around, scratching at power chords while Luke lays down a thudding bassline! Blaine’s snare cracks a rapid, syncopated backbeat!
Bob: ‘Waiting in line for the coming attractions! Talk, talk, talk, talk is louder than actions!’
Danny: Whoa!
All around you, attendees share shocked looks! Some love the new sound, pushing up front to dance... while others stream for the exits!
Bob: Yeaaaah!
Suddenly, the sound cuts out, and the lights go down!
Alexandra: They’re pulling the plug on us!
Immediately, a troop of bouncers storm on stage and pull the members of Rumpus Riot behind the curtain... But you can see a bright grin on each of your friends’ faces!
Blaine: Wooo! The signal cannot be stopped! Well, maybe temporarily...
Bob: Thank you! Thank you, and good night!
The next day, you stroll up to Bob’s garage and find the band rehearsing.
Danny: Back at it already?
Bob: Yep. Brand new song.
Luke: It’s about getting dragged off stage at a big show!
Danny: You guys don’t seem to upset about not getting to play at the big venue...
Blaine: Are you kidding?
Alexandra: I don’t think Danny knows yet! Check it out!
Bob hands you a phone, opened to Twitter. The feed is full of people tweeting about Rumpus Riot!
Bob: After last night, EVERYONE’S talking about us. A video of the show went viral, and all these people are saying it’s the most punk thing they’ve ever seen!
Luke: Our Facebook likes quadrupled overnight!
Blaine: And that’s not all. We booked a gig at The Stench!
Danny: The what?
Bob: The Stench is basically the anti-Club L’Homme. Instead of stuffy and sleepy, it’s intense and insane! It’s a basement, but with, like, great acoustics, you know? And only the coolest punk bands get to play there. The show’s tonight. You coming?
Danny: Can’t wait!
Requirements
- Complete a Party with Bob
That night, you and your friends walk into the cramped, graffitied basement known as The Stench... And find Bob and Rumpus Riot playing in front of a small crowd of sweaty teenagers in tattered shirts and black leather jackets!
Bob: ‘Draw a line in the sand! And shout, this is who I really am!’
Julian: Whoa! This place is like the locker room after a game!
Mia: Yeah, now I get why they call it The Stench.
Payton: Oh, come on! Let’s dance!
On stage, Bob spots you and shoots you a wink in the middle of the song.
Bob: ‘It’s you and me against the world! So let your flag unfurl!’
Bob heaves a guitar overhead and smashes it into the stage floor! The crowd roars in approval!
Bob: Woooooo!
After the show, you catch up with Bob and the band as they pack up their instruments.
Danny: That show was crazy, guys! Everyone loved it!
Bob: Yeah... it kinda was, huh? Our voice is getting out there, one grimy basement show at a time.
Danny: Yep. YOUR voice.
Bob: You know, I wanted to thank you. You got my head straight about why I got into this in the first place. That crowd at Club L’Homme, the cheering... it’s way easier to sell out than I thought.
Danny: Everyone needs friends to have their backs, Bob, but in the end, it was you who knew deep down who you were.
Bob: Ain’t that the truth. Well, we’re outta here. I think this show might’ve inspired a new song or two!
Danny: Oh yeah? About what?
Bob: About how you can do anything if you’ve got good friends by your side.