Today's song recommendations are Boogie by Brockhampton and Dream On by Aerosmith.

The gang had set up all of their equipment on stage in the club known as Bound to Secrets. The club was a medium sized venue with a decently sized stage with enough room to move around. The venue was dimly lit and gave off a chill atmosphere. Many differing music fanatics filled the place from Hip-Hop heads to pure rock snobs, all waiting for a good act to blow them away. The whole gang was sitting backstage, waiting to finally perform their first gig of their tour with James, Jazmine, George, and Ruth sitting on a couch. While Luna, Sam, Chunk, Jamie, and Jackson were pigging out at the lunch table.

"Yo, Chunk. This place is jai swanky, I can't even fake. I'm still surprised we never heard of this place." Jaime said while stuffing his face with hors d'oeuvres.

"I'm still surprised that our first gig is in such an exclusive place. I'll be honest, I thought you'd get us some random festering place that even a rat would be afraid to enter." Ruth admitted.

"Oi, I take care of me mates. I only go for the best gigs out there. If you're impressed by this just wait till you see everything else lined up for ya." Chunk insisted with a wink.

"My mans, Chunk, coming through with that hotness. That's what's up." James complimented. "By the way, why was this the first gig you booked for us?"

"This is one of those places that can really help you get your name out there. This place has its own online forum that so many people around the country use to find hot new acts. Plus, they record your set so others who couldn't be here get to hear you. If you start here, word of mouth will spread really fast. You'll start building fanbases before you get to the next gig." Chunk explained before scarfing down a plate of mini hot dogs.

"Oh, wow. So this can really help build up some hype for us. That's so awesome." Sam said while holding a plate of fruit.

"Well, we already have somewhat of a fanbase but this should definitely help it grow a little faster now." Jazmine pointed out.

A man wearing a white suit came backstage and addressed the gang.

"Okay, you guys are all ready to go, right?" The man asked. Jazmine got up from the couch and approached the man.

"Yes, we are and may I say, thank you again for allowing us to play here, Mr. Matic." Jazmine shook the man's hand.

"It's Mata, thank you very much. And don't mention it. You should really be thanking Chunk for talking you up so much. I hope you all blow the roof off this place as much as he said you can. Those people have had to deal with some pretty weak acts." Mr. Mata divulged.

"How bad were they?" Jamie asked with a mouth full of pigs in a blanket.

"One guy came up here and just hit play on his MP3 player filled with his mixtape. No one could understand what he was saying and he kept thinking he was hyped up. He even tried stage diving and the crowd completely moved out the way. Poor fool landed face first into the floor. He could never eat solid foods again." Mr. Mata shook his head in disappointment.

"Ouch!" Everyone winced.

"Trust me, Otto. These blokes know how to turn the volume up to eleven." Chunk hyped them up.

"Yeah! We're gonna knock everyone's socks off." Luna exclaimed with her hands in the devil horns shape.

"Just so everything's clear, the rock group is called the Known and is going up first?" Mr. Mata looked over towards Luna's group.

"Yup!" Luna answered.

"That name's a little pretentious and pompous, don't you think?" Mr. Mata pointed out causing the band to give a look of disheartment.

"Yeah, we're trying to come up with something different." George spoke up.

"I still say we should've called ourselves the great evolutionary revolving doors of spiritual healing." Ruth crossed her arms.

"That name was way too long and would've pissed people off just like it pissed me off just hearing it right now." Sam argued.

"Either way, you definitely need to change your name! Pretentious and pompous acts don't last that long in this business. And the, uh... Hip-Hop/R&B group is called Sibling Rivalry and is going up last, correct?" The building owner asked.

"Right-o." Jackson replied.

"Okay, question, why don't you guys just play a set together?" Mr. Mata inquired with a curious look on his face.

"We were plannin' to do that but we ain't know our first gig was gon' be on the same day we hit the road." Jamie complained through gritted teeth while giving a death glare at Chunk.

"Oops." Chunk gave an embarrassed smile.

"We had some songs that we were gonna play together but they still need to be a bit more well tuned since we couldn't really practice them together. We were gonna practice on the road but that's gonna have to happen next time. We'll play the next gig together as a whole set." Luna explained.

"Gotcha! Alright, so, you guys start in 5 minutes. I'm gonna go and introduce *sigh* the Known and you guys will come on stage and start playing. Be sure to bring the energy. Those people out there want some good bangers. So, I want to see them on their feet, bouncing, moving, and shaking whatever junk they got in their trunks." Mr. Mata advised before taking his leave.

"We'll make them shake so much they'll shake all of their junk right on the floor." Jackson shouted to the owner.

"Man, we better bring our a-game." George said with a worried expression.

"Alright, guys huddle up." Jamie demanded causing everyone to get into a huddled position. "Okay, y'all heard what he said so we gotta be hittin'em with them bangas. So, you guys got some good stuff to get people moving right?" Jamie asked Luna's band.

"Of course! Back in Royal Woods we'd blow the roof off the place." Luna proclaimed.

"So much so, they billed us to replace it that one time." Sam added.

"My parents are still pretty angry at me about that. They almost grounded me for life." George stated.

"That's tight! So, you guys are gon' start everything as wild and crazy as you can. Get this place bumpin'. Then when it's our turn we gon' bring it all home." Jamie informed.

"Also, I think it's best we avoid any slow songs. From what it sounds like we need stuff that gets people shaking and moving." Jazmine added.

"Right, and also Luna, no stage diving." George ordered.

"Aw, bogus dude." Luna pouted.

"Baby, I gotta agree with George. These people don't seem like the types to enjoy that type of thing. Plus, I don't want you ruining that beautiful smile of yours." Sam pinched Luna's cheek to the pixie cut rockers annoyance.

"Ergh, fine." Luna grumbled with her arms crossed.

"Cool! So, this is our first big gig. It's our chance to get our names out there and show what we're all about. We got ourselves all set up and ready, the equipments set, the crowds ready to go wild." Jamie preached.

"Yeah!" Everyone agreed.

"They wanna rock, they wanna bounce, so, I say we let'em. Let's go out there and show what we do. And most importantly… let's get paaaaaid~" Jaime bobbed his head in a swaying motion.

The group all hive fived and pumped their fists in the air in excitement. They broke from the huddle and got into place. The McBrides went to sit on the couch and enjoy the food spread. The Known got ready to get on stage as soon as they were being introduced. Mr. Mata got on stage and began introducing the group's.

"Alright, folks. Today we got some special performances for you…" Mr. Mata began.

"Well, this is it guys. We're finally starting off like a real band. This is gonna be so sick." Luna exclaimed with the devil horns.

"I hope this goes great." George worried.

"Eh, don't worry, Georgie. We're gonna knock everyone's pants off." Ruth said while holding George close.

"You mean socks off." George corrected.

"I know what I said." Ruth defended.

"...And now I'd like to introduce one of the acts performing for you. Everybody get out of your seats for the band known as *sigh* the Known." Mr. Mata bemoaned causing the audience to look on in slight irritation and even groaning at the name.

"Really!? That's the name they went with?" One patron complained.

"Oh, jeez. These guys are gonna be like those pompous indie groups aren't they?" Another patron criticized.

"I hope they're better than that one act who tried stage diving." Another member of the audience said.

The band heard some of the jeers of the audience from backstage.

"Oh, boy, they don't sound too excited to hear us." George said nervously.

"Whatever. We just gotta show them what we're really made of." Luna stated.

"I guess so… How about a kiss for good luck?" Sam asked as she rubbed her arm.

"Sure thing, luv." Luna said in her British accent. She puckered her lips and began to lean towards her girlfriend. Sam prepared herself as well but Luna's lips never reached her's. She saw her brunette lover being pulled away by George.

"We don't have time for love. Come on." George dragged Luna towards the stage. Sam gave a disappointed look and followed behind with Ruth. The audience gave a small applause as the band got to their instruments. George got to the mic and began sweating as he looked over the crowds. The audience's faces gave a look of disinterest towards the rockers.

"So umm… w-we're the Known and uh, uh…" George stammered as he started to sweat bullets.

Luna rolled her eyes as she got fed up and snatched the mic from the boy rocker.

"Hello, Great Lakes City, you ready to rock?" Luna asked. The audience still gave their disinterested looks.

"Well, get ready. 1. 2. 3. 4." Luna began playing a basic chord riff with the band following up with accompaniment.

"Droppin records on a weekly basis~" Luna sang.

The audience looks of disinterest began to slightly fade away and soon they started to grow less irritated as the band continued.

"Well, they don't sound too bad!" One person said.

"Eh, their okay for the most part. I just hope they got something stronger than this. This sounds like rock you'd hear from just a generic local band. Definitely not something I'd want on my playlist, though." Another person commented.

"The McBrides all looked at the performance from backstage. They gave slightly unimpressed and slightly surprised looks as they watched their friends.

"Boy, they really sound... um… what's a sort of a none mean word to say?" Jazmine inquired as she looked while holding her chin in contemplation.

"Generic?" Jackson finished.

"I wouldn't have been so harsh but kinda, yeah." Jazmine agreed.

"Yeah. They're just singing about being rock stars with pretty basic chords and just playing loudly. They're not even really moving, they're just static. I thought they said they were gonna play some bangas. This is just… kinda weak, honestly." Jamie stated.

"Chunk, you said they did pretty good back in their hometown." Jackson pointed out.

"They did! That song got the crowd moving at the Royal Rumble."

"Royal Rumble? What's that?" Jazmine asked.

"School talent showcase." Chunk answered.

"Ohhh!" The group suddenly realized.

"That explains it." James said.

"At least the crowd doesn't seem too annoyed by them." Jazmine examined the audience, noting their reactions to the band.

"True. Some of them look like they're just casually enjoying them." Jackson stated.

"Yeah, we should probably talk to them after this." James suggested.

"Agreed." Jamie said.

The band continued playing through the rest of their set. The crowd was slightly paying attention to them while a few were chatting amongst themselves. The Known's songs consisted of a somewhat variety of tunes. Some played like ballads that sounded deep but hollow altogether while others were clearly just filler songs with no sense of meaning. Luna and George switched between vocals and even did back up for each other while Sam and Ruth were still just providing accompaniment. During one of their songs Luna became a little too excited and almost dove off the stage. Thankfully Sam tackled her just in time. 45 minutes had passed as they wrapped up their last song.

"And it'll never be the same, without rock and roll in my life~" Luna ended the final song. The audience looked on a began giving them a few apathetic claps. The bands faces grew a bit depressed as the audience applauded. Mr. Mata made his way back to the stage while clapping.

"Alright, uhh… let's hear it for The Known." Mr. Mata lead the audience to applaud one last time. The band began to exit the stage. "Okay, So this next group is actually a hometown act. Some of you might know their songs from the internet…"

From backstage the band was in disheartment.

"Man, what the hell was that!? Not one of those guys was feeling our vibe." Luna bemoaned.

"I think I saw someone on their phone." George pointed out.

"Maybe they were recording us." Sam suggested with a semi hopeful smile.

"No, she was definitely texting. She looked so brained dead while doing it." Ruth mocked.

"This sucks! Our first on tour gig and we blew it." Luna crossed her arms slumped on the couch.

"Hey, now. Don't be too angry. You guys at least had the audience somewhat interested in you. You just couldn't get them moving." Jazmine comforted.

"You guys need to see how to really pump up the crowd. Come on guys." Jamie commanded his siblings. They got ready to enter the stage as Mr. Mata introduced them.

"Everybody get on your feet and get ready for Sibling Rivalry." The business owner said as the group came on stage. Jazmine made her way over to her turntable as her brothers grabbed their microphones. The audience gave a weary look to the group.

"I'm hoping these guys know how to really get things bumping." One member of the audience complained.

"They better be more fun than the last act otherwise I'm not coming back here." Another member complained.

The group gave smirks to the audience.

"Yo, Jazz bring the noise." Jamie commanded.

Jazmine began spinning the records on the turntable. She played a high energy beat with a good amount of bass to it. The crowd began to feel their bodies moving to the sound.

"Alright, it's time we let y'all know. Yo, James, tell'em what it is." Jamie said.

"Yo, what up? It's the J-McBrides, putting down them beats to improve ya lives. I know you want good vibes, so we here to provide, big Jimmy's on the mic and I tell no lies. We gon' get this party poppin like bubble wrap, got straight fire comin' from our soundtrack, ain't no time to relax, I'm spittin facts, if y'all don't like it ya can catch a size twelve right to ya back~" James rapped as the audience was nodding their heads. They shortly began to jump in tune with the beat. They began to even cheer on group.

Luna's group looked on in awe at the sight before them. They saw the audience getting into the groove of the song.

"Holy crap. They got the whole venue jumping in just the first note, dudes." Luna exclaimed.

"Not even our best song could do that." Sam stated.

"Boy, we really gotta step up our game if we want to play with them." Ruth expressed with a concerned look.

"We definitely need to re-evaluate what we're doing. We can't be on tour if people only casually like us otherwise we might as well go back to Royal Woods." George spoke up.

"Agreed." The group came to an understanding. They sat for a few seconds listening to their friends, feeling a bit downtrodden about their performance. Sam started shaking her shoulders to the beat.

"You know, we can mope about ourselves afterwards. For now, this song is bumping and you need to show mama what you got." Sam grabbed Luna and started dancing.

Luna followed Sam's example and began getting into to the groove. "Alright, but watch out, these hips don't lie when they get swingin." Luna started moving her body in tune with the song. George and Ruth looked on as they saw their friends having fun.

Ruth grabbed onto George's arms and started pulling him. "Come on, Georgie. Let's have some fun."

"No thanks, I'm not really a dancer." George confessed as Ruth kept pulling him.

"Nonsense. It just like riding a unicycle on a trapeze."

"Isn't that supposed to be really difficult?" George gave a confused look.

"Not at all, come on." Ruth pulled George and started swinging the two around while holding hands. She smiled at the brown haired boy which caused him to nervously blush. Everyone including the whole venue continued having a good time throughout the McBrides whole set. The rap group played many differing songs and switched between who lead. Jamie and Jackson handled the singing parts of their songs. James and Jazmine handled the rap portions as well as Jackson. Their whole set consisted of pure bangers and the group even did some small dance routines to go along with it, to the enjoyment of the crowd.

Chunk sat on the couch still thinking about the Known's performance while looking at his phone reading the message board of the club. He gave a disappointed look as he watched the Known continue dancing.

45 minutes passed as Sibling Rivalry finished up their set. The crowd cheered on with thunderous applause to the performance. Both the group and band had packed up everything and got ready to head out. The Known stayed inside the RV while Sibling Rivalry was outside with Chunk and Mr. Mata.

"Thanks, again Otto. These guys definitely needed this." Chunk shook the business owners hand.

"No problem. It started a little shaky but I think the rap group managed to pull it together. You guys should definitely talk to your friends about their set, though. That type of rock isn't really welcomed in the big leagues." Mr. Mata claimed as he handed Chunk the band and groups payment in an envelope.

"Yeah, I think they've started to realize that now. Thanks again for the gig, Mr. Matic." Jamie said as they all got into the RV.

"It's Mata!" The manager yelled.

The group entered the RV and saw the band looking down with sullen looks on their faces.

"Well, I think I can guess what those looks are for." Jamie commented.

"It's just… we saw how well you guys did on stage and how much people weren't really connecting with our performance. It kinda hurt? you know?" Luna rubbed the back of her neck.

"We kinda feel like we might of bit off more than we can chew with this tour." Sam added.

"Okay, I can admit that y'all didn't really do much to impress those people out there but that shouldn't discourage you. You just gotta up your game a bit." Jamie expressed.

"You shouldn't feel too hurt. We didn't do too hot on some of our gigs." Jazmine took a seat next to Luna and wrapped her arm around the purple rocker's shoulder.

"Yeah, one time Jackson was muttering through a speed rap and got the crowd to throw food at him." Jamie claimed.

"Hey, at least we still got paid for that. It wasn't as bad as when you tried slapping auto tune on your verses or when Jazz wanted to try out dubstep and pissed off the whole audience so much that they wanted a refund." Jackson replied.

"The point being…" Jazmine gave an irritated look towards her brothers. "...It took sometime and some failures for us to find our strengths and weaknesses."

"Yeah! Now I know speed rapping is just not my strong suit. Singing and normal rapping are what I'm good at." Jackson assured.

"And I know that autotune can work some of the time and I shouldn't slather my voice in it when I can actually sing." Jamie gave a soft smile to the band.

"You guys should just take this as a learning experience. From what Chunk told us, you guys have mostly performed at birthday parties and local venues, so you wouldn't really get much major criticism from them. We uploaded our songs online and got some criticism from there." Jazmine stated.

"That's what helped us find our sound. Some of the criticism was constructive while others were… a bit more… um… colorful." Jackson gave a sour look.

"Dawg, they were downright relentless. Like for real, some of them were just unnecessarily mean. Some even told us to kill ourselves." James spoke up.

"Ouch." The band winced.

"Yeah, but we pushed through and used some of those criticism to our advantage. So maybe you should see what exactly people thought about your set." Jazmine said.

"Well, from I've been reading on the message boards for the club they loved SB but thought The Known was generic and bland. The general consensus seems to be that The Known's songs were more about being loud with basic chords that anyone could play and the lyrics were nothing special and just basic 'I want to be a rockstar' or 'I am a rockstar' fodder. And the band lacked personality. At least that's what this meowingfan92 and others said." Chunk informed them.

"That sounds about right. You guys really need to get off this mindset of wanting to be big or just wanting to make music. People already know you want to make music by the fact that… you're making music! I mean I thought that rock and roll dream song was pretty weak, I'm not gon' lie." Jamie advised.

"It honestly sounded like something from some lame slice of life cartoon." Jackson quipped.

"To be honestly, I felt like we should've used some songs with more meat on it. 'Rock and Roll Dream' felt like something that would get them energized since it worked back home but I guess people have heard too many songs just like it. We thought being loud would give off our personality but we probably should've been moving more and playing some more complex songs." Luna admitted.

"We probably could've used more of our off brand tracks that we had but I don't know. They I don't… I don't really feel comfortable with them." George rubbed his arm.

"Why not?" Jazmine inquired.

"They involve him using his screamo voice and he's kinda self conscious about it." Sam divulged.

"Dawg, you do screamo? That's awesome!" Jamie complimented.

"Wait, you really think so?" George began to light up with joy.

"Yeah, there are plenty of people who love screamo. Hell, we've wanted to use it in one of our songs but can't since none of can do it. Poor Jamie blew out his voice trying." Jackson said.

"Boy, was Mom mad at me for that. Every time she tried calling me to do something she'd get pissed cuz she couldn't hear me respond." Jamie laughed.

"So, you should definitely use that for your songs. We can even use it for some of our collab songs." Jazmine suggested.

"You really think it could work for us?" George asked.

"It definitely can work. Screamo would've helped your set a lot. That shit gets people jumping because it's just filled with energy." Jamie suggested.

"You gotta use more of your unique talents. Like Sam." James got the blondes attention. "You said you can rap. Show us what you got."

"I mean, you're asking me to show you what I got, and I can admit my bars are not that hot, so it feels like I've been put on the spot, but my rhymes can hit you like a three point shot." Sam rapped with a slick as everyone looked on in amazement.

"Yoooo! Was that off the top of yo head?" Jamie excitedly asked.

"You could say it was off the top of my head, you might think I made it while laying in bed. But that's dead, I bleed more rhymes than I bleed red." Sam smirked as Luna looked on in awe.

"Dang, my baby's got flames." Luna said while hugging Sam.

"Oh, you definitely 'bout start using that on some of these songs. We gon' rework on those collabs y'all suggested." Jamie said.

"You, me, and James are about to have some fun. Come over here and help us write a new hit. You too, George." Jackson commanded the blonde. Sam and James got up and walked to the back of the RV and began brainstorming lyrics.

"And Luna and Ruth, you guys can work more on your accompaniment. Luna you gotta try some more difficult chords rather than just some basic stuff." Jazmine suggested.

"I do know more complex stuff but I thought it wouldn't really work with our sound." Luna said.

"Trust me, complex stuff will help you big time. You should also try some different genres. You know any funk chords?" Jamie asked.

"I've dabbled in it. I once got an old folks home to start grooving to my wicked solos. Everyone needed hip replacement surgery after." Luna gave a saddened look.

"Jesus! But okay, let's try building on that. People love funk. And Ruth we gon' help you with some solos. I want to see if you can bring some thunder and lightning out of them drums." Jaime said.

"Well, the last time I went hard on my drums, my sticks caught on fire." Ruth said causing the twins to look at her in amazement.

"She's our drummer for a reason." Luna smirked.

"Well, alright then. So, it's settled, by the time we get to our next gig we're gonna have a whole slew of new songs that'll really let people know who you are. Also, we gotta think of a new name for you guys." Jamie suggested.

"Hmm." Jazmine pondered. She looked at each respective member of the group, thinking about something special about them. She examined Luna's paper clip earrings and Sam's blue streak in her hair. She snapped her fingers once an idea came to her mind. "I got it, Blue Paper Clips! It makes you sound like a real band and not one with your heads up your butts."

"That actually has a nice ring to it." George stated.

"I can dig it." Luna agreed.

"I still think we should be-hmph." Ruth mouth got covered by Sam.

"I guess we'll be known as the Blue Paper Clips. I like it." Sam added.

"Alright then. We're also working on your movement. Can't have y'all looking like zombies on stage. Since we know what we gotta tackle, we have about… hey, Chunk, when's our next gig?" Jamie inquired.

"In three days, mate." Chunk answered as he started up the RV.

"Boy, we're gonna have to kick it into overdrive then. We gon' be workin all day and night until we got a whole set of new songs to play at our next venue. We gon' hit'em hard and let'em know who Sibling Rivalry and the Blue Paper Clips are." Jamie said with great pride.

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted in agreement as Chunk took the RV out of park and began heading off to their next venture.

AN: I'll admit this was more a set up chapter. I just wanted to show that Luna's band realizes that their sound wasn't meant for the big leagues and that they gotta play up their abilities if they want to make it. The way I did the songs here is how I'm planning on doing them for future chapters. Tell me what you guys think.