The Concert Was Over Summary and Synopsis

Synopsis

Through music, a spiritual journey of enlightenment is experienced by 3 childhood friends that sparks a revolution of conscious awakening across the entire planet.

Lyrically, the message is clear; humans are peaceful and capable without ‘big government’ stifling the true potential of man.

On the run from the law, a man with a microphone becomes the voice of a generation.  Along with the best representation of a Libertarian party to date, a group of Pagan bikers and a network of truth-releasing ‘hactivists’, “Sky’s Rise” takes the reigns of a new beginning to freedom for all.

In their way stands the FBI, a growing drug and paranoia problem, lost love, 2,000 years of religious enslavery and 200 years of American brainwashing.

Summary

This project, ‘The Concert Was Over’, is 20 years in the making.  I first came up with the idea to do a story about a band in my early twenties.  This would allow me to create fascinating storylines revolved around sex, drugs and rock’n’roll.

The title came along with the idea, signifying the story’s ending:  A final concert in a major city with tens of thousands of concertgoers and many, different implications culminating at once. 

Music, success, love, jealousy, friendship. 

Around 2008, I decided to amp the story up a bit.  I needed an antagonist; a big one.  Around this time, I was on a personal journey of truth and experiencing my own ‘spiritual awakening’.  I had become a skeptic, questioning everything. 

This is when I found out about the Libertarian political party.  I understood they were interested in holding on to the United States Constitution (with a few minor changes to account for our country’s growth and success.) 

Here are a few statements from the party’s website:

·         We seek to substantially reduce the size and intrusiveness of government and cut and eliminate taxes at every opportunity.

·         We believe that peaceful, honest people should be able to offer their goods and services to willing consumers without inappropriate interference from government.

·         We believe that peaceful, honest people should decide for themselves how to live their lives, without fear of criminal or civil penalties.

·         We believe that government’s only responsibility, if any, should be protecting people from force and fraud.

The simplicity of the ideology had me confused as to how we, as a country, had gotten to such a place politically, economically and socially.  Hanging around men of liberty, peace and justice, I too had decided that I would not stand for anything less than greatness.  If there was to be a ‘political establishment’, they needed to be transparent, progressive and compassionate and nothing short of that.

Too many people had fought and died to create and maintain this God-given liberty for us to let it fizzle out into nothing but a memory.

I didn’t see any of these things with our current system.  In fact, I saw nothing but war, poverty and injustice.  The more I researched, the more I was disappointed by the tactics of the politicians in power.  And, the more I lived my life – in and out of jail and rehab, working hard only to struggle financially within the system – the more I met good people with kind hearts.

I was confused.  People were confused.  At one point along the way, I decided that I needed to hold on to something greater; an absolute truth.  There was to be no more fear, no more indifference.  I decided that these people are bad news, and that we needed a major change from the corruption. 

In the story, the band takes on the role of revolutionary rebels of music.  They can be likened to some famous groups; ‘Rage Against the Machine’, ‘Muse’ or ‘The Beatles’, calling for great change and inspiring the true potential of mankind. 

The boys in the band are childhood friends from a small town.  They begin to question things, holding on to the innocence of their youth and friendship as the centerpiece to their journey.  As their popularity grows, so does their skepticism. 

Real life events - like 9/11 and Edward Snowden - happen, providing further disconnect from the people and their government.  The more the boys take on the path of love and freedom, the more they see the opposite from their leaders.

During an early concert in Philadelphia, Jared Blair - the handsome, young front man with a crippling case of stage fright and social anxiety - makes an impressive between-song speech about police brutality and offers a calling for the public to know their rights against tyranny and oppression.

The crowd agrees, latching on to a feeling of contempt and anger that had been kindled recently by the local police’s murder of an innocent man.  Outside, they riot; turning police cars, lighting fires and bombing the local police station with rocks and profanities.

The next day, the Philadelphia Inquirer is running a full, front page story about a ‘traitor’ who released information to the public from his top-secret job at the National Security Agency.  Some people are calling this man a hero for exposing the American government’s overextension into third world affairs and spying on its own people. 

At the bottom of the paper is a small teaser for a story featured on page 6.  There is a photo of Jared Blair, sweaty and shirtless on stage, standing above a thousand raised fists in the crowd.  “Concert leads to riot at the Electric Factory.”

It certainly looks as though, at a glance, the band was sending a message in response to Edward Snowden’s release of information to the public.  And, this is when people begin associating the band with some sort of revolutionary movement to freedom.

Freedom, liberty, independence, justice.

            After a while, travelling locally to perform small shows and beginning the process of writing and recording their own music, the band signs with a label.  The man in charge of signing the boys is a founding member of the Libertarian party. 

He informs the band that, upon the death of the company’s 89-year-old CEO, he would be taking on a new direction for the label, and that he wanted Sky’s Rise to be the leader of the new frontier.  The band now had access to funds, bigger venues and marketing.

As their popularity grew, and the lyrics of their music became more ‘anti-establishment’, the band began to pique the interest of a government agency known as the FBI. 

A rookie agent is assigned to ‘keep an eye on the band’, making sure he does everything in his power to thwart their success and the length of their reach.  He is given the authority to do anything in his power to break up the band. 

Early on, in order to help fund the lifestyle of broke, aspiring musicians, the boys started selling drugs.  This was something they could never seem to let go throughout the story.  Each band member’s individual struggles and stances on drug abuse allows the opportunity for many, smaller plot lines throughout the story.

Along the way, the boys get themselves involved in some precarious situations.  Each situation they find themselves in exposes the band to more truths about the world, their own spirituality, music and man’s need for government. 

There are also some interesting, chaotic relationships throughout the story involving some unique and energetic females. 

All in all, this is a story of 3 friends that embark on a journey of truth.  They find some friends to help guide them along the way.  But, in the end, it comes down to getting on the stage in front of a crowd and providing the energy that could potentially fuel the direction of the people towards true freedom for everyone.

The goal is to have the book completed by the end of 2018.