Back in college, Larry Carson played drums in a friend’s band and fell in love with the lead singer, Geoffrey Mason. But all that’s in the past. Larry’s now thirty-five, divorced, and father to a precocious thirteen-year-old daughter. One day, when Larry picks Crystal up from school, a song comes on the radio by a new rockstar climbing the charts. Larry recognizes Geoff’s voice immediately, though Crystal calls him Geo and claims he’s the hottest new singer on the scene. Just hearing him brings back a flood of memories, reopening wounds Larry thought long healed. The more he listens to Geo’s music, the more Larry falls in love with his former boyfriend all over again. Partly to prove to his daughter that he used to know Geo back in the day, and partly to reconnect with his old friend, Larry buys tickets to an upcoming concert and manages to score backstage passes. But there was a reason Larry and Geoff lost touch -- and stayed out of touch for so long. Will Geo even want to see Larry again after all this time? Or will the magic of their old familiar song bring about a harmonious duet?

Old Familiar Song

Crystal’s comment about going backstage set Larry thinking. While she watched a movie on television, he Googled how to get backstage tickets. Most of the suggestions he found were questionable—become affiliated with the media or press, work for or befriend someone who worked for the venue, win tickets online or over the radio. His favorite was know the performer.


I already do,he thought grimly. Or I did, back in the day. Little help that does me now.


Finally he found a blog detailing a rabid fan’s attempts to score backstage passes to a Bruce Springsteen show. The fan listed everything he tried to do to attain the passes and the results of each attempt. Most of them were discouraging, and one even landed the fan in jail overnight, but near the end of the post, Larry found something he thought he might be able to do himself. Contact the management company and ask if passes are available for the show.


Chapter 14