"One performance? Doubt it. Going to have to put in a bunch more. But hey, it didn't hurt." Mark was cautious about it; he realized that up above there were suits and they'd seen the show, but he wasn't sure how to gauge suit enthusiasm. The music industry looked at more than simply a performance, they often considered other factors as well.

As Martin Smythe's band got up, costumed, well-equipped with instruments and carefully choreographed, he figured that much of the suit types were there for them -- it made a certain degree of sense, as he started getting beered up and carried on conversation with Jules a bit, as well as the others. Bryce would no doubt be back soon, but for the meantime, it was a good time to enjoy company with friends with the pressure sudenly off. If there was a crisis of confidence before the performance, and there always was, there was a sense of relief based on the reaction and how everything went...well, swimmingly. As soon as they got in the groove, they played and it seemed to flash by.

So when they actually started to play, it was a bit of a shock to hear how bland they were; it was a sort of formulaic sort of marketing-savvy type of musicianship that had no spark or passion, or showmanship beyond an empty sort of salute to it rather than the real thing. Their lead singer had a droning voice that was supplemented with special audio effects and the guitars used a lot of distortion. It wasn't precisely sloppy, it was just uninspired and gimmicky. 

The crowd sensed it as well, as they sort of settled down from the intensity of the show that preceded these guys; the Shamekiss guys weren't merely being polite, it seemed -- they were industry veterans, guys that had been playing for a while and had that brief flare of a hit album that charted well and got them a wad of cash to work with. So maybe Jules was onto something.

"Mark, you're thinking too hard," Ren told him, putting another beer in his hand, "And this is no time for thinking beyond where we take the party next."

"Yeah, you're right." He clinked the glass of the bottle against Ren's and chugged. It was time to find some trouble to get into.