She's paced before every performance, working on her vocal warm ups and we had finished rehearsal two hours ago. She's showered and donning one of her costumes that she begins every show with, my eyes on her. She hits a high E over C, a new note that proves her range just hit its sixth octave and she ceases movement and singing. She shocked herself. "Did I just hit another octave? Another level to add to my range?"
"You now have a six octave range and have a larger range than me," I praise her, Justin and Chris barging into our green room.
"JC, did you do that?" Chris asks.
"Baby, sing 'Reflection'."
I know she can now hit that note on her own, no coaching needed and she does, flawlessly hitting that high E over C better than Christina. "That answers that. Congrats, Sam, you have another range to add to your abilities," Justin quips, praising her afterward. "That's, what, five ranges now?"
"Six octave range, very impressive," Lance compliments her, clapping. He pokes his head around the corner of the door and smiles at her, proud she is now capable of out singing me.
"Holy shit, she's now up there with Whitney, Britney, Christina and Mariah!" Joey comments.
"That's quite a range," Jason David Frank comments, "I heard that high note all the way outside the arena."
She takes a deep breath and hugs me, crouching on the trap door before I steal a quick kiss. "Bonne chance, mami," I tell her.
"Et vous," she fires back, almost lightening fast and pulls her hood over her head. "Ready, Gordon!" she shouts to her stage hand a few feet away. Nickelback's 'Midnight Queen' plays as her intro song because she chose Boston as one of her 16+ crowd stops on this tour with every attendee carded at the door via school or state ID. She sings one of her favorite Paramore songs, 'Ignorance' with Haley William's video playing and Sam pops up, face to face with a hooded Haley. They kill it, leading into 'Decode' and 'Misery Business' and executing choreographed fight moves with precision I haven't seen in so long. They jump into a song I'd seen years ago in one of her many notebooks and smile, understanding why she only wanted two people to hear it when she met up with Haley alone.
"Never began to dream this
Couldn't imagine life being so perfect
Didn't know I could be in love It's more than I ever could wish
Friends say I've been given karma
Supportive of my joy
Never questioning our gift
Believe me when I say this
All those who love me are blessed
I wouldn't ask for more
Than what I've got
Your love means you've been earning
Instead of keeping it, you chose to share
More than a simple caress
Placing your affections
To show your concern
For a connection between us
You grow within my heart
I can't even begin to return it all
It's not enough to be right for you
My heart is slowly repairing from old wounds
You never promised me anything
You always showed me you weren't like the other guys
And I proved it to you about women
You snuck into my life, my heart to never be torn apart
Everyday is wondrous
I can't say those words yet
No more running from it
No more hiding from such a beautiful thing
I've taken all the time I needed to find myself, find us
All those who love me are blessed
I wouldn't ask for more
Than what I've got
Your love means you've been earning
Instead of keeping it, you chose to share
More than a simple caress
Who cares what they think?
I miss you when I think of your simple caress
I need to feel your simple caress
Nothing has ever felt as right as your simple caress
I need to feel more than a simple caress
I can't sleep when I don't feel your simple caress
You know nothing more than a simple caress
Is what it takes you to prove wrong the temptress
Desire isn't enough, prove it with more than a simple caress
One thing could only intensify it all, I confess
Need and want do differ, but this will always be limitless
Need more than a simple caress
Gravitate to you for more than a simple caress
You show your appreciation with more than a simple caress
Proving emotions with more than a simple caress
Enjoying the other half more than a simple caress
Roaming around to be greeted with so much more than a simple caress," she and Haley sing back and forth, Sam meaning each word for me specifically. Haley smirks and they strip off the hoodies simultaneously, they have one more song.
"I could always 'Use Somebody' just like Kings of Leon described in their song," Haley announces, "but you have that fulfilled."
Haley and her sing their hearts out, the women hugging before the Paramore front woman dropping into the fall safe area and their silhouetted band members switching out and Chad Kroeger walking out.
Chad quickly falls into the position he needs to be in beside her, his head down and beside her. She sings all odd verses and Chad takes the even, both harmonizing for the chorus to sound like a beautiful contradiction of voices.
"Crowds that scream at superstars
Where bouncers show their battle scars
I've been the first to sign on every wall
Down the road and round the bend
We pray to God it never ends
I've been, I've seen, we've screamed to everyone," she growls out, her voice husky as Chad grins in a prideful way.
"We'll see you at the show
If you don't come, we'll never know
You stand off in the back
You still stand out while you're wearing black," she continues, his vocals joining her as they sing to one another.
"Jump onto the bus
And ride around with all of us
We'll go out on the town
And light it up 'til we burn it down, burn it down," he croons into the microphone as she grabs an electric guitar to play with him and he grabs his own guitar.
"After hours and alcohol
Every club, we've seen 'em all
As long as we don't need to stand in line
Party scenes and billboard dreams
The ladies love those limousines
We know they're gonna show up every time," he continues.
"We'll see you at the show
If you don't come, we'll never know
You stand off in the back
You still stand out while you're wearing black
Jump onto the bus
And ride around with all of us
We'll go out on the town
And light it up 'til we burn it down, burn it down," they belt out together, shamelessly.
"Crowds that scream at superstars
Where bouncers show their battle scars I've been the first to sign on every wall
Down the road and round the bend
We pray to God it never ends
I've been, I've seen, we've screamed to everyone," she sings from her heart, enjoying the time on the stage with someone she’s always respected as a performer.
"We'll see you at the show
If you don't come, we'll never know
You stand off in the back
You still stand out while you're wearing black
Jump onto the bus
And ride around with all of us
We'll go out on the town
And light it up 'til we burn it down, burn it down
Light it up 'til we burn it down
Light it up 'til we burn it down
You know we gotta light it up 'til we burn it down
Burn it down!" The two of them really got riled enough to make the fans go apeshit.
She and I are on stage, ready to cover 'A Match Into Water', 'Use Somebody' and 'Never Let This Go' in no particular order. "I have select venues on this collaboration tour, like this one, that have age limits and some inappropriate for children moments which is why I set up the age restriction."
