Lenny read it out on the bus at half past ten on Saturday morning, in the car park behind the Liverpool arena, because Lenny reads Backline the way Keith listens to the radio: all of it, every day, in case somebody’s said something about him.
“‘Quiet floor, loud week.’” He had the phone at arm’s length like Hal. “‘Backline hears that Longfield’s Belfast hotel put the band on its quiet floor on Thursday, and that the quiet floor had one door fewer open than it should have. Six-twenty, ten past midnight. Six-twenty, eight minutes to six. The tour manager’s rules are said to be strict about buses and boats and silent on corridors. Longfield play Liverpool tonight and Lanternfield on the twenty-ninth, where the live album is recorded. Ninebark did not reply.’” He looked up. “That’s it. That’s the whole thing. No picture.”
Nobody said anything. The bus was in…
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