Things settled down after that and we spent the rest of the day just kicking back. I made a nice dinner for him and then we had sex again that night.

The following morning,  though, all hell broke loose. Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson broke his hand in a bar brawl the previous night. When Derek learned of the incident that morning at work, he called Lizzy's management and said he knew someone who could step in right away so that  they won't have to cancel their U.S. tour after all. Furthermore, because she was American, she wouldn't need a work permit from the U.S. government to play. The band's manager reportedly reacted, "She? You mean a girl?" "That's right," Derek told him. "AND she can play circles around either Scott (Gorham) or Brian." "Are you winding me up (playing a practical joke), mate?"  "Oh for fuck's sake, no. Listen mate, what have you got to lose except the band's momentum in America and lots of money if you put the kabosh on the tour?' "Well, I suppose at the very least we could have her audition just to wind Brian up, especially since he and Phil hadn't been seeing eye to eye on the "Johnny the Fox" album. Okay, we'll have a look." "Brilliant! Derek celebrated. "Look mate, if she's shit and you're wasting our time your paper will be dead to us, you understand?" "Don't worry mate. Now tell me when you want to have her come round."

While this discussion was occurring, I was out guitar shopping and sightseeing. In fact, that day, I bought a Strat and a Gibson  Flying V. I came trundling up to Derek's building and saw him standing on the steps leading up to it. I was looking forward to tossing the guitars in his car because I was getting pretty arm weary by that time. When he saw me, he ran up and blurted that I was going to audition for Thin Lizzy. I thought my ears were deceiving me. "Say that again sweety," I directed. That is when he told me what had happened to Robbo, as he was  known by friends and fans, of which I was one. Brian was a really tasty player, but he was also hot tempered. If I did do the tour with them, how would he react?

Anyway, my head was spinning at the unreality of it all. One minute I'm a  tourist visiting her new boyfriend and now I might hit the road with Thin Lizzy? And what made the whole thing even more intense was that I had to do it the following day and I didn't have my usual gear other than my Les Paul in country with me.

Derek fetched his car and I tossed my two new acquisitions into the trunk. We jetted off to the nearest  Virgin Records store, where I bought all of the band's LPs. "Can you learn  the material in a day?" Derek asked. "I already know the money stuff," I bragged, "But I'll have to woodshed the rest. I can do it, but I'll be up all night memorizing it.. My greatest problem, I think, will actually be not shitting myself when I meet Phil (Lynott)," I joked. Of course, Derek's paper was also planning an exclusive feature article on me whether I got the job or not. Due to my relationship with Derek, they gave him the rest of the day off so he could take me home and I could prepare for the audition.

By 6 p.m., I had all of the latest album dicked and played it from start to finish for Derek. I used making dinner as a mental break and so he wouldn't be relegated to pub or takeout food that night. By nine, I knew "Jailbreak" backwards and forwards. My main frustration, actually, was that I didn't have my pedal board because some of the TL songs require a wah pedal. Then I went after a few songs from their earlier output. I already knew "Whiskey in the Jar." In fact, Joe and I used to occasionally jam on it. But I did have to work on "Sarah," "The Rocker," "Still in Love With You," "Sha La La," "Rosalie" and "The Wild One." I had them under my fingers by 11 p.m. I spent the  next three hours studying morre material off of the "Fighting" record and then went to bed.

Derek and I woke up at 10 a.m. and, after I cooked up breakfast, I put on the white leather mini skirt outfit I mentioned earlier with the draw string white bustier, white thigh high stockings and the same colored platform heels. I cranked my amp up and went through half a dozen songs I thought were the most likely they would want me to play. "How do I sound baby?" I asked Derek. "Fucking brilliant!" he smiled. I pulled out the Strat, which I was going to use as a backup, and played three or four more tracks. I was psyched and ready to kill.

At noon, we left for the band's rehearsal studio. I didn't think any of the members would actually be there. Rather, I believed they would probably have the manager check me out and, if I passed muster, there would be a second audition. Mind you, the band was already supposed to be in the U.S. to start its tour in New York at the Palace Theater on the 28th, three days hence. I assumed they would cancel the first week of the tour then soldier on for the rest of it if they liked me.

My heart was in my throat as we came to a halt at the rehearsal studio. A huge security guy let us in, where we were met by Lizzy's manager and Gorham's guitar tech, who both looked at me skeptically. There was a Marshal stack on one side of the stage with a Les Paul on a stand in front of it. Derek and I rolled my half stack in and hooked up to the mains power. I turned my amp on to warm up while we kibitzed with the guitar tech. The manager sat in the middle of the hall waiting for us to start playing. When the power tubes were properly warm, I flipped it on and hit a few power chords and then did some standard licks, a bit of Zeppelin, some Deep Purple and then 12 bars from Yngwie's "Rising Force" solo. Naughty, but it completely dispelled my nervousness. "You ready?" the tech asked. "Yup, Pick a tune and count me in," I suggested. "Don't Believe a Word," he called and then immediately counted if off. I hit it right on the downbeat and pulled it off flawlessly. Next was "Cowboy Song/The Boys are Back in Town," which I had been playing for months in my cover band. I was able to do that in my sleep. "Jailbreak,," "Emerald," "Rosalie," I nailed them all and, by the end of it, I was posing up a storm. The audition continued with "Whiskey in the Jar" and "Sarah" and then "The Rocker." On the latter tune, the tech and I just jammed on it, allowing me to blaze all over the fretboard.

The manager pulled the tech aside and asked his opinion of me. The conversation seemed to go on forever. Finally,  the manager came up to me and asked if I could stick around a while longer. Naturally, I didn't say no. Derek spent some time interviewing the guitar tech (on background, of course, which meant he would only be quoted as only an anonymous source) about how I played. The feedback he got was pretty glowing, I found out later.

We waited and we waited. After nearly two hours, in through the door comes Brian Downey, one of the most underrated drummers ever, Glendale, CA native Gorham, and the big man, bassist/singer Phil Lynott. I felt some butterflies in my stomach as I continued to noodle around on my guitar. I stood there shifting nervously on my feet. Their road crew loaded a skeleton backline on stage. But even after they were finished, I was still standing there waiting. They kept talking with their manager  staring at me on occasion, and the manager didn't look happy. One of the members, and I'm not going to say who, thought it was a joke when they saw me. Finally, they climbed up on onstage and said hi in an offhand way and strapped their instruments on. Phil called out "Johnny the Fox" and Brian kicked it off with a pounding drum intro. Scott drifted over to my side of the stage for a better fix on what was coming out of my speaker cab. This is a really simple song. Again, though,  not having a wah pedal made it impossible for me to precisely duplicate the sound on  the record , so I did the best I could. The songs fades out on the LP, but here, they stretched it out  and I laid back until Scott nodded over to me to take another solo. I didn't blow my wad with a lot of fast playing, but instead went for a more groove oriented cadenza like the others on the album version of the track. I nodded back to Scott when the main riff came around again, but he bounced it back to me and I basically ripped off Roy Buchanan and Rory Gallagher with a little Lonnie Johnson tossed in there, too. They still kept giving me "WTF?" kind of looks.

That finally ended and Phil called for "Rocky," another song off of the latest LP. The faster tempo and more rambunctious feel of the tune helped loosen me up and, when the harmony guitar part came up, I walked over to Scott, stood in front of him and pulled some outrageous guitar faces and posed my ass off. If I was going to fail I wanted to go down in flames, not with a whimper.. Coming out of the harmony section, I had an individual solo, which I did using rapid hammer ons up the neck before finishing it with some speed picked 32nd notes at the end just to change things up a bit. Phil then asked for "Cowboy Song"/"The Boys are  Back in Town" I got pretty cocky. After the intro and the first harmony part that goes into the first verse, I jumped in the air and hit the riff right on the one, did a spin and then produced some Jimmy Page style poses before double timing my solo, which I played cleaner than Brian did on the live album. I was back to being my arrogant old self on stage and on the second harmoy, stood next to Scott again and then tore off the solo note for note before the next harmony sequence.  I then crashed the opening chord to "The Boys are Back in Town" and acted like I was playing to 50,000 people instead of an empty rehearsal hall. On the final solo section, this time, Scott walked over to me as we did it in harmony, which I took as a mark of respect.

"Emerald" was shouted out. If  you can keep good time you can play this song. The unison guitar lines are meant to emulate a company of pipers as they accompany men into battle and the little harmony part that precedes the main solo helps build so much tension it's unreal. It's a simple song, but a great piece of music. This would be the final  part of  the audition.

Scott ambled over to me and shook my hand. "You played great," he smiled. "What's your name again?" "Melody." "Where are you from?" "Orange County, California." "No shit, really?" Brian sidled over to shake my hand, but otherwise didn't really say anything. Phil left the stage as soon as the final tune concluded. Derek came up to get a statement from Scott. I walked away so that Scott wouldn't feel the pressure of me being there. I commenced unplugging my equipment. I got it off the stage and rolled it out toward the exit. "Derek, let's go honey," I shouted. "Hold on a minute love!" he bellowed. He was still speaking to Scott. There was a photographer from Derek's paper standing around outside because the band didn't want any pictures taken of the audition. "So how did it go Melody?" he asked. "Whatever the final verdict is, I'm glad I did it," I bubbled." He pulled a camera out of his bag and began shooting snaps of me, some with my Les Paul.

Ten minutes later, Derek came walking out. "Sorry I didn't get the job, honey. But thanks for trying," I said. "Who told you that you didn't?" he shot back irritably. "Well, nobody told me I'm hired, so I can only guess they weren't interested." "It doesn't really work like that on this level," he propounded, "especially with a  tour cancellation looming." "Oh, okay," I accommodated. "Are you through here Roger?" Derek interrogated his colleague. "Let me get a few of you with her, Derek, for the ol' family scrapbook." Roger peeled off a number of pics of Derek and I being lovey dovey and then we loaded my gear into Derek's car and went back to his residence.

No matter what Derek said, I was still convinced that I wasn't what they were looking for. They were just so blase toward me that I couldn't conceive of them having me sit in for Brian. I called Joe and told him what happened. I informed him that I was going to hire him as my guitar tech if I did end up getting it, so he should stay near a phone during the next three days. "That would be so bitchin'!" he exclaimed.

Derek interviewed me about the whole process and then we went out to a pub for dinner because I was too mentally worn out to want to cook. Upon returning to Derek's, I took a shower and went to bed. Derek joined me several hours later.

I felt refreshed when I got up with Derek the next morning and concocted a nice breakfast for us. His paper wanted me to come to their office, so I accompanied him there. I took my Les Paul with me to have something to fiddle with while I was there. Just before lunch, Derek got a phone call.it was Thin Lizzy's manager's secretary. They were urgently looking for me. Derek called me over and handed me the phone. "Who the fuck could be calling me?" I thought to myself. "Hi. Is this Melody?" the voice on the other end asked. "Yes it is," I verified. "This is Thin Lizzy's management office calling. We need you to go to our solicitor's (lawyer's) office as soon as you can. We can send a car around if that's okay with you." "Hold on," I instructed. I explained to Derek what was occurring and asked if he needed me to  stay. Flash bulbs started going off in the office  "Okay, I'll be waiting for it," I stated. Derek and I waited in the lobby. About 20 minutes later, the car pulled up and carried us both to the plush office of the band's management's lawyers. They made Derek sit in the waiting room while I was ushered into the office.

"So what am I being paid?" I inquired. "300 pounds a week," someone said. "Sorry guys, but that ain't gonna get it. I want $1000 US.a  week plus $200 a week for the guitar tech I want to hire." "That's pretty rich for a prospective sidewoman  who has never played on a major tour before," an assistant riposted. "Listen buddy boy," I shot back sharply, "you can either meet my asking price or I would be quite content to go home. I'm not one of those desperate musos who has kids or a drug habit to feed. What'll it  be?" They knew I had them by the balls. But they  were going to try to lowball me anyway. "We can come up to 400 pounds a week and that is all." "Okay guys, here is my  walk away offer. If you don't take it, the next thing you'll see is me happily heading off back to my man's place. $800 a week plus my own guitar tech and he will receive $200 per week." "Miss. Kang, think of the prestige and name recognition you'll acquire as part oft he band. And the experience will be good for your growth as a musician." "My offer is a yes or no question, you lot. If the next word out of somebody's mouth isn't some variation of 'yes'  I'm pissing off to lunch." "You can't be serious," somebody blurted. "Gentlemen, good day ," I said while standing up and heading toward the door. "Fucking cheap bastards," I muttered under my breath as I passed through the threshold of the office. I whispered to Derek, "come on baby, let's go eat."