CHAPTER 16: ESH MABUL

Route No. 7 was now on hiatus, and Jay was still managing events with his production company. Earlier that year, Jay had been contacted by a café that wanted him to manage their events, so he started getting bands to play there. Through this job, he helped many bands to get a stage.

After filling most of the roster, he needed to find more bands to schedule. So Jay spoke to a band which was comprised of a few friends from his church. Jay also invited a female singer who did Western classical songs and was well noted for her awesome vocal delivery. They were all available, so he scheduled them for a one-hour performance..

After the visit from the Prince there was a massive change in his life, and his spiritual strength was on the rise. He prayed to ask the Trinity what he should be doing with his time, and he heard the Wise One asking him to start another band—a band that would have different music from Route No. 7. He was telling Jay to move into classic rock and blues.

. Jay wanted to explore more in music , since he did love classic rock since childhood because of his father's influence, so it would be a pleasant break to be going old school now. It was a new direction for Jay, and he was hopeful.

While attending Pastor Bertie's church, Jay had made friends with a certain lead guitarist by the name of Levan. They had jammed together randomly a few years ago but had not considered anything serious.

Levan a devout believer of the Prince came from a family of musicians. He had picked up the guitar when he was a child and continued learning. It was a common trend in the local music scene to cover songs by others, but Levan had wanted to do something of his own for a long time.

One evening, Jay and Levan were at a get-together in church, along with thirty other friends. Suddenly, there was a power outage, and the lights went out. People began to complain about the power cut and talk among themselves. Levan picked up a guitar and began to play some notes. It caught Jay's attention, and they began to jam. All of a sudden, Levan began confidently playing something he had never played before, and Jay began to make up lyrics. They called the song "Tonight." The lyrics were so spontaneous that their friends kept listening:

We just want to be here in the light.

We're not leaving here without the light.

Prince of peace is the way, the truth, and the life.

We just want to be here in the light.

It was like magic. Then the power came back on.

Little did they know that while the lights were off, angels had descended into the room. One of the angels took out one of the scrolls of music the Emperor had given and opened it right in front of Jay's face. As Jay was looking toward Levan's direction in dark, it was as if he were singing lyrics right from the scroll of Blue primus papers, though he was unaware of it.

When the lights came back on, Jay and Levan ran onto the stage, plugged in the guitars and mics, and began to jam. Fireball and the angels began to dance. It ended with the thirty other people jumping up and down.

"Hey, give me the name of the band and this song! I want to check them out!" asked a girl.

Jay said to her, "We just made up the song when the power went out."

"Oh my gosh!" She was astounded.

Levan and Jay looked at each other. They were thinking the same thing: "We've got to work with each other."

One day after the service , Jay spoke to Levan more seriously about this idea. "I'm thinking of starting a band, and I was wondering if you would join me."

Levan was a huge fan of Route No. 7, and when he heard this, his jaw dropped. He put his hand on his mouth and then on his head. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he fumbled for the right words. "Oh my gosh... dude... I have been wanting to ask you this for a long time, but I didn't have the guts!"

They decided to meet for dinner and talk about the plan. Jay told Levan that he had been in nu metal for more than a decade, and now he wanted to go back to his roots of classic rock, Levan already felt a green signal in his heart, and he said he would love to bring out his own original compositions in that genre.

Jay knew that Levan aced in classic rock, power ballads, blues, and rock 'n' roll. Listening to Levan play was like listening to the old '80s and '90s classic rock guitarists of big bands.

"So what about Route No. 7?" Levan asked with concern. "Are you done with the band?"

"Yeah im done," Jay said. "We are currently on hiatus, but I don't think we are regrouping since the boys have moved on with their work and all that. They would be fine with me doing this."

"Sounds great! Let's start, then!"said Levan

Levan told Jay that he was impressed with his passion and the fact that they clicked so well. He had been observing Jay for a year. Jay hadn't realized that the Trinity had been working on Levan for such a long time for this band. They began to have more discussions. They knew the band still needed more musicians.

Jay said, "We need a keyboardist, a rhythm guitarist, a drummer, and a bassist."

Levan said, "Yeah, and we need to have a unique sound."

Levan was so excited and began to work on some original music of his own. He had been in several bands before, but he just knew this was going to be very different.

One day, Levan and Jay had a text conversation:

Levan: Hey Jay we have to start jamming, bro. And we need a name for the band.

Jay: We should totally. I'm ready. Could you bring a notebook and a pen to my house? We gotta write some lyrics.

Levan: Sure. Hey, I need to tell you something important.

Jay: What do you want to tell me, Levan?

Levan: I feel I have a huge responsibility for the kingdom of the Emperor.

Jay: You do, and I do. I saw a vision of fire falling on people, causing a flood of the Trinity's love. The Emperor gave me a name for the band, based on that: "Esh Mabul." It means "fire flood" in Hebrew. What do you think?

Levan: That name is so catchy, bro. It's very intriguing.

I can't wait to jam. Loved that song "Tonight." You did a great job with the vocals. Can't wait to record it professionally.

I got some tunes of my own I wanna show you. The music has a ballad kind of feel. I'm also good with slow leads.

Jay: I love power ballads. Let's do this!

Levan: I need help in making melodies for the songs.

Jay: Absolutely. Let's do this.

As Levan and Jay began to jam,they were considering another guitarist to help build a line of music—a nerdy, skinny-looking guy from his church whose name was Marlen. He was also a guitarist who loved classic rock. He had been playing guitar since childhood in school and in bands, . He had been dreaming that one day, he would play in a band that would go the distance. Jay and Levan spoke to him, and he was willing to join the band.

At the same time, Jay also asked a keyboardist named Ana. she, too had begun to work on her musical skills. She loved the Western classical style of piano but had a similar musical taste to Levan and Jay's. When they spoke to her about the band, she was also eager to join. Both Marlen and Ana were good singers, and the band was beginning to take shape. They wrote a few songs together.

The band was just missing a drummer and a bassist. It so happened that Levan's old friend Nikoloz, a tall graduate from a music college, also loved drumming. They asked Nik to join, and he willingly did.

The band was jamming, but they still needed something unique in their band. Jay spoke to Levan about coming off the norms of just doing the same style as everyone else. Jay had an idea. "Why don't we have two main voices?" he asked.

"Well, come to think of it, that's a good idea. Let's do it," Levan said.

Jay remembered hosting an event with bands for the café he worked for, and he remembered a girl named Kay who sang Western classical songs. She was a quiet one in conversation but a fantastic singer. She would often come to their church and do some special numbers that would have everyone staring at her vocal prowess with jaws on the floor.

Jay wrote to her on Facebook and connected with her. He asked her if she was okay for a meeting, and they met at a café. Jay told her about the vision of the band, which had to do with inspiring people and bringing them out of their pain, and he asked her if she would be interested.

Her reply was instant. "Yes! I'm in!"

Jay was rather shocked. "Don't you want a week to think about it?"

"I've already decided because this is an answer to prayer."

She told him how she had come to Dubai, graduated from the music college, and then stayed to become a music teacher and a singer performing for corporate events, but no one had noticed her talent. The deals were not materializing, so one day, she had prayed, that if nothing happens in two weeks she would leave ang go back to her country .That was when Jay contacted her.Listening to her story, Jay was over the moon he knew the Trinity was working behind the scenes.

Kay started rehearsing with the band. As soon as she was done with her work teaching music, she would come straight to Jay's home. She would learn all the lyrics by heart before rehearsal. Jay even got her to write her own lyrics because he didn't want the band to be a one man show; it was collective.

The new band was taking shape, so Jay decided he should call Pastor Bertie, asking for his blessing and permission to go forward with the band. Pastor Bertie was a man with a gracious heart and wished the best for all his band and mates.. It had been a secret desire of his that someone from his church would do something like this, so when he heard about the band, its vision, and that Jay was the one doing it, he was so excited and supportive. He said he would do his best to help them out, and he was okay if the band had its own identity and was not directly under his authority and his church's name. As long as they had their hearts in the right place, he was all for it.The band worked on their songs for the next eight months. It was a process, from writing lyrics to composing music to structuring songs and rehearsing.

Working with this team was a new experience for Jay. Levan, Marlen, Ana, Nik and Kay were all from the Tbilisi area of Georgia, but joining the band got them to know each others musical styles better.They had a great vibe between them. Jay, Marlen or Levan would fight through traffic to pick Ana up for rehearsals at Jay's house.. Marlen would come in on his electric guitar with some of his own styles, and he would play so hard that most times, after just a few minutes, a guitar string would break, and the jam would be halted. After a lot of laughter, they would have to rely on the keyboard or some other instrument to keep the flow of the tune.

Jay worked hard with each band member, knowing the expertise they extracted from each other. Jay spent the most time with Levan, Marlen, and Ana in working on different music styles and song compositions. They didn't have a bassist yet, but they were already bringing out some awesome music.

As Jay rehearsed with his band, he realized that he needed help making the crossover from rap growls to clean singing. Jay knew that this was Kay's expertise, so they met every day before band rehearsal to work on his vocal delivery.

Spending time on his new band and events management work kept Jay busy and helped take his mind off the pain that remained from his heartbreak. He knew the visit from the Prince had renewed his heart, but for some reason, some fragments of those memories still lingered faintly at the edges of his thoughts. This made him write a song called "Letting Go" about the relationship with Lana. One day while he was rehearsing with Kay he told her about the song and he told Kay he still had some of the gifts Lana had given him. "You've got to burn everything she gave you, Jay."

That evening after rehearsals, Kay and Jay gathered up all the tee shirts, the perfume bottles, the love letters, the pillowcase with the drawing—everything that Lana had given him—and made a bonfire out of them. Jay felt even better like he was fully released. They laughed as the things went up in smoke.

Then Jay saw Cupid suddenly scream and shoot upwards in a spiral from the fire like a whirlwind. Jay did not know until that moment that Cupid still had some access to his life because he had been holding on to the memories through those things. Cupid had been hoping to get Jay to go back to Lana and cause another heartbreak, if not immediately, then someday down the road.

But now because Jay had burned all those gifts all access to Cupid was destroyed by the Trinity to save him, Jay felt like something had lifted off of him. It was like a breath of fresh air.

Cupid glared at Fireball, who stood watching. Fireball stared back until Cupid disappeared.

"Let's celebrate!" Jay said.

They went to a restaurant and had some American chopsuey.

More songs began to take shape in the coming months: "Rain," "Seventh Ballad," "Home," and "Blackest Night."

Marlen was not the usual, run-of-the-mill guitarist but was very innovative, and one day, he came in with some ideas for a new song. The band loved it. They named the new song "Walk Away."

Another time, Levan came up with a fun guitar riff, and they made it into a song with a weird name, "Toop Toop." It had the potential to become a crowd favourite.

During rehearsals, the band would sometimes suddenly break out into old classic rock songs, mainly to keep themselves grounded in their intended genre, but also for fun. They would play some songs by Europe, Mr. Big, Bryan Adams, or Bon Jovi. This helped them establish a strong foundation for their music style..

Esh Mabul was becoming more than just a band. Over time, Jay was able to build a friendship with each member of the band, and each of them was able to hang out with each of the others. They were willing to fight for each other. Jay saw that the friendships in the band were not just based on musical notes but on the sharing of their fears, joys, adventures, and the stories of their lives. He realized that turning all that into music could make them relatable to other people in the world.

The members were family because not only did they have a great love for each other, but they were also all musicians who leaned on the Trinity. Jay wondered if this could be the formula he had missed with the previous band. Jay loved that each of them loved the Trinity to bits—each had a powerful experience with the Prince and had given his or her life to serving him. They also loved to pray. They would spend time praying and asking for the Wise One's inspiration on their music. At times, they would even fast from eating food for a few days. Esh Mabul was very different because of the passion these had for the Trinity and for serving him.

Jay and Levan became the prominent leaders of the band. They felt this band would have a very, very long run. Though they were still writing songs, they also began to prepare the band for the goal of making an album recording.

Everything was a learning process to become a musically tight band, and the band rehearsed hours at a time for weeks. Whenever they couldn't get a song constructed, they would just worship. As they did, the Emperor would send angels to shower down ideas. One day, they were trying to write a song, but it just wasn't working out. They tried out lots of different ideas, but none of them worked. Suddenly, Ana began to play on the keyboard a tune that was so catchy. Marlen began to strum his guitar along with it, and Jay began to scribble some lyrics. An hour later, they had a song. They later titled it "My World."

Fireball and the Guardian Angels loved Esh Mabul. They would be worshipping as the band rehearsed. Sometimes the presence of the Trinity would come in so strong on the words and the music that everyone—the angels and the band members—would be moved to tears. Something new was brewing with this band.

GOOD CHANGES

Levan was engaged to his girl, who lived in his hometown of Tbilisi. His manager at work would not allow him to take a leave for his wedding, so Levan made his plan to leave the UAE and move back to Tbilisi. He had to leave for good, but that was not going to end the band.

Levan and Jay met on several occasions and prayed about the decisions ahead. Though Levan had many doubts, he knew this was the Trinity's plan. He also knew for sure that Esh Mabul would have a very long run and that he had a huge responsibility. They felt they would grow old together in the band. They decided that they would write as many albums and do as many tours as possible.

With almost sixteen songs, the band was ready to record an album. Since the songs were ready and constructed, Marlen, Ana, Kay, and Nik began to work more on their parts for the songs.

As they were working on the songs, Kay got tuberculosis and dengue fever, which really weakened her, but within a few weeks of treatment, she recovered. Since she lived alone, her bandmates and others urged her not to continue living by herself, in case she became sick again. Since she was a very private person, she decided to go back to her home country and her family, who could help take care of her, though she and the band were sad about her leaving.

But even after going back home, Kay stayed connected to the band. She found work as a music teacher, but she was also rehearsing all her parts in the songs, being a lead vocalist alongside Jay.

Shortly after Kay left, Levan also left for Georgia. Jay formed a band chat group on social media for all of them to stay connected.

A few months later, Jay and the others went to Georgia for Levan's wedding. Esh Mabul played for his wedding. It was a great time, though it was very cold for Jay, who had lived for so long in the Middle East, as they had to dress in warm jackets and gloves. After the wedding, Jay traveled around Georgia to do some sightseeing and then went back to Dubai to start work on the album recording.

They needed massive funding to initiate the album recording. It was time to pray harder, so the band began to pray, and Blue primus heard their requests. Angelic hosts were released to every nook and cranny of the world to alert people to be a part of the project. All Jay had to do was to speak the vision of the band, which was to bring out music that would touch souls, inspire people to have faith in the Trinity, encourage them to pursue their dreams, and give hope to those who had none. The band's album would be a channel for the band's supporters to connect with many lives in the world. After Jay shared the vision, the Trinity began to touch hearts, and the money began to pour in. Things started to move forward for the band.

When they had enough funding, they recorded guitars, keyboard, and Jay's vocals. Levan was able to record his guitar parts in Tbilisi and send them to Dubai. Then Kay was flown in to do her vocal parts. The band still didn't have a bassist, so their drummer Nik played both drums and bass on the recordings. Jay helped produce the album, having the knowledge from his previous experience of album recording. He knew how to get the music to sound close enough to what they had in mind. They were able to extract the best from each member into the record.

The next step was the mixing. Because of his last album with Route No. 7, Jay was able to reach out once again to the same people who had done the mixing and mastering in Nashville. He had been so happy with their work the last time. The work took a few months, and once the band checked out the brilliant final product, they were all ecstatic.

Jay managed to contact an artist he had found on Instagram who was also a musician. He was brilliant and quite famous. Jay wanted an angel with a sword as the CD cover art for an essential classic rock feel. Jay wrote to him, and they exchanged numbers. After a few conversations, Jay was shocked to find out that it was Lloyd, the one he had saved from committing suicide at Logwood High. Lloyd had grown up to be an artist and a bassist of a band and was now living in Japan. He had been changing the world with his art, just as Jay had told him he would many years ago. It was an awesome surprise for Jay.

Lloyd was overjoyed to reconnect with Jay and work with him. After he gave Jay the finished artwork, he also did many bonuses for him.

When Lloyd was done, the album artwork, along with the lyrics, thank you notes, and the credits were sent to the CD makers and printers. Within two months, the CDs were ready.

The next thing Jay had to do was to decide on when and where they would do the album release concert. Jay and Levan began to communicate often on this matter. They knew the album had to come out on a date everyone was going to be free. They also knew that Nik would have to return to Georgia soon. As they were making decisions, Ana surprised them by saying that she, too, was leaving Dubai to do her postgraduate studies in her home country. Almost the whole band would fly back, except for Jay and Marlen,. Kay's decision also made them realize that they probably couldn't do the album release concert in Dubai.

Now that they were planning to do live shows and tours, they needed to find a separate bass player for the band. So Jay decided to reach out to his old friend Zurab, who had also gone back to Georgia from Dubai, and invited him to join as a bassist. Zurab another lover of the Trinity. He was a superb lead guitarist in a nu metal band, but for the love of classic rock, he joined. After Zurab joined, Jay found out that all the other band members had already known him for several years. Jay was surprised that Zurab was already among friends and could fit right in.

Jay became busy with his other work, so for two months, he was not rehearsing or concentrating on the music of Esh Mabul. It had also been a couple of months since Ana and Nik had left, and the band had not jammed since then. One day when Marlen met with Jay, they decided to start rehearsals for Esh Mabul's album release concert. Marlen had a fluctuating slot at his work, so they decided he would call Jay when he was on the way back from work. Then Jay could ride down to Marlen's house, which was in Mirdif.

On the first evening of rehearsals with Marlen, Jay couldn't believe the fact that he couldn't hit all the notes that he himself had sung on the album recording. "What happened to my voice, Marlen? I can't even hit my own pitch. Did you change the chord?" an anxious Jay asked.

"No, buddy," Marlen said. "I'm sure it's because you have not been singing or rehearsing enough."

There was so much wisdom in what Marlen said. Jay's instrument was his voice, and it had to be constantly used in order for it to be fully functional. He knew the Trinity gave him rapping as a gift; he did not need to work too much on it as it was natural, but singing was a different ball game. It was something he needed to exercise on a day-to-day basis. He told Marlen he needed about two weeks to get back into shape.

Jay began to work much harder than before. Jay began to listen to each of the songs on the album and rehearse for an hour every day. Jay was determined and worked on the songs hammer and tongs until he nailed every pitch. By the time a week had passed, he was already sounding good. After another week, he was as good as new.

The next time they met for rehearsal, Marlen was happy to see that Jay was shipshape. Marlen had also needed to brush up, so he had used the two weeks to work on his guitar parts from the album. They began to jam.

Marlen and Jay began to meet more often. They met up at each other's houses to work on the nitty-gritty's of each song. As the rhythm guitarist, Marlen had an important role in creating the foundation of the songs. They knew that the band had to play the songs exactly the way they sounded on the album, and that was a challenge that could only be overcome by constant practice that would make it perfect.

Every day after rehearsal, Marlen and Jay would drink a cup of tea and talk at the Beirut Café, their favorite hangout. Marlen told Jay that his deepest desire was always to be a musician, but when he was younger, his dad and mum were against him picking the guitar up, thinking it was a waste of time. But Marlen secretly practiced his chords and other guitar techniques. Now, many years later, his parents were beginning to appreciate his talent as they heard a few tracks that he had played for them during a visit.

By the time another month had passed, Jay and Marlen were sounding well prepared. They asked the rest of the band about how their rehearsals were going. Levan began to send Jay, Marlen, and Kay phone video recordings of their rehearsals. Levan, Ana, Zurab, and Nik were sounding great. Then Jay and Marlen would rehearse their parts along with the video. Though Kay also lived in Georgia, she was a night's journey away from where the rest of the band lived, so she, too, was watching the video to learn her cues. It was crazy to have rehearsals this way. Yet even though the band was so far apart, they felt so near to each other.

Jay and Marlen were telling the rest of them that they were going to see who was sounding tighter. It was a good challenge and all in a true spirit of friendship and musicianship. This helped them to become very strong as a band. In a few weeks, the band was beginning to sound so much more like they did on their CD.

Jay and Levan had new discussions on where and when exactly the perfect place and time would be to do their album release concert. With Jay and Marlen in Dubai and the rest of the band in Georgia, they were struggling with the decision to either release in Georgia or the UAE. Because the majority of them were in Georgia, they decided it was a much better deal to do the release in Georgia. Now that they decided on the country, they needed enough time to plan for the stage, the lights, the sound equipment, the advertising, and fundraising for a huge budget. Levan tried to push it to December, but Jay felt that something might happen for the band in December, so the band decided to plan the album release in October. So it was decided—October 28 was the tentative date.

Jay and Levan spoke to the band about their need to find a venue. Ana suggested having their concert in her university campus in Tbilisi. She could help reserve the venue because she was a top student and had a great relationship with the student council leaders. The band loved the idea because the campus was safe, they would have access to the university crowd, and the huge campus was large enough for an open-air event that would fit more people and the stage they wanted to build. Best of all, Ana would be able to get the venue for free. This was by far the most strategic choice for the album release.

Jay and Levan then made the decision that Pastor Bertie would officially release the album at the concert with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Jay called Pastor Bertie, and he was happy to do the honors.

While the band was planning the album release concert, they released their single "Tonight." A popular radio show picked up the single and promoted it. After that, the band was surprised to find that the whole city was buzzing about them and their song. Their music was all over the radio, and the most famous radio station in the region recognized Esh Mabul as one of the top forty bands of the region and one of the top ten of the year. This was a catalyst as people were now aware that there was a band called Esh Mabul and that a concert was about to take place, and the band could now connect to these people. The band members were even able to reach people one-on-one because they were starting to be recognized in public.

The cost of getting an event company to do the entire event was too high, so they needed to build a stage themselves. It was close to two years since Levan had gone back home, and he had started two businesses of his own since then. One was a restaurant and the other a sound and lights production company. They decided that Levan's company would provide the lighting and sound equipment, and set up a stage as well. Levan's company had never done anything of this magnitude before, but Levan was excited that his own company would be able to help his band by taking over the event. This meant that the band wouldn't have to work under the restrictions of a contract with another company or with any dishonest people as in the past. Jay and Levan would also be able to make their own decisions for how the stage would be and how the backdrop would look.

Levan, Nik, Zurab, and Ana went all over the city of Tbilisi putting up posters. Kay began to call news reporters and got a lot of coverage in the press. The whole band worked as though they were in the same place. They were driven by duty and led by hearts of unity. They were working hard, and the sweat had some sweet rewards as people began to help finance them by buying tickets for their concert. The band sold hundreds of tickets.

Jay and Marlen rehearsed one last week in Mirdif, and then it was time for their flight to Tbilisi. Armed with a guitar case and suitcases, Jay and Marlen were excited as they went to the airport together. The last time Marlen and Jay had gone to Georgia was for Levan's wedding. Marlen was especially excited to be returning to his home country.

When Jay and Marlen finally reached Georgia, they got a taxi and loaded their luggage. The taxi ride took about two hours to the big city of Tibilisi, where most of the band lived. It was very cold and rained the entire way.

Kay arrived at the same time. The band members hugged each other and were so happy to meet after so long. It was already dark, so they had dinner and headed straight to bed.

The next morning, Jay met Levan to work on planning the release. They had exactly two weeks left before the album release concert.

"We need the funds by the end of the week, bro, but so far, we've only raised about half the amount," Levan said.

"Let's pray," Jay said.

Within just a few hours, funds began to roll in. Friends of the band were suddenly motivated to pitch in for the album release.

The band started meeting for rehearsals. They were sounding great. They also needed the rest of the funds to come in.

By the end of the week, they received the whole amount and even exceeded it. The band was blown away.

They still needed to hire a photographer and a videographer. Levan asked a friend of his, and he promised to do the shooting for them. The deal was for Levan's friend to do both the photography and the video during the concert, as well as a band photo shoot before the concert.

As they got closer to the date, the weather forecast said that there was going to be heavy rain on the day of the release concert. Then there was another piece of bad news—a liquor company was doing a huge rock festival in the city at the same time. They found out that most of the youth wanted to go to that event because the whole city was buzzing about it.

* * *

Lucifer was hovering over Tbilisi with General Temptation at his side. They stopped and stood together on top of the tallest building in the city.

"Do you see how that band Esh Mabul is about to do a concert and draw a crowd of people? I don't like who the band is going to sing about, and I don't like that Pastor Bertie."

General Temptation answered, "Oh, Prince Lucifer, you're going to love what I have planned. We have this huge festival that happens every year, and it will be even bigger this year. This will cause a mass exodus away from Esh Mabul's concert. I'm also going to get a lot of people drunk and high, and it will be the birth of many alcoholics and drug addicts. I'll cause many fatal accidents on the highway. There are going to be lots of young guys and girls in the crowd, and you know what that means," he said with a dirty smile.

General Temptation had been wanting to get back at Cupid since the time Cupid outdid him with Jay's relationship with Lana and was honored greatly for it. His own efforts to tempt Jay with seductive women had failed, so he had put a lot of effort into this new plan. He was also going to do what Cupid did best.

General Temptation continued, "And if people still go to Esh Mabul's concert, I'm going to bring a thunderstorm over just that venue that will drench the band, their crew, and all the equipment, and the people in the audience will run for cover. I can't wait to hear the curses from their lips. And we'll laugh together. I'm so excited!"

Lucifer answered with an evil smile. "It looks like you might outdo Cupid with this and earn yourself a medal." But little did General Temptation know that Lucifer didn't care about who got a medal. He only cared about wrecking human souls.

* * *

Levan kept checking the weather forecast, which was still predicting a lot of rain the day of the concert. He was concerned about their outdoor stage and all the money that was going into building it.

Meanwhile, many people from Ana's university told her that they were fools to keep the show on the same day and in the same city as the rock festival. One guy even said to her, "Nobody has ever heard about you guys, so who is going to even come to your concert? All the advertisements and the whole stage set up for nothing—bad timing and bad luck."

Esh Mabul began to pray with a few friends that the rock festival would not keep the people away from their album release concert. As they prayed, Jay saw a vision of huge bat-like spirit hovering over the city. He knew it meant a strong, demonic power was up against them. Jay and Levan didn't bat an eye but they encouraged each other because believed the Trinity would perform a wonder. It was not their advertisements or their music but the mercies and miracle of the Trinity. They believed the Trinity would keep the rains away and bring a crowd.

Esh Mabul met with Pastor Bertie in his house to pray. Pastor Bertie prayed for the band, speaking words of encouragement. He also prayed for each member individually, giving his blessing. He prayed against the plans of the enemy over Esh Mabul. Then he said to the band, "Guys, there won't be any rain that day."

He said it with so much certainty that the band was shocked. It had been raining that whole week. The band members who lived in this region knew it was possible for it to rain that hard and that much during this season. But as soon as they heard Pastor Bertie's words, their spirits were revived, and they believed that the Trinity was speaking through him. They had dinner together, feeling peace about all that had been worrying them and then departed to their homes.

The next day, they rehearsed again for several hours. They were just a day away from the album release concert, and the band was ready to rock. It was Jay's first time being a classic rock vocalist, and he was excited. The last time they all had performed together in person was for Levan's wedding, and that was a very formal event. This time, they were going to go full swing, dressed in full, classic rock outfits, and go crazy onstage.

That evening, Jay called his parents and asked for their blessings, so Don and Shelly prayed over their son.

"Go rock the stage, son," Don said. He said he wished he could be at the concert.

Jay was excited as he received his parents' blessings because he believed in honouring his father and his mother.

Jay met with the band for a last rehearsal. After two hours of getting everything to perfection, they had dinner at Levan's café. Then they left to retire for the day. It was a big day ahead of them, and the stage construction was almost done.