Luckily, the performances on Friday didn’t start until the evening. The band slept in, then headed to the festival.
When they arrived, they were immediately escorted backstage. There, they ran into Micky and Peter. By now, Micky had grown a very full beard and his counterpart didn’t recognize him -- nor did Peter.
First up was The Association. A popular band with a few well-known hits, they weren’t exactly in the psychedelic scene. In fact, the closest they came was a possible reference to marijuana in one of their songs. They were followed by the Paupers, who were added to the festival in order to secure the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Mike Bloomfield group.
Peter then went onstage to introduce Lou Rawls to the audience, saying that he had "a voice we all wish we had." Rawls did a show more suited to the Las Vegas nightclubs than the Monterey stage. He was followed by a not-so-well-known singer known as Beverly, then Johnny Rivers. After them, Eric Burdon took the stage with the Animals. Simon and Garfunkel, performing folk songs with just an acoustic guitar for accompaniment, closed the first night of the festival.
That night, Janeway calmly reminded the band that they had to perform in the early afternoon, and thus convinced them to skip the drinking for one evening. Everyone went to bed early.
Morning dawned, dew glistening on the leaves and grass in the fairgrounds. Micky woke up at ten A.M., and by eleven, his overflowing enthusiasm had awoken the rest of the group. Of course, before everyone got up, Micky received quite a few pillows in the face.
They arrived at the fairgrounds shortly after noon. Canned Heat kicked off the afternoon’s performances.
Backstage, a confrontation started up between the film crew led by D.A. Pennebaker and Big Brother’s manager Julius Karpen.
"Big Brother will not take the stage until every single one of those cameras is pointed to the ground!!!"
"But we want every band represented on the video!"
Suddenly, Janeway -- setting up Big Brother’s instruments with the aid of Micky and her crew, heard a snake-oil-slippery voice in her ear.
"My, my, Kathy dear, it would be such a shame to have Janis’ best performance ever be lost to the sands of time. I do wish Julius would change that vegetable of a mind."
"Q," Janeway sneered, "What are you doing here?"
"Trying to give you a hint about what to do. Choose your next few minutes wisely, Kathy." With that, he vanished in a flash of light.
"Perhaps you should rethink, Mr. Karpen. You could be making a big mistake," Janeway quietly cut in with a tone of voice that, while soft, was every ounce a Captain’s order.
"What do you know -- you’re just a roadie!" Karpen shrieked.
"A roadie with plenty of life underneath her belt," Chakotay quietly countered.
"No. Not without artistic control. And that’s final -- not a peep outta any of you!" He stalked off, fuming.
Janeway and company watched from backstage as Chet took the stage to introduce Big Brother.
"Three or four years ago, on one of my perennial hitchhikes across the country, I ran into a chick from Texas by the name of Janis Joplin. I heard her sing, and Janis and I hitchhiked to the West Coast in fifty hours, probably the fastest trip across the country we ever made. A lot of things have gone down since, but it gives me a lot of pride to present the finished product . . . Big Brother and the Holding Company!"
First up on the set list was "Down on Me," with Janis not only singing the lead in her powerful voice, but playing a percussion piece that sounded something like a ratchet. Jim Gurley let loose on his guitar, but Janis stole the show. Even on the song "Combination of the Two," with Sam taking lead vocals, Janis stood out singing backup.
"We’ve got one more song," Janis spoke quietly, "it’s called 'Ball and Chain.'"
Keeping time with a stomping of her foot, Janis took the Willie Mae Thornton song and made it 100% her own. She stole the show, and the festival.
Backstage, remembrance dawned for Micky as he watched. He whispered to Janeway, "Man, I think that is why we’re here -- they never filmed Janis here!"
"Q did seem to be hinting at something like that a little while ago," Janeway murmured.
"Oh, man, you think we blew it?"
"Perhaps not. I’ve overheard called in cancellations from several groups, including Dionne Warwick and some other group called The Impressions -- both scheduled for tomorrow. They might be able to ask for one of those spots to perform for the cameras," Chakotay suggested.
Just then, Janis came offstage in tears. She ran for Janeway’s outstretched arms, and for a while, Janeway just held her while she cried.
"Oh, I just gave the best performance of my life and no one will ever get to see it again!"
"Don’t worry Janis, I’m sure something can be worked out," Micky said and started gently rubbing her back.
"Yeah, we can talk to Karpen, and the people in charge -- see if you can’t be given a chance to perform for the cameras," Chakotay added and put a hand on Janis’ shoulder.
"Don’t cry dear, it’ll be okay," Neelix said, and took her hand. Paris walked up and took her other hand in both of his, while B’Elanna, Kim, and the Holodoc just stood by, supportive.
"Thanks guys. You’re terrific." Janis let go of Paris and Neelix’s hands, disengaged herself from Janeway and quickly hugged each of the group before heading off to find John Phillips, accompanied by Micky and Janeway.
"John! Did you see what I did out there?"
Phillips turned around, "Yeah, you were terrific!"
"But they didn’t record it!"
"What?!"
"Karpen refused to allow Big Brother’s performance to be videotaped," Micky explained.
"Come on." Phillips grabbed Janis’ hand and led her over to Lou Adler.
"Lou -- Janis tells me her performance-of-a-lifetime wasn’t recorded!"
"It wasn’t? Why not?"
"Because our dumbass manager wouldn’t let them film us!" Janis cried.
"Isn’t there some way you could let her perform again for the cameras?" Janeway asked.
"Well, I might be able to find you another slot, if you sign the necessary releases," Adler said.
Ralph Gleason, standing nearby, heard the whole conversation. He found Julius Karpen and pulled him aside.
"You just made a huge mistake, Karpen, by not letting the film crew film Big Brother. They’re the big hit of the festival and they won’t be included in the movie!" Gleason hissed. Karpen just glowered, silent, but obviously was starting to rethink his decision.
Janis took the papers Adler had given her and asked Janeway to gather the rest of the band and meet back at the hotel to discuss their options.
Janeway delegated the task of finding the band members. "Chakotay -- you find Sam. Paris, find Dave. Neelix, find Peter. Kim -- you’ve got James. I’ll find Chet. Micky -- you wait here for the rest of us with the van, and B’Elanna and Doctor -- you accompany Janis back to the hotel." They split up to find the band members.
Back at the hotel, Janis was fuming.
"The performance of a lifetime, and Karpen wouldn’t let it be filmed!" she screeched, dripping venom as she said the name of their manager.
"Yeah, but what can we do?" Dave asked.
"Well, Lou Adler gave me these papers -- if we sign these, he can try and find a spot for us to perform again to be filmed."
"Yeah, but Karpen won’t dig it," Sam slurred, high on Owsley’s Monterey Purple acid.
"Well, just get rid of Karpen," Micky stated matter-of-factly.
"That’s an idea!" Peter, also high, exclaimed.
"Well, is it a unanimous decision to sign the papers, and go over Karpen’s head on this?" Chet asked. All the band members nodded. "Well, if Karpen doesn’t go along with this -- and he has to since he’s just your manager, then we fire him, dig?"
"Dig. You wanna fill out the forms Chet, or should I?" Janis asked.
"You do it -- and I want you to come with me to tell Karpen -- it’s your performance, not mine," Chet replied.
"Okay." Janis sat down at the desk in the hotel room and set to work. Janeway led her crew to their room and Chet left for his, the rest of the band trailing behind him. Micky, however, stayed behind.
"Anything you need help with babe?"
"No, no. I’ve got it under control. Thanks anyway," she replied. Micky walked to the door but just as he was opening the door she added, "and don’t call me babe!!"
The next morning, the band members who’d had some of Owsley’s acid the night before were somewhat groggy but everyone else was wide awake. Janis had the forms ready, having worked on late into the night on them. She sat down Sam, Peter, Davy and James one by one to get their signatures.
The festival grounds opened at 11:30 AM to performers. Janis brought the papers over to Julius Karpen.
"Mr. Karpen, the band and I have decided to accept Mr. Adler’s offer to perform again for the cameras."
"What?! I specifically said that Big Brother was not to be filmed -- we have no creative control in the project," Karpen screamed in outrage.
"There is no you in ‘we’ Julius. You’re just the manager, and you have to obey the wishes of the band. You’re their manager, not their boss," Chet calmly replied, "And the band wants to be filmed. Do you want to consent to their wishes or do you start looking for another band to manage?"
Karpen glared daggers at Chet and Janis for a moment, looking about to resist, but then submitted. "Fine. Ruin your careers." He stalked off. Janis let out a breath she’d been holding.
"Thank goodness." Chet gave her a hug.
"Come on, let’s give these papers to Adler." Chet led her over to Adler and she handed over the papers.
"Thanks . . . we found a slot for you during the evening performances. So go warm up that lovely voice of yours -- we’re ready to tape you!" Adler told her.
Janeway and crew were waiting with the band members at the van. Janis had a glowing smile on her face as she ran up to them.
"Karpen gave in!" she cried as she reached the van. The group cheered.
"You go on at seven. So let’s go somewhere and rehearse," Chet said.
"I’m so nervous. What if I mess up?" Janis fretted backstage.
"Just take a deep breath and imagine the audience naked -- trust me, it works!" Micky assured her. Janis cracked up, just as he’d planned.
"And now, Big Brother and the Holding Company!!"
Janis went out, smiling. She gave a performance one tenth the intensity of the previous afternoon’s but the impact was still just as strong.
During "Combination of the Two" Micky and Janeway jumped as Q snuck up behind them.
"Great job Kathy! I suppose this . . . hippie . . . helped but your crew performed admirably. I think you deserve a reward . . . but first, you have to finish your job." He disappeared in a flash of light.
"Does that mean we’ll be going back to the ship soon?" Micky asked.
"I hope so," Janeway answered.
"I’m gonna miss the band . . . "
"Same here, but it’ll be nice to get home."
After the last performance of the evening -- the Mamas & the Papas, Big Brother stayed for the all-night jam sessions that occurred all over the festival grounds. The next afternoon, once everyone was awake, they headed back towards San Francisco.
As Chakotay and Kim carried Dave’s drums into the house, Q appeared.
"Well done Commander! Don’t drop those!" Q cackled. Janeway stepped up to him.
"Q, please leave my crew alone. They don’t need your incessant teasing while they’re working."
"Oh, Kathy, I thought you’d be glad to see me. I’m ready to take you home!"
Janeway’s eyes widened, then narrowed as she remembered who she was talking to. "No tricks Q," she told him.
"None. Too bad your hippie friends won’t remember much of your visit. Those darn psychotropic chemicals . . . " He snapped his fingers . . .
. . . and returned Janeway and company to the bridge. Janeway and Chakotay were sitting in their command seats. B’Elanna, Kim, and Paris were in their customary spots at Engineering, OPS, and the CONN, respectively.
Neelix, Micky and the holodoc stood to one side of the command pit. All of them were wearing what they’d had on just before Q sent them into the past, except for Micky. He was wearing an Engineering uniform with Ensign’s pips.
And Q. Q, clad in a Starfleet uniform with Captain’s pips, stood in between the CONN and main viewer.
"Well, Kathy, I don’t give gifts lightly but you did such a great job, I’m going to give you something you’ll love." He vanished in a flash of light.
Paris spun around to face Janeway. "Captain! Our speed is Warp 10!" Turning back to look at his displays, he added, "No, wait, we’ve stopped. We’re ten thousand light years closer to Earth!"
"Looks like that excursion was worth it," Chakotay commented.
"And I think Q’s given us a subtle hint as to what to do with Mr. Dolenz," Janeway added, looking at Micky’s new uniform.
Micky looked down and giggled, "I guess so!"
Janeway turned to B’Elanna. "Well, Lieutenant, I guess you have a new assistant. Micky -- you’ll report directly to Lieutenant Torres starting at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow. And, I’ll be entering a commendation in your record, for the wonderful job you did these past few days, Mr. Dolenz. But, for now, let’s all get some rest."
The relief crew filled in the posts on the bridge and the crew that had spent the past few days in the past headed to their quarters for some R & R.
"Captain . . . why do I get the eerie feeling that we haven’t seen the last of Q’s challenges?" Micky asked in the turbolift.
"I don’t know. Let’s just hope that’s just a feeling," Janeway replied.
Last updated 12 JUL 98
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