WORK IT, GIRLS!

Sweatpants, drum kits and, erm, baked beans ahoy
as L&K goes for a tour rehearsal with Eternal...

Eternal are chowing down and chilling out. Kéllé's munching a vegetarian sausage sandwich (on brown) while vast plates of baked beans, bacon and toast have just landed in front of Easther. Her eyes light up instantly.
"I'm so hungry," she says, tucking into her feast.

On the other side of the cafe, Vernie's shooting some pool. Blimey, this tour rehearsal business seems like a piece of cake... unless, of course, the girls happen to be skiving. Vernie looks up from her game with a cheeky grin.
"Skiving?! We wish! This is our break time - just enough time to stuff our faces and relax for a while."

A few minutes, several phonecalls and a couple of dashes to the loo later, the girls are hard at it again. No, not food and games this time, but serious rehearsing. The dark room is pretty cramped. There's the Eternal tour band limbering up on their respective instruments, loads of flash technical gear and, of course, our girls, who are really going for it as they run through Stay. Pretty impressive, though not to Kéllé.
"At the moment, the whole thing's quite upside down, because we're having to re-choreograph the routines now that Lou's left. It's crazy. We're probably gonna be running around in all the wrong places on stage. It's gonna be a right laugh!"

Compared with the rehearsal time Eternal had for their last tour, this outing is sheer bliss.
"We've had three weeks in total," explains Easther, "but we'd really have liked to have four."
"None of us are that bossy at rehearsals," Kéllé continues.
"Naturally, we all have our moments when things aren't going right, but there's a good vibe."

So does rehearsing put an end to all your late-night partying, Kéllé? "No way! We finish at about six or seven every evening and then I'm out of here and off with my friends."
"She's crazy," laughs Easther. "I go straight to bed!"

We're interrupted by a huge clamour. Vernie's discovered the drum kit, and Philip the percussionist is giving her a few tips. Muscle-building stuff, eh?
"Actually, I already have pretty good arm muscles," she says, having a good ol' bash. "I play badminton and tennis too, so I'm definitely on the right instrument."

Will you be playing on tour?
"I've bought a bass guitar and I'm now learning how to play a few funky riffs," says Easther. "So maybe I'll play in the show and make a complete fool of myself!"

According to the girls, their tour (which kicks off in a month) is gonna be pretty special.
"I wouldn't say it's gonna be raunchy," reveals Easther, "but it'll be very different, up there and on that vibe!"
"We're still talking about costumes and things like that with our stylist Bonita (who also styles TT), but I think we'll go for huge wigs," grins Kéllé. "It's gonna be mega!"
"There's also going to be a section in the show which will be very special," enthuses Easther. "You know, sort of like The Supremes act we did at last year's Brit Awards."

Vernie has no doubts about the live power of these women. "We're hoping that the roof will come off when we land on stage," she raves. "And we're raring to go!"