mjgoodnow Four Star Member
Number of posts : 212 Registration date : 2009-02-17 Age : 49 Location : Midwest, USA
| Subject: Evolution of the Fallen Excerpt Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:12 pm | |
| Not wanting to break with what the girls decided was their “look”, he had purchased his
own pair of black boot-cut jeans and sported a jet black T shirt with a gold chain he got
many years ago, when his parents died. He was amazed he still had it after being
hospitalized so many times. He was sure some staff member would have lifted it
somewhere along the way. Beth had gotten it out of the lock box he kept it in and
surprised him by having it cleaned by a professional jeweler the other day. They all
looked so professional, Michael thought. He wondered why he still didn’t feel that way.
Beth, Marguerite and Ted had a table close to the stage. Michael couldn’t see
Stephanie’s brother yet but remembered he said he had wanted to come. Three acts had
gone on already and they were next in line. Steph and Sara slipped in next to Michael,
who was keeping an eye on their instruments. Jon, still feeling a bit put out by the fight
he had with Sara, sat somewhat apart from the group, sipping a soda and watching the
crowd.
Michael stepped over to his friend and sat down. “You gonna be okay?” he asked. “We
gotta pull this together, or this will be the only concert we’ll ever have.”
Jon kept his eyes on the audience. “Yeah, man. We’re cool. I’m gonna do that solo the
way we normally practice it and if she don’t like it, I don’t know what else to do.”
“Cool,” Michael responded. Let’s do it like in New York. We got our best four songs up
there tonight and, hey, we got nothin’ to lose, right?”
Jon nodded.
Just then, the other group climbed off the stage and, like a scene out of a scary movie,
Michael watched and heard the announcer talking up his next group. It felt completely
surreal to hear the guy talk about this new, up-and-coming band. Even so, he took a
second to relax as much as possible and, when he heard the announcer say, “Black
Shadow”, he felt as if a lightning bolt had struck him. He was suddenly full of energy
and, along with Jon, he leapt to the stage, his guitar in hand, focusing on helping
Stephanie get her bass up the short steps and ignoring the now distant clapping of hands
in the coffeehouse.
After a couple of intense moments plugging everything in, he glanced at each band
member in turn before finally giving Stephanie the nod that said, “Let’s begin”.
They began the four-song set with an intense, heavy beating metal song. They went on to
the song Jon had been upset about. He played it better than he’d ever played it before.
Their third song featured solos from both Michael and Sara—one of the songs they had
most recently perfected. Before they left the stage, they finished out their set with a
lonesome rock ballad that Stephanie had written with Michael.
107
The extended applause caught them all off guard. The crowd just kept clapping. The
band just stood there for a moment, bowing every now and then until he heard someone
shout, “Encore”. At that, he turned to Stephanie so she could read his lips and said,
loudly enough for the others to hear, “Let’s give ‘em ‘Rain Down’.” It was one from the
original group of songs that Stephanie and Michael had co-written one afternoon. He
nodded to Stephanie and they began their encore.
Michael couldn’t see the tears in Beth’s eyes as they played their encore. He didn’t see
the excited hug she gave Marguerite during the lengthy applause that followed. As the
group finished their bows and prepared to leave the stage, Michael didn’t see Jason—a
big grin on his face—slip out the door of the coffeehouse and into the night.
As the group packed their belongings an hour later, Ted stood nearby as a small circle of
fans suddenly appeared with napkins in hand, asking the band members for their
autograph. It was only about ten people but Michael was overcome by the show of
support. While he signed one young man’s napkin, he was asked if they had a CD of
their music he could buy.
“Well…,” Michael began clumsily.
“Sure they do,” Ted interjected. “Look for it in local stores within the month. The group
is just finishing recording their first full-length CD. Here, take a demo tape.” He handed
copies of the band’s demo tape to about five of the fans. No one from the group knew he
had brought some and they knew he was stretching things by saying they had a fulllength
CD coming out. Still, it was exciting to hear out loud.
When they were ready to leave, the announcer stopped them at the door. “Hey,” he said
cheerfully. “I just spoke to the manager here. He wants to know if you guys have time to
play on regular nights. You know—not just the night for newcomers. How about it?”
Ted shook the announcer’s hand. “Great. I think we may have some dates left over for
you next month. Have the manager call me.” He handed the announcer his business
card.
While loading the Bronco, Ted was explaining to Beth some of the nuances of the
business. “We can’t be too eager, you know. And we probably need to think about
cutting some more songs. Do you think they have enough material for a full-length CD?
I can’t just keep handing out demos.”
Michael interrupted him, a bit irritated. “Ted, let me tell you something. We’ve got
enough music for a full-length CD with a few extra songs to spare.”
Ted turned to Michael. “You guys did great tonight and you handled the pressure like
pros. But you need to know that the pressure goes up from here. I just want you guys to
be prepared for it.” |
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zadaconnaway Five Star Member
Number of posts : 4017 Registration date : 2008-01-16 Age : 76 Location : Washington, USA
| Subject: Re: Evolution of the Fallen Excerpt Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:41 am | |
| This sounds exciting, MJ! This is from a finished ms, right? Is it set to be published? |
|
mjgoodnow Four Star Member
Number of posts : 212 Registration date : 2009-02-17 Age : 49 Location : Midwest, USA
| Subject: Re: Evolution of the Fallen Excerpt Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:02 pm | |
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| Subject: Re: Evolution of the Fallen Excerpt | |
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