Perfectly Reckless
Chapter 4
Mid Warped Tour 2003
They were actually pretty good. Getting better. Especially that big boosted egoistic guy, he can sing properly for a little bit now. But I’d still hate him, and his band for that matter. I still can’t forget how they crushed us at Chain Reaction and we couldn’t get any gigs around Anaheim at the time. We had to go back to Philly and try to write some new materials again.
“You’re ready Lzzy? We’re up next.”
I glanced behind. Joe was smiling at me with Fender 75 Telebration strapped on his shoulder and his fingers strummed a few chords without sounding anything.
“Hell yeah, Joe. What about you?”
“I’m ready for Warped since ever.”
“Maybe we can get a record deal out of this, who knows?”
“Maybe. You wrote a hundred songs already. Time for them to really listen to it.”
“A hundred! You’re joking right? I wrote like two.”
He laughed hard, covering his mouth with his hand. Well, I laughed too, because seeing him laugh made me wanted to laugh as well.
“THANK YOU ATLANTA!! OUR LATEST ALBUM IS OUT NOW, GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS ON IT ALRIGHT?!”
Joe and I both startled hearing Matt’s voice from the stage, indicating that they were almost done and it will be us next. Wait, why do I feel like it’s Chain Reaction all over again? RJ and dad ran towards us from our tent and we rushed to the backstage.
“THE NEXT PERFORMER,” Matt announced, with a whistle escaped from his mouth. “HAS A LADY AS THE SINGER. AND I MUST SAY, SHE’S PRETTY FUCKING HOT.”
What? Ex-ex-excuse me? The crowd screamed for us and they just continued to talk about me on stage?
“ISN’T SHE, GATES?”
“YEAH, MAN. IF YOU’RE INTO CHICKS LIKE THAT.”
Chicks like me? What was that supposed to mean? Silence filled on the stage. Only the sound of people screaming and cheering. What happened there?
“SO BOYS AND GIRLS, GIVE IT UP FOR HALE! STORM!!”
The crowd yelled again, and Matt walked towards me, handing over the microphone. I glared at him, like I used to glare at people but he just wasn’t affected by it.
“Here you go, baby.”
“Wha-”
SMACK! He slapped my ass and laughed like a devil, strutting with his band mates which I saw their drummer kept pointing his drumsticks at us. What the fuck is wrong with these guys?
“WOW. WHAT AN ASSHOLE.” I spoke into the microphone as revenge.
Meanwhile waiting for Joe and dad to settle in their instrument, I noticed a few familiar faces in the crowd, so without thinking I just talked to them using the microphone.
“I SEE A FEW FAMILIAR FACES HERE. YOU, WOAH. I’VE SEEN YOU BEFORE. WHERE ARE YOU FROM, DEAR?....PHILLY! SO AM I!”
I didn’t realize that me talking to fans like that was making them hyped and a little intrigued to see us as a band. They appreciated some communication from the band. I should have use this method long time ago. Like what Matt did.
“WE WANNA THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING HERE. WE’RE GONNA PLAY A FEW SONGS FROM OUR EP CALLED “ONE AND DONE”. IT’S NOT OUT OFFICIALLY YET, BUT YOU CAN GET THEM AT OUR BOOTH BACK THERE ALONG WITH OUR MERCH AND EVERYTHING, OKAY?”
They screamed. Wow, I’ve never felt so alive and so adrenaline rushed.
“THIS SONG IS CALLED TAKES MY LIFE, ENJOY!”
I started the riff on my Silverburst that dad bought me for my birthday last year and RJ followed with his drum thumping emerged three times before he really got into the song. I walked towards the microphone stand and started singing, stopping every music and just let my voice hung in the air.
I’ve written and erased your name a thousand ways in my book,
I’ve tried to be unkind, maybe cause you to rewind,
And take a good hard look,
Then with a cue drum from RJ, I pressed my voice harder and strummed again but just for a few bit.
I try to take stand, but it seems to never end in this place,
I’m gnawed down to bone, by the time I get alone,
Do I even know my own face
You confuse me, and correct me
And it’s fine, ‘til someone takes my life
Joe killed it after with a few solo tease and I can’t help but smiled at him. The song got progressive after that and I screamed at the chorus repeats where the background sound was Joe working his magical finger on the solo. And I mean scream until my throat fucking hurts.
We ended with a few rimshots from RJ and the crowd yelled at us. Some of them even chanted our name. It was a feeling I can never describe.
“THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH! GREAT TO BE HERE, WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT. AND FOR THAT, THIS NEXT SONG IS CALLED I BLEED.”
~*.*~
After that adrenaline pumping performance where I got a lot of positive feedbacks from the Warped crews, the drum techs and some fans that happened to pass by us, we went back to our booth, promoting the merch and our EP. Joe was getting a lot of female fans asking him to sign their tshirts and RJ was flirting with each and every innocent passer-by just to beg them into buying our merch. As for me, I sat on the chair quietly and sometimes a few dudes came to us and asked for my autograph.
“Aw, you came to our last gig in Philly? Thank you so much. What’s your name?”
“Derek. I love your voice Lzzy.”
“Thank you Derek, have you bought our EP?”
“Hell yeah!” he showed off the EP that cost only 12 dollar and only had five songs in it and I couldn’t hide my smile.
“You rock dude!”
“Rock on, Lzzy!”
As soon as the fan went away, somebody approached us. Somebody I recognized.
“Hey guys!” he greeted warmly. I didn’t have a problem with this guy so we greeted back.
“Heyy!”
“You guys were awesome! I’m Johnny by the way. I play bass in Avenged Sevenfold.”
“We know, Johnny. You guys already have a fanbase.” I pointed to the screaming girls who wore winged-skull logo tshirts and was calling Johnny’s name. Johnny looked at them and simply muttered a weak ‘hey’ before turning back to us.
“So, I was thinking maybe you guys wanna hang with us, you know after this. Probably go bar hopping or something.”
I looked at Joe. He didn’t understand my oath to never get friendly or ‘hang out’ with people like them, especially Matt. But this Johnny guy looked really sincere. How could I ever turn him down? I was about to answer when suddenly RJ cut it off for me.
“Sure man! We’d love to! Which bar then?”
I glared at RJ. He ignored me completely.
“We haven’t decided yet. I’ll text you the address later?”
“Sweet!”
Then Johnny turned around casually. He didn’t forget anything did he?
“Hey Johnny!” Joe called him from behind. “You don’t have our number.”
“Oh right! I forgot. Um, can I take yours?” he nodded to my direction.
“Me?”
“Yeah, I’d rather have a girl’s number in my phone once in a while.”
“Oh my gosh, poor you. Okay, let me put it in.” I handed the phone back to Johnny once I was done. “It’s under Lzzy. L-Z-Z-Y. No I.”
“Oh, okay. Got it. See you guys tonight!”
I turned my head to RJ who looked so fucking happy. I know why he was happy. He turned 18 last month and finally he was legal to drink. He’s been drinking every alcohol kind of drink ever since. He even tried girly drink like strawberry mojito.
“Don’t get drunk tonight, bro. I’m not going to drag you back to the hotel.”
“I don’t mind that, I have Joe now!” he flung his arm around Joe’s shoulder and the guy looked clueless.
“Don’t drink too much or I’m gonna bring dad along with us.”
“Shit, sis. You always know how to be a fun sucker!”
I stuck my tongue at him with Joe laughing at us bickering aimlessly. But deep in my heart, I wasn’t really worried about my brother getting drunk. I was worried about how am I going to ‘hang’ with them.
God help me.
They were actually pretty good. Getting better. Especially that big boosted egoistic guy, he can sing properly for a little bit now. But I’d still hate him, and his band for that matter. I still can’t forget how they crushed us at Chain Reaction and we couldn’t get any gigs around Anaheim at the time. We had to go back to Philly and try to write some new materials again.
“You’re ready Lzzy? We’re up next.”
I glanced behind. Joe was smiling at me with Fender 75 Telebration strapped on his shoulder and his fingers strummed a few chords without sounding anything.
“Hell yeah, Joe. What about you?”
“I’m ready for Warped since ever.”
“Maybe we can get a record deal out of this, who knows?”
“Maybe. You wrote a hundred songs already. Time for them to really listen to it.”
“A hundred! You’re joking right? I wrote like two.”
He laughed hard, covering his mouth with his hand. Well, I laughed too, because seeing him laugh made me wanted to laugh as well.
“THANK YOU ATLANTA!! OUR LATEST ALBUM IS OUT NOW, GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS ON IT ALRIGHT?!”
Joe and I both startled hearing Matt’s voice from the stage, indicating that they were almost done and it will be us next. Wait, why do I feel like it’s Chain Reaction all over again? RJ and dad ran towards us from our tent and we rushed to the backstage.
“THE NEXT PERFORMER,” Matt announced, with a whistle escaped from his mouth. “HAS A LADY AS THE SINGER. AND I MUST SAY, SHE’S PRETTY FUCKING HOT.”
What? Ex-ex-excuse me? The crowd screamed for us and they just continued to talk about me on stage?
“ISN’T SHE, GATES?”
“YEAH, MAN. IF YOU’RE INTO CHICKS LIKE THAT.”
Chicks like me? What was that supposed to mean? Silence filled on the stage. Only the sound of people screaming and cheering. What happened there?
“SO BOYS AND GIRLS, GIVE IT UP FOR HALE! STORM!!”
The crowd yelled again, and Matt walked towards me, handing over the microphone. I glared at him, like I used to glare at people but he just wasn’t affected by it.
“Here you go, baby.”
“Wha-”
SMACK! He slapped my ass and laughed like a devil, strutting with his band mates which I saw their drummer kept pointing his drumsticks at us. What the fuck is wrong with these guys?
“WOW. WHAT AN ASSHOLE.” I spoke into the microphone as revenge.
Meanwhile waiting for Joe and dad to settle in their instrument, I noticed a few familiar faces in the crowd, so without thinking I just talked to them using the microphone.
“I SEE A FEW FAMILIAR FACES HERE. YOU, WOAH. I’VE SEEN YOU BEFORE. WHERE ARE YOU FROM, DEAR?....PHILLY! SO AM I!”
I didn’t realize that me talking to fans like that was making them hyped and a little intrigued to see us as a band. They appreciated some communication from the band. I should have use this method long time ago. Like what Matt did.
“WE WANNA THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING HERE. WE’RE GONNA PLAY A FEW SONGS FROM OUR EP CALLED “ONE AND DONE”. IT’S NOT OUT OFFICIALLY YET, BUT YOU CAN GET THEM AT OUR BOOTH BACK THERE ALONG WITH OUR MERCH AND EVERYTHING, OKAY?”
They screamed. Wow, I’ve never felt so alive and so adrenaline rushed.
“THIS SONG IS CALLED TAKES MY LIFE, ENJOY!”
I started the riff on my Silverburst that dad bought me for my birthday last year and RJ followed with his drum thumping emerged three times before he really got into the song. I walked towards the microphone stand and started singing, stopping every music and just let my voice hung in the air.
I’ve written and erased your name a thousand ways in my book,
I’ve tried to be unkind, maybe cause you to rewind,
And take a good hard look,
Then with a cue drum from RJ, I pressed my voice harder and strummed again but just for a few bit.
I try to take stand, but it seems to never end in this place,
I’m gnawed down to bone, by the time I get alone,
Do I even know my own face
You confuse me, and correct me
And it’s fine, ‘til someone takes my life
Joe killed it after with a few solo tease and I can’t help but smiled at him. The song got progressive after that and I screamed at the chorus repeats where the background sound was Joe working his magical finger on the solo. And I mean scream until my throat fucking hurts.
We ended with a few rimshots from RJ and the crowd yelled at us. Some of them even chanted our name. It was a feeling I can never describe.
“THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH! GREAT TO BE HERE, WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT. AND FOR THAT, THIS NEXT SONG IS CALLED I BLEED.”
~*.*~
After that adrenaline pumping performance where I got a lot of positive feedbacks from the Warped crews, the drum techs and some fans that happened to pass by us, we went back to our booth, promoting the merch and our EP. Joe was getting a lot of female fans asking him to sign their tshirts and RJ was flirting with each and every innocent passer-by just to beg them into buying our merch. As for me, I sat on the chair quietly and sometimes a few dudes came to us and asked for my autograph.
“Aw, you came to our last gig in Philly? Thank you so much. What’s your name?”
“Derek. I love your voice Lzzy.”
“Thank you Derek, have you bought our EP?”
“Hell yeah!” he showed off the EP that cost only 12 dollar and only had five songs in it and I couldn’t hide my smile.
“You rock dude!”
“Rock on, Lzzy!”
As soon as the fan went away, somebody approached us. Somebody I recognized.
“Hey guys!” he greeted warmly. I didn’t have a problem with this guy so we greeted back.
“Heyy!”
“You guys were awesome! I’m Johnny by the way. I play bass in Avenged Sevenfold.”
“We know, Johnny. You guys already have a fanbase.” I pointed to the screaming girls who wore winged-skull logo tshirts and was calling Johnny’s name. Johnny looked at them and simply muttered a weak ‘hey’ before turning back to us.
“So, I was thinking maybe you guys wanna hang with us, you know after this. Probably go bar hopping or something.”
I looked at Joe. He didn’t understand my oath to never get friendly or ‘hang out’ with people like them, especially Matt. But this Johnny guy looked really sincere. How could I ever turn him down? I was about to answer when suddenly RJ cut it off for me.
“Sure man! We’d love to! Which bar then?”
I glared at RJ. He ignored me completely.
“We haven’t decided yet. I’ll text you the address later?”
“Sweet!”
Then Johnny turned around casually. He didn’t forget anything did he?
“Hey Johnny!” Joe called him from behind. “You don’t have our number.”
“Oh right! I forgot. Um, can I take yours?” he nodded to my direction.
“Me?”
“Yeah, I’d rather have a girl’s number in my phone once in a while.”
“Oh my gosh, poor you. Okay, let me put it in.” I handed the phone back to Johnny once I was done. “It’s under Lzzy. L-Z-Z-Y. No I.”
“Oh, okay. Got it. See you guys tonight!”
I turned my head to RJ who looked so fucking happy. I know why he was happy. He turned 18 last month and finally he was legal to drink. He’s been drinking every alcohol kind of drink ever since. He even tried girly drink like strawberry mojito.
“Don’t get drunk tonight, bro. I’m not going to drag you back to the hotel.”
“I don’t mind that, I have Joe now!” he flung his arm around Joe’s shoulder and the guy looked clueless.
“Don’t drink too much or I’m gonna bring dad along with us.”
“Shit, sis. You always know how to be a fun sucker!”
I stuck my tongue at him with Joe laughing at us bickering aimlessly. But deep in my heart, I wasn’t really worried about my brother getting drunk. I was worried about how am I going to ‘hang’ with them.
God help me.
Notes
A/N: woooh! they're gonna hang out! or not? :P feedback guys XD
@RyeBellamy
You're very welcome
7/29/18