Gig Night

Loch leaned against the streetlamp, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, trying to ward off the last remnants of bus-induced nausea. She'd always had a problem with motion sickness, but hadn't realised just how bad it was until she lost her car and started needing to ride buses and taxis everywhere.

Luckily, it was a cool evening, and a light rainfall had freshened the air. She took a few more long breaths, then opened her eyes and looked around. She was standing on a street corner. There was a bus stop nearby – with no people in it – and a corner shop with all the windows boarded up. This area of town looked a little derelict, she thought. It could use some sprucing up.

She fished her phone out of her pocket and quickly typed out a message, sending it to Gray.

'Where r u guys?'

Two minutes later, her phone chimed and she looked at the screen to see one new message.

'Got held up. On our way now.'

Loch sighed good-naturedly. Her bandmates were probably a lot more organised than she was, but they still managed to be late for almost everything. This wasn't the first time she'd found herself waiting on a street corner for them. Despite that, there had never been a moment when she regretted joining the band.

Today, they had a gig scheduled in The Crow's Eye. It was a large bar on the north side of town where people of various species tended to gather. The food was supposed to be excellent, and the entertainment even better. The bar's owner had offered to let them perform a few songs here tonight; he was apparently a big fan of their music already.

Stal had immediately agreed, of course – he never missed an opportunity to show off their music to more people. The bigger the crowd, the better, and The Crow's Eye was definitely one of the larger places they'd been invited to perform in.

Loch heard a shout, and turned her head to see a small group walking quickly towards her from along the street. Two small dragons, a leather-jacket-wearing dragonman, and a tall vampire wearing the most ridiculous assortment of clothing she had ever seen, including a bright green tailcoat and yellow bowtie. She huffed out an exasperated laugh. Some things never changed.

'What held you up?' she called out as they drew closer.

'Arc needed a toilet stop,' said Gray.

'Pyre forgot his hat,' said Arc.

'Shut the hell up,' growled Stal, and they both shut up at once. 'We're already late and I don't want this gig ruined by anyone being an idiot. This is a great opportunity for us.' He began to walk up the street, searching for the bar.

'Yeah, it is,' said Loch, falling into step beside him; it was probably a good idea to steer the conversation away from whatever had held them up before Stal got any more pissed. 'We're really lucky to have gotten this chance.'

Stal grunted. 'It won't mean anything unless we make it good.'

'Oh, come on,' Arc cajoled. 'Don't be so negative! We've been rehearsing nonstop for two weeks, and we already knew all the songs we'll be playing by heart anyway. There's no reason for anything to go wrong.'

A drop of rain splattered onto Loch's head, and she glanced up at the steel-coloured mass of clouds in the sky. 'Better hurry up, I think it's about to pour down,' she said, smirking.

They were halfway to the bar when the heavens opened. Laughing, the five of them sprinted down the road and all but threw themselves through the door, while Gray complained about his guitar case getting wet.

'Can we get drinks?' asked Loch hopefully.

'Afterwards,' said Stal. He was the only one who hadn't laughed, and now his voice sounded devoid of emotion. Loch knew that this was how he dealt with nerves – by detaching himself from his feelings. It was the only way he could walk up on stage without having some sort of breakdown.

Out of curiosity, she studied the others, wondering if they were nervous at all. Gray was shuffling from foot to foot, hands stuffed deep into his pockets, clearly anxious. Arc was gazing around the bar, seemingly awestruck by how big it was and how many people were here, but he didn't look scared. Pyre was muttering what sounded like one of their song's lyrics under his breath.

None of them seemed to be as nervous as Stal. Loch considered her own emotions. She was excited, yes – so excited that it felt like her blood was humming in her veins, and her heart was already beating quicker than normal. But there was no fear. I guess Stal gets more worried because he takes this so seriously, she thought. This means everything to him. For the rest of us, it means SOMETHING, but maybe not as much.

Time seemed to pass quickly once they were inside. The bar owner spotted them and came over, greeting them all enthusiastically and offering drinks. Stal declined, the expression on his face making it clear that his fellow musicians were not permitted to accept either. He was starting to look like he might explode if he didn't get on stage soon.

Thankfully, the bar owner must have realised this.

'Over here, sirs – and madam,' he said, ushering them across the crowded room to where a small raised platform stood in one corner. Loch's heart rate sped up even more when she realised that a drum set and microphone were already waiting there. Stal saw them too. Without waiting for permission, he bounded up onto the platform and bent his reptilian head to the microphone.

'Testing,' he growled. All around the bar, heads swivelled to watch him. 'Good evening, people of The Crow's Eye.'

He shot Gray a meaningful look. Getting the hint, the bass player hopped up onto the stage and joined him, unslinging his bass guitar from his back in one smooth motion. Loch, Arc and Pyre followed suit.

Loch had always felt most at home when she was on stage and had her electric guitar in her hands; the instrument gave her a feeling of power that she never felt at any other time. Being surrounded by her fellow band members and knowing that they were about to play an epic song only increased that feeling. It was like a drug sweeping through her system.

Behind her, Arc played a short drum solo, eliciting a smattering of applause from the waiting crowd.

Loch grinned and struck a chord with her guitar, turning to address Stal. 'What's first, Stal?' she asked – purely for show, since they had rehearsed this performance at least a dozen times and they all knew exactly what to play.

'Pluto,' the singer grunted, adjusting his microphone. 'On four.'

Arc hit the drums four times, and immediately the whole room exploded into pure noise. Loch gritted her teeth with concentration as she played through the opening riff of the song. She was still a relatively inexperienced guitarist, having started less than three years ago, but she had natural skill and determination, and that had gotten her to where she was today.

Pluto was a deceptively dark song. The lyrics were about being forgotten, and all the band members had helped to write them. Stal remembered each line perfectly even though they'd never performed it live before and Loch remembered her guitar parts perfectly even though she usually forgot them.

When the song ended, the room erupted into appreciative cheers and Stal turned to throw a grin at his bandmates. He seemed to have lost his nerves and looked completely at home on the stage. Still fired up from the success of their first song, they immediately launched into the second, which was called Cat Eyes.

In the end, they had played through their entire eight-song set with only a few mistakes. As they climbed down from the stage, Loch felt like she was walking in a dream world. Everything seemed hazy, as if she'd been drinking too much, and she couldn't stop herself grinning like a maniac as she slapped Stal on the shoulder in congratulations.

'Great gig,' she said.

'Amazing,' he agreed, grinning back at her. It was rare to see him so open and cheerful.

The band owner thanked them for their performance and insisted on giving them all a free drink. Only Stal declined, being literally unable to enjoy it.

'It's nice playing somewhere where people actually like us,' said Arc as he sipped his rum and coke through a long straw.

'Yeah!' said Loch. 'Nowhere else we've played has seemed this enthusiastic about us. Just look.' With a sweeping gesture, she indicated the bar at large. At least half of the people sitting around were openly watching them, and most of the others were just watching more covertly.

'I see what you mean,' said Gray quietly. He was drinking a pint of beer and smiling faintly. 'We should come here again sometime.'

'I plan to,' said Stal gruffly.

The rest of the evening was spent in a blur of food, drink and laughter as they celebrated the success of their performance.