The band had performed mostly their own stuff along with their four or five covers. That was the opposite of most bands, who played mostly covers and not much of their own stuff. They were currently in the middle of a cover of Puddle of Mudd's "Control." The K, the lead singer, was belting out "I need to feel you, you need to feel me!" His voice was loud and gravelly. His fingers flew over the strings of the lead guitar, playing like his life depended on it. Big Luke, the bass player, was thumping his guitar, throwing in intricate rhythms not in the original song. Willis, the drummer, kept perfect time, his arms blurs as they moved from cymbals to drums and back. He was the one she noticed first.
Ashley had gone to the concert with some girl friends of hers, thinking it would be good to get out for a night. Finals were coming up and the stress was building. She thought that one night out, rocking out hard, would be good for her. Her friend's were all ogling over The K. He was the leader of the group. He was five foot ten, had shaggy hair and a stubbly little goatee. All the girls loved him. Ashley thought he was good looking enough, but there was something about the drummer that caught her eye.
Big Luke, on the other hand, was the groupie magnet. Six foot two, probably two hundred ten pounds, by her guess. A small Mohawk ran down the middle of his head, every couple of strands a different color. For some reason, the groupies flocked to him. Of course The K didn't had a couple, but he was in a serious relationship, so he kept groupies to a minimum.
They finished the song and The K took the mic. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are Energy Overdrive. Have you had a good time tonight?" The crowd, Ashley included, screamed and hollered. "All right! We have time for one more tune, then our time's up!" The crowd booed, wanting to hear more of Energy Overdrive. They had been the best band on the ticket so far. The noise grew quiet as the band rearranged themselves. Willis came out from behind his drum set; The K was switching their guitars for acoustic versions. Big Luke came back from the side curtain carrying three stools. The K and Big Luke took the end stools, Willis taking the middle.
Willis was by no means a big guy. Five foot eight, maybe a hundred and fifty pounds, he had glasses and a full goatee and mustache. His hair was slicked back from the sweat he produced while playing drums. He wore a plain white tank top despite the fact his arms weren't large. 'They ARE quite well defined, though' Ashley thought to herself, pushing her way to the front. Baggy blue jean shorts and old school Converse Chuck Taylors completed his outfit. He did NOT look like he should be in a rock band. If you cleaned him up and put him in some decent clothes, he might look like a young businessman.
Willis took the mic from the stand, looking over at The K. The K smiled and nodded at him and mouthed the words, "Go for it, dude." Willis took a deep breath and spoke for the first time all night, not counting backing vocals. "Hi...um, hi." He said, obviously nervous. "As you all know, a couple of days from now is the anniversary of the death of Stevie Ray Vaughn." A cheer and some applause went up at the mention of the music legend. "In tribute to one of the greatest guitarists of all time, not to mention someone we consider a major influence, we'd like to play one of his songs. I'm the guy who's usually back there pretending to play the drums, but K here said that I should sing the song. He's in charge, so here goes nothing."
The K started in on acoustic, followed shortly by Big Luke on his acoustic bass. The hall went eerily quiet, the crowd not knowing what to make of the change in styles. The K had his eyes closed, having played the song so many times that it was habit by now. Big Luke was not only playing the strings of his bass, he was thumping a quiet rhythm on the side. Willis smiled at everyone and took a deep breath. To say his voice was surprising would have been an understatement. It was loud and clear, not gruff like The K's.
You'd better leave,
You'd better leave my little girl alone
The crowd gave a slight cheer at the tune. Willis smiled with his eyes closed, starting the next line.
You better leave
You'd better leave my little girl alone
Willis opened his eyes, having mastered his nervousness at being in front for a change. He looked around the room, trying to look in everyone's eyes.
Lord, before I get evil man
And I go and do something wrong.
His eyes swept the front row. Ashley could have sworn that he looked at her a second longer than everyone else, but it was hard to tell.
You call my house just yesterday
I picked up the extension and
I heard every word you say
Ashley swayed to the music, the tune working into her mind. She watched as Willis rocked back and forth slightly, tapping a pattern on his thigh with one hand, the other holding the mic. He smiled at everyone, still looking around the room. Ashley found herself wanting him to look at her again.
Why don't you just go?
Man and leave my little girl alone.
Lord before I get evil man
And I go and do something wrong
The K stood up from his stool, his fingers indistinct lines as he played his solo. Big Luke also stood up, plucking out the bass line with no problems. Big Luke was playing for the girls now. A cluster of them was at his side of the stage. He kneeled down in front of them, showing off his dexterity.
Willis had remained on his stool, content to let the other two have the attention. The K was attracting the wannabe guitar players. Even players from the other bands were watching him, envious of his obvious talent. Willis watched The K momentarily and then returned his eyes to the crowd. That's when he noticed her.
The crowd had parted around her, almost as if Moses was nearby. One half was the guys were watching The K, the other half the girls watching Big Luke. This one girl in particular, was watching him. And he wasn't even doing anything. The K looked over at him, wordlessly asking for more playing time. Willis smiled and nodded, willing to let himself merely look at this girl with the flashing green eyes.
K went into a solo that he had worked out some time ago, with Big Luke merely playing along at this point. The girls were impressed and that was all he cared about. K was grinding some pretty intense sounds out of his acoustic. Willis grinned, having heard this solo before. K had once played almost twenty minutes on this one. How he could do that and not have his fingers all bloody and raw was beyond Willis.
Willis looked back at the girl in the front row. She was smiling at him. He smiled back, an honest smile for once, not one aimed at the "drummer groupies." She certainly didn't look like a groupie. She didn't look like a complete whore, for one thing. She had...an innocent thing about her. He found that very appealing. He got up from his stool and made his way to the front of the stage. He began shaking hands and slapping palms as people congratulated him. He got to the green-eyed girl and noticed she also had light red hair. 'Oh man,' he thought to himself. 'An angel in disguise.'
