Rock Prodigy

Chapter 5

Dan ran to catch up to him, leaving Troy and I to walk a little bit behind and I watched in fascination as the two brothers drew the attention of every young girl and woman within viewing distance. A wry smile twisted my lips as an older woman, probably in her thirties did a double take and twisted her body to get a better glimpse of the Parker brothers.

“I swear, I can’t take them anywhere. It’s the total Beiber effect,” Troy said leaning close and whispering in my ear.

I laughed out loud, causing Dan and Mac to look back at us. Dan gave me a small smile and a curious look, wondering what I was laughing about while Mac gave me a predictable scowl. “Hurry up,” he said before turning around and marching forward once more.

I rolled my eyes but picked up the pace a bit. Soon we were past the ticket gate and pushing our way through the crowds towards the stage. I glanced at the seat number on my ticket and realized we were incredibly close to the front.

Sick of bumping into people, I moved to stand behind Troy as people automatically made way for his large form. He smiled and thanked them but I still saw the awe in their faces as they were arrested by his musculature.

Finally, we made it to our spot which turned out to be in the standing area right in front of the stage. The opening band came on and the crowd cheered but everyone knew that they weren’t here for them. There was a sort of buzzing in the atmosphere, almost as if people were holding their breath, waiting for something big to happen. The tension was getting to me and I felt like the hairs on my arms were standing on end.

After what seemed like forever, three girls and one guy burst on the stage with their arms raised and huge smiles on their faces. They took in the crowd and waved before settling into their roles, gripping their instruments and preparing. The petite blonde drummer, smacked her sticks together, counting out the tempo and as soon as they struck the first note, I was caught. My gaze fastened on the lead singer who had long hair with natural red highlights in it that I could see from my close vantage point and her light green eyes shone with excitement and a clear love of music.

Unlike the people around me who were jumping and dancing, I stood still, staring at the band in front of me, my gaze alternating between the four of them. I focused on the redhead bassist for a while, seeing her energy as she quickly and expertly plucked the deep notes on her four strings. She would sometimes look at the guitarist, the only male in the band and their eyes would meet, passing a silent communication between the two of them before the song changed suddenly, affecting the whole audience. They worked together flawlessly, their four sounds mingling to create something incredible and I could feel it deep in my bones. The lyrics of their songs were a million times better than any Ke$ha song and I could tell that the lead singer really meant every word she said. Her voice was a little husky and low but it was beautiful. It had an edge to it that perfection would’ve never attained.

When they finished the set, the crowd screamed for more and the band came back onstage playing a few more songs. The last song was a slow one and I noticed that the singer was looking somewhere off to the left. A guy was standing there wearing a tight black t-shirt and faded jeans, looking at the girl on stage with love in his eyes. She smiled at him as she sang the last words and I could see the love reflected back to him there and I wondered briefly what it would be like to feel that way about someone.

When they left the stage a final time, I felt the excitement in the air as people around us gushed about how amazing the concert had been and how incredible their music was. As we made our way back out of the crowd, I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face as I realized that not all new music was hopeless. Some people still knew what it meant to have talent and make songs that meant something.