The set was intense. I threw myself into it, starting a thrash session that saw some of the younger crowd stagger back away from the front line, dizzy and looking for air. The older regulars took their place, relishing a chance to cut loose and push the limits. After the first few songs, jackets and shirts were discarded, leaving a wall of hair and tattoos with the odd set of colours here and there. The band rose to the challenge, Dirk and Sven pushing the rhythm section so that the guitars had to race to keep up. And keep up they did. Riff after riff. Hook after hook. Verse. Chorus. Solo. Repeat. It became a sweating, panting, screaming animal with 50 heads, all thrashing in time to the thunder that poured from the stage.
And the beast would not die. When it was over, we yelled for more. They delivered. Original songs exhausted, they ripped through some more covers. Generals. Big Women. TNT. Lean On Me. Then they threw out their own challenge. Seek And Destroy. Played even faster than the original. Mike broke a string during the intro but played on, ignoring the pain from his tortured fingers. This obviously wasn’t Horseman Mike. Or the owner of Mike’s Tavern. This was the Mike who had held the scene together at one point, driving round in his battered car looking for venues, keeping a list of phone numbers so he could let everyone know about upcoming gigs. Not the only person who contributed. There were others. I could picture Mike growing old, losing his hair, settling down with a wife and kids, probably planting vegetables in his back yard, and still trying to keep the old crowd together.
Cliff launched himself into the pit after the second chorus, joining the front row in a frenzy of insane air guitar playing as we formed a solid wall to keep the mosh pit behind us from erupting onto the stage. Then he was back up there with the band for the last verse, struggling to keep his damp hair out of his face as he closed with the final chorus.
Extract from Burning Roses, a decadent tale of sex, drugs, rock n roll & magick. Available from http://www.amazon.com/author/burning
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Till next time. Cheers.
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