Bang your head

The front of the stage was a solid mass of hair as a dozen heads banged in time to the beat. Further back, more bodies pushed and bounced against one another, surging back and forth as the rhythm took control. The band ripped through the first half of the cover, playing it faster than anyone remembered it being the previous weekend. Not that Noddy was about to complain. The pounding beat, the blistering guitars, the shove of the crowd, this was what he lived for. One hand gripping his skull mug, the other trying to keep up on his air-guitar, there was nowhere he’d rather be.

The solo sprang like a living thing from the last line of the second verse, as Paul took his place at the front of the stage. He’d been playing guitar since he was in nappies, and on nights like this, you could hear the results. Horned salutes stabbed the air. Mugs and bottles were held high in adulation. The crowd launched into their own version of the solo, frantic fingers playing notes that hadn’t even been invented yet as hair and sweat filled the front row.

Then the inevitable mosher climbed onto the stage, threw his arms in the air and dived into the crowd. He landed way off on Noddy’s right, as his buddies broke his fall and helped him to his feet. Paul grinned and played on.

The next verse came and went, becoming a second guitar solo, with Mike doing the honours this time. The crowd was rapidly banging its way into a frenzy. The skinhead on Noddy’s left lost his balance and swayed for a moment, then was gone. In his place stood Morag, head down, foot up, mug held precariously by two fingers as the rest of them danced along the air-strings.

A second stage-diver appeared, bouncing onto the platform and tossing a fist in the air before launching himself after it. But this one had miscalculated. Everyone in front of him moved as his feet left the stage. He hit the floor face first, boots spinning out of sight as Cliff finished the final chorus.

And that was it. The end of the song. There was silence for a split second, while heads stopped bouncing up and down, then the audience erupted in a roar of appreciation. Every single person on the floor was yelling, screaming, waving their fists in the air. Most of them took up a chant. “More! More! More!”

To keep people entertained while we all struggle to find our feet in a world suddenly flipped upside down – I’m still releasing Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments.

Read them each week on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, GoodReads, or Amazon.

No charge. No obligation. Read for free. Share with your friends.

Cheers.

Physical paperback copies are available from BookDealers of Rivonia – 40 Wessel Road, Rivonia, Sandton.

From Curiosity in Pretoria. (Join me there on Sunday the 19th of July, at the Winter Wonderland Market, where I’ll have some new books available for the first time in Pretoria, and some available for the first time anywhere)

And from Snow Lion in 7th Street, Melville.

Also available in Melville – Shorty’s Poems are now in Book Circle Capital, in 27 Boxes. Pop in and take a look at the selection of books available from this local store.

Another South African author – Bill James – has just released his first book, Big Day Out.

In Bill’s own words – “This book has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Set in Johannesburg in the near future, Big Day Out is a mad mercenary romp through the dystopian nightmare that Covid-19 might have become. Might still become, if we don’t keep our self-appointed leaders on a very short leash.

Good old-fashioned don’t-give-a-toss action. You don’t like it, don’t buy it.”

Finally, the Smashwords July Summer/Winter sale is still on. All my books (and Shorty’s) are heavily discounted, some of them even free. Along with thousands of others. Go stock up for Xmas.

Cheers.