Four Become One
One
A heavy sigh blew past Matt’s lips as he held the tour poster in his hands. His band mate’s gathered around him as well as their manager, Larry Jacobson. They were all sitting around his dinning room table, looking at the piece of paper with hesitation.
Heavy Metal Festival
Montreal, Quebec
Parterre Parc Jean Drapeau
July 25, 2010
“Are we sure we want to do this?” He asked everyone again, looking up from the paper.
They all nodded silently.
His wife, Valary, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “He wouldn’t want you guys to give up on this,” She said quietly.
Brian nodded, “It’ll be right after we get out of the studio,” He explained, “I think we should do it.”
Matt looked back down at the paper uneasily.
“Think about it,” Larry said, resting his hand on top of his in a comforting way, “Call me in the morning.”
He stood up from his chair, bidding the rest of the guys a good night before heading out the front door. It made a thudding noise, signaling that he was gone.
Matt put the paper down in the middle of the table in front of all the guys.
“This would be big,” Johnny commented, reading the list of bands that were going to be there, “And right after the next record, dude, this could make us big money!”
Zacky shot him a deathly stare, followed with a low growl, “It’s not about the money Christ!” He snapped, “Is that all you can fucking think about!?”
“Zacky!” Valary hissed, “Calm down!”
He gave another angry glance to Johnny.
“I don’t see why we can’t do this,” Brian sighed, picking up the paper and studying it in his hands, “We’re more than capable of playing something like this.”
“I know that,” Matt said, “But are we ready?”
He looked up at the four boys sitting around him. They had been through hell and back in the past few months with the death of their band mate and best friend. Each of them was affected in different ways.
Johnny refused to look at anyone for a week, only talking to his girlfriend Lacey. Zacky had kept himself at his house, posting things via the internet about his mental status. Matt broke down twice, Valary witnessing one of them, and he ended up writing a blog entry about his feelings on the bands website.
Brian however, had it the worst. He and Jimmy were best friends since as far as they could remember. Valary’s sister and his girlfriend, Michelle, said that he locked himself in their room for days, refusing to touch his guitar or even look at it. She said that he had slipped into this depression where he did nothing but cry and drink.
Then the funeral came.
That was probably the most difficult day that they had endured so far.
They all tried to be the strong men in each of their relationship and be there for Jimmy’s widow, Leanna, but when they thought no one was looking, tears slipped past their closed eyelids. The service however, was beautiful. All of their closest friends and family came to pay their respects to the drummer.
The fans even paid their respects to him, creating colorful banners on line and writing the most beautiful things that they could pour out of their little souls. The band as a whole read each and every one of them, realizing that they were not the only ones feeling the pain.
After that they decided it was time to stop hiding and sulking and get up and do something.
The four of them asked Mike Portnoy, his favorite drummer, to help them record their next record. He gladly accepted and headed into the studio with the boys.
Matt looked up at Johnny, who looked at Zacky, who looked at Brian, who looked back at Matt.
“I’ll go call Larry,” Matt announced, standing up from his chair.
The months faded away and before they knew it, they were taking the stage and Heavy Metal Festival in Montreal.
As they waited for their stage to be set up, Brian and Zacky stood at the side of the stage, watching them hang their banner up.
Both of them smiled proudly as the crowd cheered.
foREVer
The black scripted lettering went perfect with the deathbat that had Jimmy’s hair and labret piercing. Just like the one they had all gotten tattooed on them.
Larry came up behind them and pulled them aside, telling them that Matt wanted to see them before the show. They nodded and followed him to where Matt was sitting in the dressing room.
He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, “Look, I know we don’t do this often,” He said nervously, “But I was thinking we could do some sort of preshow ritual?” He said as more of a question, letting it hang around in the air.
Brian smiled at the suggestion and extended his arm out, his palm facing the floor, “To Jimmy.”
Zacky looked at him a little confused.
“To Jimmy,” Johnny said, putting his hand on top of Brian’s.
“To Jimbo,” Zacky smiled, placing his on top of Johnny’s.
“To The Rev,” Matt said, putting his hand on top of all of them.
“This is for you,” Brian concluded, removing his hand shortly after.
The band took to the stage and when they looked out; they could see the crowd of people that had gathered from the previous bands.
“Hello Montreal,” Matt greeted into the mic, “It’s nice to see you all again!”
The crowd screamed.
“We thought we’d start our show off a little different this time around,” He spoke, “We’re going to play a song by another band if that’s alright with you.”
Matt looked over and Brian, who gave him the thumbs up.
“It’s by a band called Hawthorne Heights. I know, I know, something you wouldn’t expect from us, but those dudes have gone through what we’re going through now,” Matt began to explained, “As many of you know by now, we lost our best friend and band mate, The Rev, in December. It’s been a long road for us and we thought about giving it all up, but deep down we all knew that he wouldn’t have wanted us to do that. That’s why we’re dedicating this song to him,” He looked over and Zacky who nodded, “This one’s called Four Become One.”
Johnny gave them the all is go look and the band began to play with the help of the drummer from another band that was playing there.
“And you will live on. Our hearts will beat stronger. As we remain as one. We will last just a little while longer and as we pull ourselves together, we can't help, but be torn apart. And we will always have each other. Just like it was from the start,” He sang out to the crowd.
They looked at their audience trying to find a reaction from them, but the found nothing. It wasn’t until the chorus kicked in that they realized a huge group of Avenged Sevenfold fans were holding up lighters and shedding tears.
“When five becomes four. And four becomes one. You're not just passing on. You're passing on all the fun we had. You made us laugh. We only cried, but once. You made us laugh. In photographs, on display for everyone.”
Heavy Metal Festival
Montreal, Quebec
Parterre Parc Jean Drapeau
July 25, 2010
“Are we sure we want to do this?” He asked everyone again, looking up from the paper.
They all nodded silently.
His wife, Valary, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “He wouldn’t want you guys to give up on this,” She said quietly.
Brian nodded, “It’ll be right after we get out of the studio,” He explained, “I think we should do it.”
Matt looked back down at the paper uneasily.
“Think about it,” Larry said, resting his hand on top of his in a comforting way, “Call me in the morning.”
He stood up from his chair, bidding the rest of the guys a good night before heading out the front door. It made a thudding noise, signaling that he was gone.
Matt put the paper down in the middle of the table in front of all the guys.
“This would be big,” Johnny commented, reading the list of bands that were going to be there, “And right after the next record, dude, this could make us big money!”
Zacky shot him a deathly stare, followed with a low growl, “It’s not about the money Christ!” He snapped, “Is that all you can fucking think about!?”
“Zacky!” Valary hissed, “Calm down!”
He gave another angry glance to Johnny.
“I don’t see why we can’t do this,” Brian sighed, picking up the paper and studying it in his hands, “We’re more than capable of playing something like this.”
“I know that,” Matt said, “But are we ready?”
He looked up at the four boys sitting around him. They had been through hell and back in the past few months with the death of their band mate and best friend. Each of them was affected in different ways.
Johnny refused to look at anyone for a week, only talking to his girlfriend Lacey. Zacky had kept himself at his house, posting things via the internet about his mental status. Matt broke down twice, Valary witnessing one of them, and he ended up writing a blog entry about his feelings on the bands website.
Brian however, had it the worst. He and Jimmy were best friends since as far as they could remember. Valary’s sister and his girlfriend, Michelle, said that he locked himself in their room for days, refusing to touch his guitar or even look at it. She said that he had slipped into this depression where he did nothing but cry and drink.
Then the funeral came.
That was probably the most difficult day that they had endured so far.
They all tried to be the strong men in each of their relationship and be there for Jimmy’s widow, Leanna, but when they thought no one was looking, tears slipped past their closed eyelids. The service however, was beautiful. All of their closest friends and family came to pay their respects to the drummer.
The fans even paid their respects to him, creating colorful banners on line and writing the most beautiful things that they could pour out of their little souls. The band as a whole read each and every one of them, realizing that they were not the only ones feeling the pain.
After that they decided it was time to stop hiding and sulking and get up and do something.
The four of them asked Mike Portnoy, his favorite drummer, to help them record their next record. He gladly accepted and headed into the studio with the boys.
Matt looked up at Johnny, who looked at Zacky, who looked at Brian, who looked back at Matt.
“I’ll go call Larry,” Matt announced, standing up from his chair.
The months faded away and before they knew it, they were taking the stage and Heavy Metal Festival in Montreal.
As they waited for their stage to be set up, Brian and Zacky stood at the side of the stage, watching them hang their banner up.
Both of them smiled proudly as the crowd cheered.
foREVer
The black scripted lettering went perfect with the deathbat that had Jimmy’s hair and labret piercing. Just like the one they had all gotten tattooed on them.
Larry came up behind them and pulled them aside, telling them that Matt wanted to see them before the show. They nodded and followed him to where Matt was sitting in the dressing room.
He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, “Look, I know we don’t do this often,” He said nervously, “But I was thinking we could do some sort of preshow ritual?” He said as more of a question, letting it hang around in the air.
Brian smiled at the suggestion and extended his arm out, his palm facing the floor, “To Jimmy.”
Zacky looked at him a little confused.
“To Jimmy,” Johnny said, putting his hand on top of Brian’s.
“To Jimbo,” Zacky smiled, placing his on top of Johnny’s.
“To The Rev,” Matt said, putting his hand on top of all of them.
“This is for you,” Brian concluded, removing his hand shortly after.
The band took to the stage and when they looked out; they could see the crowd of people that had gathered from the previous bands.
“Hello Montreal,” Matt greeted into the mic, “It’s nice to see you all again!”
The crowd screamed.
“We thought we’d start our show off a little different this time around,” He spoke, “We’re going to play a song by another band if that’s alright with you.”
Matt looked over and Brian, who gave him the thumbs up.
“It’s by a band called Hawthorne Heights. I know, I know, something you wouldn’t expect from us, but those dudes have gone through what we’re going through now,” Matt began to explained, “As many of you know by now, we lost our best friend and band mate, The Rev, in December. It’s been a long road for us and we thought about giving it all up, but deep down we all knew that he wouldn’t have wanted us to do that. That’s why we’re dedicating this song to him,” He looked over and Zacky who nodded, “This one’s called Four Become One.”
Johnny gave them the all is go look and the band began to play with the help of the drummer from another band that was playing there.
“And you will live on. Our hearts will beat stronger. As we remain as one. We will last just a little while longer and as we pull ourselves together, we can't help, but be torn apart. And we will always have each other. Just like it was from the start,” He sang out to the crowd.
They looked at their audience trying to find a reaction from them, but the found nothing. It wasn’t until the chorus kicked in that they realized a huge group of Avenged Sevenfold fans were holding up lighters and shedding tears.
“When five becomes four. And four becomes one. You're not just passing on. You're passing on all the fun we had. You made us laugh. We only cried, but once. You made us laugh. In photographs, on display for everyone.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Tell all your friends.REV