Kings and Queens of Promise

“Em!” came a familiar voice as we walked into the amphitheater.

“Alex!” I screamed, running to meet my insane twin brother. “Oh, my God, I’ve missed you so much!”

“I know, right? How are you? How are things? Is Syn being nice to you? Is Jack being nice to you?”

“Whoa, Alex, slow down. I’m enjoying my new job so far, but it’s only my first day. Jack’s scared shitless of me and he’s sick today,” I said sadly.

“Well, that’s kinda the basis of this emergency,” Alex said guiltily.

“Why? What is…no. Alex, no,” I said stubbornly.

“Come on! We have a gig and we can’t do it without a guitar player!”

“Then get one of the guys from Simple Plan to do it!”

“They don’t know all our songs. You do.”

“But…but…”

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Alex said, pouting. Ah, dang it.

“Fine, but you owe me big,” I said.

“Yes! Sis, I love you!” he shouted, hugging me before going to tell his friends they had a guitar player.

“So, wait, what are you doing?” Jimmy asked.

“I’m playing guitar for All Time Low,” I sighed.

“You can play guitar? That’s awesome,” Matt said.

“Yeah, she better be able to play guitar after all ten cases we had to lug up to her room,” Zacky whined.

“I can play okay,” I shrugged.

“Em, we’re on at six, okay?” Alex called. “We sound check first!”

“How long is our set?” I said, following him.

“We get thirty minutes,” he said.

“Okay, I think I can handle that,” I said, taking a deep breath.

“Alright, then go find a guitar and get set up!” Alex exclaimed, running off.

“Syn!” I called, turning back to the guys. Syn approached me. “Can I borrow a guitar?”

“Which one?” he asked.

“Any one,” I said.

“Are you partial to any brand?”

“I’ve always wanted to try a Schechter,” I shrugged, “but I doubt you have––”

“Wait here,” Syn said, hurrying outside.

“Hey, Em, since you’re gonna be onstage, I texted Pierre to grab you something sexy to wear,” Zacky called.

“Thanks man,” I smiled.

“I also told him to bring you one of your electric guitars. You need to use more than one.”

“Alright,” I said, turning and walking to the door to see where Syn was. He was just walking up, carrying a guitar case. “Schechter?” I asked quietly.

“Yup,” he grinned, carrying it onstage and hooking it up for me. Then, he pulled it out of the case and I was speechless.

“Dude, it even has your name on the neck,” I said, lightly touching the strings.

“I hope you have fun with it,” he laughed. “I’m sure your fans will appreciate it.”

“I’m here, now where is she?!” a voice demanded from the door. There was Pierre, weighed down by my guitar case and my messenger bag.

“My Gibson Custom!” I exclaimed, running to take the guitar from him. “Thanks, P.”

“You’re welcome,” he smiled, handing me my messenger bag. I jumped onstage, setting up my guitar and checking it. I was starting to get nervous as people arrived. I wanted to find Syn or Zacky or Pierre, but they just weren’t around. Finally, at about a quarter to six, I went into a restroom and changed clothes. I had to admit, Pierre did a good job picking it out.

“You ready?” Alex asked as I stood side-stage. There was a huge crowd of people.

“Not really.”

“You’ll do great. You’re an amazing guitar player.”

“Uh–huh,” I said nervously.

“Oh, one more thing, I need you to sing harmony and the girl part on Remembering Sunday!” he shouted at me as he ran away. Okay, now I’m officially gonna die.

“Hey, Em, I need to ask you something,” Matt said, coming up to me. “What are your favorite Avenged Sevenfold songs?”

“Um…I like ‘Lost’ and ‘Dear God’ and ‘Afterlife’…and ‘Almost Easy’. Oh, and ‘Seize the Day’…and, of course, my favorite is ‘Strength of the World’, but why do you––”

“Showtime!” one of the tech team guys said. Zack and Rian, the other two guys in All Time Low excitedly hurried out, as did Alex, grabbing onto my hand in the process before I could finish talking to Matt.

“Hi, everyone!” Alex screamed into the microphone. The audience screamed back. “This is my twin sister and my bestest friend in the whole world, Em! Say hi to Em, everyone!”

“Hi, Em!” they screamed. In the front row––the VIP area, where they wouldn’t get mobbed––stood Syn and his friends and Pierre and the Simple Plan guys.

“Jack is sick tonight and can’t play, but Em is gonna fill in. Everyone shout out a ‘get well soon’ to Jack. Yeah, that’s right. Now, be nice to Em, guys. Show her some love. This is her first time playing for us. So, are you ready to hear some great fuckin’ music?! Alright, I think they’re ready, Em. Have at it.” I chuckled nervously, glancing at the set list before grabbing the drop–D guitar, which happened to be Syn’s Schechter. Then, we began.

“Manage me, I'm a mess
Turn a page, I'm a book half unread
I wanna be laughed at, laughed with, just because
I wanna feel weightless and that should be enough

But I'm stuck in this fucking rut
Waiting on a second-hand pick-me-up
And I'm over getting older

If I could just find the time
Then I would never let another day go by
I'm over getting old

Maybe it's not my weekend but it's gonna be my year
And I'm so sick of watching while the minutes pass as I go nowhere
And this is my reaction to everything I fear
'Cause I've been going crazy, I don't wanna waste another minute here

Make believe that I impress
That every word, by design, turns a head
I wanna feel reckless, wanna live it up just because
I wanna feel weightless 'cause that would be enough

If I could just find the time
Then I would never let another day go by
I'm over getting old

Maybe it's not my weekend but it's gonna be my year
And I'm so sick of watching while the minutes pass as I go nowhere
And this is my reaction to everything I fear
'Cause I've been going crazy, I don't wanna waste another minute here

This could be all I've waited for
(I've waited, I've waited for)
And this could be everything I don't wanna dream anymore

Maybe it's not my weekend but it's gonna be my year
And I've been going crazy, I'm stuck in here

Maybe it's not my weekend but it's gonna be my year
(It's gonna be my year)
And I'm so sick of watching while the minutes pass as I go nowhere
(Go nowhere)
And this is my reaction to everything I fear
(Everything I fear)
'Cause I've been going crazy, I don't wanna waste another minute here”

‘Weightless’ was just the song I needed to loosen up. It was both challenging and fun and it got me jumping around and plain out going crazy! I was screaming the lyrics as I played happily. Next we did ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In’, then I switched guitars to play ‘Six Feet Under the Stars’ and ‘Coffeeshop Soundtrack’, then we finished with ‘Painting Flowers’, ‘Remembering Sunday’ and closed with ‘Stay Awake (Dreams Only Last A Night)’. It was a blast, even singing! We all ran offstage, sweaty and totally pumped, switching with Simple Plan.

“Are you guys ready to fucking rock?!”

“I don’t wanna wake up today
‘Cuz everyday’s the same
And I’d been waiting so long
For things to change
I’m sick of this town
Sick of my job
Sick of my friends ‘cuz everyone’s jaded
Sick of this place, I wanna break free
I’m so frustrated, I just wanna

Jump!”

Simple Plan played an awesome show as well, getting the whole crowd going with ‘Jump’ and a cover of Cheap Trick’s ‘Surrender’. I was in the front row, enjoying every second.

“Grow Up!” I screamed, waving to Pierre. He saw me and grinned, turning to the rest of the band, who enthusiastically agreed. After ‘Grow Up’, they played ‘Christmas List’, ‘Perfect’, ‘I’m Just A Kid’, ‘Vacation’, ‘Crazy’ ‘Welcome to My Life’, ‘Perfect World’, ‘When I’m Gone’ and they closed with ‘What If’. It took until the end of Simple Plan’s set before I realized Syn and the guys were no longer next to me. There were screams as the final band of the evening ran onstage and my jaw dropped as I saw Syn grinning down at me. Matt was at the microphone, Jimmy behind the drum set, Zacky and Syn holding guitars, and Johnny holding a bad–ass bass. There was violin music playing in the background.

“Now, for the band you’ve all been waiting for,” Matt smirked. “’Cuz we’re a hell of a lot better than that pussy band, All Time Low.” There were several boo’s from the crowd and I flipped him off. “Well, we’re about to blow the roof off this place! Are you ready?”

Then, Syn and Zacky started playing a very familiar tune. They stood, side by side, right-handed and left-handed, playing that sick guitar harmony.

“AVENGED SEVENFOLD!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Like walking into a dream
So unlike what you’ve seen
So unsure but it seems,
‘Cuz we’ve been waiting for you
Fallen into this place
Just giving you a small taste
Of your afterlife here, so stay,
You’ll be back here soon anyway

I see a distant light, but girl this can’t be right
Such a surreal place to see so how did this come to be
Arrive too early

And when I think of all the places I just don’t belong
I’ve come to grips with life and realized this is going too far

I don’t belong here,
We gotta move on, dear
Escape from this afterlife, ‘cuz this time I’m right
To move on and on, far away from here”

I sang along, knowing every word and air–guitaring every solo. I loved it when Zacky and Syn both sang. The band had so much energy, I felt every ounce of tiredness leave my body as I jumped around, head banged, and sang at the top of my lungs, completely drowning in the bass, drums, and killer guitar licks. I went crazy when Jimmy started singing while he was playing the awesome drumming ever. Then came Syn’s guitar solo. He and Zacky were standing so close to me, I could’ve reached out and touched them. For a moment, in my fan girlishness, I completely forgot that I knew these guys. For a moment, they were my favorite band that I was just so psyched to see live.

“I don’t belong here,
We gotta move on, dear
Escape from this afterlife, ‘cuz this time I’m right
To move on and on, far away from here
Got nothing against you
And surely I’ll miss
This place full of peace and light, and I’d hope you might
Take me back inside when the time is right!”

Next came ‘Bat Country’

“He who makes a beast out of himself!” we all screamed, “Gets rid of the pain of being a man!”

Of course, I screamed my lungs out , especially during the solo and awesome guitar harmonies following.

“So, speaking of beasts,” Matt smirked as Syn began the intro to ‘The Beast and the Harlot’.

“OMG, SYN I LOVE YOU!” I screamed, just to see what he’d do. He stopped playing completely, reaching out and grabbing my hand. He pulled me onto the stage and planted a serious kiss on my lips before shoving me into Zacky.

“Let her play it, man1” Syn shouted at Zacky. That’s when my mind snapped to reality, as Zacky backed off and threw me one of his guitars. Then, Syn started up the intro again as I played the rhythm guitar part. My mind went into some kind of autopilot as I strummed the insanely fast song that I’d practiced practically every day since I’d gotten my first guitar. Zacky had jumped into the crowd and was crowd surfing. When the verse came along, I threw myself forward and sang into the microphone, singing at the top of my lungs. Then Syn broke into another guitar lick. I stood up next to him, just like Zacky would. For the first time in my life, I was glad I was ambidextrous. I had never had an adrenaline rush like this before as everything seemed to slow down, yet speed up at the same time. Then came the bridge.

“The day has come for all us sinners,
If you’re not a servant, you’ll be struck to the ground
Flee the burning, greedy city
Looking back on her to see there’s nothing around

I don’t believe in fairytales and no one wants to go to hell
You’ve made the wrong decision and it’s easy to see
Now if you wanna serve above or be a king below with us
You’re welcome to the city where your future is set forever”

I had never felt this…high, before. It was such a rush. As they finished ‘The Beast and the Harlot’, Matt smirked at me before leaning in to his microphone.

“Why don’t we let little Miss Gaskarth play a few more for us?” The crowd screamed.

“If Im gonna play this stuff,” I said into my microphone, “I‘m gonna need some beer.” Grinning, I grabbed one of Zacky’s beers and drank heavily from it.

“Seriously, this girl is insane. She’s fucking insane, but I’m not insane.” With that, we launched into ‘Almost Easy’, another one of my favorites. As we played the intro, I ran over to Johnny, bending backwards in front of him as I played. Then, I ran over to a speaker, jumping up on it and playing straight to the crowd. I saw Alex in front of me and I got the head of the guitar dangerously close to his face.

“I’m not––” I sang, “––sad at all.”

I took a running jump and landed on Jimmy’s drum platform, leaning over the drum set and grinning at him before I jumped off, getting nearly eight feet off the ground. I ran to the front in time to see Syn play the solo. I was seriously in love with his guitar playing. I felt myself surrounded as Matt, Jimmy, and Syn all sang. I sang loudly, “I’m not insane, I’m not insane!”

Somehow, instead of getting tired, I just got more and more wound up as we continued to play, playing ‘Lost’ and ‘Sidewinder’ before Matt announced ‘Seize the Day’.

“What say we let Em start this one, folks?” Matt asked. I grinned, now being a few beers deep, and leaned against the microphone.

“Seize the day
You’ll die regretting the time you lost
It’s empty and cold without you here
Too many people to ache over”

My nervousness was entirely gone as we played the slower song. I found myself watching Matt as he moved around the stage, then I looked back at Jimmy as he, Matt, and Syn sang the chorus. I easily strummed Zacky’s acoustic guitar, enjoying the nice sound it had. After that, we played ‘Trashed and Scattered’ and ‘Burn It Down’, during which, Zacky came out and grinding against me. I happily grinded back until Syn ran over and shooed him away, somewhat unhappily. Then, we finished with my favorite song of all time, ‘Strength of the World’. I didn’t miss a single note as I played it with Syn. All in all, it was the most awesome day of my life as I ran offstage for the second time tonight, sweaty and stumbling slightly as I finished my fifth beer. I wasn’t drunk: I can hold my liquor, but I was just so amazing at everything that had happened tonight.

“You are amazing!” Jimmy was screaming right next to me, holding onto me and jumping around. “You’re even better than Zacky! We should fire him and hire you!”

“Hey, not cool, guys,” Zacky said. “He’s right, though. You did awesome.”

“I did, didn’t I?” I said loudly, grinning like an idiot.

“Oh, my God, that was fucking amazing!” Alex shouted right next to me. “We have to celebrate this!”

“I suggest we all buy as much booze as we can and meet back at the mansion for the biggest, smallest after–party ever!” Johnny shouted. Now, he was drunk, but everyone loved his idea, so that’s what we did.