Seize the Day

Seize the Day 30

Our first tour show was tomorrow, and everyone was getting antsy.  As many times as these guys had gone out and rocked as Avenged Fucking Sevenfold, we could tell they were all still nervous.  I know Matt hadn't eaten in nearly three days, and Brian had been chain smoking for pretty much a full week.

We loaded up our costumes for the show tomorrow, all the gear we were taking on tour, and headed to a hotel near the arena.  We'd decided to stay in one place so that loading the bus the next morning would be easier.  I was excited for the tour, but I was certainly not necessarily looking forward to the majorly long bus trip to Toronto.

Once everyone got to the hotel, we decided to have a "family dinner."  We all filed into the restaurant, to no fewer than seven kids staring, jaws dropped to the floor, as the boys walked in.  

"You know, that's something I don't think I'll ever get used to," Johnny said as we waded our way through the group of bystanders. 

"I know," Brian agreed.  "It's still weird."

We had our dinner in relative peace.  As peaceful as it can be with five rockstars, several not-so-quiet girlfriends, and six autograph request interruptions that is.  Over the course of our meal, Jess and I had vowed to find Johnny a hot new chick, get Arin to nail a groupie, and abso-fucking-lutely terrorize the boys the entire tour.

"We need to have some fun too," Jess whined when Zack looked less than thrilled about the terrorist threats.  "You guys have done this for years.  It's our first time.  Let us play!"

"Yeah!"  I was giving Matt my best pouty eyes.  

"You stop it," he said.  "Don't encourage her.  That's all we need!"

I winked at Jess.  "Ha," I said.  "We've got this.  And they've got it coming to them."  Michelle sat listening to this conversation, laughing.

___________

Avenged Sevenfold stood in the wings of the stage watching their opening act's performance.  This tour they'd selected Trivium and and brought back New Medicine as their supporting acts, as well as one local band from each area, chosen by radio station contests.

It had been pretty fucking hilarious a couple weeks earlier when Jess found out who was touring with the boys.  Trivium had long been her other favorite band, but she'd never gotten a chance to see them live.

The day the announcement was made, she actually got the OfficalA7X Twitter alert before Zack made it home from the label offices.  I happened to be with her when her phone buzzed. 

"Holy fucking shit, Vivienne!" she screamed, jumping up and down in Matt's and my kitchen.  "Did you know Trivium was the support band for this tour?" 

I shrugged.  "I knew they were being considered, but nothing final." 

She continued flailing and jumping around my kitchen until she smacked her elbow on the counter.  "Jesusfuckinggoddamnitmotherfuckingowww!" she screamed, still hopping around.

"Dude, chill out," I laughed at her.  "So you get to fangirl twice as hard every night.  Plus, it'll give you a chance to see how Zack really feels.  Be sure to flail and squeal and Beatle-mania out every time Heafy goes onstage.  See how long it takes Z to get jealous."

She shook her head.  "That's terrible, V!"  She then perked up.  "But you've got a point.  We'll see what happens."  With that, she continued her fangirling, singing "I'm gonna see Trivium!  I'm gonna meet Matt Heafy!"       
 
Currently, Trivium was rocking thousands of faces off, warming up the crowd for Avenged.  We were all watching what was a huge mosh pit that seemed to be full of costumed concert-goers.  Zombies with melting makeup, vampires missing a fang, and no less than four fully suited werewolves were throwing themselves against each other, screaming and thrashing around.  

"Dude, is that guy Beetlejuice?" I heard Brian ask behind me. 

"Yup," Zack yelled over the music.  "I can't believe this many people dressed up!"

"You don't have the market on Halloween fun, babe," Jess scolded.  "The second we mentioned a Halloween show, the Internet fanbase blew up with costume ideas.  It's nuts."

I nodded in agreement.  "These kids are weirdos like the rest of us.  Every day is Halloween!"

"Internet fan base?" Arin asked.  

"Oh, dude, if you only knew," I laughed.  "You guys have some crazy fans.  They get to show their true colors, if you will, online.  Miss Jess over here used to run a blog.  I won't tell you what it's called."  I doubled over laughing, knowing that Brian, at least, had found Mama J's Tumblr blog and showed it to the other guys at least once.  Of course, they didn't know that's who it belonged to at the time.  

She shot me a laser glare of death, which made Zack ask her about it.  This, of course, only made me laugh harder.  I actually had to grab Matt's shoulder to keep from falling on the floor.  

Jess continued to glare at me, and ignored Zack's inquisition.  She crossed her arms and stared at Matt Heafy as Trivium was kicking into their last song for the night.

"Sorry, couldn't help it," I said, coming up to stand next to her.  

Matt just shook his head and kissed my cheek.  "Gotta go finish my warm-ups," he said.  "I love you," he added, whispering in my ear.

"Love you too, babe," I said.  

Being the crew of misfits we are, of course we had all dressed up for this special occasion Halloween show as well.  Michelle had opted for a fancy Lady Gaga getup, silver leotard and all.  We'd talked Brian into dressing as guitarist-extraordinaire Prince, and Zacky was a pretty damn good Bela Lugosi Dracula.  I was a zombie pin-up model, and Matt went with Captain America.  Johnny wanted nothing more than to be Chucky.  We teased him that he was already doll-sized, so it worked great.  Arin wore giant baggy pants and was MC Hammer, while Jess rounded out the group as dead and zombified Minnie Mouse.

We'd managed to get a special stage setup just for this show.  It was pretty much out of this world.  Jack o'lanterns suspended from the rafters, a Jack o'lantern face on the enormous Deathbat backdrop, purple and green lasers, and some awesome Midnight Syndicate music playing just before their set.  We'd also bought a shitload of candy to throw out at the end of the show.  There was so much time spent preparing for this epically fantastic show that we hadn't gotten a chance to go hang out with the other bands like usual.  I had to console Jess that we would, in fact, get to meet and hang out with Matt Heafy.  There was still three full months of touring ahead of us. 

Our boys blazed through their set, the two hours flying past way faster than I thought possible.  They played most of the songs off the new album, as well as some old fan favorites.  Matt always joked that they'd never be allowed to play a show that didn't include Unholy Confessions - the crowd would riot and kill them all.  

At the end of the show, the candy was dispersed, picks, drumsticks and setlists were pitched into the throngs of screaming fans, and they bid the crowd good night.  We hung out backstage for quite sometime, showering and peeling off costumes that had been thoroughly sweated through.  

About 2am, we loaded our gear and ourselves onto the bus and headed east.  "Here's to a great first show, and to the many more awesome shows to come this tour," Matt said as we all raised our shot glasses full of Mr. Jack's famous amber elixir.  

"Here, here!"  Everyone clinked glasses together and downed the shots.  

"And here's to another trip across the country with my best friends, old and new," Brian said, refilling the glasses.  He nodded toward Jess and I as he said this.  He slid refreshed shots around the table to each of us.

"I'll drink to that," I said, raising my glass again.  Everyone agreed and downed another shot.

"How about one more for Jimmy, you crazy motherfucker," Johnny said, eyes to the sky.  

Zack refilled the glasses yet again.  "Fuck yeah," he said, tipping his toward the ceiling.  "We miss you, buddy," he said.  "This one's for you."  We all followed suit, raising our glasses upward, then emptying them.

"Ok," I said, blinking hard.  "We've got like a three day bus ride ahead of us.  Let's pace the drinking, yeah?" 

Johnny looked at me and laughed.  "You must be new," he said with a devilish grin.  "First night is the biggest drinking night!"  He reached above him to open a cabinet over the table.  There were at least six bottles of Jack Daniel's in there.  At the same time, Brian opened the small refrigerator, which was full beyond capacity with beer.

I laughed.  "Never mind, then," I said.  "Get to drinkin', bitches!"  Brian cackled, but handed me a beer, and passed several others around the table.

By the time the sun came up, five bottles of Jack, four band members and two girlfriends had fallen casualty.  Matt and I laughed, looking around at the empty bottles and the bodies that hadn't made it to bunks.  Jess had made it to her and Zack's bunk, but had laid down on the floor giggling about something or another, and fell asleep cold lying there.  No one bothered to try to move her.  She was still wearing her Minnie Mouse ears, and had curled into a ball on her side in the aisleway between the bunks.  I started to pick up the trash, but realized I was too drunk myself to do any good.  I swept the bottles all into a trashcan to keep them from rolling and crashing on the moving bus and left the rest to be dealt with later. 

"You ok?" Matt asked as I wavered a bit trying to stand. 

"I'm good," I giggled drunkenly.  "I need to sleep though."  I stared him down.  "Was that even English?" I asked, knowing I was slurring heavily.

"I'm not sure," he laughed.  "Let's go to bed." 

I giggled again as he stumbled trying to step around the trashcan and Johnny's head.  "You're drunk!"

He tried to shoot me a dirty look, but turned his head too fast and had to sit back down quickly.  I started laughing manaically, but got dizzy too, and had to do the same thing.  I fell into his lap, and we both just laughed hysterically.

"Shut up," Michelle slurred from where she'd passed out at the table.  "Trying to sleep."  She readjusted, but was out again just as quickly.

"Come on," Matt said, trying to stand and stabilize himself.  He grabbed my hand and pulled me up.  We tripped and stumbled our way back to the bunks, stepping gingerly around Mama J.  I started to climb into our bunk, but stopped and raised a finger.  I reached into her and Zack's bunk, grabbed the comforter that was stashed in there and dropped it over her.  She hummed and smiled in her sleep, snuggling into it.  I giggled lightly and crawled into bed.

The next afternoon as everyone got up and nursed their hangovers, we were trying to keep ourselves entertained.  Matt and Zack had already played through three campaigns of Black Ops, and Brian was all but pacing the tiny bus space. I was sitting and staring out the window, watching traffic pass.  

"Anal Explorer!" I yelled, pointing out the window.

"Huh?" everyone said at once.  

"No one's ever played the Anal Car Game?  It's way more fun than license plate bingo."  I laughed to myself.

"Anal what?" Johnny asked, highly interested. 

"Car names are funny," I started explaining.  "Add the word anal in front of most models of vehicle, and it's pretty hilarious."  I watched as a Dodge Ram pickup passed around us.  I pointed and laughed.  "Anal Ram!"

I thought Jess and Johnny were going to piss themselves laughing so hard.  Matt rolled his eyes, but I noticed everyone started paying a lot more attention to the road.

"Anal Expedition?" Zack said with a little laugh.

"Ooh, Anal Wrangler," Jess yelled.  She slapped a hand over her mouth and giggled.

"See?  It's awesome," I said.  

"Ew!  Anal Avalanche," Michelle said with her nose wrinkled.  Everyone laughed.

"Anal Voyager!"  Matt finally joined in on the game.

"Please god, tell me that's what I think it is," Arin said as we drove up alongside a small car.  He pointed and howled in laughter, not able to spit out the words.

I joined him in laughter.  "Ladies and gentlemen, the Holy Grail of the Anal Car game."  I pointed as well as we drove past.

"Oh fuck!" Brian said, also cackling.  "Anal Probe!"

All of us collapsed into fits of juvenile giggles.  "I fucking love this," I said, wiping tears from my eyes.  "And now that I've told you about it, you'll do it for weeks, even if it's just to yourself."

We got to Toronto a day and a half before the show, so we had plenty of time to relax.  We were walking around downtown, scoping out the scene when Johhny had a brilliant idea.  "Dude!  We should find a tattoo shop.  All get new ink!" 

"Johnny Christ, that's a magnificent idea," I agreed.  "Oh shit!" I exclaimed, slapping my forehead.  "I know a tattoo artist here in Toronto!  She did my 'Seize the Day' lyrics!"

"Really?" Johhny and Jess said at the same time.

"Yup," I nodded.  "Jess, remember Jamie?" 

"Oh, shit," she said.  "She does live here!  What's her shop called, do you remember?"

"Rock something-or-other," I said, trying to remember.  "Fuck!  I don't know!  It's half bar and club, and half tattoo shop."

"Is it Tattoo Rock Parlour?" Arin asked.

"Yes!" I yelled.  "That's it!  How did you know?"

He grinned and pointed over my shoulder.  "It's there across the street behind you, doofus." 

"Bite me," I hissed, slapping him playfully on the arm.  "But yes that's it!  I bet she's working tonight, too.  Looks pretty packed."

We crossed the street and stepped into the parlour.  This had to be the coolest tattoo shop on the planet.  The main part of the building is a nightclub, then the tattoo part is separate.  

We went in the door, and Jamie immediately yelled across the room.  "Vivienne!  What the fuck are you doing here?" she asked, her Welsh accent still as thick as I remembered it. 

"Hey, hooker!" I called back, as I crossed the room toward where she was working on a drawing.  "Jamie, I'd like you to meet my friends.  This is Matt, Brian, Zack, Arin, and that's Johnny over there."  Johnny had already started flipping through portfolios, checking out the work of Jamie and her co-workers.  "And these are my girls, Jess and Michelle."

"V, that's," Jamie started, but paused.  "It's..."  She was staring at Johnny who had been joined by both Zack and Brian.  "They're..."

"Yes, sweetheart," Matt said with a chuckle.  "We're Avenged Sevenfold.  I take it you're familiar?"  He offered his hand, which Jamie took and shook tentatively.

"Yeah, I'm familiar," she said.  She cleared her throat and stood up from the desk she was working at.  "What's up?" 

I laughed lightly as I saw her shake her head to try to clear her thoughts.  "We're starting our tour here tomorrow night," Zack said, coming up next to me.  "JC suggested tattoos, and V suggested you.  So here we are!"

"Here you are," Jamie repeated.  "So, who wants ink?"

"I do!"  Johnny had rejoined our group as well, and was less than discreetly ogling Jamie's tattoo sleeves.  One arm was a combination of Tim Burton characters and artwork and Salvador Dali art.  The other arm was made up of musical references.  There were lyrics from Avenged songs, as well as Lostprophets and Greeley Estates, and most prominently, a memorial tattoo of Jimmy.  That had obviously caught Johnny's eye, and the other guys saw it as well. 

"Is that," Brian started, pointing at her left shoulder.  "Sorry, I know I shouldn't point, but..."

She laughed.  "It's ok.  And yes, it's The Rev," she said, looking down at her arm, and turning it so everyone could see.  "He's a huge inspiration to me," she added with a smile.  "So wait," she said, pointing to me.  "You said we are touring.  Last I heard, Avenged Sevenfold hadn't added any other members."

"Well, it's a long story," I said, laughing.  "I'm dating Mattycakes here, and I've got a job with their management company as a talent scout, for all intents and purposes.  So yes, we're touring."

"You and Shadows, huh?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.  "What about what's-her-face?"  She looked over to Matt.  "Sorry, dude," she shrugged.

He laughed.  "Its cool," he said.  "Val and I got divorced.  I met V at a bar, and the rest is history."

"Nice!"  She winked at me.  "Anyway, back to business.  Who wants what?"  She turned to face Johnny, who had been the only one to voice a desire for a tattoo so far.  

"We should all get something together," Michelle suggested.  "How about a seven, somehow or another, since it's the seventh album you just finished?"

"Good call," Zack agreed.  "Or '7X'.  Play on the band's name and the seventh album."

"I think that's a great idea," Jamie said.  "Do you all want the same thing, or an individual interpretation?"

"How about the guys get one, all the same, then us girls can get something too, similar, but different."  Jess shrugged with her suggestion.  

"Love it," Michelle said with a smile. 

"All right, let's get some stuff drawn up," Jamie said.  "Hey D," she called to another guy working in the shop.  "We got some clients, wanna help draw up?"  He nodded and joined our group.  Jamie explained to him who the guys were, and what we'd discussed getting.  

Once the two different seven symbols were drawn up, Johnny and Jess were first in the chairs.  Johnny had nearly pushed Jess oer trying to beat her to Jamie's chair.  Jess rolled her eyes and went over to D's side.

"How do you know Vivienne anyway?" Zack asked Jamie as she started working on Johnny.  He was getting his tattoo on his right wrist. 

Jamie looked over at me and grinned. "Well, I was doing a guest spot at Bleed Blue Tattoo in Lexington with a friend of mine.  V came in to get those lyrics done, and I was the one whose design she liked best." 

Matt smiled at me, then at Jamie.  "It's fucking awesome, Jamie," he said.  "I've told Vivienne, it has to be the coolest Seize the Day tat I've seen.  And I've seen a damn lot of them."

"Thanks!"  She was grinning ear to ear.  "Anyway, I did that ink on her, and we hung out a couple times after that.  When I left and came up here, we just kept in touch here and there."

One by one, we all got new ink done, symbolic mementos of the album they had just finished and the tour we were embarking on.

As we were all done and had paid Jamie and D, we talked her into closing up a bit early and heading into the bar.  Of course, as an employee, everyone knew her so she pretty much got the star treatment anyway.  Add in the fact that tonight she walked in shoulder-to-shoulder with Avenged Sevenfold, and she was all but royalty. 

The head bartender quickly poured a handful of shots without us ordering anything and slid a tray across the bar.  "On the house," he said.  "For our special guests."

"Thanks, man," Matt said, shaking the bartenders hand.  "We appreciate it." 

"Least I can do," the bartender grinned.  "Name's Chandler.  If you need anything, you just let me know."

"I'm Matt.  And we sure will, thanks."  Matt picked up the tray off the bar and carried it over to the huge corner booth the rest of the crew had already been led to.  

"Chandler's good people," Jamie said.  "He runs the place.  And that's Amy and Nicole over there.  They're the best cocktail waitresses on the planet."  She was pointing as discreetly as she could.  "And that's my boss Tommy in the other corner.  He oversees the tattoo shop.  But most of the time you'll find him right there in that booth."

We spent a good three hours drinking and talking at the bar. As we were finishing up, and getting ready to leave, Chandler and Tommy came over to us. 

"Hey, we know you've got a show here tomorrow night, but have two days off," Chandler said.  "How about we close up shop here after the show, and have a VIP only after-party?"

"Fuck yeah!" Johnny said from his spot next to Jamie.  She nodded emphatically.  

"Sounds good to us, bro," Brian said with a grin.  

"All right," Tommy said.  "It's done.  After 10pm, tomorrow is invite only."

"Awesome," I said.  "You guys are coming to the show, right?"

"I don't know," Chandler started.

"You fuckers better have some backup for tomorrow," Matt interrupted.  "You coming to that show!"

We made arrangments for the crew to get passes to the show and started to head to our hotel.  Johnny had, of course, asked Jamie to stay with him.  I winked at her as Matt and I passed around them to get off the elevator.  I snuck Johnny a low-five, too.  Last thing I saw as I left the elevator car was Johnny's shit-eating grin beamning back at me, his arm tucked around Jamie's waist.