When you were there....
When I first saw him....
I remember when I first saw him. Glistening blue eyes. Almost dreamy. Curly brown hair that fell into his face ever so perfectly. That sharp toothed smile. Even from where I was sitting I could see how beautiful he was. Something about him attracted you to him. And not just in the typical sense of the word. His personality, his presence, everything about him was something you wanted to be a part of.
As he sat up there on that stage, cradling that microphone in his hand and belting out those words that poured out of his soul and into our hearts I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Infatuated was a good word for what I was feeling at that exact moment. Hadn't known of him 5 minutes and I couldn't imagine not knowing he existed after this point. I'm so glad Andrew brought me here tonight to see this. A friend of ours Chris was playing at this show tonight as well, his band Soundgarden was well known around these parts, this band, Pearl Jam was opening up for them and they were making themselves well known around town. This was there 2nd show ever together. Not too bad for just barreling into town 2 weeks ago. At least the singer did, Eddie was his name.
I stood there with Andrew and he was having a hell of a time. He loved this scene. The music, the culture, the women. He was all about this. I don't know what his life would be like had he not found music when he did. He'd just gotten out of rehab 6 months ago after having a pretty severe heroin addiction. It took me, his friends, family, and a drug counselor to convince him to do 90 days in a rehab all the way out in Florida. I knew he would be homesick but it's better than being dead. He wrote me every day he was down there and even got his hands on a cassette recorder and sent me some tapes of himself singing these songs he'd written while he was there. Getting sober definitely helped his creative process and helped him rationalize a lot of things he wasn't able to before. When he got back he stayed with his parents for a month or 2 but as soon as he felt he was better enough to be on his own he moved out and him and Chris lived together, which was great for both of them, being musicians and all and having those opportunities to bounce ideas off of each other. It inspired Andrew and made him a much better musician than he was before he went to rehab. His band, Mother Love Bone, hadn't played a show since before he went to Florida. They were having an upcoming show at a house party in a few days and being here tonight was really getting him pumped for it. His silky blonde hair flailing all over the place because he was rocking out so hard. That ear to ear trademark grin he had, doing air drums every so often. He was hilarious to watch and always made whatever it was that you were doing 10 times as fun. He was my best friend and seeing him this happy and this clear was a blessing to be around. Because had he not gotten clean and sober he might not have been here today with me. It breaks my heart to think of it.
"Let's get backstage to see Chris before he goes on!",Andrew shouted over all the noise in the club. He grabbed my hand and we high tailed it backstage to wish Chris good luck before he took to the stage.
"Cornell! You ready man?!",Andrew exclaimed with excitement.
"Yea, I'm ready. Can you believe this band man? Their singer is amazing. Just got here from San Diego 2 weeks ago, Stone sent him that demo they had been working on and now he's here.",Chris replied.
"Yea he's pretty badass.",Andrew answered.
Just then I heard the roars of the crown cheering and clapping as Pearl Jam finished their set and exited the stage. Chris and his guys went to start getting their set ready. We wish him good luck and he went off to stage. As Andrew and I watched Chris walk out, then came peering from behind the stage curtain was that singer. Eddie. Sweat was dripping of his face, but he had this smirk on his face as he made eye contact with me.
"Enjoy the show?",he asked as he walked past me, using his shirt to wipe away to sweat revealing his toned stomach.
I just watched him as he walked off. I wasn't 16 anymore and I didn't do crushes. So what was this that I was feeling?
"Come on love let's go watch Chris kill it.",Andrew said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we walked back out to the crowd and watched as the guys from Soundgarden gave the people what they paid to see.
As he sat up there on that stage, cradling that microphone in his hand and belting out those words that poured out of his soul and into our hearts I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Infatuated was a good word for what I was feeling at that exact moment. Hadn't known of him 5 minutes and I couldn't imagine not knowing he existed after this point. I'm so glad Andrew brought me here tonight to see this. A friend of ours Chris was playing at this show tonight as well, his band Soundgarden was well known around these parts, this band, Pearl Jam was opening up for them and they were making themselves well known around town. This was there 2nd show ever together. Not too bad for just barreling into town 2 weeks ago. At least the singer did, Eddie was his name.
I stood there with Andrew and he was having a hell of a time. He loved this scene. The music, the culture, the women. He was all about this. I don't know what his life would be like had he not found music when he did. He'd just gotten out of rehab 6 months ago after having a pretty severe heroin addiction. It took me, his friends, family, and a drug counselor to convince him to do 90 days in a rehab all the way out in Florida. I knew he would be homesick but it's better than being dead. He wrote me every day he was down there and even got his hands on a cassette recorder and sent me some tapes of himself singing these songs he'd written while he was there. Getting sober definitely helped his creative process and helped him rationalize a lot of things he wasn't able to before. When he got back he stayed with his parents for a month or 2 but as soon as he felt he was better enough to be on his own he moved out and him and Chris lived together, which was great for both of them, being musicians and all and having those opportunities to bounce ideas off of each other. It inspired Andrew and made him a much better musician than he was before he went to rehab. His band, Mother Love Bone, hadn't played a show since before he went to Florida. They were having an upcoming show at a house party in a few days and being here tonight was really getting him pumped for it. His silky blonde hair flailing all over the place because he was rocking out so hard. That ear to ear trademark grin he had, doing air drums every so often. He was hilarious to watch and always made whatever it was that you were doing 10 times as fun. He was my best friend and seeing him this happy and this clear was a blessing to be around. Because had he not gotten clean and sober he might not have been here today with me. It breaks my heart to think of it.
"Let's get backstage to see Chris before he goes on!",Andrew shouted over all the noise in the club. He grabbed my hand and we high tailed it backstage to wish Chris good luck before he took to the stage.
"Cornell! You ready man?!",Andrew exclaimed with excitement.
"Yea, I'm ready. Can you believe this band man? Their singer is amazing. Just got here from San Diego 2 weeks ago, Stone sent him that demo they had been working on and now he's here.",Chris replied.
"Yea he's pretty badass.",Andrew answered.
Just then I heard the roars of the crown cheering and clapping as Pearl Jam finished their set and exited the stage. Chris and his guys went to start getting their set ready. We wish him good luck and he went off to stage. As Andrew and I watched Chris walk out, then came peering from behind the stage curtain was that singer. Eddie. Sweat was dripping of his face, but he had this smirk on his face as he made eye contact with me.
"Enjoy the show?",he asked as he walked past me, using his shirt to wipe away to sweat revealing his toned stomach.
I just watched him as he walked off. I wasn't 16 anymore and I didn't do crushes. So what was this that I was feeling?
"Come on love let's go watch Chris kill it.",Andrew said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we walked back out to the crowd and watched as the guys from Soundgarden gave the people what they paid to see.
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