Caught Between Two Worlds
ch.1
Ch.1
February 5, 1974, Northern Jubilee Auditorium, Alberta Canada
The speaker system explodes with: YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE LAND…….KISS!
I can feel the adrenaline beginning to course through my body at the electricity and energy from the band. Peter Criss rises up on his drum set from the back of the stage drumming like a madman. Gene Simmons comes onto the stage from the left side, tongue out and out of control. Then Ace Frehley comes from the right side staggering and clutching his guitar and finally Paul Stanley runs up on stage full of energy and flamboyance, hyping up the audience.
“Is everybody READDDDDYYYYY?!”
The crowd screams ecstatically in reply to Paul.
“Well O-kay then let’s rock n roll!”
As the opening chords of Strutter rings out across the Auditorium I turn to look at my cousin, Dakota that is just in awe of their energy and out of the corner of her eye notices me watching her. “What…can’t a girl be amazed once in awhile?” “I’m surprised you’re acting this way you’re the one who brought me to this concert to get me in a better mood….” Dakota smiles and says “Well for your information Ava, I have never seen them live so forgive me for the excitement I’m having right now….plus this is good for to you…to just forget for one night” Then my smile falls and I start to feel sadness wash over me as I look on at Dakota and see her trying to back-track and get me back to feeling happy again “No….Ava I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel sad…..come on let’s let loose for once.” As I see her grabbing a bottle of alcohol out of her inside jacket pocket. “Come on Ava live a little” as she waves the bottle back and forth in front of me. I grab the bottle from her hand and take off the top of the bottle and take a long swing and gag slightly at the taste. “Ugh….god what is this stuff?” “Just some gin…..” “Why gin? It’s awful….” “Because they have a song called cold gin and I was gonna drink it when they played the song….” I roll my eyes at this because she never usually acts this way….it must be the atmosphere that’s here during the concert.
As I am watching the band go onto the next song I feel Dakota taking the bottle out of my hand to take a swig of it then hands it back to me. That’s when Paul comes over to where we are and I can hear the screams of the girls around me, including Dakota, growing as my embarrassment does due to Dakota’s uncharacteristic behavior. He bends down to one of the roadies and whispers something in his ear. And as he rights himself back up he looks in my direction and points at me and winks. Dakota’s screaming grows as she shouts “OH MY GOD! PAUL STANLEY WINKED AT YOU OH MY GOD!” I just look at her with this like oh my god I can’t believe you’re acting like this look and she just shakes me and says “You just don’t understand how awesome that was…my little cousin got winked at by Paul Stanley.” I smile and shake my head at her as I see the same roadie that Paul talked to make his way over to us. “Miss, alcohol isn’t permitted at this venue. Mr. Stanley suggests that I confiscate the bottle, and should you wish to retrieve your item after the show, please make your way backstage.”As the roadie goes to take the bottle of Gin away from me, I feel embarrassed that I got called out by Paul and slightly pissed at Dakota because she was the one that brought the bottle into the venue, but since she wasn’t seen with it in her hands she didn’t get in trouble. Then my brain registers the second part of what the roadie said to me. That I just got invited to go backstage by Paul Stanley. I stand there stunned at what I was told as I look over and see that Dakota seems slightly peeved. “I’m sorry Dakota, but he saw ME with the bottle and not you….do you wanna go in my place instead…I mean you are the one that’s more of a KISS fan and well….it was your bottle of booze that got confiscated.” “No cause they’ll just kick me out since all they know is that you were the one with the bottle so you go” “But Dakota—““Ava you better go and tell me EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THERE. I mean that’s the least that you could do for me…” I look up and see that’s she’s smiling “So…..I can go then?” Dakota laughs and says “yes you have to go or you’ll get your ass kicked by me if you don’t.”
As KISS ends the concert with Rock and Roll All Nite, I notice that the roadie has returned and says, “Please come with me, Miss.” He opens up the barrier as to only allow me to pass from the crowd into the backstage area Where Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley become KISS. I turn around and see other girls trying to get past the roadies to go backstage but the other roadies stand in front of them passively. And I also see Dakota in the crowd giving me thumbs up and I smile back at her encouragingly even though now vie begun to feel nervous meeting the band. I then continue to follow the roadie down some winding tunnel that led to an underground corridor. He pushes a black door open, and steps into a large room that is buzzing with multiple conversations and contains several make-up bags, guitar cases and half-drunken glasses. Then I follow the roadie a little further and get to a door that is covered with a superman sheet, and I realize that I am about to step into KISS’s dressing room and my hands start to shake due to my nervousness and excitement. And I follow the roadie inside the room as calmly as I possibly can in this situation.
February 5, 1974, Northern Jubilee Auditorium, Alberta Canada
The speaker system explodes with: YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE LAND…….KISS!
I can feel the adrenaline beginning to course through my body at the electricity and energy from the band. Peter Criss rises up on his drum set from the back of the stage drumming like a madman. Gene Simmons comes onto the stage from the left side, tongue out and out of control. Then Ace Frehley comes from the right side staggering and clutching his guitar and finally Paul Stanley runs up on stage full of energy and flamboyance, hyping up the audience.
“Is everybody READDDDDYYYYY?!”
The crowd screams ecstatically in reply to Paul.
“Well O-kay then let’s rock n roll!”
As the opening chords of Strutter rings out across the Auditorium I turn to look at my cousin, Dakota that is just in awe of their energy and out of the corner of her eye notices me watching her. “What…can’t a girl be amazed once in awhile?” “I’m surprised you’re acting this way you’re the one who brought me to this concert to get me in a better mood….” Dakota smiles and says “Well for your information Ava, I have never seen them live so forgive me for the excitement I’m having right now….plus this is good for to you…to just forget for one night” Then my smile falls and I start to feel sadness wash over me as I look on at Dakota and see her trying to back-track and get me back to feeling happy again “No….Ava I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel sad…..come on let’s let loose for once.” As I see her grabbing a bottle of alcohol out of her inside jacket pocket. “Come on Ava live a little” as she waves the bottle back and forth in front of me. I grab the bottle from her hand and take off the top of the bottle and take a long swing and gag slightly at the taste. “Ugh….god what is this stuff?” “Just some gin…..” “Why gin? It’s awful….” “Because they have a song called cold gin and I was gonna drink it when they played the song….” I roll my eyes at this because she never usually acts this way….it must be the atmosphere that’s here during the concert.
As I am watching the band go onto the next song I feel Dakota taking the bottle out of my hand to take a swig of it then hands it back to me. That’s when Paul comes over to where we are and I can hear the screams of the girls around me, including Dakota, growing as my embarrassment does due to Dakota’s uncharacteristic behavior. He bends down to one of the roadies and whispers something in his ear. And as he rights himself back up he looks in my direction and points at me and winks. Dakota’s screaming grows as she shouts “OH MY GOD! PAUL STANLEY WINKED AT YOU OH MY GOD!” I just look at her with this like oh my god I can’t believe you’re acting like this look and she just shakes me and says “You just don’t understand how awesome that was…my little cousin got winked at by Paul Stanley.” I smile and shake my head at her as I see the same roadie that Paul talked to make his way over to us. “Miss, alcohol isn’t permitted at this venue. Mr. Stanley suggests that I confiscate the bottle, and should you wish to retrieve your item after the show, please make your way backstage.”As the roadie goes to take the bottle of Gin away from me, I feel embarrassed that I got called out by Paul and slightly pissed at Dakota because she was the one that brought the bottle into the venue, but since she wasn’t seen with it in her hands she didn’t get in trouble. Then my brain registers the second part of what the roadie said to me. That I just got invited to go backstage by Paul Stanley. I stand there stunned at what I was told as I look over and see that Dakota seems slightly peeved. “I’m sorry Dakota, but he saw ME with the bottle and not you….do you wanna go in my place instead…I mean you are the one that’s more of a KISS fan and well….it was your bottle of booze that got confiscated.” “No cause they’ll just kick me out since all they know is that you were the one with the bottle so you go” “But Dakota—““Ava you better go and tell me EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THERE. I mean that’s the least that you could do for me…” I look up and see that’s she’s smiling “So…..I can go then?” Dakota laughs and says “yes you have to go or you’ll get your ass kicked by me if you don’t.”
As KISS ends the concert with Rock and Roll All Nite, I notice that the roadie has returned and says, “Please come with me, Miss.” He opens up the barrier as to only allow me to pass from the crowd into the backstage area Where Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley become KISS. I turn around and see other girls trying to get past the roadies to go backstage but the other roadies stand in front of them passively. And I also see Dakota in the crowd giving me thumbs up and I smile back at her encouragingly even though now vie begun to feel nervous meeting the band. I then continue to follow the roadie down some winding tunnel that led to an underground corridor. He pushes a black door open, and steps into a large room that is buzzing with multiple conversations and contains several make-up bags, guitar cases and half-drunken glasses. Then I follow the roadie a little further and get to a door that is covered with a superman sheet, and I realize that I am about to step into KISS’s dressing room and my hands start to shake due to my nervousness and excitement. And I follow the roadie inside the room as calmly as I possibly can in this situation.