"Okay, so basically, we're not going to earn a lot of money for this show. It's because nobody bought tickets, this a bar we're performing at. This is a just a place where they invite small bands to perform for the locals that usually come," I explained to everyone as they sat on the couch in the dressing room.
"We're getting no profit? Bullshit," Nino rolled her eyes, fiddling with the strings of her new guitar.
"I second that, are you sure there's gonna be absolutely nothing?" Alex doubled-checked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"The only way we would make profit is if someone decided to donate money to us, there's a bin at the entrance and exit of this place," I answered, biting the inside of my cheek nervously.
I was the only one standing up as I paced nervously, wanting this show to go well.
"I hope this show goes along fine," I muttered out anxiously.
"Why wouldn't it?" Mads asked, confused.
"Yeah, why wouldn't it? All the other shows have been good?" Tay agreed.
I groaned heavily as I stopped pacing and stood in front of them, my hands resting on my hips. I met each of their eyes as I mustered up the courage to tell them why I was nervous.
"Mostly men come to this bar, and this is mostly a bar where classic metal is played at. You know how old metalheads are, most of them are elitists," I said nervously, picking at my nails.
"Oh, Jesus Christ," Alex muttered, putting his head in his hands.
"Look, all we can do is continue playing and being ourselves even if the response we get is bad, okay? Don't let them discourage you, we can't always have a perfect show," Nina assured, coming into save the day as she always does.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," I admitted as I tried to swallow down my nerves, checking my watch for the time.
Bert swung open the door to the dressing room, peeking his head in to survey what we were up to.
"What's everyone doing? Everyone alright?" he asked, his camera slung around his neck.
"We're good, how much time 'til we go on?" Tay asked, tapping her drumsticks against her thighs.
"About five minutes, are you guys ready?" he answered, still lingering by the door.
Mads let out a heavy sigh, "I think we're all ready to go and stand by the stage."
Everyone nodded as we all tried to hide our nervousness, beginning to exit the dressing room and make our way to the side stage.
I tapped my foot against the ground as I watched everyone perform their pre-show ritual, all of them hyping themselves up. Mads and Tay jumped up and down in sync while Nina shut their eyes and focused on their breathing. Nino and Alex were making small talk as Nino fiddled with the tuning pegs of her guitar, making sure that her guitar had the right tuning for the songs on the setlist.
"You guys are starting off with Shadow Moses?" I asked, eyeing the setlist that was taped to the wall.
"Yup, I chose it this time!" Nino exclaimed happily as she and Alex wrapped up their conversation.
"Sick," I said, glancing down at my watch to notice that we had only a minute let until stage time.
I took a few deep breaths before I caught everyone's attention, hovering my hand in the middle of us. Everyone set their hand on top of mine as we pumped the pile up and down a few times, ending off the ritual with "1, 2, 3, Broken Clocks!"
The bar was filled with chatter as I double checked everyone had what they needed before giving them an encouraging smile as they all ran onto stage, full of energy.
"What the fuck is up, everyone? We're Broken Clocks, we hope you enjoy the show!" Nina growled into her mic while Tay hit a few drums.
"This one's called Shadow Moses, any Sempiternal fans out there?" Nino continued, the backing track of Shadow Moses beginning to play throughout the tiny bar. The crowd had been unresponsive except for a couple of claps. Nina began to belt out the opening lyrics, Nino shortly following with the backing vocals. As soon as the intro passed, Nino began the guitar section, shredding easily through it.
They had gotten through halfway of the song, the crowd still showing no interest as the men sipped away at their beers, watching the band with bored eyes.
"This is Sempiternal!" the entire band screamed, the instruments stopping for a split second before resuming.
😇
The band had gotten through 3/4 of the set, only three songs being left. Right now, they were performing Not the American Average by Asking Alexandria. The crowd had been inactive the entire show, instead staring at the band as everyone gave their full energy.
I clapped from the side stage as I heard Bert snap a few photos. My smile faltered shortly after as I watched someone from the crowd throw a bottle onto the stage, hitting the bottom of Nina's mic stand.
Nina flinched for a split second before composing herself and continuing the song, their worried eyes meeting mine. I began to sweat nervously as I heard the crowd began to boo at them, a few more bottles being flung towards them. Tay flinched hard as she dodged a bottle, the rhythm of her drumming stopping for a second before resuming.
"We need to cut the show short!" I yelled over the music, turning to Bert with wild eyes.
"How do we?" Bert yelled back, switching his weight between his two feet anxiously.
"I'll go out there and interrupt it."
I quickly ran out in the middle of the song as I snatched Nina's microphone away.
"Show's over, cunts!" I yelled, moving Nina behind me protectively.
The crowd erupted in a mixture of cheers and boos as I gestured for the band to get off stage. I angrily shut the curtain of the stage as I heard everyone stomp away, the chatter of the crowd on the other side of the curtain testing my patience.
