𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬

𝟎𝟎 | 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Sunset Curve were playing in the Orpheum and there was no way on earth I was going to miss it. Rose and I had been talking about it for weeks. Sure, they were relatively new and there was a small chance that they would suck, but who was I to pass on a free concert?

"Dude, I can't believe you got us in here," I said excitedly.

"Well, I do work here Ruth," Rose laughed. "It wasn't very hard."

The stage was just as glorious as I had remembered. I had been to a few concerts in the Orpheum before and not a day went by that I didn't think of each and every one of them. Every band that ever played the Orpheum absolutely killed it and I had high hopes for Sunset Curve. It was like a reverse curse. Every gig ever played there was bound to be good.

"Oh, look!" I exclaimed, pointing toward the stage. "There they are!"

Four boys, not much older than us, walked onstage one by one. The first boy was taller than the rest and had blonde hair, he sat behind the drums. The next had pitch black hair and a smile on his face as he held his bass. The guitarist followed him, shaking his dark brown fringe into place. Finally, a boy with messy locks jogged onto stage with a guitar in his hand, you could just tell he was the frontman. With that, we had the whole band standing before us onstage.

"Testing," The lead singer tapped his mic. "One, two, three."

"Look," I shook Rose by the arm. "They're testing the mics!"

"Yeah, that's what usually happens at soundcheck," Rose laughed. "Let's see if they're half as good as they look."

I looked over to see the sound engineer turning dials and moving faders. As much as I wanted to go over and get a closer look at what he was doing, I decided to stay in my lane and enjoy the performance.

The song began with the shred of a guitar, automatically piquing my interest. I was a sucker for a good rock song and the electric guitar was promising. As soon as the messy-haired boy began to sing, I started bopping my head. It was a good song. Even better, these guys were really talented performers. I could practically feel their energy in my bones and if this was just the soundcheck, I could only imagine how incredible the actual show would be.

As the song came to an end, I almost felt sad. I didn't want it to end. Just as I was about to yell for an encore, Rose started clapping and cheering like a sane person. I was quick to join her, as well as a few other workers in the area.

"Thank you. We're Sunset Curve!" The bass player winked.

I watched as the boys left their instruments down and started to chat amongst themselves. It was clear that they were close, and that was a good foundation for a band. Most bands I listened to didn't last very long, but something told me Sunset Curve would be different. Then again, I said the same thing about Nirvana.

As Rose started wiping down the bar, I made my way over to the sound engineer.

"All set?" I asked.

"Looks like it," He replied. "You a fan?"

"Of sound engineering? Yes, I actually wanted to ask - "

"I meant of the band," He cut me off with a smile.

"Oh right," I replied, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, totally! How couldn't I be after a set like that?"

"Well, if you want an autograph they seem to have their eyes on your friend over there."

I looked over to see the boys hop off stage, they were headed straight for the bar.