Benny Everhart was never meant to stand alone.
At thirty-five, she's a veteran of the industry with a voice that once helped define a generation. Raised on the coast of Maine alongside four childhood friends, Benny came up fast with NorthSide Bound...
NorthSide Bounds show Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom New York City Year 2019
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3rd Person's POV
Stage lights burned through the smoke as the crowd inside Hammerstein Ballroom roared back at NorthSide Bound.
Phones filled the pit, held high above people screaming every lyric. The band had platinum records, sold-out tours, and enough industry respect to put their name anywhere they wanted.
From the crowd, they looked untouchable.
Onstage, they were starting to come apart.
Benny Everhart stood at center stage with the microphone locked in her hand. Her voice cut through the chorus, smooth in the higher notes before dropping into the deeper rasp underneath.
She never missed a word, but her attention kept pulling toward Fallon.
Fallon Larkspear stood to Benny's left with her guitar hanging low against her body. Her timing was slightly behind the rest of the band. Most of the crowd wouldn't catch it, but Benny knew every beat of Fallon's playing.
So did Damon, Amelia, and Bowie.
Fallon's dark bangs clung to her forehead. Sweat ran down the side of her face, heavier than the heat from the lights could explain.
Her pupils were blown wide.
She stared past the crowd instead of into it, moving through the song without connecting to anything around her.
Fans near the barricade began lowering their phones. A few looked at one another, unsure what they were seeing.
Then Fallon missed her entrance.
The second verse started without her.
Her guitar came in late, fingers slipping across the strings before she buried the mistake beneath a burst of feedback. The recovery was fast enough to fool anyone who didn't know the song.
Benny heard it.
Damon's head lifted behind the drum kit. Amelia looked across the stage from her bass, concern breaking through her focus. Bowie adjusted without hesitation, filling the space Fallon had left behind.
Nobody stopped playing.
Years together kept the song from falling apart. Damon held the tempo while Bowie and Amelia tightened around him. Benny stayed on the vocal, watching Fallon whenever the lights moved away from her.
