A Hot Fuss

Chapter 4: Somebody told me

This was a new bar, they hadn't played here before and Brandon couldn't remember it's name Electric something or other, he thought, not that it mattered. What was concerning was that, in a matter of minutes, he and his band would be on the raised bit of flooring the establishment called a stage, performing to a nearly new crowd of about thirty or forty people. In the meantime Brandon was pacing up and down the spindly corridor that ran between the stage and a sort of dressing room, more akin to a large cloakroom. He was sure his band mates were still at the bar, chasing down any of their anxieties with a preferred choice of liquor, Dave would be chatting up some busty girl, not too worried about the performance and Brandon was envious of his friend. His pacing drew to a halt and the boy leaned against the wall, bringing his slender fingers to his temples and making circular motions, trying to will both his heart and breath to slow a little. Calm down, you've done this before so what's the problem? Brandon was afraid; they'd never played in this club before, he didn't know how the crowd would react, if they'd react at all and although Dave had told him his stage-fright would get better the more they performed it felt like it was getting worse. It'll be fine, you're good at what you do, you wont get booed off, and it's only bad because you keep working yourself up about it, just go on and perform, why do you have to worry about every little stupid thing? Brandon sighed and contemplated whether he could slip out the back of the bar and go home, work had been tiring that day anyway, he could do with a good rest. However before he got a chance he felt a hand clap onto his shoulder and looked up to meet the eyes of Dave Keuning.

"Here, drink this." The guitarist pushed a shot glass into Brandon's shaking hands and the boy felt a little ashamed at how noticeable his fear was. "I know how you get, so I'm just giving you one to take the edge off." the cerulean of Keuning's eyes permeated sympathy and Brandon muttered a thank you before coming away from the wall - grimacing slightly when his shirt remained stuck to the grimy plaster, heaven ain't close in a place like this - and downed what he presumed to be bourbon. The spirit seared and scratched at his throat on the way down, leaving a dull, throbbing burn in it's place when it reached his stomach. Brandon shivered and handed the glass back to Dave, it wouldn't be good for him to be seen with it considering he wasn't legal to drink yet.

"Well, these songs won't play themselves!" Brandon flashed a fraudulent grin in his guitarist's direction and headed down the corridor, still feeling nervous but a little better with his band mate at his side. Walking out onto the so-called stage, glare from the one overhead light blinded Brandon so he couldn't see, from what direction the few over-enthusiastic cheers came from. When his vision returned to normal, the vocalist approached the stand and moved close to the microphone so his lips just brushed against it's mesh surface. "Hello! We're called The Killers but we promise this won't hurt a bit!" That was Dave's cue and the older man promptly began playing the intro to Mr. Brightside, a cheer rang out from somebody who'd obviously been to one of their gigs before and Brandon took only a moment to appreciate it before beginning his part. The first song went off without a hitch of course, Brightside was their best song, but during replacable a brunnette with lustful eyes blew a kiss at him and Brandon botched a note. Irritated with the vixin and himself he kept his eyes fixed on his battered converse and ignored the crowd, he couldn't enjoy things like that anymore, any woman who acted towards him in a sexual manner only reminded him of his ex-girlfriend and the whoring ways that the ladies in Vegas were prone to return to. 

                                      .              .              .

    The rest of the gig had gone fine, of course it had, Brandon didn't know why he'd been worried: they always went fine yet he always worried before hand. stepping into the little cloak room, the four guys were pleased with their performance although Brandon was still a little tense. "Well that didn't go as badly as I was expecting..." Dell flashed a smile in his direction and Dave chuckled at him.