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“That would kick ass.” I had no clue where they all lived. Kay was from California, but the rest were from other places. But I’d learned long ago if you were serious as a musician, you went where you needed to go. End of story.
The rest of the Hunt showed up after that, and we worked with our techs to dial in the sound. When we were ready, I counted us intoThe One About Fightingto make sure we were golden.
“Fuck me.” Jinx flicked his guitar pick when we finished the song. “I think that was the easiest soundcheck we’ve ever fucking had.”
Wolf thumped out a cadence on the bass. “No lie.”
Marci clapped her hands three times. “Brilliant. You’re fan-fucking-tastic. Now get off the stage so Bramble Punk can run through theirs.” She shooed us backstage. She was a hard ass, but she was fucking good at her job. Corralling a bunch of assholes like us could not be easy, but she made it look like it.
My back was starting to twinge. I promised Coleman I’d tell him when I had issues, but this sucked ass. I was going to end up getting fitted for a fucking brace or something. I knew other drummers who wore them, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but there’d be an adjustment period, and I would prefer to have that happen after the tour.
Coleman was getting to know me entirely too well. He put an arm around my shoulders and led me into a private room backstage. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”
“I need something for my back. It’s twinging and I feel the shit coming on.”
“That’s not good.”
“No. I got shit back on the bus, but we aren’t supposed to go back until after the show.”
“I’ll go. Where is it and what do you want?”
“Just bring my duffle. I knew I should have brought it with me.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I’ll get it. I don’t recommend this as a long-term plan, though. You know that, right?”
“I do. Maybe I can see the doc after Rocktoberfest?” I honestly didn’t know when else I could do it. We had a two-week break after the festival, and that would have to work. In the meantime, I’d keep a low-level buzz going when I needed to play. It didn’tsound like a great answer to me, either. And maybe more than low-level was called for.
I maybe got carried away. I’d scored a cornucopia in Boston, so I started with a tramadol. In the past, I’d taken that, and it did a good job at pain relief without a lot of side effects. But I wasn’t sure it was strong enough. I also had a couple edibles, which were supposed to be nothing as far as potency goes, but I think that was my mistake. I ate them both and smoked a joint afterward. I was fucking tripping during the meet and greet. And I didn’t remember much of it later. I felt pretty good. Maybe too good.
When Bramble Punk went on stage, I wanted to see them play. After chatting up Randy earlier, I thought I’d give them a listen, so I went to the side stage. Harrison’s little brother was there watching as well, and I gave him a hug. And promptly lost my fucking marbles.
I walked onto the stage during their cover of Starset’s Monster. It was a complicated song, musically, and Bramble Punk did it with a harder, more punkish, scaled-down version. It sounded fantastic, especially the drums. “Fuck yeah. This rocks!” I yelled. And I was too close to Kay’s mic. I could tell the band was surprised, but they carried on like they weren’t.
Kay screamed a couple lines, “I am the darkness. I’m a monster…”
And I started singing the chorus with them. “You’re the pulse in my veins…”
But things went fuzzy at that point. It was like a heat wave engulfed me. I ripped off my shirt and tossed it into the audience. Of course, they went nuts, and I thought it would be a great time to go crowd-surfing.
What the fuck, right? But it was not a venue to do that easily. There was sound equipment, lighting, and video in front of the stage and behind that, security. The actual people were significantly farther away. But thankfully, I realized that before I jumped and sat on the front of the stage, waving my arms back and forth over my head instead. The crowd copied me. I think. It was a little blurry. And dizzy. So I laid back and stretched out a bit. I could feel the vibrations of the music through my bones, especially the drums. Pounding and zipping.
The universe was aligning and separating.
I heard a sweet voice in my ear, calling me back to Earth. “Come on, baby. I’ve got you.” It was my Coleman. I loved my Coleman. I let him wrap me up in his arms and lead me off. I didn’t know or care where we were going. It didn’t matter as long as Coleman had his strong arms around me.
thirteen
Taking Control in Salt Lake City
Iled Ziggy off to the dressing room, and by the time I got him laid down on the couch with a cushion under his head, he was out cold.
Miami and Jinx followed me into the room. Miami pulled one of Ziggy’s eyelids up. “He’s down for the count. What the hell? Should we call someone?”
Jinx held his phone up. “I did. There is a first responder on duty at these shows, just in case of emergencies or whatever. He’s coming back now.”
“This isn’t his normal get a little stoned before a show routine. What the fuck?” Miami looked at me.
“He’s been having problems with his back. He wanted something a little stronger, but I didn’t see what he took.” I grabbed his duffle and started going through it. After pulling out jeans and T-shirts, I got a glimpse of everything in there. “Holy shit.”
