In The Limelight essays

In The Limelight essays I have always been fascinated by music. It amazes me how the average person can pick up a guitar or sit behind a set of drums and imagine playing in a band. For me it is the thrill of being on stage and the excitement of having people waiting for the first pluck of the string. There were five of us altogether and none of us were over 21. Craig was on vocals, Chris on drums, Matt and Steve on guitars and me on bass. We had been playing together less than a week when we had our first opportunity to play live. Steve called me on a Tuesday and asked me if I was ready to play out soon. Sure I said to him wondering what he was getting at. Well, we have a gig this Friday night and have to learn 10 songs. I still hadnt met the singer yet and we were only going to have one practice before the show. My first experience playing live in a band was at a bar named Legends in the summer of 1991. It was 9:00pm on a Friday. Legends was an average sized bar with neon blue and purple beer signs along the walls. Tables and chairs were somewhat scattered in front of the stage and a pool hall of to your left. As we made our way towards the stage you couldnt help notice the smell of beer and smoke from the customers. The closer I got towards the stage the more my palms were sweating and my heart was pounding. I glanced towards the audience and saw over 100 people staring right back at me wondering if this band was any good and who were they? I walked to my bass and slid it around my head and turned up my volume while Matt and Steve picked up their guitars and checked their tuning. You could hear the distortion from their guitars while Chris climbed in behind his drums and hit a few times on the snare. Craig grabbed the microphone and did a sound check Check 1 Check 1 he said into the mic. Chris then started his drum beat for the first song and there was no turning back now. The band played on. ...