We are pleased to inform you that your band, Beneath My Shadow, has been chosen to open at this year's Church of the Wild Ones Tour headlined by Black Veil Brides. Please present yourselves ready for tour in Hollywood, CA at the beginning of January to begin preparations for the tour.
Thanks for your entry and we hope to see you in January!
-Black Veil Brides
The page was folded up in my hot little hand. I could hardly believe that Black Veil Brides had chosen our band to be an opening act! For the longest time, I had idolized Black Veil Brides and what their music stood for. It was the reason I had joined Beneath My Shadow two years before. The bus hit a pot hole and forced me from my musings. I look around, noting that several of my band members had dozed off and were now awake due to the jostling of the equipment. I slid the letter back into my jacket pocket slowly, reaching up to brush a stray hair from my face.
"You looking at that damn letter again, Damien?" Justin, our lead vocalist, said smartly, and as I looked up I realized he was watching me, along with the other guys from the band. "No," I said bitterly – okay, a little white lie, but I was tired of them ragging on me for that shit! "You're such a fucking liar! I saw you stick it in your jacket!" It was constantly like that, ever since they'd learned that I was bisexual. Fucking assholes. Now it was constantly about what guys I had crushes on.
Recently, it was Andy Biersack. I admired him. He'd taken charge of his own life, pursued his dreams, and look at him now. He was a famous musician and artist, he'd accomplished everything he had set out to do. Now all he had to do was take over the world. I smiled briefly at the thought. Yes, maybe I did have a little bit of a man-crush on Andy Biersack.
"You have that stupid look on your face again, man." I shake my head slightly and grab the nearest object to me, which just happened to be a random coffee mug, at the offender's head. "Shut the fuck up, David," I growl viciously. David, our lead guitarist, he's an asshole. He's also the one sitting up front and bugging our driver. I can't remember his name right off, this isn't even our bus, it was something that the tour staff provided for us.
"Are we there yet?" I demand, looking over at the driver, attempting to steer the attention away from me and my apparent obsession with Andy Biersack and Black Veil Brides. Hell, most of my band hadn't even realized who Black Veil Brides was until I introduced them to their glory. "Not long now," the driver said. Fuck I wish I could remember his name. That was going to bother me. I turned my attention out of the window and watched the passing buildings, my anxiety growing with each passing minute. Each minute that brought us closer to actually meeting the Black Veil Brides members.
I didn't pay much attention to what the other guys were talking about until there was a random sock being thrown at me. "Ew, god damn it, David, no one wants your smelly socks thrown at them!" I exclaim, throwing the sock back at him. "Throw that at me again and I'm gonna kick your scrawny ass," I warn.
"Well excuse the fuck out of us, Mr. High-and-Mighty. But if you're too good to participate in the conversation then maybe you don't need to be here," Justin snapped at me. I wonder what the hell is up with him, ever since I got hurt last month, he's been pissy towards me, like I am just a liability to the band or something. Asswipe, I still wore a cloth brace on my wrist when I wasn't playing. No need to fuck it up even worse.
"What conversation?" I ask. I'm tired of playing this game with them, I really am. I watch them momentarily before Justin speaks up again. "About the damn show. What songs are we going to play?" he demanded. Yeah, that sounded about right. He'd ask us what we wanted to do and then take credit for all the ingenuity. We really needed to replace him.
"I think that maybe we should do Hatred Dies first." David piped up first, every the one to begin kissing Justin's ass. I reach down, pulling my cigarettes from the pocket of my jacket and tugged one out. "I think that would be a better ending, actually," I add, shrugging as I light the cigarette. "I think a better ending would be Knock at Dawn." It went on like this for several minutes, going back and forth about which songs would best fit into our little opening show. It wasn't a full show, just a couple of songs, but we couldn't seem to agree on it.
"Why don't we let Black Veil Brides decide?" This suggestion came from Matt. Our drummer. I raise an eyebrow and look over at him. He'd been silent through most of the discussion, as was his typical stance. "That's actually a really good idea. Let's ask them. We are a setup for them, after all. We should let them choose what is the best entrance for them," I agree. Slowly, David and Justin agree with Matt's idea, and I give him a smile. He may not speak often, but he usually has good suggestions when he does.
By this time, we're nearing the meeting place. Everyone is excited now, but none more than me. Finally, after all this time, I was finally going to meet them. The bus pulls up to a large building and stops. "This is it, head on inside and someone will be out to grab your stuff." Yeah, right, no one touched my guitar except me. I grab the case and pull it up over my head and shoulder to rest across my back. My heart is in my throat, my ears are ringing, and I'm the last one off the bus.
The last one into the building – the last one up the stairs – I am the last one to walk through that door. I hear them. All of them. They are laughing about something, will that easy camaraderie come to our band as well? Or will we simply fall apart because we don't have that same connection? I hear them stop, greet my band members. I hear David ask where I've gotten to, and only then do I realize that I froze outside the door. I take a deep breath, and I walk inside, and for the first time, I am face to face with Black Veil Brides.
I'm frozen as I watch Andy stride forward, a smile on his face and his hand extended. "Welcome to the Tour, man." He takes my hand, and I can barely make myself shake it. He laughs, seeming to be accustomed to people freezing like an idiot whenever they meet him. "H-hi," I stammer. Fuck, what the hell was that shit!? "I'm Damien," I correct quickly, offering another smile as I force myself to act normally. These are just regular guys right?
Wrong. They were anything but regular. They were rock gods. How could I ever compare to them? I meet the rest of the band, thankfully I don't freeze up again, that would be absolutely humiliating. Overall, the first day on the Church of the Wild Ones tour hasn't gone all that bad. But I certainly know one thing: this was going to be completely and totally fucking awesome.