IV

The cymbals crashed, the bass swooned and the guitar blazed a hard and heavy trail for the bargoers to follow along with in rhythm. While most in The Pour House merely drank at the bars, conversed, and watched, the fifteen or so that were closest to the stage were clearly there to simulate a full fledged rock concert, jumping, hollering, swinging about and moshing. Some sang along, as all but two of Soldered Angel's songs were Rock, Metal, or old Punk covers. The applause from the true music fans among them was riotous when Amy closed her rendition of The Circle Jerks' "I Wanna Destroy You"

"Thank You!" Amy yelled into the microphone. She wore a faded green Bouncing Souls T-Shirt, shredded across the middle to show her six-pack, along with long fingerless gloves, black short shorts with fishnets over them, and high black boots. "Now, as many of you know, we do requests, but we only do so many in a night, because my throat can only stand so much abuse. Kinda like me with this asshole right here" she said, punching Simon sharply in the shoulder. He mimed as though it caused him real pain, then laughed it off.

"So what we do to encourage a little crowd participation... if you sing it or play on it yourself, you're guaranteed to hear it. So show your stuff, or you might not hear your song tonight."

As usual, no one in the audience had the nerve or talent to voluntarily take the stage.

"Oh come on Sean!" Amy said, trying to drag a familiar fan onto the stage. Her voice blaring over the amplifiers.

"Yeah, yeah. That's what you said last time, all fucking talk." she smiled. Chino, standing alone in the corner downed his drink, and mumbled to himself... "What the hell." Amy was still goading the crowd to get involved when Chino approached Simon. After a quick exchange, Simon motioned for Chino to take center stage, and Amy was startled. She handed him the mic, and retreated to the side of the stage. Chino was obviously nervous. He got a few encouraging whistles, and then Simon played a few light, mellow chords. "Lightning Crashes" by Live was what Chino attempted.

He cleared his throat, focused his gaze upon his shoes, and waited for his first line.

Lightning Crashes, A new mother cries

Nothing to turn heads, though it was clear that he was singing, not merely talking the words. Though his hair was tied back neatly when he took the stage, he removed the band, and brought it forward a bit so that the audience couldn't get a good look at his face. Instead, onlookers had to settle to judge him by his clothes, which were neat, but somewhat conservative for this sort of venue. A bone white silk button-up, black carpenter pants, and black leather basketball sneakers. Amy's curiosity was at an all-time high. She knew this was a tough song later into it it.

The Angel closes her ey-yai-yaiyaiyai-yai-yes

It was at this soft Arabic chant of a line that she, as well as much of the audience knew they were dealing with a talented singer. He handled the rest of the song with poise and intensity. Never really moving much to the song, but though his body language, one could tell that he felt the words he sang so vibrantly. Amy felt privaleged he chose a song that had a bit of backup to it, as she could support his echoed last verse

I can feel it comin back again

like a rollin' thunder chasing the wind

forces pullin' from the center of the Earth again

I can feel it

With the last few gentle strums, Chino's eyes remained shut. Then he became aware of his immersion into his performance and opened them up. The crowd let loose a wild round of applause. Chino again became awkward; appreciative yet a bit embarassed. Amy put an arm around him and told him "Good Job". He kept his head low, and smiled, though not at anyone in particular. He mouthed "Thank You" to all the crowd, and made his way back to his seat.

Soldered Angel closed that night's set with "Bandages" by Hot Hot Heat. As they began to pack up their equipment, Amy kept her eyes peeled for her mysterious neighbor. After a while, she saw that he was sitting close to the front door. He was entertaining a pair of women, smiling, and making them laugh. Amy doubted he'd still be around when they were through.