First Show
Summery: the nervous ramblings of a snare drummer's first show.
Rating: K...nothin weird in here
A/N: This was originally a school assignment, enjoy! And i got an A+ on it )
Anticipation is mounting.
The staccato of my heart beat merging with the 16th notes of the warm up. Our first performance was rapidly approaching; the countdown was down to mere minutes. 48 drumsticks slowly form into one sound, the varying pitches of rhythmic banging continue.
My drumstick slips from my sweaty palm, I am nervous. The contact with the snare drum creates a sharp snap in the darkness of the warm-up room. I am off beat, a few shifted glances fly my way, but soon the military like stillness returns.
The sudden opening of the door slowly interrupts the dark of the room. They are ready for us.
Without a word to one another, my fellow battery members and I line up in our lines, the pit behind us. 24 nervous teenage drummers stand in the hallway as our name is announced. The show has begun.
I am in the front as we enter the brightly lit gym. The crowd cheers as the pit sets themselves up. My father is sitting on the top row of the stands, with his video camera in hand. Beside him is his cousin; her daughter is a pit member. Beside her is my aunt, then my cousin . She is directly in my line of sight. My staring spot for the show is chosen.
She smiles a reassuring smile and I return a nervous one, wiping the sweat from my palms on my jeans. I aid in the connection of the electric Bass and keyboard, then fiddle with the amp until it sounds clear. We fall into our military strait line and the countdown until playtime begins.
3…2…1
The 3 subtle middle C notes send the bells and the xylophone into action.
24 hearts beat as one as the snare drums begin their tapping.
The two minutes and thirty seconds pass in a blur of rests, rolls and solos, leaving the song to a close. The final crescendo drives my heart into a frenzy of beats as the Quads and bass drums begin their flurry of movement. The final note nearly burst my eardrums and I release a breath I didn't know I was holding.
We were very good, they tell us as we load the van. We hit every step off, hop, skip and note.
Anticipation is fading as we wander back to the gym to experience the next adrenaline rush of another drumline performance.
