Heavy Metal Show

“This song is FANTASTIC!” — HewwoC@T

“I got super excited hearing the vocals!” — Izzy_R33D

“THERE’S VOCALS ON THIS SONG?! WHAT THE WHAT?!” — IdIoTU.S.

“The melodies are great, the rhythm hits hard, and those harmonies are perfection! And I can’t get enough of those vocals!” — ClaSSixR0cks!

I got super excited as I read these comments on the video. It received a lot of good reviews. A good portion of them praised my playing and the music composition, but there was also a lot that commented on Haruto Saiki’s singing. Everyone were surprised that this song had vocals on it, which made sense given the fact that all of my previous originals didn’t have any singing on them whatsoever.

“Good morning, Kiomi!”

I looked up from my phone and saw Haruto Saiki entering the classroom. “Morning,” I replied back. It then hit me that she had called me by the wrong name again and I grudgingly said, “It’s Shiomi.”

“I know!” she simply replied back.

“If you know, then why are constantly calling me by the wrong name?” I asked her smartly. “How long do you intend to make this joke last?” Saiki didn’t say anything and just stood there smiling. That really ticked me off a bit and I brashly said, “How would you like it if I called you by something else, too?” That statement got a reaction out of her and I could see her cheeks reddened a bit.

“Like what?” she asked me.

I didn’t expect her to reply to my question like that and the gears of my brain struggled to turn while I was put on the spot. “Um—er—uh…Saru!” I blurted out. I didn’t realize how loud my voice was when I said that, but I can guess based on how everyone quickly turned their heads to me.

Saiki had a shocked expression on her face. The redness had disappeared from her cheeks and she just stood there frozen like a statue. ‘Oh no!’ I thought anxiously to myself. ‘I went too far! Why did I say that out of nowhere?! Why did I blurt out ‘Saru’?! Calling her a monkey to her face is the worst thing I could’ve done! And everyone heard it too!’

Suddenly, to my and everyone’s surprise, Saiki bursted out laughing and clutched her stomach. She looked like she had just witnessed the best comedy she had ever seen in her entire life! Tears of joy streaked down her face and her body shook in glee. “S-Saru? Is that the best you’ve got?” she howled.

“I-I-It was the first thing that popped in my mind,” I quickly told her defensively. Seeing her laugh really put my mind at ease. I really had expected her to get mad and not talk to me anymore or hit me with her bag. It really felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest.

“Hey, hey, hey!” came Fumi running through the door.

“Fumi! Morning! What are you so excited about?” asked Saiki.

Fumi showed her phone to her friend. I peeked from behind Saiki and saw that the video she was playing was the new one that I had recently uploaded the night before. While the video was playing, Fumi had on a smile that I didn’t know she was capable of. “You’ve heard of shred’emall_\m/, right?” she asked Saiki happily.

“Yes,” simply replied Saiki.

“This new video of his is great!” announced Fumi. “It’s the first video he had ever posted that had any vocals, and it’s fantastic! It’s different than his other original works, but I really like it.” I could tell that she was fangirling hard.

“Is he your favorite ITuber?” asked Saiki.

Fumi quickly answered with excited nods. “He’s been blowing up big for some time now, but I’ve always been a fan since day one! I mean, who else plays guitar like him? He’s crazy good! I wouldn’t even be surprised if he played professionally for a big-time band!”

Saiki and I exchanged glances. ‘Oh, he might actually be closer than you’d think,’ I thought to myself. To be honest, I didn’t really expect Fumi to be a fan of my videos. I mean, I did have covers of popular alternative rock songs, but to discover that she had been a fan of me since day one?!—actually, let me rephrase that—a fan of shred’emall_\m/ since day one?! Who would’ve thought? And the first video that I posted…it was actually a guitar cover of the popular alternative rock song that of year: “My Love Undone” by the English band Rough Diamonds. Okay, that makes more sense.

“So you’re a big fan, huh,” I said with a small laugh.

“What does it matter to you?” she asked me venomously with a raised eyebrow.

“N-Nothing, really,” I quickly told her with the same laugh. The bell rang and we all got ready for first period.

The day quickly went by and the next thing I knew, I was preparing myself to go home. I finished changing shoes and had closed my locker when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I immediately thought that it was Ikki trying to play a trick on me. I turned around and was prepared to give him a good “talking to”. But the reveal left me shocked.

“Hey, Uiomi,” said Saiki with a smile.

“Haruto Saiki!” I yelped in surprise.

“Huh? What happened to my nickname?” she asked me with a teasing smile. “I thought that you were set on calling me Saru.”

“I told you that I didn’t mean it!” I protested with flustered cheeks.

“Anyway, can I ask you for a favor?” she asked me. She had her hands together in a praying motion and held them up to me. This gesture automatically told me that it was urgent and she was in desperate need of some help.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“This weekend, Nijigami is having another concert at KABANG!” she told me. “We had just released another independent album and we want to celebrate its release with a concert.”

“That’s sounds good,” I told her. “Speaking of which, I need to get that new album soon. It’s been on my list for some time now, but I’ve never really had the time to go buy it at the local record store.”

“Actually, there’s more,” said Saiki. “This morning, our lead guitarist, Crash Young, was getting ready for his classes when he tripped on some water on the floor after getting out of the shower and fractured his right forearm.”

“Wha-What?!” I exclaimed in surprise. I couldn’t believe that the lead guitarist fractured his forearm just by slipping and falling on the bathroom floor. I mean, if he was playing sports and injured his arm while catching a pass, or sparring during martial arts training and incorrectly broken his fall, or maybe even somehow got into a scuffle with a dog and had his forearm bitten and infected, it would make more sense. A slip-and-fall in the bathroom would only result in a twisted ankle or a sprained wrist at the minimum, and maybe a concussion at the maximum—but an entire fractured forearm?! What is his bathroom floor made of, reinforced steel?! But I get it, freak accidents happen. “So what are you going to do now?” I asked her.

“Well, you see,” she began, chuckling unassumingly to herself, “that’s where you come in.”

“Me?” I asked in surprise.

“Is it possible for you to act as his replacement for the concert?” she begged with her hands up in a praying motion again. That’s right, she was practically begging now.

“That’s impossible!” I told her.

“Please!” she pleaded.

“But why me?” I asked her reasonably. “Don’t you know any other guitarists around the area that are more qualified for that position?”

“You’re the only other guitarist I know,” she admitted.

“B-B-B—,” I protested.

“Besides, you’re an awesome player!” she added sincerely. “You’re playing is up there! I mean, you’re shred—.” I quickly covered her mouth with my hands once I heard that slip out of her lips. She shook my hands away and sheepishly apologized for that blunder. “But you get what I’m saying. You’re playing is phenomenal and on a professional level, I guarantee it! Remember what Fumi said? I’m also a massive fan of yours and I know about your playing, especially since we’ve been spending more time together! If there’s one person I know who can replace Crash for a night, it’s you.”

The only thing I felt the entire time as I listened to Saiki’s pleadings and praises was dread. The idea of playing on a stage for a bunch of people had never occurred to me before. And when I imagined myself doing that, my entire body became covered in goosebumps and I could feel nervousness and nausea setting in. I don’t think that I can thrive in that atmosphere, let alone dip my toe in it. And just the prospect of replacing one of my most favorite guitarists in one of my favorite bands, even if it’s only for a night, made my legs tremble and my stomach hollow. But I let her words sink in and thought it through before giving her a definite answer.

I looked at her and saw the desperation in her eyes. It was like looking at a begging puppy that was at the end of its rope. I closed my eyes and made up my mind. “I’ll do it,” I told her.

“Hooray!” she happily yelped. She turned around and ran to her shoe locker before coming back with an album in her hand. “Here’s the album. We’re not sure yet what songs we want to perform, so if you can just learn all of them to the best of your ability, that’s good enough. I’ll update you on the set-list the closer we’ll get to the date. Also, I’m sure you’re familiar with our older popular stuff already, but we’ll be performing them that night too.” She then quickly took off for home. I was about to say something when she beat me to it by turning around and, while waving her hands, telling me, “You can keep the album!” And then she was gone.

I looked at the album in my hand. I couldn’t believe it. The one thing that I’ve been wanting to get my hands on for a while now has now been handed to me for free. How lucky could this day get? And to be called on to play for one my favorite bands too?! I mean, minus the nervousness and anxiety that came attached to the ordeal, it was like having my biggest dream come true! And I can trace it all back to that one moment in time, that one moment that was the catalyst for my new life: the day I met Haruto Saiki.

I rushed home the very next moment and secluded myself in my room. With shaky hands, I placed the CD in the player and listened to it. The first song was a straight-ahead rocker, very catchy and up-beat but also just driving and hard-hitting. It was like a dance-party at a monster-truck rally, or a rave at a mixed-martial arts tournament! Talk about having your face smacked hard while moving your body to the beat! The second song was more complex in composition, but not far-out enough to be considered progressive or experimental. However, the one little new addition I liked that I’ve never heard before in any other Nijigami song was the integration of harsh vocals underneath the verse vocal melody and during the pre-chorus. The third song was a little longer and more progressive in nature, but it had really cool guitar textures and almost folky drum beats. The fourth song was very stimulating; I would describe it simply as listening to a hardcore punk band singing a bubblegum-pop song. The fifth song had more punk influences, reminding me a bit of a little bit of old punk and 2000s pop-punk. The sixth song hit me like a truck—I didn’t see that groovy thrash riff coming at all in the very beginning! But I have to admit, it might just be my favorite song on this entire album just because of how it was like ear-candy to me. The seventh song was a little more tame and—I didn’t really want to say this—bland. It had its moments and wasn’t bad at all. It just lacked a little bit of the excitement that the others had. And finally, the eighth and final song. I would just like to say that I don’t how I survived that face-melting solo. I have never before heard anyone play guitar like that! That’s all I have to say about that track….

All-in-all, the album was pretty solid and I would really rank it among my top three favorite albums by Nijigami. I must’ve been listening to the album on repeat for a while when my phone beeped and I opened it to see that it was almost eight o’clock. Saiki had messaged me. I opened it and read her message. “I talked to the other guys! They’re okay with you subbing in for Crash! Even Crash himself was happy with my choice!” she wrote. My eyes widened at how accepting her bandmates was. Were they really okay with a high school kid like me playing with professional-level players like them?! My question was answered with a follow-up message by Saiki. “Oh, and I told them that I got shred’emall_\m/ to play with us. They don’t know who you really are. They’re really big fans of your playing too!”

I let out a sigh of relief. This makes way more sense. I simply replied with a thumbs-up emoji and got to work. I normally stay up a bit anyway, so getting in some practice right now wouldn’t hurt. I played the CD once again and plugged in my guitar. And just like any other guitar players out there in the world (mostly), I listened closely to the songs and played along by ear.

I woke up the next morning feeling more tired than usual. I had stayed up past my self-appointed curfew to practice the songs. I was really getting into it and I only stopped when I saw that it was almost midnight.

During school, Haruto Saiki had asked me about my progress. I told her that I got almost seventy-percent of the album down. The riffs, the solos, the harmonies, the leads, the licks, the effects, the countermelodies…. Just listing them out exhausted me even more. When it was time for us to go home, she told me that they were almost finished with finalizing that night’s set-list.

At home, I continued with my practice. I did it until everything felt natural on the guitar: the rhythms, the melodies, the shifts, the dynamics, the articulations, the chord progressions, the modulations. The only thing that I had a problem with was the solos. Now, when I said that I have a problem with them, it wasn’t because I couldn’t play them. I mean, I could play them well, but it’s not like they’re perfect replications of the original. They just didn’t feel natural for me. It’s all a matter of style and interpretation. Whenever you replicate something for a cover, you always have one of two chances: to keep it faithful to the original work, or to improvise it all from scratch. It all depends on what feels right for you and for the song. For me, I decided to go with the latter.

Finally, it came time for the concert. It was a weekend, which meant that I have a lot of time to practice my parts again before the show. Once it hit five o’clock, I packed up my guitar and carried it with me to KABANG! I was right near the venue when someone called out to me from the side. I turned my head and saw Haruto Saiki gesturing for me to follow her. I entered through the back door and came to the dressing rooms behind the stage. Everyone was already there.

“Everyone, this is shred’emall_\m/!” introduced Saiki. She stood in front of me the entire to cover my face from the other band members, a gesture that I deeply appreciated.

“Alright! He’s here!” cheered rhythm guitarist Mal Richards

“We’re counting on you, bud,” said keyboardist Lord Rudd, patting me on the back.

“Your skills better be real and not just for show,” jabbed bassist Jean Simon.

“We trust Haru, and we trust you,” declared drummer Tony Lee.

“T-Thanks,” I stuttered back.

“Alright, everyone, let’s get ready!” Tony Lee told the rest of the band.

Everyone dispersed and left to get ready for the show. Saiki grabbed me by the hand and led me to her dressing room. Once inside, she handed me a plastic package bag. I took a look at it and saw what was inside: an off-white mask that covered both eyes and the top right portion of the face and the bottom left portion of the face. “You want to hide your identity from everyone else, don’t you?” she told me. “And it’ll go very well with the band’s image.” I had almost forgotten that Nijigami’s image revolved around very eerie yet charming aesthetics: exotic color schemes, colorful face and body paint, flamboyant costumes, and bold make-up. The best way to describe it would be if Salvador Dali created the image of 80s glam metal and fathered Japan’s Visual Kei scene.

“Thanks,” I told her.

“Were you able to go over tonight’s set-list?” she asked me.

“Yup,” I said with a confident nod of my head. I remember going over the set-list a total of six times today: three times I went over it in my head, and three times I did it in my bedroom while imagining myself performing on stage. It’s pretty much ingrained in my mind that I can tell what song comes next by heart.

Saiki was finishing up her makeup and putting on her white wig. Once she was done, she had completely transformed into Eva Nascent, the angelic lead singer of Nijigami. I couldn’t help but let my jaw hang down in awe. She noticed my reaction and blushed. I quickly shook my head and brought myself back to reality.

“A-Anyway,” she said, “I’ll bring your costume to you. Once you’re done, you can set up you’re guitar and we’ll get started.”

“R-Right,” I agreed. She brought me my costume: a tuxedo with a dark-red bowtie and white gloves, and I quickly changed. Okay, maybe ‘quickly’ was a bit of an exaggeration. I had never worn a tuxedo before, or any kind of dress clothes for that matter, so getting dressed was a little—okay—a lot of work. It got to the point where we had to call Kyo to come help. Luckily, we have a good fifteen minutes before the show began.

Once I was dressed, I walked over to plug in my guitar and set it up. I could feel my hands sweating even through the gloves. And even though the mask I’m now wearing does good work in concealing my face, I still felt anxious about my identity slipping out into the open for whatever reason. I know these thoughts are unreasonable, but this will be my first time playing on stage in front of an audience. This is my stage debut!

Everyone was now finished with everything they had to do and the band gathered together near the stairs. The venue’s overhead speakers announced the band's name and we took to the stage. I was last in line and my legs shook the entire time I walked up those stairs. I really thought that I was going to trip on one of the steps and twist my ankle based on how bad the shakings were!

Once I got onstage, I walked to my position and stood perfectly still with my guitar in my hands. It was like staring into a sea of sardines. The audience was packed and I could see and feel more than a thousand eyes staring at me. Haven’t I mentioned before that I hate being the center of attention? If you think this was bad, it’s about to get worse. Saiki talked to the crowd, which was natural for her given her real-life personality, and introduced the band members. When it was my turn, she told the audience that I was none other than shred’emall_\m/ . This wasn’t exactly false. Although no one could see my real face, I was still apprehensive about having people shift their focus to me. The only thing I could do in this situation was to raise my hand in greeting. What am I, an alien?!

Finally, it came time to actually play the songs. Saiki introduced the song and Tony Lee gave us the count-off. It was the first track off of their latest album: “Fifth Gear!” The song immediately popped into my head and my hands went off on their own. To avoid getting discouraged by staring at a sea of people watching me with their eyes, I played with my head angled down and my eyes on my frets. The song went without a hitch. I couldn’t believe it—I played a song with Nijigami onstage! And what’s more, the performance elicited riotous applause and cheers from the crowd! We continued with this momentum and the fear and anxiety that had welled up inside me gradually disappeared into the ether. I had to say, this was one of the best times of my life! And I had Haruto Saiki to thank for this.