and hear your hearts love song
Like the sun you light me up
You set fire to my heart
Eternity will be our song
our souls will never part
The mood of the song had changed from slow and sad to something more light-hearted and vivacious. This was the part of the song that explained how Rick had come to Avery while he was in the hospital, and spoken his name. It was Rick's voice that Avery heard while in the coma and Rick's voice that brought him back. This was the moment when Avery remembered who he was and how in love with Rick he was. He remembered the love that they shared. It was the moment that Avery knew he had to return to him, no matter what.
Avery smiled as he looked out over the crowd. The over all mood of everyone had lifted with the song. Their cheeks were wet with tears but they were smiling. Avery had somehow managed to convey his own feelings and emotions to those he sang to, bringing him closer to his audience. As they rocked back and forth with the music Avery turned to Rick and Rick winked at him. It made Avery blush.
Avery took the microphone out of the stand and walked to where Rick was standing in front of the keyboard. Avery stood next to him, leaning his head on Rick's shoulder. Without missing a beat, Rick turned his head and kissed the top of Avery's. A chorus of oohs and awes rose from the crowd. Again Avery blushed. He looked up and kissed Rick on the lips and the crowd went wild with cheers. Avery held the mic between them and together they sang the last line verse of the song.
Chorus:
I thought I knew all there was to know
I thought I'd seen it all
But you came and called my name
You taught me to stand tall
You came and called me by my name
You taught me to stand tall...
As the song ended and the music faded, a stillness fell over the hall. The audience was awe-struck. They loved the song, they loved the band, and most of all they loved Avery. The other groups had played covers of other bands. A few had played originals but they were just words that rhymed. Avery had put his heart and soul into his piece and preformed it with the same amount of energy and passion as he hoped to evoke out of his audience. He walked back to the mic stand and stood before the crowd. Immediately the hush was replaced by a loud concession of cheers and applause.
The reaction of the crowd brought tears to his eyes. It was more than he had ever hoped for.
"I hope you enjoyed our original song, "You called my name." It was inspired by true events in my life and the love and support that I received from my friends..." He turned and look back at the band, "and my family. This second song is one I'm sure all of you have heard before. It's the perfect song for anyone that's been hurt, over looked, pushed aside, and knocked down. It's a song that tells each of us, in the face of adversity, you just have to stand tall and be stronger..."
Right on cue, the music began and the crowd erupted into cheers and happy shouts as the band started to play "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson. Desire had always been a bit avant-garde in their style. They were a mixture of emo with a hint of heavy metal, mostly thanks to Trash. Rick brought in the classical aspect of their music and Avery brought the passion. With the addition of Cole and Kat, their music style became an assortment of sounds that messed well together and gave their group a totally unique feel. Because of this they were able to take a pop song and put their own spin on it and it worked.
Avery's voice added something to the composition that was uniquely him. The song remained up beat, inspirational, and fast paced but with a slightly darker undertone, yet still had the feel of an anthem. The crowd went wild for it, many of them dancing in place and swinging their arms to the music. He'd captivate the audience with his original song, and amazed them with the second. As the song ended the crowd was still yelling and cheering. Many screaming "anchor, anchor!" at the stage. Avery waved to everyone, thanked them all and bowed.
One of the judges walked out onto the stage as the band began to pack up their equipment. He was tall, probably in mid thirties and had long black hair, numerous tattoos and piercings and was dressed head to foot in black.
He clapped along with the crowd and smiled at Avery and the others. "What an amazing performance!" He announced as he raised his hand to quiet the audience.
Avery waved again at the crowd, beaming from ear to ear as he walked off the stage to join the other musicians waiting behind the curtains.
"Let's give a hand to all our performers tonight!" The judge shouted and again the audience erupted in applause. He gave them a minute to clap, shout, cheer, and then raised his hand to settle them down once more before speaking again.
"For those of you who don't know me, I'm James Price, one of the judges and owner of Drummin n' strummin musical outlet right here in town. I want to first thank you all for coming to this years winter fest, battle of the bands, here at the East-view park grand-band stand. I also want to thank all of the performers who came out today and gave it their best. Man, we had some great bands didn't we? Everyone who played here today has talent and great potential for going far in this business. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner.
As judges we look at a few different things. Vocal range and quality, performance as well as stage presence, and the response of the audience. With this information our judges have reviewed all the bands and with careful thought and consideration have come to a decision. With that said I'm going to ask that each group select one member to represent their band and have that member join me here on stage."
James turned to the side of the stage and along with the audience, gave a round of applause as the selected members returned to the stage. Most of the bands sent their lead singers up though Rick thought it best that Avery stay behind the scenes. He wasn't comfortable having Avery and Mikey share the stage. Rick wasn't too sure that he should go up either. At this point he was more concerned with knocking Mikey out than actually hearing the winner announced. The rest of the band seemed to agree with him on this because in the end they elected Cole to be the one to represent them. He was older, more mature, and well known to many of the locals.
Sending Cole up to the stage seemed to be the best course of action and it eliminated the possibility of any unwanted trouble. Rick was still certain that when the time was right, he was going to make Mikey pay for all he'd done. He couldn't just let his latest actions just go without any repercussions. The longer they did nothing, the more Mikey was going to think that he could get away with what ever he wanted. He already tried to kill Avery once. The next time he went after him, Rick feared, he'd finally succeed.
Cole stepped up on the stage and took his place among the others. Mikey was standing about three people down from him, glaring angrily in his direction. Cole looked over at him, smiled sweetly, and winked. Mikey turned his head away, his face hot with anger. It made Cole chuckle some. The judge motioned for someone off stage to join him and the audience watched as a pretty young woman crossed the stage and handed him a small stack of envelopes.
"Thank you, Lisa." James said. The girl nodded, smiled at the audience, then left the stage.
James held the first envelope up for everyone to see. "Now is the time I know you all have been waiting for." He opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper that he unfolded. "In third place, and winner of $500. dollars plus a $150. dollar gift card to Barb's Steak house... Garden Party Riot!"
The audience cheered as the lead singer of Garden Party Riot, a pink haired girl with multiple tattoos and piercings, stepped up to the judge and shook his hand.
"Congratulations to you and your band." He said as he handed her an envelope that contained her prize.
She thanked him, held the envelope up for everyone to see as the crowed cheered, then returned to her place by the other musicians.
James looked back to the card he'd unfolded from the first envelope and announced the next winner. "In second place," He said, "And winner of $600. dollars plus a $300. dollar gift certificate to Drummin n' strummin musical outlet located on Mulberry street... Queen Conundrum!"
Again the crowd cheered as the representative from Queen Conundrum stepped forward to accept their prize.
As they stepped back in place, the concert hall became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone held their breath as they waited for the first place winner to be announced.
James looked over the remaining contestants and addressed them all. "I want to thank each of you again for participating. Each of you played your best and won our audience over. I've never seen such a reception before in all the years of hosting this event. You should all be very proud of your accomplishments. Even if you don't walk away with a prize today, you're all still winners."
