Strung Tight (The Road To Rocktoberfest #1) - Ann Lister Page 0,88

my own man.”

“I’ll help you any way I can, Dal. You know that,” I promised.

“I’m so happy your soundcheck went well,” Dallas commented. “I wish I could have seen it, but I promise to be there tomorrow. I heard you’re going on last for the new bands.”

“That’s right,” I said. “I didn’t know that was a big deal until the lead singer of Jupiter Rising told me.”

“It’s a really big deal,” Dallas agreed. “You’re the band that essentially hands the show over to the first round of headliners. It takes some bands years to get that slot, and you managed it on your first time at the event.”

“Do you think Dagger had that arranged for us?” I asked.

“Far as I know, only the event coordinators have a hand in picking the lineup for each day of the weekend,” Dallas said. “It’s all based on how big of a draw one band is over another. Outside interference would make the planning of something like that a pain in the ass.”

“I’d like to think we earned this spot on our own,” I confessed.

“You more than earned it, Fletcher, and everyone is going to see that for themselves once you hit the stage tomorrow,” Dallas said with pride oozing from his words.

“I miss you,” I found myself saying.

“Same here, so fucking much,” he said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and I was so fearful I fucked this up by being an idiot and missing your bus. I wanted to share that with you so fucking bad.”

“Get your ass here, and you can ride home with us,” I said.

“I’ll be there,” Dallas promised. “I won’t let you down.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rocktoberfest kicked off on time Friday afternoon with a new band called Sanctimonious. I heard they’d recently dropped the second word of their name—Pricks—when they were selected to play at the festival. I could see why since I doubted too many radio stations would want to announce the Sanctimonious Pricks on their shows. I also couldn’t see the event promoters of Rocktoberfest wanting to touch that name either. We watched them perform and they weren’t half-bad, but their edge was a bit much. I’d seen headlining acts who had less attitude than they did. Sometimes it works if the musicianship is there to back up the bravado, but their talent was just okay, but not at the level to warrant the swagger.

It would be several more hours before it was our time slot to perform, but my stomach was already knotted into a tight ball of anxiety. Dagger did his best to keep us occupied and our minds off of what we had waiting for us on stage later. The weather today was perfect for an outside show, not too hot and with a steady breeze to help people stay chill. I’d been to outside concerts before where people in the audience became so hot and sweaty that fists started to fly. I doubted we had to worry about that happening today.

We listened to part of the set for Angels and Demons and then decided to take a walk around to see the place filling up. Our security team walked behind us as we made our way through the vendor alley, where they were all lined up selling their merchandise. We all purchased t-shirts from one vendor and then a group of girls saw our lanyards and starting squealing in delight as if they were meeting the Rolling Stones. I’d be lying if I said their attention didn’t feel good. Even after we explained we were a new band here to perform, they still carried on like we were rock royalty. What a rush it was to be part of that. The guys and I posed for several photos with them and even signed our names on a few items before our security guys saved our asses and pulled us away.

We continued to walk through the growing crowd on our way back to the fenced-in area for the buses. After arriving at the entrance, a roar of cheers erupted. We stopped to see what the commotion was and noticed the tour bus for the Cherry Pickers pulling in through the gates. They were one of the many headlining acts performing this weekend and had a huge following. It was exciting to think we’d be playing on the very same stage as them. I also had high hopes of possibly seeing all the headliners hanging out later so I could take a photo and even meet