The Spook Show

The Spookiest of all the Shows

The year was 2012. I was a sophomore in high school and it had only been a few weeks since I had started my first rock band. We had just finished writing a bunch of original songs and we couldn’t wait to bust them out in front of a live audience. The chance to do so finally came along when we were offered a spot on the bill of a local charity show known as “The Spook Show.”

The Spook Show was a charity show that would showcase local bands and any of the money raised that night would go towards whichever organization was chosen to be supported. It was such a popular event that bands would often tried to get booked on it months in advance. So imagine how excited I was when they asked us to do it.

We began practicing for the show right away. Every night that we could catch a spare hour, we were in the practice space tightening and polishing our setlist of songs. During our normal practices on Wednesday nights, we would run the set again and again to ensure that the band sounded solid. We obsessed over little details such as how to start/end the show and where we should put guitar solos in the songs.

After polishing up the live show, we hit it hard with promotion. Tons of posters and flyers covered our practice space, just waiting to be hung up or passed out somewhere. We put posters on every board and wall in town that we could.

Flyers were passed out wherever we would go, whether it was school, lessons, or church. We created events and posts on all of our social media accounts such as Facebook and would invite everyone to them. Every few days, we would update each account to make sure that everyone was aware of the show coming up.

After weeks of preparation, practice and promotion, the day of the show finally arrived. We promptly got to the venue in the afternoon and began loading our gear in. Many of the other bands were already loading their stuff in and the atmosphere was buzzing with anticipation.

Merch tables were set up and sound checks were taking place. We were taken to the green room along with all of the other bands for a pre-show meeting. Here, we were told about venue rules and how the night would operate. Then, it was time.

We were the second on the bill. During the first bands set, I could feel myself getting more and more anxious. I was so nervous but yet, so ready to get on stage. It had all lead up to this. The lights went down at the front of stage and we took our positions as our intro video played.

The room was alive with energy as the video reached its end. Our drummer started the count and we were off to the races. When you’re on stage, the adrenaline fuels you. It’s such a euphoric feeling, a feeling that was in full swing as we launched through our set.

Each song was more powerful than the last, drums pounding, guitars blaring. Me and our guitar players bounced and jumped around the stage as our drummer held down the fort on his riser. When the last notes rang out, we left the stage with an absolute satisfaction. We had found our home.