The buzz from our first gig was growing, we finished the first step to rock immortality, people knew our name, they knew Valefor and they knew we rocked. Word spread as graduation came and passed. Upon request we played a few graduation parties, only really spreading the Valefor name to the friends and family of our classmates, but hey spreading is spreading.

A few months later we took yet another step, we took the money we had made from the shows we played in the last month and some money we pooled over time from our part time jobs we had and we leased an apartment. Nice neighborhood closer to the heart of the city, and the best part it was a basement apartment, we had the entire basement to ourselves, it was the perfect place to practice.

“This place is awesome!” exclaimed Saviris. “Four bedrooms, nice kitchen, great living room and dining room.”

“You mean practice room,” explained Kelsi. “Who needs a dining room really?”

“True, it’s the perfect size,” replied Ayashi. “We really lucked out finding an apartment this nice.”

“Indeed, now we just need to get a few gigs so we can afford the place,” I added.

“No worries about that, we got our first gig at Charles Pub this Friday, and if they like what they hear we’re sure to be called to play again.”

Our first gig, I know I said that the prom was our first gig but the hell with that, we only got that because that girl was right, our school was cheap, and yeah we then played at a few parties after that, but only because of what we did at the prom. But this, this gig at Charles Pub, we got that on our own merit. We knew no one there. That being said, as far as I’m concerned it was our first real gig.”

Charles Pub was certainly a much different place compared to the other places we had played. Most notable difference was the smell of alcohol, I think it bothered some of the girls, but I didn’t mind. The place was still full of normal patrons, from noon to closing Charles pub operated just like the name implied. It was an old English pub, best bangers and mash in bean town. But on Friday and Saturday nights the kitchen closed at nine and the place turned into a small venue for local bands. A lot of bands played at the pub through out the years, some used it as their launching pad to bigger and better things, some bands never got much farther, and then some were doomed to obscurity before their first note was even played. Keeping with the over all theme of the story we intended to be one of the lucky ones.

It was just about nine o’clock and Charles pub was nearly finished in it’s transformation from restaurant to music venue. I strummed up and down my bass one last time, making a few final tweaks in it’s tuning. Then the house lights began to dim and the stage lights turned up, that was our cue to commence with the rock.

“Hello Boston,” Ayashi said into the mike. “Welcome to Charles Pub, hope you came expecting some rock.” Ayashi then went about her usual duties of the band front man introducing the other band members, as always I played an improv bass riff when my name was called, followed by Kelsi’s fill after her name. The acoustics where better than I thought.

The night went well, we played a few of our favorite songs, including the bit we did with the cowbell leading up to Don’t Fear the Reaper, which I could tell it would become a bit of a signature for us, and again got a huge crowd reaction and, but I couldn’t help but notice one guy in the crowd in particular, and it wasn’t due to his unusually large pompadour, but because he seemed to be writing down notes during our entire set, I tried not to let it effect me, but it just seemed a bit odd.

“Is it here yet? Is it here yet?” asked Ayashi as she run into the apartment returning from her day job.

“Just came in,” I answered waving an unread magazine for all to see. “Just waiting for everyone to get back.”

“And now we’re all here,” said Kelsi. “So open it.”

The “it” was the latest issues of Beantown Buzz, an underground magazine that focused on the local music scene. It was the bible for any emerging band in the Boston area. It was the definitive source to find gig locations, musician information and music revues. It was like an agent that got delivered to our door twice a month, and we heard that our gig at Charles Pub was reviewed.

“Ok, ok, let me find it,” I said as I thumbed through the magazine for our review. “Hey, that’s that guy,” I said pointing at a small picture above our review.

“What guy?” asked Ayashi.

“Billy Bluejeans,” I said pointing at the picture. “He’s that guy I saw at our show writing stuff down, he’s a critic apparently.

“Oh yeah, I remember that guy too,” added Saviris. “His hair looked larger in real life though,” she said squinting at the tiny picture.

“Who cares about Spongebob Squarepants, just get to the article,” urged Kelsi.

“Yeah, sorry. Alright then,” I then cleared my throat. “Anyone who wasn’t at Charles Pub last Friday missed the first performance of a band that shows quite a bit of promise.”

“Quite a bit, more like a shit ton,” added Kelsi

“Shh, quiet and let Ryle read,” scolded Ayashi.

“They call themselves Valefor,” I continued reading aloud. “A classic rock band story if I ever saw one. Formed by four friends straight out of high school, Ayashi, Saviris, Ryle and Kelsi as they call themselves, all have a stage presence beyond their age. They are firmly anchored by an excellent rhythm section, the drums skillfully played by Kelsi and the bass expertly handled by Ryle. While Saviris looks and sounds very steady on her guitar I do get a sense that she isn’t giving as much as the other members of the band, and Ayashi preformed admirably on vocals, however she would do better if she learned to project herself a bit more as some complaints came from the back about not being able to hear her at times. However these small imperfections are more than made up with their incredible stage presence, even when they might not have been performing at their best they still managed to play to the crowd keep their enthusiasm for the rock going. That being said if they keep going the way they are, and work on the few flaws, I can say that Valefor will soon be becoming one act not to miss.

“Alright, sounds like they liked us,” I told the others.

“Could have been better?” said Saviris beginning to question herself.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff,” I told Saviris reassuringly. “But he did make a few good points and showed where we could use some work.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” agreed Ayashi. “And he was never once overly critical, only giving useful, constructive criticism.”

“Well he was definitely right about one thing, “declared Kelsi.

“What’s that?” asked Saviris.

“The drums, “Kelsi answered slyly.

“Never mind Kelsi’s growing ego over here,” I told the other girls consolingly. “It’s our first review, and it was a good one, we just gotta keep doing what we’re doing, you’ll see.”