Wild-Eyed Angst and The Queen of Spades, chapter 2
Christoria had gotten to the girl's bathroom, after dumping off her guitar at the stage's edge and fishing through her bag for her makeup, which she had had no time to put on at home.
It was designed like a fancy studio room, with the lights over the mirrors and the cushion's black and red brocade clashing with the artful graffitti purposely on the wall and magazine models on the doors. Not wasting time to marvel at the decor, she rummaged and pulled out an eyeliner pencil, some mascara and some Lip Venom. After applying the dark circles around her eyes that made her grey eyes smoulder even more, she started on her mascara and finished up with her gloss. Inspecting herself lightly in the mirror, she shoved everything back in her bag and fled the bathroom.
Dumping her bag next to her case, she unzipped it and pulled out a sleek all-black electric, with the odd assortment of stickers, including the anchor she had on her sleeveless hoodie. Plugging it into a free amp, she sat on the stage's edge, one leg hanging off of it and the other curled up under her. She fixed her guitar settings and checked the distortion, then took a glance out the window. People were already starting to line up and crowd at the front. Smiling, she was internally flattered, but wouldn't say anything. Christy was tough that way.
"Nice hoodie," a voice said from next to her.
Turning around, she saw a woman that was older than her (Christy's only 18) who was wearing a shirt with the same logo on it. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail (an impressive feat, since she had dreadlocks) and she had a pair of blue jeans falling over her Vans. Christy nodded, then spoke. "You here for the show tonight?" she asked, gesturing with her head to the stage and then again to the huge poster where a smirking girl with a small dagger was displayed, her band's logo. The woman nodded. "My husband's working, and I decided to see a local band or something. It gets kinda boring seeing the same thing over and over again." Christy was confused by that last statement, but didn't say anything, only resumed playing her guitar, working on riffs and the such.
"Your last name's Armstrong?" the woman said, cocking her head and sitting down next to Christy. Christy replied with a "Yep," not looking up, which is quite rude but Christy was in the 'zone', anyhow. The woman smiled then introduced herself. "My name's Adrienne, and you're Christoria, lead singer and guitarist for The Stiletto Killers. Aren't you?"
Christoria looked up in amazement. "How do you know all this stuff about me?" she said, an incredulous look on her face. Was this some sort of hard-core fan or what? The woman laughed, and was about to reply when a snarling call came over from the stage.
"Christy, get up here! We're on in five!"
Sighing, she slung her guitar on her back and crawled up to a standing position. Christy was tall and skinny, with her atheletic frame and take-nothing-from-nobody attitude. She nodded politely to Adrienne and said, "Maybe we can talk after the show." Adrienne smiled and sat down at the first table, which wasn't that close because there was an area cleared for kids who wanted to dance. "I'd like that," was all she said before a waiter attracted her attention to the liquor selection.
Selena was perched behind her drum set, fiddling with her dreds nervously. "Her dreds look better than mine," she protested, a jealous look on her face. Christy looked at her with a sympathetic smile, then shook her head inconspiculously. Selena laughed and started a small drum beat. Frank, who was talking to Thom, hurriedly slung his red bass in front of him and got ready. Thom grabbed his guitar and stood on the other side of Christy, merely a backing guitarist. Christy playfully kicked Thom, but didn't miss her intro at all for her favorite warmup song ever, 'Drain the Blood' by The Distillers. Christy admired Brody Dalle with all her strength, and the song always warmed up her voice for her own songs she wrote that required her voice to shred.
She stepped up to the microphone and snarled into it, giving it everything she had.
"I'm living on shattered faith
The kind that likes to restrict your breath
never been a better time than this
SUFFOCATE ON ETERNAL BLISS!
In a city
that swells with so much hate
you seem to rise above
and take its place
the heart pumps until it dies
DRAIN THE BLOOD, THE HEART IS WISE!
All my friends are murder
Hey, all my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away...
I never met a pearl quite like you
who could shimmer and rot at the same time through
there's never been a better time than this
TO BITE THE HAND OF THE FROST BITTEN EMINENCE!
All my friends are murder
Hey, all my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away...
Away...
Away..."
At this point, Christy looked up to see the crowd outside going wild, being able to hear them warm up. Some were even moshing a bit. Christy laughed and regained her composure to complete the song.
"I'm alive in uterine
a star in the dark a new day has dawned
open up and let it flow
I'll make it yours so here we go...
All my friends are murder
Hey, all my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away, he's gone away..."
Screaming the last couple of times through the last line, Selena accompanying her, they came to a stop with the audible cries for more coming from the front door and the odd clapping of the workers inside, including Adrienne, who was beaming. "You guys are really good," she shouted, and Selena did a drum beat in appreciation.
The guys at the front signalled to Thom that they were ready to let people into the venue, and Thom gave him the thumbs up, putting up his guitar and Christy and Frank followed suit, Selena jumping over her drum set to join the other three. The doors opened and all sorts of people flooded in, absolutely packing in the pretty-big bar. They all went to go sit at the bar to get something to drink and their stock of waterbottles for the set. The bartender knew them and gave them all alcohol anyways. Christy got a bottle of Smirnoff Black Cherry wine cooler, Selena got the Smirnoff Green Apple cooler, and Frank and Thom got beers, the former a Heineken and the latter a Miller. They lounged at the strip of bar closest to the stage as the crowd buzzed with excitement.
After all four had downed their drinks, they signalled to the announcer, a man with a brown goatee and a shaved head who was the owner of the bar. His name was the most spoken in the small town. Fritz mounted the stairs to the solitary mike illuminated by a spotlight, and the crowd went wild.
"Hey, you're here, they're here, give it up for The Stilettos Killers!" The spotlight went over to the side of the bar, and they waved lazily at the crowd, and headed to the stage, Selena being first and clambering to behind her drums, Frank second and grabbing his bass, waving at the girls who were now screaming for him and his attractiveness. Then Thom got onstage and the girls screamed louder for him, and then Frank and Thom made the crowd cheer for who was hotter. It was pretty much tied until Christy got onstage. The crowd erupted in screams from girls and guys alike. Christy grinned, and shouldered her guitar and signed that she had won the 'competition' by smiling triumphantly and 'popping her collar', but she really didn't have a collar to begin with. The crowd laughed.
"Hey, you guys know us...We're The Stilettos Killers and we're here to steal your souls." The drumbeat started for their most notoriousy-angry song, "45 Romance".
"You've locked yourself inside your house
Your silent screams held in your mouth
You pull the trigger and bullets spray
Gave 'em hell and walked away
You've spent all your time
In a .45 paradise
But one day it will all end
Will you be fine?
Will it be alright?
The glass, the mirror, all of them shatter
But when you're gone, it sure won't matter
Your heart of stone can't hear my plea
Condemned to silence, your ex is my company
You've spent all your time
In a .45 paradise
But one day it will all end
Will you be fine?
Will it be alright?"
-----
Concert Review: The Stiletto Killers at Fritz's Pub for the Punk
by FORKzine
Goddamn, Christoria & Co. knows how to rock the scene. With the chunky riffs and twirling guitars of The Stilettos Killers, they are bound to get a major label signing anyday now.
With lyrics about romances with guns and covers of some of the most difficult voices to mimic, it's no wonder that the pub was packed yesterday. Christoria commanded the stage with her very prescence, decked out in black while the rest of the band sported some color. Christy's snarling, raspy voice ties it all together, along with their onstage antics.
IN short, THEY ROCKED THE PLACE. Christy kept stopping to stay funny things and Thom and Frank had a hotness competition, which Christy won, suprisingly. Selena kept tossing her drumsticks out to the crowd. I think she went through about ten pairs.
The whole set was filled with jumping, rousing choruses of "Hey!" and when Christoria was singing "Green Eyes", Thom had his head on Frank's shoulder. Those two are constantly upstaging poor Christy. But when they ended their set with "Heartache", the crowd didn't stop cheering, and Christy laughed and they ran off the stage.
Christy came out later with an acoustic guitar that was black and red. She sat on a stool that had been placed on the stage in her absence, and played "Rat Does Cheese" with a completly straight face, not penned by her of course, but very ironic for her to sing. Then, Selena appeared with Thom and Frank and they performed "Thelma and Louise" and then "Drain the Blood", the song they had warmed up with, and then they called it a night. Getting a standing ovation, they fled the stage for good.
I got to talk with CHRISTY thought!!! I was standing at the bar ordering an apple juice (I'm not old enough to get alcohol) and CHRISTY WAS SITTING RIGHT THERE! She was sipping off a wine cooler, Smirnoff, I think. I thought she was only 18, but I guess not. I sat down and she smiled and asked me if I liked the set and I said YESSS! It was BRILLIANT! and she laughed and asked me if I was in a band and I said yes, but we're not that good. Then she gave me some pointers on what to do, like do covers of what you wanna sound like, then psychoanalyze what you like about the song or band, then apply it to what you do. She said that's what she did, and her band of choice was The Distillers. Everyone here knows that Christy worships her as one of the best frontwomen of all time. So I thanked her and asked for an autograph and she laughed and shook her head, but pulled out a Sharpie that was tucked behind her ear and signed a flyer advertising the show, then passed it to her band members who were next to her and THEY SIGNED IT TOO! OMG! I thanked her again and she nodded and said, No problem, I stole your soul tonight, least I could do was help you out. Then she resumed talking with this woman in dreadlocks which looked like Selena's a bit, and they seemed to be busy, so I talked with Thom for a little bit. He is foxy.
I <3 The Stiletto Killers.
It was designed like a fancy studio room, with the lights over the mirrors and the cushion's black and red brocade clashing with the artful graffitti purposely on the wall and magazine models on the doors. Not wasting time to marvel at the decor, she rummaged and pulled out an eyeliner pencil, some mascara and some Lip Venom. After applying the dark circles around her eyes that made her grey eyes smoulder even more, she started on her mascara and finished up with her gloss. Inspecting herself lightly in the mirror, she shoved everything back in her bag and fled the bathroom.
Dumping her bag next to her case, she unzipped it and pulled out a sleek all-black electric, with the odd assortment of stickers, including the anchor she had on her sleeveless hoodie. Plugging it into a free amp, she sat on the stage's edge, one leg hanging off of it and the other curled up under her. She fixed her guitar settings and checked the distortion, then took a glance out the window. People were already starting to line up and crowd at the front. Smiling, she was internally flattered, but wouldn't say anything. Christy was tough that way.
"Nice hoodie," a voice said from next to her.
Turning around, she saw a woman that was older than her (Christy's only 18) who was wearing a shirt with the same logo on it. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail (an impressive feat, since she had dreadlocks) and she had a pair of blue jeans falling over her Vans. Christy nodded, then spoke. "You here for the show tonight?" she asked, gesturing with her head to the stage and then again to the huge poster where a smirking girl with a small dagger was displayed, her band's logo. The woman nodded. "My husband's working, and I decided to see a local band or something. It gets kinda boring seeing the same thing over and over again." Christy was confused by that last statement, but didn't say anything, only resumed playing her guitar, working on riffs and the such.
"Your last name's Armstrong?" the woman said, cocking her head and sitting down next to Christy. Christy replied with a "Yep," not looking up, which is quite rude but Christy was in the 'zone', anyhow. The woman smiled then introduced herself. "My name's Adrienne, and you're Christoria, lead singer and guitarist for The Stiletto Killers. Aren't you?"
Christoria looked up in amazement. "How do you know all this stuff about me?" she said, an incredulous look on her face. Was this some sort of hard-core fan or what? The woman laughed, and was about to reply when a snarling call came over from the stage.
"Christy, get up here! We're on in five!"
Sighing, she slung her guitar on her back and crawled up to a standing position. Christy was tall and skinny, with her atheletic frame and take-nothing-from-nobody attitude. She nodded politely to Adrienne and said, "Maybe we can talk after the show." Adrienne smiled and sat down at the first table, which wasn't that close because there was an area cleared for kids who wanted to dance. "I'd like that," was all she said before a waiter attracted her attention to the liquor selection.
Selena was perched behind her drum set, fiddling with her dreds nervously. "Her dreds look better than mine," she protested, a jealous look on her face. Christy looked at her with a sympathetic smile, then shook her head inconspiculously. Selena laughed and started a small drum beat. Frank, who was talking to Thom, hurriedly slung his red bass in front of him and got ready. Thom grabbed his guitar and stood on the other side of Christy, merely a backing guitarist. Christy playfully kicked Thom, but didn't miss her intro at all for her favorite warmup song ever, 'Drain the Blood' by The Distillers. Christy admired Brody Dalle with all her strength, and the song always warmed up her voice for her own songs she wrote that required her voice to shred.
She stepped up to the microphone and snarled into it, giving it everything she had.
"I'm living on shattered faith
The kind that likes to restrict your breath
never been a better time than this
SUFFOCATE ON ETERNAL BLISS!
In a city
that swells with so much hate
you seem to rise above
and take its place
the heart pumps until it dies
DRAIN THE BLOOD, THE HEART IS WISE!
All my friends are murder
Hey, all my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away...
I never met a pearl quite like you
who could shimmer and rot at the same time through
there's never been a better time than this
TO BITE THE HAND OF THE FROST BITTEN EMINENCE!
All my friends are murder
Hey, all my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away...
Away...
Away..."
At this point, Christy looked up to see the crowd outside going wild, being able to hear them warm up. Some were even moshing a bit. Christy laughed and regained her composure to complete the song.
"I'm alive in uterine
a star in the dark a new day has dawned
open up and let it flow
I'll make it yours so here we go...
All my friends are murder
Hey, all my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away, he's gone away..."
Screaming the last couple of times through the last line, Selena accompanying her, they came to a stop with the audible cries for more coming from the front door and the odd clapping of the workers inside, including Adrienne, who was beaming. "You guys are really good," she shouted, and Selena did a drum beat in appreciation.
The guys at the front signalled to Thom that they were ready to let people into the venue, and Thom gave him the thumbs up, putting up his guitar and Christy and Frank followed suit, Selena jumping over her drum set to join the other three. The doors opened and all sorts of people flooded in, absolutely packing in the pretty-big bar. They all went to go sit at the bar to get something to drink and their stock of waterbottles for the set. The bartender knew them and gave them all alcohol anyways. Christy got a bottle of Smirnoff Black Cherry wine cooler, Selena got the Smirnoff Green Apple cooler, and Frank and Thom got beers, the former a Heineken and the latter a Miller. They lounged at the strip of bar closest to the stage as the crowd buzzed with excitement.
After all four had downed their drinks, they signalled to the announcer, a man with a brown goatee and a shaved head who was the owner of the bar. His name was the most spoken in the small town. Fritz mounted the stairs to the solitary mike illuminated by a spotlight, and the crowd went wild.
"Hey, you're here, they're here, give it up for The Stilettos Killers!" The spotlight went over to the side of the bar, and they waved lazily at the crowd, and headed to the stage, Selena being first and clambering to behind her drums, Frank second and grabbing his bass, waving at the girls who were now screaming for him and his attractiveness. Then Thom got onstage and the girls screamed louder for him, and then Frank and Thom made the crowd cheer for who was hotter. It was pretty much tied until Christy got onstage. The crowd erupted in screams from girls and guys alike. Christy grinned, and shouldered her guitar and signed that she had won the 'competition' by smiling triumphantly and 'popping her collar', but she really didn't have a collar to begin with. The crowd laughed.
"Hey, you guys know us...We're The Stilettos Killers and we're here to steal your souls." The drumbeat started for their most notoriousy-angry song, "45 Romance".
"You've locked yourself inside your house
Your silent screams held in your mouth
You pull the trigger and bullets spray
Gave 'em hell and walked away
You've spent all your time
In a .45 paradise
But one day it will all end
Will you be fine?
Will it be alright?
The glass, the mirror, all of them shatter
But when you're gone, it sure won't matter
Your heart of stone can't hear my plea
Condemned to silence, your ex is my company
You've spent all your time
In a .45 paradise
But one day it will all end
Will you be fine?
Will it be alright?"
-----
Concert Review: The Stiletto Killers at Fritz's Pub for the Punk
by FORKzine
Goddamn, Christoria & Co. knows how to rock the scene. With the chunky riffs and twirling guitars of The Stilettos Killers, they are bound to get a major label signing anyday now.
With lyrics about romances with guns and covers of some of the most difficult voices to mimic, it's no wonder that the pub was packed yesterday. Christoria commanded the stage with her very prescence, decked out in black while the rest of the band sported some color. Christy's snarling, raspy voice ties it all together, along with their onstage antics.
IN short, THEY ROCKED THE PLACE. Christy kept stopping to stay funny things and Thom and Frank had a hotness competition, which Christy won, suprisingly. Selena kept tossing her drumsticks out to the crowd. I think she went through about ten pairs.
The whole set was filled with jumping, rousing choruses of "Hey!" and when Christoria was singing "Green Eyes", Thom had his head on Frank's shoulder. Those two are constantly upstaging poor Christy. But when they ended their set with "Heartache", the crowd didn't stop cheering, and Christy laughed and they ran off the stage.
Christy came out later with an acoustic guitar that was black and red. She sat on a stool that had been placed on the stage in her absence, and played "Rat Does Cheese" with a completly straight face, not penned by her of course, but very ironic for her to sing. Then, Selena appeared with Thom and Frank and they performed "Thelma and Louise" and then "Drain the Blood", the song they had warmed up with, and then they called it a night. Getting a standing ovation, they fled the stage for good.
I got to talk with CHRISTY thought!!! I was standing at the bar ordering an apple juice (I'm not old enough to get alcohol) and CHRISTY WAS SITTING RIGHT THERE! She was sipping off a wine cooler, Smirnoff, I think. I thought she was only 18, but I guess not. I sat down and she smiled and asked me if I liked the set and I said YESSS! It was BRILLIANT! and she laughed and asked me if I was in a band and I said yes, but we're not that good. Then she gave me some pointers on what to do, like do covers of what you wanna sound like, then psychoanalyze what you like about the song or band, then apply it to what you do. She said that's what she did, and her band of choice was The Distillers. Everyone here knows that Christy worships her as one of the best frontwomen of all time. So I thanked her and asked for an autograph and she laughed and shook her head, but pulled out a Sharpie that was tucked behind her ear and signed a flyer advertising the show, then passed it to her band members who were next to her and THEY SIGNED IT TOO! OMG! I thanked her again and she nodded and said, No problem, I stole your soul tonight, least I could do was help you out. Then she resumed talking with this woman in dreadlocks which looked like Selena's a bit, and they seemed to be busy, so I talked with Thom for a little bit. He is foxy.
I <3 The Stiletto Killers.
