Get your popcorn and settle in the theater for part 2 of my imagined Guitar Hero/Rock Band: The Movie.
Part 2
(The scene fades to a house on a suburban street the next day. Inside, all is quiet, save for the wailing of rock music in the rec room. We quickly learn that the music is coming from a game of Guitar Hero in progress. A brown haired boy clad in the same green and black as the university colors, jeans, and tennis shoes is frantically mashing buttons on the guitar controller. His companion, a blonde haired boy wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and jeans is watching the stream of colored notes fly by on the screen)
(Suddenly, the brown haired boy stumbles over a note, derailing his otherwise perfect run. The blonde haired boy winces as his companion tries to recover, but fails)
Damien: Oh, Matt, you were so close!
Matt: I can play “Pride and Joy” fine on a real guitar, but why do I always choke when I do it on the game? (he sets the guitar controller aside and shuts the console off)
Damien: El cheapo plastic guitar and your pride and joy are two different things, maybe? (he gestures to a red electric guitar sitting by the chair)
Matt: Could be. (he retrieves the electric guitar and starts tuning it) After all, this thing’s changed my life for the better, and I have you to thank for it!
Damien: Anytime, man! Speaking of which, how are you doing on that number you’re practicing?
(Matt responds by playing a riff from “Pride and Joy”–the same riff that led to his Game Over before.)
Damien: You weren’t kidding when you said you could play that riff on a real guitar!
Matt: Thanks…but I really want to find a bassist and a singer to go with me on guitar and you on drums and form a band–I think I’ve learned how to handle myself alone on a stage…
Damien: …and you wanna try playing in a group?
Matt: Why not? I’ve overcome my shyness a little before an audience…
Damien: Whoa there, bud–50-100 people at open mic night and a few hundred thousand people in an arena are way different environments. You think you could handle that big of an audience this soon?
Matt: I’m willing to try…
(Damien half smiles–he’s urged his friend this far, so he figures he may as well try to get his friend to play before a large audience)
Damien: Okay, bud, we’ll try this just as we did to get you used to a small audience–we’ll see if we can find a bassist and a singer, and we all jam together one afternoon just to give you a feel of playing in a group. Sound good?
Matt: Yes, so far. (he continues experimenting with a riff)
Damien(over Matt’s riff): If the four of us click and we start getting gigs, say, the Rock Festival in town or the Battle of the Bands on campus, we’ll see how you handle that kind of venue–the Battle of the Bands is bigger than an open mic night, but not as big as an arena tour…about a medium sized audience.
Matt: But…where are we gonna find a bassist and a singer to start a band?
Damien: I already have a singer in mind…
(we cut to Damien, Matt, and Twila in a cafeteria on the university campus the next day.)
Twila: So Matt plays guitar, does he?
Matt: You’ve known that I was terribly shy as a kid, right?
Twila: Yeah…we almost had to bribe you to try out for the school play in the fifth grade. (she and Damien giggle over the memory. Matt laughs too, only more out of embarrassment than nostalgia)
Matt: Well, the next year, the summer before sixth grade, my mom was concerned about how I would do in the environs of middle school–and she had perfectly legit fears I would be picked on. So for my birthday, she went out and got me my first guitar–a really pretty acoustic that I still have and cherish.
Twila: Did you get lessons?
Matt: If you count a few pointers from my dad along the way as lessons, yeah. By the time school came around, I already had a few friends besides Damien. (he pauses to wave at a girl with deep red hair as she passes by the table). That was a first for me–up till then, Damien had kinda been my only friend.
Twila: That’s really cool.
Damien: The story’s not over there–in the middle of our sophomore year of high school, he began saving what pocket change he could, and when our junior year started, he got an electric guitar.
Matt: Which I also enjoy and play with a lot.
Damien: I was taking drum lessons at the time, and getting quite good, so sometimes we’d hang out and jam together.
Matt: I hinted I wanted to try playing in front of an audience, so Damien “volunteered” me for the talent show that spring. (everyone laughs at this) It was scary at first, getting on that stage; but once I let go of my fears and just played, it was an awesome experience. It gave me more confidence, and allowed me to open up a little and make more friends.
Twila: Again, really awesome.
Matt: The point of the story is, Damien thinks I’m ready to try playing in front of a bigger audience, and that playing in a band will be the best way to do this…
Twila: Mm-hm…
Matt: ..and I’ve heard about your great voice–so would you want to sing in our band?
Twila: Funny you should ask…my friend Iris and I were talking about that the other night. While yeah, I’d love to sing in a band, I’m not sure I’d be willing to go as far as she wants–go to Moonvale and face the odds of being crushed by the band with the iron fist.
Matt: Yeah, I’ve heard of Thunder Rising–rumor is that any band that tries to top them is ruined by them in some way.
Damien: The cops there think Thunder Rising is behind quite a lot of crimes involving rival bands–it’s a miracle no one’s died yet from their iron fist.
Twila: And I don’t wanna be the first. (everyone nervously giggles) So yeah, I’ll be glad to sing for you guys.
Damien: Yes!
Twila: And while I’m at it, I’ll see if I can talk Iris into bringing her bass and joining us.
Matt: But hopefully she won’t drag us to Moonvale right away, right?
Twila: If I have to restrain her from doing so, I will. (everyone laughs at this)
To Be Continued…
