Chapter 14

March 10, 1979 - Daytona Beach, FL

The band reported backstage a few minutes early and were immediately routed to talk with the tech guys so they could be filled in on the latest updates. Makeup and ‘costumes’ were to begin at 8:10 PM and they had to be ready to hit the stage by 8:55 PM. Once the conversation was over, they were free to wonder around backstage and hang out with the other bands. As you would expect, some were really nice and others were pricks.

Billy was hoping he’d run into Zack Wylde again and kept searching for him, but all for naught. One guitarist for a particularly scruffy looking band made Billy mad.

“Hey man, why do you have chicks in your band? They’re for banging, not playing music.”

Trying to hide his offense, Billy replied “They were more talented than anyone else. What difference does it make if they’re girls?”

Shaking his head he replied “Dude, this is rock-n-roll. You can’t rock hard with chicks, everyone knows that... ‘cept you.”

Billy’s anger was now starting to boil over “Well... “ he replied coldly. “We’ll have to be in disagreement on that” and then walked away. Karina saw him walking, felt his discomfort and caught up with him to take his hand. She rubbed the back of it and then pulled him in for a tender hug followed by a playful kiss on the ear.

Finally, it was time to gather behind the stage at 8:55 PM where it was time to do the little group thing they always did and get ready to hit the stage. Carl and Beth got situated first while it was still dark. They needed to be in their places for the intro to “Bye Bye Beautiful”. Karina gave Billy a quick peck on the cheek for good luck as he made his way to “the shadows” as they jokingly named it. It was any place off stage out of sight where someone can make a quick entrance. The promoter did a quick introduction and jumped off the stage which was Carl’s queue to start the four count intro. Right on time, Beth and Billy began to play their parts. When Carl and Doortje came into the song, several big explosions along the front of the stage went off taking Billy by surprise, good thing he wasn’t near one. He filed it away for a future protest and then began trying to visually catalog anything that looked like a special effects device. He also made a mental note to let Karina and Doortje know to stay away from the edges in case there were more planned. Beth played her keyboard progression and Karina made her way out onto the stage while singing. She was in a white leather miniskirt holding a beach volleyball. Billy smiled to himself and wondered how she managed to get it to the stage without him seeing it. It was obvious the girls were starting to become more independent and comfortable with the whole stage persona thing which was a good thing. It made Billy a bit sad knowing he wouldn’t have much time left to see how creative they could get.

The harmony was perfect as they hit the “and leave everything in ruins” which fired Billy up for his shouting part. With everything he had, his voice burst forth as a floodlight flipped on beneath his mic stand. The main lights cut out and the floor lamp was the only light on the stage. It did its trick as Billy had the demented look he had been going for. Karina set the ball down and danced around the stage urging the crowd to be louder. When it came time for the “bye bye beautiful” part, she surprised everyone in the band by harmonizing at an incredibly high shriek which took the rest of the band completely by surprise. All three girls harmonized with the “Ah’s” during the last chorus and joined in for the final “bye bye beautiful” and there was another explosion of pyrotechnics on the final “BYE!”

Billy began to wonder if this is what Karina meant when she had been so cryptic about “unexpected” things happening. Surprises were nice, but they are bound to backfire at some point if done too often. The opening came off as hoped and now Billy prayed he wouldn’t be in the wrong place at the wrong time during an explosion (the pyrotechnics guy normally went over where the charges were and where not to stand before a gig). Shoot, messing up a part wouldn’t be bad compared to what could happen if he was too close to one of those pyrotechnics. Karina turned and walked off the stage and then Carl started with his countdown to “Dark Chest of Wonders”. The beach volleyball just sat there center stage mocking the guys they beat earlier that day.

It was time for Billy to start moving around the stage while playing his part while Carl’s double bass drums made his body vibrate all over. They had turned them up in the mix for effect and the fact he was less than ten feet away from the subwoofers gave him a double dose. Beth was soon playing her part and the spotlights moved to each member as their parts became the focus. Karina was back onstage singing and everyone was hitting it on all cylinders. Excitement was coursing through everyone’s veins and Billy was having the time of his life despite his fear of being punted by a rogue explosion. He figured this was as close to Wile E Coyote he might ever get. When it came time for the really heavy part of the song, Karina started banging her head to the beat and the crowd joined in. This was something fairly new to the era and it was surprising it became so popular so fast.

When the song was finished, Karina stepped forward and yelled into the mic “DAYTONA BEACH! WELCOME TO SPRING BREAK!!!” and the crowd went wild. “I hope you’re having as much fun as we did on the volleyball court today!” she said while holding the ball up over her head. She was pacing up and down the front edge of the stage so everyone could see the volleyball. She put her hand over her eyes in a visor-like motion, “Hey, I see our new friend Barb in the front row. Barb you wanna come up and help me with this next song?”

Billy’s double take was lost to nobody, but Karina pleaded her case with her eyes. “Babe, just for one song, OK?” she asked. Billy stood there with his jaw hanging open, this wasn’t the girl he knew. Who was she and where was HIS Karina? Doortje came over and whispered, “Remember, you said you’d roll with it.” His head snapped around to look at her, “You knew this was going to happen?” “Not this, but we have other surprises in store for you” she replied and then sauntered away.

Barb tentatively climbed onstage after Karina convinced the security guard it was OK. “Daytona Beach, can you HEAR ME?” Karina yelled into the mic. The crowd cheered and Barb stood there looking like a deer in headlights. Karina said, “I’m not sure if you heard me. Let me see if Caveman Carl heard me.” She turned to face Carl, “Carl, do you hear me?” He stood up and gave an exaggerated nod. “Well, I guess the mic is turned on” she said turning back to the crowd. “I’ll ask you a second time Daytona Beach, DO YOU HEAR ME?” The crowd was much more animated. She turned to Carl and pointed at him to begin the count in and despite the distractions, Billy’s guitar automatically exploded into the intro riff of “Hear Me” (Nemesea). This was more of a rock-n-roll song than heavy metal with a good driving beat and virtually no keyboards. There was plenty of bass in the song, so Doortje joined Billy up front jamming away on her instrument while trying to synchronize her movements to Billy’s. Karina guided Barb over to Billy’s mic and stood next to her. Billy found out later she told the sound guys to turn the mic down until the harmony part and then let it be higher as long as it sounded halfway decent.

When it was over, she thanked Barb as the emotionally wracked teenager climbed back down into the crowd. When she was halfway down the stairs, the horns popped up on Karina’s head and she said, “Oh, by the way Barb, Billy over here heard what you said earlier today and I might just let him take you up on that offer of yours.” The crowd “oooh’ed” as Barb turned three shades redder than should have been possible and then hoofed it back to her friends. Karina just laughed and said she was just giving her a hard time.

“Did you see how fast she moved down those stairs?” The audience was laughing and cheering while Barb’s friends were razzing her.

Karina laughed and used a more sincere tone, “Thank you for being such a good sport, Barb. Billy over here had no idea you and I were going to sing a duet. I have a few more surprises for him, yet!”

Going back to her persona voice, Karina said, “However fast she just moved, this next song is Faster!” Doortje started playing a steady driving eighth beat on the bass and then Billy started the intro to “Faster” (Within Temptation). Karina’s voice was really powerful as she changed into a belting style of singing for the chorus with “And I can’t live., a fairly tale life...” This was a fairly new song for the band and it took a bit for the crowd to get into it but most of the females in the audience were singing along by the end of the song.

“Anyone out there wishing for an angel tonight? “ The crow roared it’s approval while Carl clicked out the countdown and everyone chimed in for the acappella start: “I WISH I HAD AN ANGEL...” (Nightwish) Doortje joined Billy center stage again for the intro and everyone in the audience was going crazy banging their heads. When Billy’s part was done, he took a moment to stand there and just watch the crowd enjoying themselves. Soon it was time for Billy to sing his next part so he was back at the mic with Karina joining him. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and faced him while harmonizing the “I’m in love with my lust” part. One of the unique things about this song were the multiple parts sung on top of each other using different melodies which blended perfectly with each other which was next-level composing. Having two sets of melodies working hand in hand was so satisfying to perform and listen to, but it was not easy to learn.

As the song came to a close, Karina took a deep breath and slowly walked over to Billy. “How many people here like surprises?” The crowd roared its approval. “Well, this is the part of the show where we surprise Billy here.” She turned and playfully kissed his cheek much to the approval of the girls in the crowd. She turned back to the audience and said “We’re going to play a new song. Not only have we never played it live, but we’ve never practiced it as a whole band.” She turned her head and shot Billy a playful stare to see him shaking his head in defeat. “In fact, he won’t even know what the song is until Beth over there starts playing the intro.” Beth stood there waving her hands above her head. Karina began making her way backstage but had a few last words for the audience before she left “You guys wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on Billy while I step out, do you? Barb, you gonna come up here and babysit him?” Billy turned to find Barb hiding behind her friends. “OK Daytona Beach, it’s your job to make sure Billy plays this song correctly or I’m blaming you!” With that she turned and left the stage leaving Billy to stand there with a burning sensation in his stomach. He looked back at Carl and he mouthed “Sorry, dude” and shrugged his shoulders.

Beth soon started ad-libbing on the keyboard to kill some time and then hit the intro for “Scaretale” (Nightwish). Billy cursed under his breath and steeled himself to remember how to play it. Thankfully it was a keyboard heavy intro and he had time to figure it out. The guitar intro was easy to play as Billy felt himself guided towards center stage for the main guitar riff. When it was time for the vocals, Karina exploded onto the stage in a black witches dress complete with a hat and a broom. She nailed the scary witch voice while maintaining a singing tone. When it was time for the switch to polka music, Billy was looking forward as to how the crowd would react. Sure enough, when the guitar faded and the ring-master part began, you could see the confused looks on most of the peoples faces. Some might describe it as having a musical stroke. Thankfully, that part doesn’t last very long and Karina was back to prancing around the stage and made “spider fingers” for the “tent-a-cles” part of the lyrics. The mixed cheers at the end were understandable considering most people had no idea what they just watched.

“And now back to our regularly scheduled concert” Karina giggled before turning to leave the stage. Doortje walked up to a mic and said “Daytona Beach, you guys are the Core of My Addiction!” Doortje’s voice was a little more raw and edgy which fit the style of the song better than Karina so it made sense to have her sing it, plus it was nice to let people see how much talent the other band members had, too. It probably wasn’t much different than what KISS did with Peter Criss and Ace Frehley.

When the song was over, Karina returned to center stage and said “Are you guys having fun?” The crowd roared. “Anybody drunk out there??” they roared even louder. “Well, be careful and don’t drink too much” she said in a motherly tone while shaking her finger at them which generated playful boo’s from the audience. “Do we have any dreamers out there?? Be careful if you do!” Doortje and Billy had already moved to flank Karina and all three started banging our heads in synch for the intro to “Slaying the Dreamer” but Billy was wondering what kind of crap Karina had just said, it didn’t make sense! After the first verse he looked out and saw the crowd going crazy. Waves of people were surging in all directions and if there was a time to crowd surf, this was it! When the heavier second part of the song began, Karina began helicoptering her hair in circles. The crowd gasped as Billy began in a raspy “Wake up, mow the weeds” part in full growl-mode. Karina stayed out there banging her head until her operatic “oh’s” started. She joined Billy for the 2nd part of the bridge and you could just feel the energy as the bass drums began increasing in intensity, building into the crescendo. She did one of her many patented shrieks at the end of the song along with Billy who was there to just make the sound a little thicker. It was so intense everyone had to take moment to gather themselves before moving on.

The band regathered to perform “Storytime” (Nightwish) followed by “For the Heart I Once Had” (Nightwish) which had more of a straight up pop feel to it but the girls loved singing the chorus.

“OK, Daytona Beach, it’s getting to that point where we have to say goodnight, but we’ll be back tomorrow night with more surprises, new songs and who knows, maybe Barb will still hang out with us, too if I haven’t scared her away! We have two more songs for you tonight so I hope that doesn’t act as a Romanticide!”

Billy kicked into the intro while Karina helicoptered her hair some more before going into another set of operatic “Oh’s”. Yeah, there is a lot of that in their performances. Karina pranced around the stage swinging her hips with a schoolgirl vibe while singing and Carl’s double bass rhythm was enough to ignite the most stubborn of fires. The guitar solo got the crowd roaring which set up the drum transition perfectly. Karina was cheering the crowd on with fist pumping while Carl continued to double pump the bass drums. It took him 4 months to learn how to sustain that tempo and they still had to put it near the end of the set list because he was wiped out afterwards. Karina hit her patented high note and right on cue one of the lights over the control booth blew up. You could almost hear the stagehands cursing as they were caught by surprise with the shards of glass raining down on them.

Karina was winded when she started talked again, “Daytona Beach, you’ve been a great audience and we thank you. To show our appreciation, we’re going to leave you with a Love Score...”

After taking the curtain call, the crowd seemed as if it was refusing to leave. The scruffy dude who pissed Billy off earlier walked up to him offstage and said “That was a F*cking great show. Your chicks really know how to rock, I see what you meant, but I’m still not sure most chicks have what it takes.”

“One day maybe you’ll learn” Billy replied as he patted him on the arm, “and if our singer over there ever hears you referring to her as a chick, you might just lose an appendage or two” and then walked off.

After a few bio breaks, the band collapsed as a group to unwind. Billy looked at the band after wiping his face with a towel and raised his arms in protest, “Scaretale? Really? Are you guys daft?” Carl laughed and looked at Karina, “Caveman Carl? You have just ruined my life!” Beth snickered and said “it was worth it to see Karina prance around in a sexy witches outfit.” Karina play-pouted and said “I’m really disappointed my claws and tent-a-cles didn’t scare you!” as she recreated what she did on stage. Billy grabbed her arm but didn’t have the leverage to pull her towards him and she got loose. “I no longer wish I had an angel” Billy quipped and then went into his Tweety Bird imitation: “I tot I saw an angel, I did! I did saw an angel” Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes. “Get a room you two” said Carl only to be interrupted by Tiffany, “Over my dead body! Now time to get back to the hotel and get some rest. We have interviews at ten AM sharp!”

The walk back to the hotel took longer than expected because a large number of fans were still milling about and everyone wanted to talk.

Like clockwork, Karina was knocking at Billy’s door early the next morning for what rapidly had become a daily occurrence: the morning walk. Hand in hand they strolled down the beach enjoying the quietness of a mostly empty beach. A few joggers would go by and since this was spring break there were the few obligatory students who were still sleeping where they passed out.

“What’s gotten into you lately? You’ve become a different person” Billy asked.

She smiled and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, “What’s the matter, you don’t like it? Didn’t you once tell me I needed to be more assertive?”

“OK girl, don’t use my words against me. You’re acting different and I want to know why, not that I mind.” Karina released his hand and stopped walking.

“We’re getting married soon and it’s a freeing experience for me. I want to enjoy life as it is now and have no regrets that we didn’t waste any time. My life has been a dreary experience of treading water throughout time, never seeming to belong anywhere or to anyone. That is no longer the case, do you know how that feels?” She was slightly upset by the burst of emotion that washed through her body.

“I do and I don’t want to be honest” Billy said, “All I know is my life will soon be ending and of all times, it has to be at the absolute highlight. I have to admit I’m starting to feel sorry for myself. The only person around me that seems to be upset about that is Tiffany, can you tell me why?”

“Not yet, no.” She replied face down.

“More secrets” Billy said, “and surprises. You thrive on them. I’m going on record as trusting you, but you aren’t making it easy. It can’t be this way our whole life, it has to stop at some point. So, what surprises are in stock for me tonight?”

She smiled “If I did that, I’d have to kill you and there happens to be a shortage of cute, available guitarists at the moment so you’re not going anywhere.”

“I’m sorry, I’m engaged so you’ll have to find another guitarist.”

“Oh really? Anyone I know? Is she beautiful?”

“She’s not too bad, the best thing about her are the big hips which I hear are good for childbearing. I hear she snores loudly and everyone has to wear earplugs when she sings because she’s off key most of the time?”

Karina halted suddenly and got a look on her face that said RUN! So that’s exactly what Billy did. Soon to be dead men don’t have much physical endurance and with Karina’s superior athletic ability, he was a dead man any way you cut it. She easily tackled Billy from behind hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Karina spun him over and pinned him down by sitting on his chest before leaning over him in an intimidating manner.

“Big hips? Snoring? Can’t sing? Give me one reason I shouldn’t take my sisters and walk away right now?”

Billy tried to toss her off but she wasn’t budging. Her intensity remained in full force and he began to wonder if she was really being serious because a slight flicker of fire was dancing in her eyes. After a few more tries at dislodging her, she laughed, “You’re pretty weak if you can’t move a 102lb girl off you.” He was at a loss for words and figured the “silent, not stupid” approach was the way to go.

“Tell you what...” she said with the intensity still in place, “if you can catch me before I make it to that pier over there, you can have me right here on the beach.” Her odd behavior was throwing Billy off balance and was starting to give up trying to understand her when she continued, “Ready? 4-3-2-1”, stood up and kicked sand into his face before taking off in a sprint. Reacting as fast as he could, there was no way that catching her was in the cards, but he had to at least give it a good effort lest he offend her. She made it just one step shy of the pier and waited until he was just beyond arms reach and took the final step laughing the whole time as Billy collapsed into he sand trying to catch his breath.

“Geez girl, why’d ya do that? Was it ever a fair contest? You’re faster than me without the sand sabotage, that was pretty ruthless” he said between gasps.

She helped him to his feet as she responded in a cultured British accent, “A proper lady would never allow a brute such as yourself lay his paws on her so the odds had to be made in my favor. Here, let me help you wipe some of that sand off you.” Instead of really helping him, she took the opportunity to smack him around in the name of help. After having enough abuse, Billy pushed her away and told her to stop “helping” him so he could actually remove some sand. Despite the inequality of the situation, he was still having quite a bit of fun.

In order to make it back to the hotel on time, the couple walked a little faster than normal but still held hands. After a few minutes of silence, the only thought that went through Billy’s head was, “Scaretale? Really?” Karina had a musical laugh and replied “Gotta keep the audience on their feet, you know!”

“They were standing the whole time so I think the goal was accomplished!”

“Sometimes you have to keep your guitarist on his feet, too. You’ll never be able to say our performances or relationship is predictable.”

“I just hope I’m not around if it ever backfires.”

In a sexy voice she replied “Oh don’t worry, it’ll never happen if you’re not around. I have no plans to ever take the stage unless you’re with me. That, I can promise you” and then she proceeded to playfully boop him on the nose before taking off in a sprint.