Sunday Newscape Magazine

Behind the tattoos and heavy riffs-SevenDust is an established band with a worldwide audience. You would think having success at this level would change people. Not these guys!

I found this out first hand when I surprised my daughter Victoria with tickets to their upcoming show at a small, but famous venue. This would be her first concert and what better way to spend it than up close and personal with a national act she loved. Knowing this venue would fill up quickly, I realized we had to arrive early.

The day of the show was perfect. There were no lines just a hand full of people congregating along side a large black tour bus parked out front. Victoria was in awe of this shiny bus as she touched it with each finger. She was in heaven as she waved at each window. I knew it was at this moment that I needed to put my journalism mindset into gear.

Starting with the small crowd, I spoke to each person. Fortunately, these guys along with a fellow journalist were working the show and asked Victoria and I to join them. These guys welcomed us with open arms and wanted to make her night one she would never forget.

As the crowd grew Victoria and I were pulled aside as this tan van pulled near us. The crowd cheered as a few of the band members walked out and headed right toward us. They stopped, shook our hands, and thanked us for coming. At first Victoria did not know what was going on until I told her who these guys were. Her eyes opened wide and her hands started shaking as she tried to grab her phone to text her friends about what just happened.

In the distance I could see fellow journalist Cary Chatham; whom we met earlier, walking feverishly towards us with his hands full of video equipment. Cary handed some of his equipment to Victoria and me and ushered us through the stage door. Victoria had no idea why her hands were full of tripods, but soon found out as she was now sitting near Clint Lowery, one of the guitarists from SevenDust. She was in awe once again as Clint took the time to talk and thank her for coming.

As we joined the crowd back outside I noticed a person of interest heading back to the tour bus virtually unnoticed. I asked Victoria who this person was. Her voice cracked as she whispered that it was the lead singer from SevenDust. Her hands shook again as she approached him quietly. Lajon, the lead singer, turned around and bent down to talk to her eye to eye. I stayed back like a proud father. I watched as my little girl spoke to a person she admired and listened to everyday. Lajon shook her hand repeatedly as a crowd gathered around them. Walking back with a big smile she again tried to text her friends with her hands shaking uncontrollably. Victoria did not want autographs, just a minute of his time which she got, but there was still a show to see and we made our way in ahead of the crowd.

This was the part of the night that scared me the most. Imagine being packed like a sardine in a hot room with a crowd hell bent on moving forward. This is what Victoria and I endured while standing in the front row as the lights were about to dim. Her eyes swelled with fear and I tried to reassure her to relax and let me handle it. Then a powerful riff came from the stage. The lights went black and this little girl who a minute ago had tears of fear now jumped for joy. SevenDust took the stage and my aloof teenager came out of her shell.

During their powerful set each band member seemed to remember Victoria. They made a point to push away the sea of hands to grab hers. These guys showered her with guitar picks, drum sticks, relentless high-fives and hand shakes as they played their hearts out. It was a site I will never forget. Most important, it was something she will never forget.

My heartfelt gratitude to Cary Chatham, the crew, and SevenDust who created a memory my daughter will never forget. Unfortunately, heavy metal often gets a bad rap from the media. I would tell them to check out these guys to see a side of the industry no one seems to report. This is heavy metal with class!

© Jerry Maldonado-2009 all rights reserved This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.SevenDust.com Cary Chatham- www.MusicSceneTV.net