Battle of the Bands
By J.M. Snyder
Backstage at Catch-22’s third annual Battle of the Bands, members of the local rock group Tainted Black waited for their turn on stage. Lead singer Benjamin Cooper leaned back against the stage door, arms crossed and head down so the curtain of brown curls that hung to his chin hid his face. His drummer, Scott McKree, stood nearby, beating his drumsticks in a rapid rattat rhythm on Benjamin’s left arm. The sticks made a light popping sound on Benjamin’s leather jacket and struck so fast that he didn’t feel them. Their bassist, Mark Johnson, had wandered off in search of a joint or a soda machine, whichever he could find first.
Under the cover of his hair, Benjamin watched someone in the shadowed wings of the stage. He knew the guy, knew him well—Ty Hai
