We drove up right next to the venue and parked on the street. My father and I got out of the car, the calm November wind blowing through my hair.

We looked down the street and saw the rest of the band driving up in Ghandi’s father’s car. They got out, and we all walked up to the venue.

A small two-story building smushed between an apartment on the right and a Mexican restaurant on the left. The red brick on the side of the building aging away from years of shows. In the window, in broad elegant letters, it read The Gem.

THE GEM

This was a genuine venue meant for bands to play shows, and we were one of them. We had never really played an actual show before; there were only open mics and a small outdoor venue, not a place for a band to play.

THE GEM

Walking up to the doors, we could hear music blasting from inside, some pop-punk stuff none of us cared for. We opened the door and walked in.

THE GEM

The inside was almost like you had been transported back a couple of decades. Aging hardwood floors paired with a dull blueish-gray wall. Tables lined up along one side of the wall, and a cramped desk to greet you with a plant to the side.

Antique lights above painted the inside with a dreary amber-yellow, already giving enough mood but then dimmed to add even more to the atmosphere. On the right were steps up to the second floor and a neon sign that said The Gem in less fancy letters than the window; more plants underneath and a ring light next to a chair

Next to the staircase was a peninsula, almost like where a bar should be, but only if the bar was abandoned long ago.

You could see the stage from the door; it was the main attraction of the building. Red curtains were drawn back, with black curtains behind the band with glitter, almost like the night sky.

As we walked past some of the tables, it opened up, and there was no longer a second floor above us.

The stage seemed enormous, like a gaping hole in the building. More tables scattered across the small floor were being set up, and there were chairs on the side of the walls for people to sit at.a

The soundboard next to us was a nice setup. It had a lot of stuff I didn’t know how to use or what it did, but it all looked useful.

The band up on stage was the headliner, one kid around 12 or 13 and three other grown men probably in their mid-20s at least. One of them looked to be the kid’s father, probably. We had seen them at an open mic before, and we guessed that they had seen us too since they invited us to play this show with them.

There were two other bands before us; we didn’t know either of them, but they seemed better than the headliner. The first band consisted of 7 guys: four saxophone players, two trombone players, and one drummer. The other band was the owner of the place and one of her employees.