"When he first came out. You know. He had that look."

"It was his eyes! The look in his eyes. I've never seen him so fired up."

"You know when something is just so right that it's wrong? It feels so good that it's bad? That's what it was like."

"I heard he had a vision the night before. He smoked peyote with a coyote or something. I don't know if it's true. He was always the black sheep of the band."

"The weather that night was foul. It was foul and horrible and just... yes, I would say it was ominous. It was an omen."

"I've seen him do one or two high kicks before. But that's about all."

"I feel so ashamed now... it's easy to say that afterwards, it's just so damn easy AFTERWARDS! you can say anything in hindsight, but when everyone else was doing that hand signal, I admit it- yes I did it too!"

"I couldn't help myself, in a way, no one could. We're all guilty, I think. We're all equally to blame."

"A lot of people play slide guitar now... after the fact, sure... it can be entertaining, who's to deny it? but there's a line that should never be crossed."

"Byron? What can I tell you about Byron that you don't already know. It's not like I understand what happened. I don't think anyone really understands it."

"We encouraged him. I mean, the crowd did. I heard them cheering him on."

"They say lightning doesn't strike twice? Well maybe they weren't there that night."

"When the little white men take me away and when the doctors ask why? I'll tell them... In the corner of my mind, in a tiny little corner, there's something that represents all of my fears and all of my insecurities, all of my shame, hatred and anger. And it's five letters long. B Y R O N."

"Musicians like to experiment, they try one thing then they try another. I don't want to talk about this any more if that's okay. I just. I just need time."

"Moshing is one thing. But there are limits. There should be. You would think... that physically there would just have to be limits. Wouldn't there?"

"He knew what he was doing all along. He was prepared!"

"I saw one of the roadies hand it to him... the item in question."

"I think he'd queued it up with the roadie before hand... it was organised, like"

"I saw two roadies bring it out and pass it over to him, I'm sure of it. Maybe it was three roadies."

 "I think the lone roadie theories are crazy. COMPLETELY CRAZY!!! There must a been a dozen of them!"

"The first kick he did that night, was early. Very early. I took it as a sign. I believe that a lot of us did."

"I couldn't work out how to make that hand signal at first. It was so strange... so... what would you call it? PURE EVIL!?"

"Yeh, the first kick was, I think, and I'm not sure of this, but I think during the second song. Lucky Star. You wouldn't really call it a high kick. It was just a warm up kick. There was... there was more to come..."

"He was just warming up his leg in those early songs. You could see he had something in mind."

"Kicks? Hand signals? There was more to it than that. Oh god, there was more."

"I'd heard theories about it before... crazy theories... but I never thought it could be done... who could guess!"

"I can't sleep nights.... I close my eyes... again! The kicking! The kicking!!!!!! STOP THE KICK!!!!!!!"

"After a while, I don't know when, I noticed the kicks.. they were... they were getting higher..."

"He was like a demon... the devil himself, just feeding off the energy of the crowd... I'm sure I spotted flames.... Right from the start."

"The important thing is that the kicks were getting faster, so damn much faster"

"They musta done six or seven songs, maybe eight... that was when the kicking really got started."

"In my experience at such concerts a kick is judged on height, speed and the slightly more subjective concept of technique. But in this case, it was the sheer number of kicks, the consistency, the persistence, the regularity, the continuity, the sheer... I'm, god, I'm lost for words."

"He had a death wish. Everyone knew it."

"No one kicks like that, no one! No mortal anyhow."

"First one person started asking for it. Then another."

"It became a chant. I don't think there was anyone in that crowd that didn't take part and if anyone says they didn't then I say they're a liar."

"Over and over, everyone screaming it, calling for it... what were we thinking? I'll tell you what we were thinking! We weren't thinking a damn thing! Not one of us! NOT ONE! How else do you explain it?"

"I saw the kicking and I thought, well that's great but is that all you can do? I was stupid I guess. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

"I think I started that particular chant. It's always been my favourite."

"When we saw that rain-cloud our spirits were low... but we stood in a circle, held hands and prayed for 'the drum!' "

"I hadn't seen them play 'the drum' live for quite a while. I thought it might be a hoot just to hear it one more time. We all think crazy things at times. Maybe even God thinks crazy things at times."

"First it was 'The drum! The drum! The drum! But after a while it was just 'Drum! Drum! Drum! Drum! Drum!'

"Louder and louder and louder and louder and faster and faster and faster..."

"When 'the drum' started I thought, 'here's my chance to visit the port-a-loo.' And well, here I stand today!"

"By the time 'the drum' started, his leg was kicking faster than a chainsaw! a motherfucking chainsaw! It was Bruce Lee! It was five Bruce Lees! Ten Bruce Lees! It could've cut through a tank!"

"To see him play guitar is one thing, but to hear him sing, well that, my friend, is quite another."

"By that stage I would say that everyone in the place was doing the hand signal and not just with one hand either. I don't say the rest of the band were entirely innocent."

"Oh I had both hands up all right. We all did. Obviously." (For the record, the witness at this point held up two bandaged hands)

"How does he roll his tongue like that? Don't tell me it's a bionic tongue!"

"I think the beer can must've been slippery. They get like that if they're too cold or if the guitarist is too sweaty."

"If I had three hands, or four hands, five hands, then every single one of them would've been up in the air at that moment! I'd have killed my grandmother to get more hands right then! Temporary insanity? That's not the half of it!"

"The hands is one thing, but the kick... put them together? It's fucking gold."

"A friend of mine told me he once saw the kick performed simultaneously with the slide. I guessed he was joking. But well, in a way, that's nothing... NOTHING!"

"I knew that lead break was coming up... but could I find shelter? Was there any shelter to be found? You may as well be a speck of dust in front of a canon ball!"

"My sister tried the tongue roll once. But no one can do it like him."

"He said something into the microphone, just before it happened I didn't hear it. I was a little drunk on the atmosphere I guess."

"The storm cloud, right then, the storm cloud hanging over the stage... it just got that bit ANGRIER! You know?"

"I heard him whisper something. I'm not familiar with devil chants, but well, what else could it have been?"

"That's when I saw the roadie. I'm sure it was just one roadie. Maybe it was more. Who knows."

"Two roadies? Three roadies? a thousand roadies? What the fuck does it matter now! What use is it? Count my fingers! Count them! Go on! See if you can! That's right! You can't count to zero can you!"

"I heard what he said. He said it clear as day. I can't remember now. But I did hear it. I'll never forget it."

"You'd think he'd know better than to attempt such a thing. I guess maybe you'd be half mad to think that... but maybe being half mad would be preferable to living with the knowledge that yes, he did indeed try it and Jesus Christ, he succeeded! Damn him he did!"

"I'd heard that he might be gonna try it. I thought it was just one of those dumb rumours you hear. People enjoy making crazy shit like that up, just to keep you awake nights... 'How's he gonna do it? How's he gonna do it?' "

"I won't have to repeat this later will I? I was that excited I wet my pants."

"I guess he said 'true story.' I mean, that's what he said on the album, but no, I didn't actually hear what he said..."

"You could tell he was building up to something. But who could have guessed what?"

"I saw the rest of the band leave the stage... they practically ran off stage... they knew what he had in mind..."

"I know what he said, or I think I do. I think he said 'Don't try this at home kids.' "

"That was when he did it. That thing he did. And that was the most wonderful terrible moment that there ever was and there ever will be."

"Playing guitar and doing a kick, simultaneously... I think, well, it's a trick, but it's just a trick."

"Doing that hand signal, well that's one thing, but the rock n roll scream, you put them together, and it's pretty impressive."

"That moment! Up went the devil hand! And suddenly, Kapow! From out of nowhere! He had the beer can slide as well!!"

"High kicks! Low kicks! Middle kicks! Hand signs! Jesus Christ he'd done it all! But this was something else..."

"All at once it was! The kick! The beer slide! The scream! And wow! He jumped straight into the mosh pit, guitar and all, my god!"

"He kicked with both legs at once, I swear he did!"

"The double kick it was! A double kick on each leg at the same time as the beer slide!"

"It blows my mind! The blistering lead-break! The double kick! The double beer slide! The devil salute! The leap into the mosh pit! The smashing guitar! The tongue-roll scream! All at once! No wonder that lightning came down like it did!!"

"The combination, the sheer combination!!"

"God was jealous, no two ways about it! If I was God, I would've been jealous too!"

"POW! Out of the blue!"

"I saw the lightning travel down along his arm, into the guitar and then out through his feet!"

"The lightning hit his beer can first and then BAM! It hit every single one of us!"

"His strings were glowing white hot even before the lightning hit them, I swear!"

"I never saw a beer can explode like that! Not ever!"

"The lightning just spread out from there, straight out from the tips of his devil's salute straight to the tips of everyone else's fingers!"

"The heat from that lightning, it just went straight through me, straight through all of us."

"Lightning? I didn't know that's what it was 'til later. I was assuming World War III."

"The mosh pit got the worst of it, but no one missed out, no one..."

"Hurt? It was beyond pain. It was on another level to something like 'pain'""

"The implement was never intended to be pushed to such extremes." H.G.Smith. Inventor, beer can.

"I've read accounts of the bombing of Dresden, of Hiroshima, of the sacking of Rome, of the Blitzkrieg. Well now there's Byron."

"I got back from the port-a-loo... bodies everywhere... nothing but a field of bodies..."

"The choppers were loading up the bodies all night... the hospitals were full... doctors, nurses, everyone crying..."

"Kids... we were just kids..."

Strong enjoys a quiet moment.

"You play with fire, you get burnt. You mess with the laws of nature, God fries your arse... simple as that..."

"Man, I got one of those 'No Fear' stickers on my car, right? After Byron. I peeled it off and burnt it. Then jumped on the ashes a few times."

"They couldn't find so much as a trace of him. Maybe somehow he did break through to that other side."

"A lot of people are denying what they saw... but you can't deny this." (For the record, the witness at this point rolled up her sleeve to reveal the stump of an arm)

"Some government scientists came out and took readings at the site a few days ago. Apparently the levels are still far above normal."

"People are saying that just visiting the site will cure you. The lame are walking, the blind are seeing. Perhaps something good did come out of it after all."

COINCIDENCE?
Symbol Promoting Youth Activism	Sign Language: "I love you"

"We're lobbying the government to have the entire area heritage listed. And we will succeed... we're on the side of the truth..."

"This used to be a quiet town. But now the crowds won't stop... the bus loads keep arriving... the pilgrims with their curly black wigs..."

"There's been sightings since. But nothing confirmed."

"I think it sent out a signal... a signal that went beyond our atmosphere... possibly beyond our universe..."

"Ever since, we've been getting reports of... strange visitations..."

"There's been sightings since. But nothing confirmed." Survivor, Byron.

"I hear they're getting Keanu Reeves to play his part in the movie. I'd like to know how the computers are gonna simulate that!"

"I was in the last helicopter to leave the site... as we took off and I looked down at the place for the last time... I saw that someone had organised the bodies into the words 'M.R.S. IS GOD.' It brought tears to my eyes, tears."

"Custard? Oh they're good. Maybe they're a little too good."

 

 

 

 

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