Guitar Heroes
Screaming Machinery are a moderately successful power-trio from Manchester, playing gigs to rapturous local crowds. But none of their fans realise they are also mighty heroes, regularly saving the world with magic and sword.
They are called upon again when Manchester comes under dire threat. Eighteen murders take place, each a node in a vast rune drawn across the city in blood. Something very large and powerful is coming through and it's up to Screaming Machinery to try and stop them ...
I lean back against the speaker stack at the side of the stage, microphone forgotten for a moment. Knock back a mouthful of flat beer. I can feel the speaker buzzing and skipping against my spine. The roar is deafening, so loud you almost stop hearing it. Centre-stage, Sarah grapples with her guitar as if she’s battling a writhing snake. The noise from it breathes, phasing from abrasive discord to glorious harmony. Her eyes are shut; she’s lost in sound. Green smiles his enthusiastic smile at me from behind a blur of arms and drumsticks. Emblazoned across the side of each of the booming black cabinets are the words Screaming Machinery, crudely stencilled in scuffed, white paint above the Geiger curves of the SM logo. And as Sarah and Green riff and I look on I think to myself just how bloody brilliant we are.
But then I see him, standing at the back against the bar. I’m brought back down to Earth with a crash ...
'I loved it. It has a wonderful camp feel to it ... I see them leaping from the stage, all hair extensions and spandex suits, off to do battle with demons.' (Whispers of Wickedness)
