The number of people had almost doubled in size since we first went in there, and the volume matched. I looked around for Carl, but he was nowhere in sight. I didn't see any fights or anything going on out of the ordinary.

"Owen, this way," Carl called out to me from the band entrance.

I hurried toward him and walked through the open door.

"Owen, I fucked up," Greg said to me just as my front foot crossed the threshold of the door.

"What happened?" I asked, looking around to see what the problem was.

"I left my snare drum at home," Greg said with his head down and...