"OKAY, NEXT SONG!" I shouted enthusiastically into the audience.
A few hundred metalheads, gathered in Dynamo in Eindhoven, replied by shouting back even louder.
Ahh, the stage. The only true home I've ever known...

I walked to the edge of the stage, knelt down and took my gloves off.

"Hey, you, front row friend," I said to a guy with long, blonde hair, who had been headbanging all night. "Can you hold my gloves for me?"
"Sure," he said, and took them.
"Now you guys and girls all think "Zombie Cars", right?" I asked the audience, while walking backwards back into the spotlights.
"YEAH!!!" a few hundred voices roared.
"Well, you're all wrong!"

I turned around to Kasper and winked, and he started trem picking on his E-string like a madman.

"You see, I wrote a new song for which I have to take my gloves off. And I called it: Break Away!"

The crowd cheered and clapped so loud it seemed like the world was ending. I looked at Rik for a moment, who threw the horns up from backstage. I belonged here so much. The guitars started to roar, and so did I:

"You thought you caught me
You thought you had me
But I won't surrender
Not to you, never again!"

I felt a surge of energy as I heard the drums set in its thunderous signal, to warn us that the chorus was about to start. I took a deep breath, tensed up the muscles in my belly and opened up my throat completely.

"YOU'RE NOT MY MASTER!
I'M NOT YOUR SLAVE!
THE CHAINS ARE TORN AND I BREAK AWAY!"

And while the riffing started, I spread my arms and twirled around. My bluish green cloak flew up like a pair of wings. I couldn't imagine ever doubting this life was the right life for me.