I sat and watched them, quietly sketching Dale. We were in the academy auditorium and Black Diamond was practicing on stage. It was going on four o’clock and we’d been there since two-thirty. They were finally gearing up for the finals in April—they had sailed through the semi-finals as easily as the first round. They were a favorite to win the finals, which would be held in New York and televised on MTV. Dale had written this song and they were trying it out and drawing quite a crowd with it. “If we’re going down We’re going down in a blaze of glory Our burning hearts will tell the story We will rise from the ashes, baby Going down in a blaze of glory…” Dale was playing to an audience of about thirty who’d been drawn by the music. There were two janitors who had decided to stick around and watch and the rest were fans who had heard he was practicing and had decided to stay after to watch.
