Rock Band

The arena was packed to capacity.
It was a raucous crowd.
Then the lights died and everyone went silent. The fans knew.
The click and buzz of amplifiers and speakers turning on was easily heard. The collective bated breath could be felt in the air.
The voice was utterly feminine, low velvety smoke on the back of your lizard brain. Four words triggered a dopamine hit and a frenzied response from the whole of the crowd.
"Welcome to the show."
Any other concert and it would have been hooting and hollering, cheers, maybe even air horns. But this was "Fenrir and the Replicants". As one, the crowd howled, calling to the pack they'd come to see.

And the pack answered with a crashing sonic wave from their signature sythetic pipe organ, dual bagpipes, guitar, and drums. The artificial moon bathed the entire venue in soft blue/white light in synch with the opening chords while it climbed the tower that had been erected center stage.

The music defied being put into any specific genre; threating folks with the need to define something new to talk about it. Roots and influence from speed metal, punk, and even classical were clear. The band called it "life metal"; a celebration of living and joy in breathing and freedom.

The opening song reached it's crescendo, and pyrotechnics belched thirty foot pillars of fire towards the sky.
Silence.
Spot lights on each band member.
And the magic the fans ate like candy.
All six members of "Fenrir and the Replicants" transformed. One after the other. Each shed their human skin and burst into their fur and muzzles. Powerhouses of muscle and ethereal beauty, each began playing their instrument in turn until they built back to their full power; providing the backdrop for their alpha lead vocalist to make her own transition. For most of the fans it might as well have been pure sex.

She howled, and they howled back, enthralled.