Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Chapter 802: The Prodigal Son Returns

I don’t know which warrior with the loud voice made that shout, but the atmosphere on the scene suddenly became a little weird.

Guo Sichu certainly knew what had happened, and she was also very clear that An Fengchun just treated Bian Lang as a friend who didn't need to pretend.

As for Bian Erlang's behavior, all we can say is: "Men love to show off until they die!"

Bian Lang was no less impressive and directly responded with a sentence: "Do you dare to take it if I give it to you?"

Instantly the whole place burst into laughter again!
Then the lights on the stage gradually dimmed, leaving only Bian Lang and Su Kan under the torchlight.

Then, when no one expected it, Bian Lang’s singing and Su Kan’s keyboard sounds rang out at the same time: “I light cigarettes one by one, drink cups of wine one by one. Please understand me, I can’t drink much, so sell me Chong Kang…”

This was almost an a cappella start, with no prelude. It caught most of the audience off guard, and a few people who had no idea how they got in directly asked the people around them, "Is Mr. Bian doing a sound check?"

But the dozen or so musicians from Taiwan, as well as those who could understand Minnan dialect at the scene, all stared blankly at the man who was "telling a story" on the stage, as if they were possessed!

Bian Lang's long hair today is not tied up in any way, just casually draped over his shoulders, matched with a black shirt with iris pattern, and large frog-eye glasses on the bridge of his nose. The word "prodigal son" is best interpreted on him at this moment!

One of the female musicians couldn't help but blurt out in a local accent: "Ijengang!"

Their lead singer immediately began to doubt his life: "Could it be that he also wrote this song?"

Before they could finish their exclamation, they heard Bian Lang continue to sing: "Time passes day by day, sweat flows drop by drop... One day, we will all be old, and take someone to play..."

If they were filming a music video now, Bian Lang would definitely cooperate by lifting the cigarette between his middle and index fingers to take another puff, then raising the wine glass to take another sip! Then he would sing the next line with a sigh: "The prodigal son returns..."

After he sang this line, the keyboard accompaniment stopped after one measure, and then the lights on the stage dimmed, as if time had stood still.

It only took one beat for the lights on the stage to begin flickering collectively, illuminating the shadows of everyone on the stage.

Bian Lang took a step back and stood back to back with the goat who was also carrying a guitar. The distorted sound of the electric guitar was accompanied by the bass drum of the drum set.

The atmosphere at the scene was pulled back to the passionate years of their youth from the atmosphere of the prodigal son Bian Lang quietly reminiscing about the past.

Many audience members who are good at imagining things have already started to think of the messy and heartless days when they were young and spent time with a bunch of brothers.

The courage, passion, bravery and blood of that time, one by one, the past events flashed through my mind like slides.

The distorted electric guitar solo is like the noise and bustle in the billiard hall and game room in my memory. It is also like the roar and roar of a motorcycle with the muffler removed on the road and in the tunnel at night.

The beats of the drum set are like the sound of a pounding heartbeat when you are giving a gift to a girl you love and are caught by her parents or teachers and running away.

After this breath-taking interlude, the music gradually slowed down, and the goat sang from behind another microphone stand: "Dear, lovely, handsome, friend... Trash, tasteless, useless, friend... Riding my bare motorcycle on the bumpy road, my life is worth nothing anyway, I have no money, no body, no life... Friends, come and fight..."

While singing, he extended his hand to sweep the audience below the stage. Some of the people from Taiwan smiled, while others started to shout, "Come and fight!"

Taiwan is a small place, and these people are everywhere in the music circle, not to mention the smaller rock music circle, so Goat and these people are familiar with each other. This time they came to participate in Ximangmang, partly because Goat had told them about the good things about the Rolling Stones before.

They are all independent bands. Seeing that the Goats are becoming more and more successful, they also want to come and perform and take a look at the environment of the Rolling Stones to see if it is really as relaxed as the Goats said.

The reason why they don't sign with any company in Taiwan is not because no company is interested in them, but because they will have very little freedom if they sign with any company there.

Whether it is creation or performance arrangement, they have less say. In fact, most domestic entertainment companies are like this. Only the Rolling Stones have the confidence to give them more creative space. Anyway, as long as they don't touch those things, the Rolling Stones won't bother them.

"I light cigarettes one by one, drink cups of wine one by one, please understand me, I can't drink much, sell me some Chong Kang..." The chorus sung by Bian Lang and Shan Yang attracted the Taiwanese musicians in the audience to sing along with the subtitles: "Time passes day by day, sweat flows drop by drop, one day we will all be old, and take someone to entertain us..."

Just that simple last sentence, many people howled along: "The prodigal son returns..."

Then Bian Lang and Shan Yang stepped back, letting Ouyang, the genuine lead guitarist, move to the front. The distorted electric guitar solo was like a rising tornado, shattering the shell covering the ancient memories of the fans and taking it away.

Zhuanzi played the air guitar and said to the commander beside him: "Do you still remember that time when we rode the sidecar on Bus 103 to Tianjin, you, the slutty boy, even lit a cigarette and put it in your mouth. The cigarette butt flew backwards and made a hole in my leather jacket..."

"It was so stupid back then. It took eight or nine hours to ride there. If you didn't wear a helmet, your hair would be standing upside down when you got there. You didn't even need hair wax... But it was really good back then. Although everyone was poor, you could have fun however you wanted... I remember that one time you dated several girls in one night?"

"Hehe, you sound like a virgin. I didn't kill you because you were quite capable at that time!"

"You are such a liar... the guard is right down there..."

"Do you think people are still paying attention to you now? Who cares? Which guy on the stage is not more handsome than you? This is also a live recording. If she were underground, do you believe that she would still dare to do it like before, and just take off her underwear and throw it on the Internet?"

"Uh, that's impossible. It can only be possible when the hedgehog is on stage."

This is the case with most professional music fans, and it is no different in the viewing room.

Although it was a revival match, all the bands that won the previous two rounds were present. There were also a few Taiwanese musicians who stood up and sang along. During the interlude, a few excited people began to explain the meaning of the lyrics and reminisce about the past:
"Douzhenlaibo means to work together. Our place is close to the sea. When we were teenagers, we had no money to buy cigarettes, so we would sneak into the dark at night to steal goods from small fishing boats that were selling smuggled goods. When they were busy unloading the goods, we would swim to the stern of the boat, pack two boxes of goods and throw them into the sea...

One time, we were caught moving boxes and were nearly beaten to death. We brothers were brave enough to climb out of the water and fight them... In the end, we supported each other and went home, taking turns smoking cigarette butts we found on the roadside... It’s unforgettable when I think about it. Friends at that time were really..."

“Speaking of cigarette butts, we didn’t have money back then so we smoked cigarettes without filters. Now when I think about it, I wonder why they smelled so good…” There was no need for voting during the opening performance, so there was no pressure for the super fans to chat.

"With Bian Lang doing this, those Taiwanese bands down there will probably all be taken down!" Niu Boyi was the least knowledgeable person anyway, so he just started talking as he watched the fun.

Liu Ziyang, who was standing next to him, also nodded and said, "Indeed, in our Chinese music scene, the only dialect songs that can spread are Cantonese and Minnan dialect. Bian Lang is really talented! I was stunned when he was rehearsing. How can he write about anything..."

"From west to east, from the three northeastern provinces to Taiwan, my brother Lang is really beyond words..." Liu Xiaokui had long admired Bian Lang, and now he felt that saying these words was completely unable to express the emotions in his heart.

As for the whispers between An Feng and Guo Sichu, only they themselves knew about it.

When the main song started again, most of the people who could speak Minnan dialect at the scene sang along with the goat: "I'm standing on the bumpy road riding my bare motorcycles. What's the point of my life? I have no money, no body, no children, what's the point of my life? Friends, let's fight..."

Seeing the situation in the audience, Bian Lang threw the electric guitar behind him, took off the microphone and handed it to the members of the Taiwan Band in the audience!

The first person to receive the microphone was a bassist. After a one-second mental struggle, he handed the microphone directly to the person next to him.

Those around me were not polite. They started singing along after seeing the subtitles: "I light cigarettes one by one and drink cups of wine one by one. Please understand me. I can't drink much. Sell me Chong Kang..."

"Time passes day by day, sweat flows drop by drop, one day we will all be old, and take someone with us to entertain ourselves..." I don't know when this group of people started to link arms while singing.

"Bring someone to entertain me..." Then he began to sob...

"Bring someone to entertain you..." Then he shook his head with tears in his eyes.

They have been to some variety shows in Taiwan before, but compared with "Summer of the Band", their most real feeling is that no matter how professional the music variety shows in Taiwan are, entertainment is the top priority.

As for “Summer of the Band”, it feels like there is nothing bigger than music!

I had watched "Summer of the Band" on the Internet before, and with the brainwashing recommendation from Yang Yang, I was eager to feel the atmosphere on site before coming to Yunnan. But Yang Yang was not sure about the recording time at that time, so he did not give a definite answer.

This time, Yang was present at the event and had not mentioned before that there would be an opening song in the Hokkien dialect.

Now Bian Langzhi was handing them the microphone, which made them feel that this opening was specifically for welcoming them!
What’s more, what this song expresses directly touches the heart of each of them...so the emotions contained in these tears are quite complicated!
The piano music at the end continued, but the applause and cheers from the audience had already begun to stir.

Niu Boyi already had the microphone in his hand. Seeing that the others had no intention of putting down their instruments, he immediately became anxious: "Don't leave in such a hurry. Although guitar is not your competition, we still need to chat for a while!"

The few of them really wanted to leave after the performance, because according to the procedure, An Feng was to be introduced next, but as soon as Niu Boyi called out, the few of them put down their instruments and walked directly to the front row of the stage.

Seeing that the staff had handed the microphone to Bian Lang, Niu Boyi asked, "Bian Lang, why did you want to compose a song in Minnan dialect?"

Bian Lang knew he couldn't avoid this question, so he had already thought of the answer: "Because the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong are one family!"

"Hiss..." Because they didn't get the answer they wanted, everyone in the audience was not very satisfied. However, no one could say no to this answer.

Niu Bo was so embarrassed that he closed his eyes and turned his head several times before changing the question: "The last line of the lyrics just now, Dai Mou Zi Dou Zhen... is it pronounced like this? Did I pronounce it correctly? What does this line mean?"

Originally, the microphone was in Yang's hands, but when he heard this question, Yang immediately stuffed the microphone directly to Bian Lang as if avoiding the plague.

Bian Lang didn't think there was anything wrong with it, and answered Niu Boyi's question directly: "It just means not having my wife together..."

After hearing this answer, the whole audience burst into laughter. Then, someone immediately responded and said, "Is Bian Lang complaining?"

Then the whole audience burst into “Oh oh oh” again.

Then someone started shouting An Feng's name!
An Feng didn't care. She really thought that Bian Lang was a friend who could show his true nature in front of her.

But Guo Sichu was a little bit confused. He still smiled on the surface, but his heartbeat had already started to rise rapidly.

"Okay! Let's not diverge from this! Thank you New Pants Band, thank you Bian Lang! Now I would like to introduce to you a group of special music fans from Taiwan..." There is nothing impeccable about Niu Boyi's awareness. This kind of footage may not be edited into the main film, but once it is used, everyone will give it a thumbs up.

After introducing the bands off the stage, next is An Feng!

Although they had already seen the real person when entering the venue, now that Niu Boyi made a special introduction, everyone naturally cheered and applauded.

After the atmosphere calmed down a bit, Niu Boyi started to attack again: "An Feng, did you watch the previous show?"

"Of course I watched it!"

“Are there any bands you like here?”

"Yes, at first I liked Hedgehog! But then I changed to Exodus. I think it's so cool that a girl like Green Algae can sing with that kind of voice! If I have a chance to develop in the music industry, I also want to form a band..."

Bian Lang, who had already stepped down, heard this and sighed, "This sister is really something. She still hasn't given up..."

(End of this chapter)