Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Chapter 956 The Tragedy of The Summer of Music

If Bian Lang were there, he would have stood up to pay his respects immediately.

Putting aside the similarities between the joystick and Joyside, today's performance was a perfect stage for the entire joystick team and a breakthrough for them.

At this moment, some of the band's longtime fans were already in tears, feeling both reluctant and relieved about the band's changes.

The reluctance to part ways naturally stems from the loss of that sense of superiority that belonged only to the underground, subculture. Before this, although the show had brought the band "Control Rod" into the mainstream, their performances after the show still exuded a strong aura of alcohol and illegitimate children; they were still the same band that would do anything outrageous on stage.

But at this moment, the changes directly shown in "Space Wanderer" are clear to familiar music fans that they are willing to step out of their comfort zone, willing to accept more commercial opportunities, and willing to make changes in order to continue on their path.

When this song was first given to them, Li Hao was completely puzzled. He felt that given Bian Lang's usual high standard of tailoring songs to their vocal abilities, giving them a song that wasn't punk at all seemed like a mistake. Moreover, the previous song, "Not My Time To Die," had already demonstrated Bian Lang's understanding of their band, so what was the deal with this song?

However, Li Hao, who wasn't as impatient as before, finally refrained from asking Bian Lang immediately this time. There was another reason for this: Tian Yuan didn't give a single comment after reading it, whether it was good or bad, whether she liked it or not.

Although Tian Yuan is a man of few words, when it comes to music, he is straightforward and doesn't play games like playing hard to get. So, the fact that he didn't give any comments is perhaps a statement in itself.

Just one day later, Tian Yuan said to Li Hao, "Let's accept this song!"

Upon hearing this, Li Hao began to recall how much he had drunk the previous night, wondering if he was still drunk. But after realizing he was actually perfectly sober, he asked Tian Yuan a question he rarely asked: "Why?"

Tian Yuan's answer was still simple and clear, hitting the nail on the head: "This could be a turning point. I don't want our band to just disappear while we're playing around."

Indeed, it's true that neither Tian Yuan, Li Hao, nor the other band members are living on music anymore. So if the band continues like this, they might really disappear one day. Perhaps like Joyside from the original Earth, the band's disbandment and Xin Shuang's departure were met with the same response from Bian Yuan: "I don't know!"

Whether Bian Lang gave them songs or brought them on "The Big Band," he was essentially giving them a chance to make a new choice for themselves.

Why is it called a selection? Anyone who watched "The Big Band" knows that some bands that remained popular after appearing on the show include Pants, Hedgehog, and Wutiaoren... while others continued to languish. There are many more, and Joyside is also included in this group...

Of course, there are also games that are no longer playable, such as Click15...

Even The Travel Band almost ruined themselves during their tour after The Big Band. As the only rock band in China that writes letters to each other, The Travel Band almost died in the post-The Big Band era.

One afternoon in the spring of 2017, four people sat together. This band, which was formed in Liuzhou, Guangxi in 1999, was facing the crisis of disbanding.

The band's development hit a bottleneck. Guitarist Ziju returned to his hometown in Guangxi, and the others rarely saw each other. Lead singer Kong Yichan read a lot of books in an attempt to salvage the situation, but to no avail. Keyboardist Wei Wei suggested in the WeChat group, "Why don't we write each other letters?"

So that afternoon, the four rock musicians took turns reading their letters to each other, face to face.

Wei Wei said, "I just want to make good music. It doesn't matter if you hate me. Nobody is perfect. It's enough to leave behind something beautiful..." Before he finished reading the letter, all four of them cried.

The tour group, which was on the verge of disbanding, was thus brought back to life.

After the broadcast of "The Big Band", the band Travel Band was labeled as "refreshing rock". In their gentle and upbeat songs, people remembered the band's temperament: warm and happy.

But if you were to ask Ziju, her advice would be the completely opposite styles of "Island," "Sealed Night," and "Bye-bye," because the content of those songs reflects their daily lives.

In 08, the Travel Band's debut album, "Laifu Ni," received excellent reviews and achieved great success both within and outside the industry. However, none of their subsequent albums have been able to surpass the achievements of this first album.

What followed were member departures, creative blocks, mid-life crises… and more often than not, they were caught in self-doubt. During this period, frustration, confusion, and courage were recurring themes in their creative output. In a way, this is the story of The Traveling Band, and also the story of Chinese rock bands.

Before The Big Band, "nobody really cared about rock bands." The gentle resistance born from these dark moments is the core of this band's spirit.

In the first round of the original Earth Top 8 points competition, the Travel Group's "Weekend Toys" came in last place. Everyone was a little out of control when they heard the result. The second round of the points competition was only one day after the first round.

The band members were all determined to win back their pride, preparing for the second performance of "Bye Bye" with the mindset of losers. The other three were brimming with fighting spirit, but Wei Wei acted as if nothing was wrong. His third brother even went to him and said, "Why aren't you taking it seriously at all?" At that moment, the four of them were like three Contra players leading a Super Mario team—the others were fighting a battle, while Wei Wei was just picking mushrooms.

Before heading to the performance venue, Shi Lu and Zhao Hedgehog even ran up to the tour group with calculators and said, "We just calculated that as long as you make it into the top three, advancing won't be a problem." If it weren't for the people involved telling them, many people probably wouldn't believe that this was a competitive music variety show, something that could happen between competing teams.

Later, on the way to the venue, other bands and staff members also came out to cheer on the tour group. Because everyone thought the tour group was going to quit, the scene was like a farewell for students taking the college entrance exam, and many directors cried.

Perhaps that's why the tour group got so caught up in the atmosphere that they felt "Bye Bye" was their chance to turn the tide. Coincidentally, the song required the emotion of hitting rock bottom and then exploding into action. The four of them performed with great enthusiasm, and once again, they achieved an unexpectedly good result, taking first place overall.

Bian Lang recalled that Zi Jun once mentioned something, in which Li Hongqi talked about calling Huang Wei.

What he said on stage would probably move many band members deeply. Li Hongqi said to Huang Wei, "Brother, come back, let's make music together, okay? Don't refuse me." And Huang Wei really did come back...

Countless bands have experienced this kind of talk and this kind of scene, but it's truly rare for them to be able to mend their broken relationship in the end.

Therefore, the path one ultimately chooses to take is a matter of choice.

Tian Yuan ultimately chose to move on, and the person who touched him the most was probably Bian Lang. Speaking of the original owner's time as a struggling artist in Beijing, Tian Yuan and Li Hao definitely had some interaction, but not much. However, it's certain that back then, Cao Fengan was far superior to the Masked Band. But the current situation of the two bands seems to have completely reversed from that time.

Tian Yuan wasn't envious of Rolling Stones' fame, nor of Bian Lang's current status or anything like that; what he truly envied was Bian Lang's state of being!
It's people like Bian Lang who have the mindset to find a way to get through whatever bad things happen. Back in the darkest days of rock and roll, even if we didn't have a prodigy like Bian Lang, if everyone had even half of his mentality, they wouldn't have been crushed.

If Chinese rock music was in such a near-death state before, bands like Control Rod bear a sliver of responsibility. This includes later bands like Pastoral Song, Luo Lin, Commander (in the professional fan section), Zhang Ting, and so on…

So they've all come together now because of Bian Lang's "The Big Band," but now, who can say this isn't a collective redemption for Chinese rock musicians?

Some people might not understand this kind of joystick control, just like how they criticized Liu Yao for betraying rock and roll back then, criticizing them for betraying underground rock. But those in the industry know that if they continue playing like that, it might really be over.

Compared to the original Earth, even if Hedgehog isn't competing, it's still synonymous with "youth" in the hearts of music fans, no different from WMLS's "Love ING" for their respective fans. But after you've heard "A generation will eventually grow old, but there will always be someone young...", listening to Mayday again, whether it's rock or not seems to become a joke.

But can the two bands be compared? Absolutely not!

During the competition of The Big Band, Zhao Hedgehog smashed a guitar and had to borrow money from Shi Lu to buy a new one in order to continue the competition! But Shi Lu is still a monster. The things that their big G-Wagon played on stage were probably something that even they themselves didn't know.

Looking at Zhao Hedgehog now, netizens have jokingly called him a butcher who has put all his skill points into his talent... Although he is still not as good as the lip-syncing band, at least he no longer needs to rely on his programmer job to make a living and continue playing music.

Bian Lang's initial intention in creating "The Big Band" was not only to fulfill dreams, but also to help these rock bands. Fortunately, everyone has at least realized this now and appreciates it.

The four bands in the preparation room, looking at the control levers on stage, were genuinely happy for them.

Old Zhao slapped his thigh and exclaimed in delight, "Once they've figured it out, things are really different..."

While others seem to have finally seen the light, are these members of the Pastoral Song still unable to let go of their past identities and glories?
Their situation is actually very similar to that of the tour groups mentioned earlier. Over the years, all their subsequent efforts have been unable to surpass their debut album.

But The Traveling Band differs greatly from other bands in one key way: their expectations and the results of their music creation often contradict each other. Things they prepare for rarely turn out well, but music made without preparation is often more likely to succeed.

Take their debut album "Laifu Ni" as an example. Actually, the album they recorded was not what they wanted at all, but the market response was still very good.

Three years later, their second album, "Wonderful Day," was released. They were full of confidence, but the record company thought the songs weren't good enough. The market response didn't surpass that of the first album, which led to the band falling into a slump. Member P left the band during this slump.

Pastoral Song, also faced various problems with the album and the comings and goings of people.

After Little P left the group, the Travel Group experienced a brief period of glory. Around 14, they were preparing to leave Modern Sky, and to fulfill a promise, they made the album "B Side" before leaving.

That album featured songs that the band usually didn't want to show to others. They thought they could give the songs they didn't like to Modern Sky and then make a good comeback on their own. But unexpectedly, "B Side" was a huge success. The three albums they made afterward couldn't surpass "B Side," and people's recognition of the band was still based on "B Side," which led them into another slump.

After leaving Modern Sky, the tour group immediately recorded three albums, quickly exhausting themselves and each other in those two years.

The music market has been booming for the past two years since "The Big Band" aired, which has further fueled their musical ambitions. Moving from livehouses to theaters for their tours, where venues can accommodate thousands of audience members, and where performances are no longer just about music but also require stage design and lighting, represents a musical upgrade for the tour group, as well as a challenge.

However, the tour did not sell well, which was a blow to the band.

In reality, people are very pragmatic. When everyone works together to achieve their ideals, if the outcome isn't good, someone will inevitably break down. It was around that time, at the end of 16, that Ziju returned to Liuzhou, and the band was on the verge of disbanding.

After the Spring Festival in 2017, Wei Wei suggested making another album. Those two years had been very depressing, and making another album was no longer about making any musical breakthroughs; he just wanted to simply record those two years of his life.

Wei Wei later told everyone that the reason he proposed making another record was because he hoped to have the opportunity to bring everyone together. Being locked in the recording studio, everyone only needed to think about music; if they didn't think about anything else, the group might not have broken up.

Two months later, the tour group released their new album, "Always Here".

That year's national tour achieved their highest box office ever, and they received more invitations for commercial performances and music festivals. Just as Ziju said, good records are made when you're unhappy, and perhaps we should maintain this state of mind for the rest of our lives.

If viewed from this perspective, pastoral life isn't even as good as a tour group. But the past remains, and some people might choose to cherish it until the very last moment…

During the interlude when the wind instruments resumed playing, Tian Yuan pulled out a handful of thin sheets from somewhere and scattered them into the fan area below the stage.

Li Hao didn't know whether he was excited or moved; he jumped around on stage while tears streamed down his face.

"hold me
Don't look back.
The scenery at the end

It's gradually becoming clearer..."

After reciting four lines, Tian Yuan adopted the carefree state of someone who's drunk and continues singing: "This endless love, I want to give it all to you, to roam freely..." But this time, he definitely won't pass out on stage.

(End of this chapter)