Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Chapter 957 Our Chinese Rock and Roll

Once the chorus started looping, Li Hao on stage couldn't hold back anymore.

Of course, no one laughed at him; instead, those who empathized with him shed tears.

Especially those like the Commander, who have been involved in both underground and commercial activities, but later returned to the underground because they couldn't stand the various constraints, can really empathize with the people on stage right now.

How many underground businesses have turned into commercial ones? Aren't they all because they couldn't stand having to cater to the masses, and in the end, they lost their temper and ruined themselves?
So, the current control stick can only accept what Da Zhangwei called "the end song of the party!" on a variety show like "The Big Band," which has already broken into the mainstream. Even these veterans in the industry can only say "disappointed!"
They probably didn't expect that such a performance would make many bands who completely rejected "The Big Band" this year start to seriously reconsider whether they should participate next year.

As the music stopped, the members of the Faces band in the preparation room stood up and applauded before heading out to the Summer of Music venue.

The two venues are separated by a road of about two lanes, and are only about 10 meters from the park entrance. Luo Lin turned his head casually, and almost burst into tears.

Because fans had planted flags at the entrance, even those without tickets were there to support them, waving the "rock and roll never dies" banner. This was something Luo Lin had never even dared to imagine before…

After a brief pause, Luo Lin ignored PA's urging and ran to the entrance, taking a photo with the fan who had planted the flag through the fence.

Zilong, who was taking their photos, happened to slip out of the venue to go to the restroom and bumped into them. Looking at the image that had already been saved on the screen, Zilong joked with Luo Lin, "Brother Lin, I think this photo is definitely the most meaningful one from this season of The Big Band."

Luo Lin nodded in agreement, then asked Zi Long, "If Bian Lang were here, do you think we would let him in?"

Zilong had been photographing Bianlang for over a year, and he was fairly knowledgeable about the series. After thinking for a moment, he replied seriously, "I used to, but I probably wouldn't now."

"Why?" Luo Lin was very curious about what Zi Long was thinking.

"I'm just talking nonsense. If it were before, how could Brother Lang not come back to watch the finale? You guys should feel it more than I do. This show is like his son. At such an important moment of the finale, even if he can't appear on screen, no one else can come to the scene like him, right?"

Luo Lin nodded in agreement and gestured for Zilong to continue.

"But why didn't he come? Maybe he felt he couldn't manage some things forever... Look at Goat's state, and those bands gossiping behind his back. This time, Brother Lang completely let go, not to let them know that Xiao Guo is invincible. He probably wanted to reason with them and tell more people that Chinese rock doesn't belong to him alone, it belongs to everyone!"

After hearing this, Luo Lin paused, patted Zilong on the shoulder and said, "Not bad, young man, you... I can't say anything... I'll just copy and paste this part onto the stage for you later!"

Zilong was taken aback for a moment after hearing this, then laughed and said, "Okay, but don't mention my name!"

Meanwhile, inside the arena, the control stick, whose performance had already finished, was waiting on stage for super fans to ask questions.

After exchanging glances with Guo Sichu, Liu Yao spoke directly: "Let me first talk about how I felt about this song. I felt it was a self-healing catalyst that was extremely romantic, extremely rock, and extremely innocent. It's like you can overcome anything, and nothing seems to matter. It's not the depressing kind, but rather a feeling of sudden enlightenment. I can be walking on clouds, running on golden beaches, or weaving between skyscrapers."

I feel like I love this world even more, and I love myself even more…

After Liu Yao finished speaking, Niu Boyi asked Bian Yuan, "Do you think what Liu Yao said is right?"

Tian Yuan took the microphone and replied without hesitation, "Liu Yao has already said very well. I certainly couldn't say that much. Thank you..."

Liu Yao was used to Tian Yuan's behavior and didn't think much of it, but Liu Ziyang laughed and said, "Tian Yuan, don't try to fool us. This song was written by Bian Lang. Let's talk about it..."

Since the production team told everyone to chat freely and that they would edit the content properly later, everyone has been talking without any reservations.

Tian Yuan wasn't a talkative person, but this was exactly what Li Hao wanted to discuss. So, after Liu Ziyang asked, Li Hao directly took the microphone from Tian Yuan: "Well, how should I put it? In the past, we definitely wouldn't have accepted this song. But after listening to it many times myself, I feel that this should be our confession to rock music..."

Before, we just played our own thing, getting together to record whenever we felt like it, just for fun. But now that Bianlang has brought rock music to this level again, it's not right for us to just keep thinking about playing our own thing. This show, to be honest, doesn't have any particularly brilliant planning; anyone who's worked on music variety shows could probably come up with one now. But why hasn't anyone been able to make it work all these years?
I think that before Bian Lang, no one could bring us all together and show us with concrete actions that Chinese rock music could still succeed! Rock music could only be heard and seen on television! Only Bian Lang could do that…”

Li Hao is indeed a drunkard, but his emotional intelligence is undeniable; otherwise, he couldn't have managed to handle Si Gu's social interactions so well over the years. His words were not only eloquent but also reflected his true thoughts. And they weren't something he'd pondered for a long time; they were just those few minutes on stage…

"But Bian Lang was banned for a year just because he sang a not-so-serious song abroad. Listen, guys, it was an English song he sang abroad! Think about why. Was it really targeting Bian Lang alone? No! It was targeting Chinese rock music. Some people just can't stand to see me making progress, so they want to kill Bian Lang, who is currently leading the way!"

So, brothers! We have to become awesome ourselves to be worthy of Bian Lang's sacrifice this time..."

These later thoughts weren't something he'd just come up with; he'd been pondering this for a long time, and since he had the opportunity today, he just blurted them out. He knew it was impossible to broadcast this publicly, but everyone present—whether fans or industry professionals—was absolutely passionate about rock music. Having them spread the word would at least help many people who hadn't quite grasped the situation to seriously consider how to face Rolling Stones and the current rock music market.

Niu Boyi didn't stop Li Hao, but as he spoke, Niu Boyi kept thinking to himself, "If this gets approved, it will definitely become a huge hit."

Meanwhile, among the professional music fans, some rock professionals and music critics were lost in thought, while others had already stood up with red eyes to applaud Li Hao.

Sitting right behind the professional music fans, Zhu Wen's face was burning red. He wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground right then and there. If you were to name the biggest villain against Rolling Stones, now that Goose Egg had repaired its relationship with the club, it would definitely be Zhu Wen. It was impossible for him to claim he had nothing to do with it. On the surface, it seemed like Zhu Wen had nothing to do with Magic Disc, but in reality, among all those who secretly hired online trolls to smear Rolling Stones and Bianlang, Zhu Wen was the most notorious and ruthless leader of the anti-fans.

However, he's different from those who wanted to suppress Bian Lang and Rolling Stone. Those other capitalists were afraid Bian Lang would destroy the idols they'd created, afraid he'd take a slice of the pop music and entertainment industry's big pie. But Zhu Wen is still making money from rock music…

So when Li Hao said this, those other rock musicians who hadn't figured it out, or who remained numb, either felt ashamed and started to change, or they continued to be numb.

But Zhu Wen was genuinely worried about whether he could even leave the Rolling Stones Arena safely that day. If anyone remembered he was there, he might not be able to leave...

Fortunately, no one had time to pay attention to him at the moment. Under Li Hao's lead, everyone started calling out Bian Lang's name.

Seeing the situation, Liu Yao nudged Guo Sichu with his elbow and said, "I'm truly impressed by your man's charisma! That bunch of stubborn, unyielding bastards in the rock scene could actually unite to thank someone who's still alive... I'm really..."

Guo Sichu didn't respond, she just stood up and applauded, then turned on her microphone and said, "I wasn't in the rock scene before, Bian Lang brought me in. I think there are some things we can share in the future, so he won't be too tired!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Liu Yao teased, "You're just worried about Bian Lang and want him to spend more time with you, right?"

Liu Yao didn't use his microphone, so only a few people in the super fan seats could hear him. Therefore, Liu Xiao Kui felt that this time he had truly refreshed his understanding of the authenticity of a variety show.

In the past, it was always lip-syncing, fake people, and fake scripts, but on The Big Band, they dare to say anything... So he stood up and stated his position: "Although I am an actor, I am also a loyal fan of Brother Lang. I am the number one fan of Brother Lang, and I am willing to stand with everyone if anything happens in the future!"

Li Hao hadn't expected his words to trigger such a huge chain reaction, but this was exactly the outcome he wanted. Tian Yuan patted Li Hao on the shoulder, gave him a thumbs up, and then led his brothers downstairs without looking back.

Niu Boyi was thinking that it was a good thing that they voted first, otherwise their campaigning would be absolutely unbeatable.

The joystick had barely been lowered when, before any of the equipment was even ready, Luo Lin burst out from the side of the large screen. Niu Bo, having received no instructions from the director to stop him, asked Luo Lin, "Luo Lin, are you out here to chat with us music fans first?"

After Rowling nodded, the microphone was handed over.

"Well, when I came over just now, I saw a fan putting up a flag at the entrance... and I was thinking, Chinese rock is everyone's rock, not just Bian Lang's, or just Rock Records'. I want to ask everyone to seriously consider whether we, this show, and the future of rock music, still want to have fun?"

If you still want to play seriously, then stop being silent and stop stabbing people in the back. Unite...

Hearing Luo Lin's words, Niu Bo was completely impressed by these rock musicians. One person had said it before, and now they had to say it again.

Moreover, Luo Lin's words seemed to follow up on what Li Hao had just said. Everyone was still caught up in those emotions, so this provocation had an immediate effect.

Let's not talk about others, but take Liu Yao for example.

She used to think that Bian Lang would eventually replace her and continue the life of Chinese rock. But now it seems that while he has continued the life, he will definitely not follow Liu Yao's path. Bian Lang's abilities and approach are too unconventional. Even Liu Yao, a rock musician who is not bad at songwriting, can only admit his inferiority when facing Bian Lang.

As for what Bian Lang encountered, if she had put in a little more effort back then, even if she couldn't compare to Guo Sichu, at least...

Thinking of this, she stood up and said, "Luo Lin, what you said makes sense. I also hope that everyone can unite and remember what we said today. We'll say it again when we get to the music festival..."

With that powerful and unstoppable strike, the atmosphere at the scene felt like it was about to get out of control.

Qin Ge stared at the monitor, sighing and shaking his head: "Why can't this be broadcast? If this is released, even if Zheng Danghong is exposed for sleeping with fans, it probably won't steal this trending topic!"

Qian Shaowu, who was squatting down next to him, immediately contradicted him, saying, "Don't even think about it. If you still want this show to go online smoothly, you must not let a single frame of this footage leak out!"

This reminded Qin Ge that although music fans weren't allowed to bring their phones, there were no restrictions on professional and hardcore music fans. Someone must have recorded this scene, and if it were posted online, the impact would be huge.

"Well, the super fans are all our own people, and I'll have the staff keep an eye on the professional fans."

But in that short time, someone had already sent the video to Bian Lang. Bian Lang had originally wanted to wait and see how Hedgehog and New Pants performed, but who would have thought that Chen Shuting would send him these two clips.

When he first saw it, he never expected that this incident would evoke so many emotions on the spot.

To be honest, Zilong's judgment was probably correct. He genuinely wanted to let go this time, not wanting to keep pushing Chinese rock forward only to end up with a mess. Otherwise, even if he couldn't appear on camera during the "The Big Band" finale, it would still be good to watch.

But he never expected that Li Hao and Luo Lin could explain these things so clearly and plainly.

He doesn't expect everyone to understand, but as long as when "The Big Band" is recorded again next year, inviting bands will no longer be met with various excuses and backstabbing, that will be enough!
(End of this chapter)