Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Chapter 986 The Handover of the Hedgehog

The next day at noon, Bian Lang and Guo Sichu arrived at the scene early as usual.

Compared to yesterday, there were countless more Xia Yuxi fans at the event today, and the variety of support materials left many rock music fans with mixed feelings.

Of course, many of the support items also featured the hedgehog's name and logo.

"What's the point of them spending this money? Instead of doing this, why not just buy a couple more Hedgehog CDs and actually support the band's development?"

The male rock fan had barely finished speaking when his girlfriend chimed in: "Hedgehog hasn't released an album, so this is the only way they can generate buzz and hype for the band and Xia Yuxi. You old rock fans are sometimes just being pretentious. They've put on a really good show, and you think their fan culture shouldn't pollute rock music..."

Why don't you think about this: if it weren't for Bian Lang, would the things you've upheld for so many years have improved Chinese rock music at all?

Deep down, everyone knows where the problem lies, but that's often how affectation works—you know the problem, but you're unwilling to change. Perhaps, like many others, I believe rock and roll should be a stubborn, unyielding rock, whether you like it or not…

"You... never mind..." The male music fan couldn't think of any words to refute, especially when it came to his girlfriend.

Today's opening act was Coldplay. The news and video of a foreign band opening for a domestic music festival has made people from other mixed music festivals envious.

Especially those who invite actors or idols to cross over into the music industry, while receiving the idols' fans' worship, are also enduring the wrath of rock music fans!

Music festivals did indeed originate from rock and folk music, so many rock music fans are resistant to this kind of mix!

However, the term "music festival" itself has no inherent limitations. But compared to a pure rock music festival like the Rolling Stones, how should I put it? They each have their own fun aspects and their own shortcomings.

Rock music fans go there specifically for a particular band, but the atmosphere at the event is often confused by the idol fans, who obviously don't understand the intricacies of music festivals.

In an attempt to spend more time interacting with fans, the band ran overtime, and as a result, when they came on stage, they started making sarcastic remarks... which led to a fight between the fans and music lovers in the audience.

As a result, the band was immediately put on the front page by their idol's fans today!

The band is called Exodus, and they'll be the opening act tomorrow. Green Algae and the others came straight from their flight today to share some interesting stories with Bian Lang: "Brother Lang, I think you really should experience it; the atmosphere in the audience is absolutely chaotic..."

"Come on, why would you guys go to that music festival?" Bian Lang didn't mean to forbid his bands from going; he was just a little curious. Given Green Algae's personality, they wouldn't have gone if they had known about this beforehand.

“There was no such person at first, but then the ticketing situation was bad, so we... We didn’t even want to go, but when we saw that some fans left messages, we thought we couldn’t let them come for nothing…”

Hearing this, Bian Lang was quite pleased: "That's great. After this trip to Europe, I really should give back to my music fans back home. It's just a pity..."

Bian Lang didn't say anything more, and no one mentioned it either, knowing the helplessness behind the situation. No one wanted it to be this way, but things had come to this point, and no one could change it.

Although the first day's success of the Rolling Stones Music Festival proved those who were pessimistic wrong, there are still people making sarcastic and negative comments today.

The sheer number of people at the scene was far more effective than any verbal rebuttal!
In the afternoon, Xia Yuxi was surrounded by his old fans as soon as he appeared. It took him more than an hour to get away. When he arrived at the Rolling Stone camp, Dingding teased him: "Xia Yuxi, when will all your old fans be converted into hedgehog fans?"

Xia Yuxi didn't know how to respond to this. Although he had severed ties with his original circle at the time, and he thought he had handled it cleanly, his old fans still supported him. He couldn't very well tell them, "I'm playing rock now, so if you want to be a fan, be a fan of Hedgehog!"

Seeing Xia Yuxi's embarrassment, Bian Lang immediately stepped in to defuse the situation, saying, "Dingding, can you watch your mouth a little?"

"Brother Lang, you know I was just joking, he's easily amused..."

"By the way, you've built up quite a few fans through 'The Big Band,' so don't mess it up today!"

"Don't worry, this time everyone will be satisfied..."

Once they got there, Xia Yuxi finally said, "Don't worry, Brother Lang, I'll definitely give it my best."

Although that's what he said, Bian Lang could tell that Xia Yuxi's words were somewhat forced. After the crowd thinned out, Xia Yuxi spoke the truth to Bian Lang: "Brother Lang, do you think rock and pop really have to be so clearly distinguished?"

"What's wrong? I think you should have asked me this a long time ago..."

"Well, I admit that the music hierarchy exists. When I first came here, I felt that people weren't very welcoming to me, but it gradually got better. After the last two shows of 'The Big Band,' I felt that everyone had genuinely accepted me..."

But today, when my old fans came, I felt like they didn't really like me anymore..."

Speaking of this, Bian Lang didn't find it surprising. Different strokes for different folks; you can't control anyone's opinion. The fact that pop music has such a large market and so many fans proves there must be a reason for it.

For some reason, he thought of a controversial scene from the first season of the original Earth-based show "The Big Band".

Mr. Lu had a very pointed conversation with Zhang Yadong, but Bian Lang felt that Zhang Yadong's answer was quite restrained.

As the only band in the competition to have held a solo concert at the Workers' Stadium, they certainly had reason to be proud. However, that question revealed a self-important face stained with worldly dust.

People don't like lead singer Beibei anymore, not because of Zhang Yadong's words, not because of the rock music scene's hierarchy of contempt, but because he's really not good enough.

First of all, BeiBei lacked passion. His performance on stage wasn't engaging enough; he didn't immerse himself in his songs. The highest level of listening to a song is to engage with it emotionally. Instead, BeiBei swayed back and forth on stage, dragging a chair, and uttering a few irrelevant and frequently misspoken lines, which was extremely awkward. What we need is insight from the music, from the lyrics, arrangement, and emotional expression, not from preaching.

He cleverly asked the judges a seemingly profound question to express the depth of his thoughts, and from this question about the hierarchy of contempt, it seemed that he was speaking on behalf of folk music.

Bian Lang felt that if Lao Lang had asked this question, they might have been able to discuss some deeper issues. However, Mr. Lu was indeed less qualified, and even if he were qualified, his attitude was not sincere and there was a strong suspicion of him putting on a show.

In addition, Wu Qingfeng said that he once wanted to sing this song on Singer. Instead of expressing his gratitude, he said, "Then why didn't you choose it?" Wu Qingfeng also bluntly said that he was defeated by "Those Flowers".

Later, while Qiao Shan was speaking, he used an extremely cheesy conversational technique to get Qiao Shan to praise his song. It could be taken as a joke, but it wasn't clever.

As for the song "Spring Breeze Ten Miles", those who like it may think it's great, just like Gao Xiaosong said: "The lyrics are well written..." But he seems to have placed his lyrics too high, and this type of lyrics also has great limitations.

People with a bit of an artistic flair might find this word beautiful, but those without will just think it's utter nonsense. There are countless similar words in popular music these days, so he's just being far too arrogant.

Just take the first two lines of the song "Spring Breeze Ten Miles": "I'm thinking of you inside the Second Ring Road, you're on a distant mountain where spring breezes blow for ten miles."

If the line "Spring breeze ten miles" is a quote from Du Mu's "Farewell, Part One," then the lyrics become even more incomprehensible.

This poem was written for a woman of the night (a young prostitute), so who is on the distant mountain?

What have you had with the people in the distant mountains? What illegitimate businesses might be operating in those mountains? Can you make money operating such businesses in the mountains?

So ultimately, it's because the music isn't good enough, not because of the hierarchy of contempt.

"Don't think so much. In China, besides the national anthem, you can't find another song that everyone likes. As long as you've decided on your future musical direction, why care what others say!" Bian Lang didn't take sides on this point.

As Gao Xiaosong once said, "Every genre has its exceptionally good ones and its utterly worthless ones!" Especially those worthless ones that inexplicably become incredibly popular—they should be placed at the very bottom of the hierarchy of contempt.

Seeing that Xia Yuxi remained silent, Bian Lang continued, "As long as you're thinking about giving music fans better music, that's the right thing to do. Although I can't go on stage now, you can still say a few words before the show starts. Hedgehog is in your hands, don't let me down!"

After those last two sentences, Xia Yuxi's entire demeanor seemed to change: "Don't worry, I definitely will..."

The two chatted about some details of Hedgehog's songs, and then Xia Yuxi went to prepare them.

Bian Lang went to check on An Xianglu's preparations again, then found Guo Sichu and went to the Coconut Tree Stage together to wait for Hedgehog to go on stage.

The hedgehog was playing the fir pole in front of him, and before the game was even over there, fans had already come over to claim the front row, showing that he was quite popular.

Guo Sichu and Bian Lang were chatting casually in front when a fan greeted Bian Lang: "Brother Lang! It's such a pity I didn't get to see you perform with Hedgehog live!"

"I also wanted to bring Hedgehog through 'The Big Band,' but there's nothing I can do. I believe in Xia Yuxi; he can do it!"

After hearing Bian Lang's words, the music fan nodded in agreement, saying, "Indeed, I watched his performance in the last two episodes. I wouldn't say he's on par with you, but I think he's qualified. I never expected that a former pop idol would be willing to play in a band!"

Hearing the positive feedback from rock music fans, Bian Lang felt even more confident: "Let's enjoy ourselves tonight."

"Brother Lang, will I ever have the chance to see you perform with Hedgehog again?"

Bian Lang wasn't sure about this either. Once he was out of the ban, he could indeed put on a show with Hedgehog, but by then Hedgehog would probably have his own things to do!
"Not necessarily, we'll see how things go!"

This music fan wasn't too disappointed. In his opinion, some things just need a little imperfection to truly make them worth cherishing.

As soon as the pole dancing ended, the crowd began to swarm towards the coconut tree stage like locusts.

Finally, not wanting to cause any trouble, Bian Lang didn't go on stage. However, he asked the staff to hand him the microphone from the lead singer, and he stood below the stage and said to the fans, "Thank you all for coming to support the Rolling Stones Festival and Hedgehog!"
Although I couldn't lead Hedgehog to the end of The Big Band, I feel their performance was no worse than when I was the lead vocalist. Now, let's all call them onto the stage... Hedgehog! Hedgehog!

Bian Lang's actions sparked a wave of enthusiasm among music fans, who began calling for more members.

The band members behind the curtain on stage were all fired up by Bian Lang's words. Especially Xia Yuxi!
He always felt that the handover of the lead singer of Hedgehog was a bit too hasty. Putting aside the sense of ceremony, he always felt that Bian Lang's personal endorsement in front of the fans was missing, and the change of lead singer was a bit illegitimate.

Although today's "handover ceremony" was a bit simple, he felt that it was enough!
So after the black curtain was drawn, he excitedly ran to the front of the stage, knelt down, and took the microphone that Bian Lang had handed back to him.

"Thank you, Brother Lang! Thank you to all the music fans and supporters for giving me, Xia Yuxi, this chance to be reborn... From now on, I hope that when people hear a song, their first thought will be Hedgehog Band, and then my name, lead singer Xia Yuxi!"
Thank you everyone... for bringing you "The Longing for Life"!

No sooner had Xia Yuxi finished speaking than the sound of Strauss's guitar came through, followed by Xia Yuxi's singing voice coming from the electronic speakers:
"The body... is destroyed by desire and drugs."
A strong heart, filtered by time, sways in the wind.
Memories...stretched like ribbons in time and space.
A sorrow that lingers between tear-filled eyes, an empty pillow, and the rooftop…

During previous rehearsals, Xia Yuxi felt that his singing of this song hadn't quite achieved the effect he wanted. Whether it was the outward presentation or his inner emotions, it always felt like something was missing. But after Bian Lang's guidance today, he suddenly found his groove.

Even Dingding, who had followed the rehearsals all the way, could clearly feel the difference. While singing in harmony, Dingding thought to herself, "In the end, I finally managed to connect with you. Keep it up, let's do it together!"

(End of this chapter)