The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1765 Long Queue
Thump. Thump. Thump.

Blair Miller's heart was pounding. Nothing was happening for the time being, but just thinking about Anson's new album release made her heart start pounding wildly. The boiling blood made her restless and unable to calm down. She could no longer lie down.

Actually, Blair didn't fall asleep until 4 a.m. last night, but now it's not even 7 a.m. and he's already awake, he couldn't be more energetic.

Blair sat up abruptly, quickly washed his face like a cat, unzipped the tent, crawled out, breathed in the crisp, cool air of a New York autumn morning, stretched out a big yawn, and then the bustling noise surged in.

Clearly, she wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping.

At a glance, the beautiful morning had already begun. A row of neat tents stretched along the straight streets of Manhattan, which resembled a checkerboard pattern. People brushing their teeth, people with bloodshot eyes still gesturing and talking excitedly, people squatting by the roadside eating compressed biscuits, and people cheerfully calling to their companions moved between the tents, creating a scene that contrasted with the hustle and bustle of a Friday morning in New York.

They all came for Anson.

Some people might be wondering, "This is just an album release, not a movie premiere. You should know that, right?" The album isn't limited; anyone can buy it just by walking into a record store!
Given that Warner Music is responsible for distributing this album, the distribution should be very extensive. You might not even need to go to chain record stores; you could easily buy it at Walmart or a street newsstand.

queue?

Why are we queuing? There's absolutely no need to queue! Have all these people lost their minds?

More importantly, it is now 2004, and digital music is becoming increasingly widespread. They are now discussing Anson, who has collaborated with Apple twice to release legitimate online music, pioneering a new era and changing the entire record industry. This time, Anson's solo album should be the same.

If digital music can be easily downloaded and listened to, who would still buy physical albums?

These fanatics... I really can't understand them, they're a bunch of lunatics.

Blair was absolutely certain that they all knew about it, but someone had gotten there a full seventy-two hours earlier, setting up camp in front of the record store.

Blair thought he was crazy enough by preparing to set up his tent 36 hours in advance, but after hearing the news, he hurriedly went to the record store a few hours earlier. There were already more than 20 neat tents in front of him, which was astonishing.

Moreover, it's not just one chain of record stores.

As far as Blair knew, there were already fourteen chain record stores in Manhattan alone where crazy fans had camped out in front of them.

reason?

They longed to buy the album as soon as possible, to experience its quality firsthand, and to hear the melodies flowing from their portable music players immediately—a truly authentic experience that digital audio sources could not provide.

Of course, Blair thought he was the only one who held this view. After all, movies are movies and music is music; they are two completely different things. Artists can make cameo appearances, but the general public may not necessarily buy into it. Now it seems that Blair underestimated Anson's influence.

They did not anticipate the impact of the Grammy Awards' "Don't Be So Serious" performance, nor did they anticipate the historic steps taken by "The Sunflower."

Last night, in the chilly autumn wind, they chatted excitedly and enthusiastically, their conversation revolving around Anson. They didn't even realize that it was already past midnight. If it weren't for the fact that today is the album release date, and they weren't reminding themselves to conserve their energy, they would have been prepared to stay up all night.

“…Blair, Blair!”

Not far away, from the back of the group, Karen Fox jogged along, her eyes brimming with excitement, and she started jumping up and down as she ran.

"The group has already turned onto the next street, and then another street. I reckon it'll be biting its head like a snake very soon." "A thousand people. I guarantee it, at least a thousand people."

Blair laughed out loud. "Have you caught Gloria's bug? She said last night that there were at least three thousand people in line in Los Angeles. That's ridiculous."

Karen's eyes widened. "Los Angeles has three thousand people? Then we have at least five thousand here!"

Blair didn't take it seriously at all and chuckled.

Then a voice came from the direction of the tent behind, "The latest news says there are 50,000 people in New York, 30,000 in Los Angeles, and 25,000 in Chicago."

Blair and Karen both gaped in disbelief, turning to look at each other with their eyes clearly saying: How could this be!

Without explanation, the person in the tent behind silently turned up the radio volume.

"...San Francisco. Seattle. Houston. Dallas. Atlanta. Boston. And so on. In all these cities, the lines outside chain record stores have exceeded 10,000 people."

"Currently, the queues are still growing. It is predicted that New York may see at least 100,000 people queuing, not only in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but also on Long Island, where queues are gradually extending."

One hundred thousand people?
What exactly is that concept?
In a global market environment of general decline in the record industry, with digital music sources completely encroaching on the traditional music market, physical album sales are facing severe challenges as they continue to decline; yet now, people are lining up in long lines to buy albums as soon as possible?
Language becomes pale and powerless in the face of reality. Only by standing on the scene and experiencing it firsthand can one feel Anson's appeal.

The whole of Hollywood was in an uproar.

Gloria Preston was queuing outside a chain record store in Century City. She could clearly see that major talent agencies, public relations firms, and even film companies were gradually getting restless. It seemed that they were all shocked after hearing the news on their way to work that morning and were all out trying to find out more.

The moment he personally confirmed that the long line in front of him was all there for Anson, his expression was particularly interesting, even more impactful than the box office numbers of "Spider-Man 2".

After all, numbers are just numbers. Everyone knows how powerful a set of numbers is, but they can never compare to the heatwave and crowds you experience in real life. Seeing a densely packed line of people just to buy an album right now makes your brain completely shut down.

So, is this Anson?

Then, Gloria immediately noticed the change on the display screen above the Century City skyscraper, and involuntarily gasped and covered her mouth.

People around noticed Gloria's reaction and looked up as if they were witnessing the spectacular moment of the solar eclipse.

A line of text appeared on the big screen—

"Anson Wood, 'Dawn Breaks'."

59:59.

The row of numbers below was clearly a countdown, and as the seconds were decreasing one by one, the sense of reality struck my heart like never before.

(End of this chapter)