Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 380 Band Group

“You guys really had a great time on this publicly funded trip,” Zheng said, turning his head. “But I’ve only ever seen this place online in Dadu; I’ve never actually been here.”

A high-intensity tour is no easy task, but it's perfectly manageable for them, who come from a monastery.

The Nolan Street project was larger in scale, so they spent more time there than in the previous locations. The initial performance was a completely impromptu decision; Tickman drove them in a large van, embarking on a spontaneous trip.

Four shows were held on Stanley Street, each a simple stage set up by renting a large open-air venue, which helped the monastery band gain initial recognition. The vibrant musical culture of Stanley Street provided considerable support for the spread of the monastery band's fame.

These heavyweight and excellent pieces of music, combined with the current disaster context, bring hope to countless people after the catastrophe.

Riding this wave, countless people have fallen in love with their band, and the number of videos recorded by fans during their performances being shared online is staggering. They are now showing signs of becoming a cultural symbol in the post-disaster era.

That feeling of freedom is great, but it would be even better with sponsorship.

If anyone says they don't want their band to be more famous and their songs to be heard by more people, Doris will definitely slap that person and say that she really does want to.

Sponsorship provides access to better promotional resources within the Dadu system, while also enabling them to move to larger platforms.

In this regard, Mr. Tickman has truly excelled, acting as an agent to meticulously select the companies that flock to them.

Anyway, Doris and her group are fearless. It would be best if they could help, but if it really doesn't work, they can just keep scrambling like this.

They are the ones who created a trend online. The fact that such a band could still self-fund a tour amidst the chaos of the disaster is a signal in itself. Smart people won't overlook this.

It's important to know that Doris and her group are able to tour in the Grey District, or rather, their main tour area is in the Grey District; the White District wasn't originally on their itinerary.

Doris felt that the White District didn't need them, and that the Grey District was definitely more in need of comfort than the White District.

It's not that there aren't similar music companies and artists who want to use the guise of comforting the victims of the disaster to hold charity performances and gain a lot of reputation and fame, but they can basically only perform in the White City area.

For them, performing in the grey neighborhood is a thankless and dangerous job, and even charity performances don't necessarily bring in enough revenue.

The Monastery Band, completely unconcerned about any dangers or profits, became the first to take the plunge and perform around the grey neighborhood.

This is also a factor in their ability to set trends, and even companies and artists find it difficult to replicate them.

The Monastery Band, with their strong vocal abilities, pioneered this path. Others following suit might not even get a piece of the action; their priority should be ensuring the Monastery Band leaves unscathed after their performances. "Passionate interactions" with fans are commonplace at Monastery Band performances, especially as their popularity grows. And right now, it's a low point for public safety in the capital.

There are many people who can fight and many people who can make music, but why would someone who can fight and make music decide to put on a show in a gray neighborhood?
And so, some bands who were feeling down got to enjoy themselves.

In any case, this is a success that is hard to replicate, and others can only feel envious.

Tickman did not disappoint Doris, finding a production company that was trustworthy enough to help them without overly restricting their decision-making.

The band's development direction and plans can generally be decided by themselves, and then they only need to discuss and confirm with the company.

In terms of terms, they offered quite a lot of sincerity.

So, after a few self-funded performances, the monastery band officially debuted.

Since they were being so accommodating, the monastery band tried their best to cooperate with the company's small-scale promotional activities as long as it didn't violate their principles and bottom lines.

For example, on Nolan Street, they've been there for quite a while, and the band's own rehearsals and practice sessions are frequent, but the performance date keeps getting postponed.

The reason is that there is a big project in Nolan Street, a joint performance, and many companies are bringing their own artists to take this opportunity to ride on the popularity of the Abbey Band.

Even just one stop on Nolan Street would be more than enough.

The joint performance by many already well-known musicians and the currently hottest monastery band immediately generated a lot of buzz online.

The news about the Zero Subway, which was brewing in secret, was suppressed. After all, the audience was completely different, and many ordinary people in the White City were also paying attention to this.

“We don’t know how much longer things will drag on over there, so we came out to travel and see the sights. This place is quite famous in many places,” Doris said, leaning closer.

Zheng Fan was slightly annoyed: "Is it still not done? It's been almost a week since I came to rehearse last time. We've never stayed this long before." He was mainly concerned because the next stop was originally scheduled to be Xixi Keke.

Binary Sister and that noisy old woman Hong Yijia are too lazy or unable to travel far, and they were hoping they would come over, but they've been stuck here for so long.

What a makeshift operation.

“There are disagreements between some companies and their peers, and some of the peers who were originally scheduled to participate seem to have a lot of things to deal with themselves.” Doris was fairly understanding, although she was also quite annoyed.

However, the company that signed them is really great. It's not a large company, but the boss is very knowledgeable about music, has plenty of funds, and is kind and easy to talk to. You can tell that in addition to the basic company profit, they also have other pursuits. Such a production company is simply hard to come by.

Therefore, Doris still intends to support the company's decision.

Hopefully, they can withstand the combined pressure from multiple parties. It's incredibly stressful for a small to medium-sized company to be the organizer of this joint performance, surrounded by so many giants.

Some so-called giants are even here to poach talent from other companies.

"What could be the point of disagreement?" Zheng countered.

“It’s mainly the performance venue,” Doris said simply.

Tao Zhi walked over. Although he couldn't see or hear Zheng Fan, it wasn't difficult for him to fill in the blanks in Doris's conversation. He explained in detail, "We're here to perform in Nolan Street, so naturally we'll be performing there. But other companies still don't approve of this risk. They prefer to hold it in Saint Wood Town, where the conditions are better in all aspects, and more people from the White City will be willing to come."

Mora frowned and continued, "But after the disaster, the movement of people between the gray and white neighborhoods has become more strictly controlled. In addition, there have been too many mobile crimes recently, and this morning we heard that a major wanted criminal has come to Nolan. I'm afraid there won't be many people from the gray neighborhoods who can come to the scene."

"Tsk, not too surprising," Zheng clicked his tongue. "So what else did the people who were originally scheduled to participate have? Are they going to keep others waiting if things don't go well?"

There's so much trivial stuff going on.

Regarding this question, Doris gave a complicated look: "Uh, it seems that several members of well-known bands and groups died in the earthquake. The company was initially in a hurry to help them negotiate collaborations and generate buzz, and after finalizing the outline of the collaborations, they rushed back to find them, only to discover that they were all gone..."

“…Ha.” Zheng Fan laughed heartily after a brief silence.

Tao Zhi added, "We urged them before, and the company said they would have a result within the next few days at the latest. We hope that's true. Otherwise, we plan to proceed at our own pace."

As they spoke, the band members who had gathered exchanged glances, showing no signs of unease and understanding each other implicitly.

"So Tickman is still busy." Zheng paid tribute to the dedicated Mr. Tickman.

“Mr. Tickman has certainly had a hard time, but we occasionally sneak back by bus to put on special shows for Nim. Nim really likes us now.” Doris’s tone, which had been stiff from the trivial matter, softened slightly when she mentioned the little guy.

“But remember to discipline him and make sure he studies hard instead of just showing off our autographed albums at school. Many classes were suspended during the earthquake, and schools have just reopened. It’s a time for a fresh start. What if he can’t get into a good school district in the future?” Gao Song suddenly asked.

"Huh? Is that so?" Mora frowned immediately.

"Yes, I found out, but I haven't spoken to him directly yet, nor have I told Tickman. You guys should stop spoiling him too much lately."

Tao Zhi: "This is really serious. I'll help him catch up on his studies when I have time."

"Should we tell Mr. Tickman?" Doris's first thought was to let Nim's father handle it, while her mother, because Nim had been kidnapped once before, also doted on him.

"Tikman is usually a good person, but last time Nim casually used the power of the Seed of Light to injure a classmate, and after his parents were called in, Tikman beat him so badly that the whole house could hear his crying?" Gao Song said calmly.

It turns out you're the gentlest one, Gao Song.

“Then I’ll go back and talk to him,” Mora said seriously.

Zheng Fan, watching from the side, couldn't help but laugh.

Nim is so lucky to have all of you older brothers and sisters.

(End of this chapter)