Rock and Roll: Glorious Years

The entire audience fell silent as everyone watched Bian Lang walk into the center of the stage, which was surrounded by various musical instruments. He then sat down on a small round stool and picked up his Epiphone acoustic guitar.

After adjusting the headset and testing the sound, Bian Lang held the neck of the guitar with his left hand and pressed down the C chord. As he swept the strings with the pick in his right hand, a light and cheerful intro began to echo in the venue.

Immediately after playing a loop of Am, F, and G chords, Bian Lang quickly tapped the computer screen next to him with his right hand, and the acoustic guitar loop began to play again.

Seeing Bian Lang put down his acoustic guitar and pick up his electric guitar, the on-site director instinctively picked up the walkie-talkie and instructed, "Camera number 2, go over there and keep showing Da Te. I'll switch to the big screen as needed."

When a close-up of Bian Lang appeared on the big screen, the little witch in the audience exclaimed in surprise: "OMG! Awesome! They're going to do a live Loop Station! This is rock music! A live rock concert with a Loop Station! Guys, this...this..."

He wasn't the only one rambling incoherently; anyone in the live stream who knew what Loop Station was all about was cursing him to death!

Only one user with the ID "Green Vine Cannon King" expressed dissatisfaction: "Are you kidding me? I don't believe anyone in China can play Loop Station live like a rock musician. If this guy succeeds, I'll livestream myself doing a handstand and eating shit. Also, this crappy livestreaming equipment can't compare to the official Magic Disc account at all. I'm outta here!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a row of comments flooded the live stream chat: "Screenshot taken!"

This kind of spiel made Little Witch a little angry. The purpose of Magic Disc inviting them was to increase Li Yiliang's popularity among rock music fans, not to contribute traffic to their official account. This kind of inexplicable paid trolls are obviously only worth 5 cents a month.

But she had no choice. Watching the audience gradually dwindle, she endured it in order to make a living. She no longer wanted to give away the autographed CDs of Li Yiliang that she had originally planned to give away!

Suddenly, an idea struck her. Remembering the driver's words, she immediately sent a message to the live stream: "Give me some support, guys! If this gets over a million likes, I'll ask the driver to get you guys a signed EP from the superstar!"

This remark immediately caused an uproar in the live stream chat: "Wow, that's great! I'll go to the official Magic Disc account and call in some people for you right now!"

Looking at Bian Lang again, after switching to the electric guitar, he didn't start playing immediately. He just pressed a C7 chord while tapping the beat with his feet.

Bian Lang only began strumming after the acoustic guitar had completed eight bars of its rhythmic cycle.

With the addition of electric guitar strumming, the layering of this intro immediately rises to a whole new level.

Standing in the center of the stage, Zhu Yan nodded silently, giving his own assessment in his mind: "This intro is great! Loop station live! Bian Lang, you absolutely mustn't mess this up!"

Old Tan, who was watching from the side of the stage, cried out that he had been tricked. If he had known that Bian Lang was practicing this at the bar that night, he would have stayed up all night with him.

At this moment, Bian Lang had already played the 16th measure. Amid everyone's anticipation, the husky and magnetic baritone voice, mixed with nasal resonance, came from behind the mask: "My favorite record store, yesterday was its last day. The fragments that once captivated me are all scattered on the street..." The electric guitar had changed from strumming to PM's single-note loop.

"Um... I thought the electric guitar was the lead guitar, but it turns out it's the rhythm guitar. Brilliant, that's interesting..." At this point, Zhu Yan's expectations for Bian Lang rose even higher.

Meanwhile, Li Yiliang, who was preparing backstage, was starting to get a little nervous, glancing frequently toward the mixing console.

Sensing his change in mood, Wei Lan stepped forward to comfort him, "Don't be nervous, it's just a warm-up. He's a guitarist, so it's not surprising that he can play these kinds of instruments. But if it's just these two guitars, the final effect might not be amazing."

"Bian Lang prepared this in advance. Those lyrics were just to fool us. How come I never realized he was so cunning before?"

Although his tone was a bit harsh, Li Yiliang's thoughts were basically the same as Wei Lan's.

He knows Bian Lang well; he's just a guitarist, maybe with an "inaudible" bass at most. As for drums and keyboards, Bian Lang basically doesn't know them. Even if the accompaniment was pre-recorded, the live performance of Loop Station can only be described as a concept.

What was initially a decent song will ultimately be criticized as a poor imitation. Not only will it be brought up by industry insiders, but online gurus will also relentlessly criticize Bian Lang until he's driven to despair!

Just as Li Yiliang had predicted, Bian Lang, who had fixed the electric guitar loop, sang while putting down the electric guitar and picking up the bass.

The song continued: "My favorite bookstore, it didn't survive the summer either, the words of memory flow with nostalgia, but there's nothing left to reminisce about..." After this part was sung, the "inaudible" bass joined in.

Of course, the inability to hear the bass was only from the perspective of the average fan; how could Qiu Luo, the bassist, not hear it? Excitedly, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Such a steady rhythm! How can this bass sound so good? Lang-ge, where did you secretly go to cultivate immortality without us knowing!"

"But all your dreams have become blurred and invisible, and those battles fought for your ideals were nothing more than for money..."

With the lyrics of the verses conveying a sense of questioning and criticism, the audience could already hear the underlying doubts and critiques – this is what rock lyrics should be like in their hearts!

Zhou Yimo, the director of Qiu Luo's film, is also a rock music fan. Sitting in the guest area, he felt very uncomfortable. Shouldn't this kind of event be about standing and having fun?

He stood up, put his right hand to his mouth, whistled, and gave a metallic salute to the stage, startling the media people around him.

The anchor behind him, whose camera was blocked, patted him on the shoulder, gesturing for him to sit down. Zhou Yimo gave him a disdainful look, then walked out of the guest area and squeezed outside to join in the fun.

Bian Lang's singing voice remained the same: "But the person I hate the most, he never died in front of me. He grew old before he was even young. There is no solution to this life!" However, he had put down the bass and moved to the drum set.

After a short interlude, Bian Lang struck the tom-tom with his drumsticks, followed by the snare drum and the tom-tom.

At the same time, the song began again: "No space for me... no space for me... no space for me... no space for me..."

The fact that a lyric was repeated four times is enough to highlight its importance.

Many fans in the audience had just gotten off work and rushed over, while others had finally managed to get rid of their wives and children to come... In short, there weren't many relaxed people.

Isn't this lyric now a reflection of the reality for each of them?

During the morning rush hour, there is no space on the roads, no space on the subway and buses, and no space on breakfast shops!

In the workplace, newcomers have no room to stand out, veterans have no room to get promoted, and bosses have no room to rest!

When I get home, it's all about my kids, wife, and parents. There's no space to read, no space to play games, and not even the simplest kind of time to be alone!

A sophisticatedly dressed female office worker immediately took off her coat and long-sleeved shirt, revealing her beautiful back and a large expanse of skin. She ripped off her chestnut-colored wig, letting her short, pink buzz cut sway wildly in the air, and then shouted, "I have no space!"

Li Yiliang listened intently, clenching his fists and cursing inwardly: "If I had had a space in the industry before, why would I have done this? Also, what's going on with Bian Lang's drum set? He actually kept it from me..."

Just when everyone expected the chorus to start, Bian Lang put down his drumsticks, fixed the loop on the drum kit, and moved the chair to the keyboard.

The newly added keyboard sounds mingled with the singing: "The person you once loved, you'll never see again in this life. You wait on these cultural ruins, and no one thinks you're wild anymore..."

"Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, keyboard, drums... This guy is a one-man band!"

The top-ranked influencer was typing in the live stream chat, silently praying that the stream wouldn't go too popular. As a well-known freelance agent in the industry, watching various niche music bloggers' live streams every day is part of her routine. She also has a collaboration with Little Witch.

Her goal was to find hidden gems among those overlooked by large companies, sign them, give them a little polishing, and then sell the contracts to those big companies, essentially earning a brokerage fee. Clearly, Bian Lang's performance had already shown her the potential for a seven-figure brokerage fee.

She glanced at the 123 million likes in the live stream, saw the top-ranked woman send a donation, sent a private message to the little witch, and then took a taxi to the airport. She began to pray that she could get there faster than others.

After setting up the keyboard loop, Bian Lang moved to the drum set, singing and tapping his feet to the beat.

Hearing this, Da Kun backstage just wanted to slap himself a few times. Based on Bian Lang's performance so far today, Da Kun felt that he might never be able to catch up in his lifetime.

"Damn it! I shouldn't have agreed to let Li Yiliang let me play for Lang Ge. I'm afraid I'll get roasted by the fans!"

The most nervous and expectant person right now is the sound engineer. In his monitoring, Bian Lang's performance in the verses can only be described as perfect. Whether it's the instruments or the vocals, there's absolutely no rushing or dragging of the beat, and every word of the lyrics is in tune.

"If the chorus doesn't fall flat, then it will be a truly divine live performance!" The reason for this concern is that his professional experience tells him that the arrival of the chorus will definitely be accompanied by complex drum kits and embellishments, and in everyone's impression, Bian Lang has always just been a guitarist.

"Those revered temples only hold power in the hearts of the ignorant. I live in my own pigsty, and tonight I will not sleep..."

After the last verse was sung, the long-awaited chorus finally arrived. Bian Lang's voice suddenly rose an octave, using his true voice and chest resonance to force the song, while his drumsticks fell like raindrops!

"I don't want to die in failure and loneliness, I don't want to live forever underground, a product of material deception, a hurried ant, where the uncultured don't feel sorrow..."

If the previous verse was about questioning, then the current chorus completely unleashes the spirit of perseverance, struggle, and upward striving inherent in rock music!

Under the influence of the frenzied drumbeats, the hysterical energy in Bian Lang's singing was amplified infinitely, and the entire venue was swept up in a frenzy.