Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

End The band members looked at each other.

Finally, this moment has arrived.

……

In STARRY's backstage preparation room, in the room prepared for the band's closing.

As the sunny characters in the team, Hongxia and Kita have been working hard to cheer everyone up.

Qiu Hui stared at herself in the makeup mirror in a daze, recalling the details of the fingering and some insignificant little questions that popped up for some reason.

"Thanks to me, I feel like I have a lot of extravagant worries now that the band is over," she sighed.

Since she was backstage, she didn't deliberately speak in Qiu Rangzi's way.

"You mean luxurious?" Ryo asked.

"Generally, new bands worry about problems like no one paying attention and not being able to sell tickets," Akie explained. "But for a band that has just finished its first show, they need to worry about having too many followers."

She turned her head and looked at Goto Ichiri: "Especially Pochi, you are not good at dealing with situations with too many people, right?"

"That's right. Although I've tried my best to overcome it, I'm still worried that something might go wrong..." Ichiri expressed his opinion tremblingly, "Can you think of some way? For example, use a huge cardboard box to trap me..."

“How can we play it like that?” Akie shook her head. “Besides, the impression is too weird.”

"It's okay!" Hongxia patted Yili's shoulder, "As long as we work hard together, it won't be a problem even if we fail!"

"You can think of it this way," Akie suggested, "It would be great if the performance was successful, but if it fails, we can avoid a series of troubles that come with commercialization."

Goto Ichiri shook his head: "...Akie doesn't have to force herself to find reasons to comfort me, it's okay."

Feeling a little embarrassed, Togawa Aie closed her mouth helplessly.

However, what she said also makes sense.

At this point, it would be superfluous to say anything more.

"Everyone who has finished the band, it's time to get ready for the stage, eh?"

The sound engineer appeared at the door and greeted everyone with a smile.

"…It's our turn now."

"It's our turn now."

"Hey, before we start, should we set up a circle like we did during the review?"

"Isn't it good?"

Then the five people stood in a circle around the center of the circle and stretched out their hands to form a five-pointed star shape.

"Let's agree on a slogan this time, right? Don't be so messed up like last time..."

"Then how about just cheering for him?"

"It's settled! Three! Two! One!"

Everyone shouted at the same time.

"--come on!"

Chapter 118 When the Show Begins

Qiu Hui, the last one to go on stage, used the dim light on the stage to see the situation below the stage clearly.

Judging by LIVEHOUSE standards, there were surprisingly many guests today.

In the crowded crowd, Qiu Hui seemed to have discovered something similar to a light sign.

And when the spotlight came on, the audience below the stage suddenly burst into loud cheers.

"Akirako!"

"Teacher Qiu! We respect and love you!"

"——!"

There were even fans who looked like high school girls holding light signs and waving glow sticks in the audience.

Beside them, Chihaya Aine shouted loudly and waved vigorously at Akiko on the stage.

The light beside Aine stared at Akirako on the stage with wide eyes. She subconsciously wanted to retreat behind Aine, but she was grabbed by the arm and raised up suddenly. She could only wave her hand with her shy face.

Of course, without her glasses, Qiu Hui couldn't tell who was who, so she could only wave slightly in the direction of the most conspicuous signboard.

The high school girls suddenly erupted in exaggerated screams, and even Aine joined in the fun with great interest.

In addition to the cheers, there were also discussions from other people in the audience.

"What's this ending band? I've never heard of it!"

"High school bands. I don't know why they're so popular these days."

"That masked guy seems to be a celebrity... What does he do?"

"Isn't this just forcible gain? There is such a strange business method. Teacher Akizoko should quickly change to another library."

"What the hell is this guitarist doing, wearing sportswear on stage? That's kind of funny."

"..."

The barrier between the stage and the auditorium has played a positive role to a certain extent.

Those unintentional words that might hurt others were blocked from the five people on the stage.

"Hello everyone!" Kita Ikuyo shouted, "Thank you all for coming to our store tonight! We are the closing band responsible for warming up the audience! It's our first meeting, please give us your guidance!"

The cheers from the audience gradually subsided.

"Today's first song is a cover song... 'Airdore'! Everyone, please listen!"

The announcement of the song immediately sparked another round of heated discussion among the audience.

"Oh! I really like this song!"

"I've never seen this band before, I don't know if they can sing well..."

"I laughed. I paid money to come to the live house, why should I continue to listen to such crappy songs played in convenience stores?"

"Great! Long live YOASOBI!"

"Well, I was just saying that young people nowadays have poor taste in music. This is how the Japanese record industry is being ruined..."

"..."

Togawa Akiie, who was waiting on the stage, could only occasionally hear a few words of discussion from the audience.

But even so, it was enough for her to grasp the current situation.

Yes. That's what real performances are like. There's no telepathy like in the animation, but just a mixture of all kinds of emotions, from love to disgust to indifference.

If you like someone, praise them; if you hate them, spit on them; if you don’t care, turn around and leave.

Compared to the performers, the audience's thoughts are much more casual.

But Togawa Aie was not discouraged at all.

On the contrary, this cold and ruthless atmosphere made her feel friendly.

Because this is society outside of the family - no one is obligated to take your emotions into consideration.

If you want respect, you can only earn it with your own strength...

...With this long-prepared determination in mind, Togawa Akeie, who was active on the stage under the name of Akiyoko, began to fulfill her duties.

Introduction. Then comes the fast-paced verse. It is necessary to provide support for Kita's singing and Ichiri's lead guitar, give full play to the advantages of rich timbre, and fill in the background of the melody.

According to the store manager's instructions, I should invest more emotion...

...Even if you don't really do it, you should at least pretend to do it!

With all her might, Akiie... no, Akiyoko, began the performance she had been preparing for for a long time.

The closing band on the stage played "Aidor" arranged by Yamada Ryo.

Although Liang's arrangement mainly involves simplification, it also incorporates the ideas and opinions of Liang and the End Band.

This personality conveyed through the performance created all kinds of ripples in the audience.

"This is an interesting change... I actually handled it this way."

"What the hell, this is so bad! It's better to just play the original song!"

"Well, asking a high school student to handle such a complicated arrangement would lead to such an embarrassing situation."

"I see, that's a good idea! I like it!"

"..."

Togawa Akee, or Akihoko, handled the melody and motive indifferently.

Although she had not been exposed to music for a long time, the few classical piano principles she had mastered under the pressure of her father still played their due role as the basis of her skills.

Like a lone performing machine, she had no other thoughts except to squeeze out the most out of her skills.

The specific details have been honed countless times during the long practice process. As long as you follow the existing results, you can perfectly reproduce the idea in the form of notes.

Even if harmless mistakes occur occasionally, they can be covered up by bold handling.

If we continue like this, maybe this performance will have a good result...

…The touch from her fingertips gave Qiu Rangzi on the stage such confidence.

……

“…I feel like something is missing.”

Xingge, who was watching everything from the end of the audience, shook her head.

"What's missing?" asked the sound engineer.

"…How should I put it? It's like the difference between putting five chopsticks side by side and tying them into a bundle." Xingge replied, "Do you understand what I mean?"

"I think I understand." The sound engineer smiled meaningfully.

She looked at the five people on the stage with interest.

"How do they plan to end it?"

……

"Hey, Xiao Deng, why do you look unhappy?"

Chihaya Aine stopped cheering and turned to look at Deng, who seemed to be in a bad mood since a while ago.

"...I'm very happy." Deng lowered his head slightly.

Aine sighed: “This is not happiness at all!”

After staring at Deng's expression for a while, she asked tentatively, "Did Xiao Deng feel that Qiu Rongzi's performance was... a little off?"

Although I think the atmosphere is joyful and the seniors’ performances are passionate, if it is Xiao Deng, maybe her judging criteria will be subtly different from mine?

"...Yeah." Deng nodded, "Something's not right."

She raised her head and looked at the masked Qiu Rangzi on the stage.

"I have a feeling. Teacher Akioko seems to be... suppressing something."

"It's hard for me to describe, but... I just have a feeling."

"If it was the real Akira, the music she played probably shouldn't be... like this."

Chapter 119: Beacon in Chaos

The first cover song was finally completed without any major problems.

"Thank you! Thank you everyone!"

Even though she was soaked with sweat, Kitana Yokaku's unique fiery temperament remained unextinguished. She thanked everyone with a smile, which in turn brought cheers from the audience.