The venue for the performance was Shin-Okubo. Having been involved in the underground music scene for so long, Shinichi Iwahashi was familiar with various performance venues in the central area. When Akamatsu Haruko told him the name of the livehouse, he knew where it was.
After eating, Iwahashi Shinichi took five girls and set off in a grand manner.
This formation is very spectacular, like a tour guide taking foreign tourists to strange places.
Shin-Okubo is part of the city that never sleeps in Shinjuku. When night falls, it also enters the "inside" world. The four girls from Rabbit Country were startled when they looked at the streets that seemed to have turned upside down.
Is this also Tokyo?
Tokyo is orderly and even a little oppressive during the day. This is Tokyo.
At night, Tokyo is so chaotic that outsiders find it unbelievable.
Tokyo has a thousand faces.
Shinichi Iwahashi led the girls out of the street surrounded by colorful signs and came to a building. A narrow light sign hung on the building pointed to the floor where the livehouse was located.
The six people walked towards the stairs leading to the underground floor. A performance poster was posted at the entrance, which said "Tonight is the bluehearts special performance."
The poster was quite formal, not the usual hand-drawn posters for underground musicians, but a printed poster with a photo of the band, with four young people on it.
The young man labeled "lead singer Komoto Hiroto" has short hair that is almost like a monk's head, and his eyes are wild and perverse. The guitarist Mashima Masari who is next to him on the shoulder wears a big turban and is a bit neurotic.
a feeling of.
The bassist Junnosuke Kawaguchi is a cute little fat guy, and the drummer Tetsuya Kajiwara is a thin young man with a punk haircut that is shaved on both sides and combed upward in the middle.
There was an endless stream of spectators pouring into this livehouse. Iwahashi Shinichi had no prejudice or ideas about the band's genre. He just said, based on the professional inertia of a manager: "It seems to be quite popular."
Akamatsu Haruko said to him, "I heard that the band's lead singer Komoto Hiroto-san and guitarist Mashima Masari-san were originally members of a band called thebreake, and they had already accumulated a certain amount of popularity at that time. Later the band
After disbanding, Komoto-san and Majima-san formed the current band together."
"Yeah."
"Recently, the band seems to have signed with a record company, and may have begun preparations for a mainstream debut. The current performance can be regarded as a 'routine training.'" Akamatsu Haruko told him what she knew.
The band's live performance is full of charm that cannot be seen on records or TV. Therefore, even a band that has signed with a record company will perform non-stop live performances during the polishing period before its official debut.
After establishing a company, contacting the record company for performances was immediately transferred to the record company.
They will arrange performances for the band just like organizing a concert, and there will also be record company specialists who will observe them on site to provide opinions after the performance.
"I see." Now that the band is famous and has an owner, Shinichi Iwahashi has put away his scrutinizing mentality as a businessman and replaced it with the mentality of a pure appreciator.
This conversation was in Japanese. The four Rabbit Country girls were confused and could only look at the poster and the endless stream of viewers.
After chatting, Shinichi Iwahashi greeted them, "Let's go."
…
During the punk band's performance, there were many spectators in strange costumes. The four girls followed Shinichi Iwahashi vigorously, as if they were worried about little lambs being snatched away by the big bad wolf.
The front of the stage was already full, and good seats were hard to come by. The six people squeezed forward reluctantly, and just as they stood still, there was a commotion from the front of the venue, and cheers spread to the back.
The six of them didn't know what was going on, just like playing a game of passing things, taking the cheers from the people in front and passing the cheers to the people behind.
The four girls were a bit reluctant to let go, like children who were too shy to express their opinions in front of the noisy crowd.
On a small stage filled with musical instruments, the four members of the band stood on the stage. The lead singer Hiroto Kamoto faced the audience and said the opening words in a decent manner: "Good evening, we are the bluehearts!"
Just looking at it this way, they are a very normal band.
This thought only lasted for five seconds. As the drummer finished counting the beats, Komoto Hiroshi sang the first lyrics acapella: "I love those gentle songs crazily." The guitar sound was added, and the typhoon immediately changed.
He pulled his neck and widened his eyes, as if a snake had wrapped around his neck and was unable to breathe. He roared on the stage, kicked his legs hard, jumped around like a frog, and sang the famous song at the top of his lungs.
A song called "人にやさしく" (Be gentle with others).
Okay, this performance is very punk.
Iwahashi Shinichi and Akamatsu Haruko often hang out in the underground music circle, and they both know what's going on, but the four girls from the Rabbit Country were shocked and didn't know how to react.
They didn't understand the lyrics, and they didn't understand why they couldn't sing well. However, the people around them were very enthusiastic, and out of group conformity, they tried their best to imitate the behavior of the people around them.
After all, when people are free to act, they often imitate each other.
Wang Xiaofang couldn't understand the lyrics, and she didn't understand why singing had to be done in such a laborious way. Although it seemed like she was messing around, she knew that this would consume more energy than singing properly.
She looked at the band on the stage and thought while imitating the people around her.
After singing three hot songs, the fourth song was a ballad. The lead singer who was jumping up and down just now quieted down and played a sad interlude on the blues harmonica.
It was "normal" for a while, giving Wang Xiaofang a buffer. However, after the song ended, it was another song with the same suffocating singing style as before.
As soon as he came out of that gentle atmosphere, he was immediately hit by a new round of impact. Looking at the lead singer who seemed to have his neck stuck, Wang Xiaofang had a flash of inspiration and suddenly discovered the meaning of this singing method.
It seemed like a person whose mouth was covered and his throat was choked, unable to speak, struggling desperately to express what was in his heart.
You can regard me as a heretic, block my mouth, threaten me, and make me out, but before being choked by my neck, I still have to tell the truth in my heart until I am hoarse...
She was excited, deeply moved, and had the urge to shed tears.
Iwahashi Shinichi was focused on this performance and did not notice the changes in Wang Xiaofang. This band called Blue Heart attracted him.
Although the typhoon was ferocious, the band's lyrics were surprisingly very literary. However, although the lyrics were very literary, they also had a smell of sweat.
What he sang was the cry of the young people at the bottom. However, the "sweat smell" that Iwahashi Shinichi felt did not refer to the smell of homeless people, but the smell of sweat from the bottom youth after working.
Although everything is terrible and full of depression, I still have ideals for life and embrace the future with a body smelling of sweat. All this is not an illusion, but a living reality.
There is such charm in this band's lyrics.
He couldn't help but admire this band from the bottom of his heart and was conquered by their talent.
After the performance, it’s time to sell records.
Although he has signed a contract with a record company, because he has not yet made a mainstream debut, what is sold in venues now are not regular records, but the kind of self-made records that almost all underground bands make. He and Miwa Yoshida also made them.
Iwahashi Shinichi went and bought two copies of the tape, keeping one for himself and giving the other to Wang Xiaofang, who was still immersed in the performance and looked moved.
He didn't expect that when he brought this girl to watch such an intense performance for the first time, she would be able to resonate with her brain waves.
Wang Xiaofang was embarrassed to accept his things. Iwahashi Shinichi didn't take it seriously and handed it to her, "Just keep it as a souvenir."
After saying this, she accepted it and thanked Iwahashi Shin.
Look at the time, it's already nine o'clock in the evening.
It was no longer easy to find a place to hang out, so the six of them walked through the same street that was crowded with colorful signboards. Iwahashi Shinichi first sent the four girls back to the hotel and talked with the staff accompanying the Rabbit Country.
He said hello, indicating that everyone must be brought back in full.
After making the call, Shinichi Iwahashi walked towards Akamatsu Haruko who was still waiting for him in the hotel lobby.
"Let's go, Chisong-san." He said, "I'll take you back."
Sitting in the car, Iwahashi Shinichi thanked her: "I'm sorry to trouble you today."
Akamatsu Haruko did not directly answer the question, "Those two musicians from Rabbit Country are very good, and it's quite fun to go shopping with them."
"Besides, I didn't expect that your Chinese is so good."
"I'm fluent in Chinese." Iwahashi Shinichi smiled and didn't want to delve deeper into the topic, so he followed her lead and said, "Thanks to you, I watched a very good performance tonight."
"I usually don't pay much attention to punk bands, but I didn't expect there to be such a person... Such a band must have a lot to accomplish."
Generally speaking, thebluehearts does punk that is easy to get into, and will resonate especially with teenagers. I think even if they make a mainstream debut, they will have good commercial results.
This is especially rare for punk bands.
Akamatsu Haruko mentioned another thing, "Now, your name is very famous in the underground music circle."
"Yeah?"
"Because you promoted this music festival, everyone is saying that you gave underground musicians the opportunity to come into the public eye." Of course...
"Of course, some people will say that I brought the smell of business into the underground music circle." Iwahashi Shinichi said "of course" that Akamatsu Haruko didn't say.
She smiled slightly, neither admitting nor denying it.
"It doesn't matter." Iwahashi Shinichi didn't care, "Commercial things are not necessarily bad. It is a narrow-minded idea to draw a clear line between business and business indiscriminately."
"However, no matter how much people who hate me hate me, as long as there are still some people who think that I have given opportunities to underground musicians, it will be fine. The real seeds will sooner or later sprout from these people."
As for those who insist on being Artistes, they can only say that they are different and do not work together. There is no need to despise each other. Iwahashi Shinichi has always believed that the act of despising business is somewhat bluffing.
Putting others down cannot elevate yourself.
The real Artiste is "It's none of my business, I just make my music."
…
On February 12, Joan Jett arrived in Tokyo.
This is my second visit after half a year. Receiving the girls from the Rabbit Country was a task assigned by Watanabe Watanabe, but receiving Joan Jett was her name.
The person who abducted her to sing at the music festival was Iwahashi Shinichi, so he must be responsible to the end. This sister didn't say it directly, but that was what she meant.
There was no other way, so Iwahashi Shin threw away the girls from the rabbit country in the recording studio and went to meet this great god.
From the bottom of his heart, he was very grateful to her. Joan Jett not only gave him inspiration, but also gave him the confidence to expand his business.
Nowadays, this music festival has not only attracted domestic attention, but also attracted attention from all over the world. Not only did the organizers receive applications from various domestic media for on-site coverage of this music festival, foreign media also urged this music festival to send out
A reporter came to interview.
For a time, "an unprecedented female rock feast in the Japanese archipelago" and "the collective voice of female rockers" were said one after another, attracting the public's attention.
In the evening, Shinichi Iwahashi went to the hotel to meet her and have the necessary communication with her and her staff before the performance. They hadn’t seen her for a while, but she was still very cool. When Shinichi Iwahashi went there, he ran into her again.
The horse kills the chicken.
It seemed that she absolutely loved the feeling of being kneaded around like dough.
"Long time no see, Shen Yi!" She lay there with her arms as pillow, turned her head and smiled at him, her eyes fell on his hand, "What is that? A tape?"
"I brought you a gift," Shinichi Iwahashi told her, "an album by a punk band called the bluehearts. I think you should listen to it, it's great."
"Blue heart?"
"That's right," Shinichi Iwahashi smiled, "and yours is a 'black heart'."
After Joan Jett disbanded Theunaways, she formed a band called the blackhearts, one with blue hearts and the other with black hearts. Is this a forced connection?
It's a hit.
That's not entirely true.
On the one hand, Shinichi Iwahashi happened to have heard this band and found it to his liking, and on the other hand, Joan Jett arrived in Tokyo. The wonderful coincidence of Blue Heart and Black Heart made him choose to bring this tape as a gift.
"Okay, let me listen and see." Joan Jett said.
Iwahashi Shinichi read out the day's process for her. After confirming it, Joan Jett's drama came to an end and asked him to go to dinner together.
Starting from receiving the girls from the Rabbit Country, these days he has been working as a receptionist, a sound recordist, a driver and a food companion. Even without ppk, he feels that he has become the omnipotent 007.
In such busyness, the night before the music festival started, he went to the recording studio where Yoshida Miwa worked part-time, and the three of them had a meeting to confirm matters regarding the performance.
Since the band was formed, they have always performed in live houses with a capacity of one to two hundred people, but this time, the audience suddenly expanded to fifteen thousand people.
Although in fact, few of the people who came to see the show came for them.
However, Shinichi Iwahashi encouraged Miwa Yoshida, "The audiences who don't come for us are our potential audiences."
"Well said, you are worthy of Shinichi-kun!"
This sentence hit the acupuncture points of the optimist Yoshida Miwa, and she happily agreed.
