Chapter 36

“Here we go, the show is about to begin!”

“It’s so exciting! Exciting! Exciting!”

“Which one of you can tell me when Lu Fei is going to play?”

“I want to know as well!”

“Being able to see this in person is really the best, a lot of people really wanted to come.”

“The broadcaster is so cool, he’s going to have a concert!”

“I’m concerned about the people who couldn’t come to the concert…”

“Sit back and enjoy as we wait for the broadcaster to start playing…”

When it was 7 o’clock Lu Fei’s popularity increased drastically on [Whale TV] and it is still going up, making it seem like it won’t stop anything soon. (TL Note: Lu Fei is Lu Chen’s broadcaster name on Whale TV)

A lot of people are waiting on Little Lu as the screen is filled with comments, making the broadcasting room so lively!

Lu Chen was going to perform in front of his classmates, so Brother Fei was hosting the live broadcast. He opened the live broadcast at 6 o’clock and used his salesman’s tone of voice. With 20,000+ fans, he needed to keep them occupied while waiting on Lu Chen’s performance.

There was already a large number of fish balls being sent, and Lu Chen’s number one fan Li Bai sent three aircraft carriers.

He’s so rich, he even said that if Lu Chen reached the top ten he’d send him seven more aircraft carriers!

Then the amount of flattery he received increased by tenfold!

If it wasn’t due to the fact that the others knew the story between him and Lu Chen, they’d assume there was something going on between the two. Thinking that this was a concert was his own personal caused everyone to become excited.

People were giving Li Feiyu strange looks, but he ignored them as he smiled and licked his lips.

This was like the scene of a music carnival, so the surroundings being loud was considered to be normal.

Therefore, he wasn’t too worried that the live broadcast would affect everyone around him, causing him to embarrass himself and Lu Chen.

The more lively something is, the more you enjoy it!

One by one, the lights around the venue were turned off as the stage lights were turned on. The first to take the stage was the Watchman band followed by loud cheers that gradually calmed down as people waited for them to start singing.

In Houhai, The Watchman band is a legend for their opening performances.

They are a national rock band that was founded 20 years ago, and still has till this day been a pure rock band!

Rock began in the early 1980s, at that time it was influenced by Western liberalism. When classic rock music started to emerge, new bands were formed. In the late 80’s it could be considered a new era for rock.

During that time, there were thousands of rock bands that were singing classics. After the 1990’s the rise of commercial pop began and pure rock was hit hard, causing its popularity to drop.

There are some sock singers that follow trends, they’d take the chance to change the way they play and start singing light rock or ballad. However, there are many in the rock and roll genre who are stubborn and refuse to change their ways, even if the popularity did drop.

Today, rock and roll was sort of a distance term as there were not that many people still creating music for the genre. The few that still were, were struggling in the industry.

The Watchman was such a band. The band was founded when rock and roll was declining, however, holding on to their beliefs and with the dedication of their fans they stayed afloat in the music industry for the past 20 years!

The group never had a large fandom, nor did they produce any music that the citizens were really familiar with. This was a group that believed rock and roll wasn’t dead, and because of that, they won the hearts of many people.

The Blue Lotus Music Carnival invited them to perform the opening song.

This just so happened to be the best and worst time idealist!

The Watchman only has 4 members total, with an average age of 40+, each one of them could be an uncle. Not to mention that the songs they perform are not what young people are into these days.

“Living life ends in death, you could take a bullet to the chest.”

Lu Chen never heard these lyrics before.

Lu Chen had to admit that their singing was full of life, the passion in the song swept through the crowded grounds. The song could be heard through the walls and echoed in the ears of everyone inside.

Qin Hanyang said suddenly, “By the end of this year, Nirvana’s bar lease will be up. At that time it’ll be transferred.”

There was a bleakness in his voice with a hint of sadness.

When sister Na heard this she was stunned. “What about the Elder?”

Nirvana Bar is Watchman’s last hope, they were clinging on to this territory. The owner of this bar was a true lover of rock and roll, without his support The Watchman wouldn’t be up and running today.

What sister Na meant by ‘Elder’ was The Watchman’s lead singer who was a prominent figure in the group.

“What can we do…”

Qin Hanyang said, “There are other bars they could sing at, it doesn’t only have to be Nirvana.”

The bar was located in Houhai and belonged to the old members of the band, however, it never brought in much profit.

Now that the bar is going to be closed soon, the roots of The Watchman will disappear. With it, so will the members.

Qin Hanyang said somewhat happy, “Although they might go their own ways, they are more than forty years old. At that age, they should live by taking up a job that can bring in money, such as becoming a teacher at a music school…”

As he spoke, he smiled bitterly.

Qin Hanyang started laughing, some would think he was laughing at the band, but he was really laughing at himself.

Like with any sort of hierarchy, the successful are at the top and the unsuccessful were at the bottom. The Watchman was a band situated at the bottom, finding it hard to survive.

Sister Na stayed silent.

When this was brought up, Lu Chen couldn’t help but be speechless. When The Watchman band was first established he was only a baby learning to walk. Therefore, he doesn’t know much about pure rock music.

However, in his mind, there were a ton of rock classics brought about from that dream world!

Qin Hanyang grabbed a beer and with some fleeting emotions said, “The future belongs to young people such as Little Lu. We old-timers are out of date. Come, let’s drink to Little Lu!”

“Cheers!”

All those present raised their glasses giving Qin Hanyang some respect.

Was this a toast to celebrate the death of rock and roll, or one for Lu Chen.

Lu Chen quickly said, “Brother Qin, you praise me too much. The first one to become outdated won’t be you or sister Na, it’ll be me!”

With that being said, Lu Chen guzzled the mug of beer in one go.

The other four members of the band had a better impression of Lu Chen for this as he was respecting his predecessors.

On stage, The Watchman band just finished singing their song.

The two original songs they sang didn’t resonate well with all those present. There were only a few that could understand as there were cathartic emotions, and obscure lyrics making it a bit complicated.

When the intense rhythm and roaring ended, the people started waving their light sticks in the air.

The band and singers who went up after did not play any independent originals, instead, they sand popular songs that people were familiar with, such as light rock, rap or pop which brought about a wave of craze.

With more than 2,000 spectators standing up raising their arms high, dancing to the rhythm of the music and singing along. Cheers, shouts, and screams followed.

The sort of feeling Lu Chen was having now was different than when he was doing a live broadcast. This was something that could only be felt in front of a real crowd!

Lu Chen’s phone suddenly rang.

It was Li Fei who was hosting the live broadcast came asking for Lu Chen’s playing time.

“Everyone’s so anxious waiting for you to play!”

Lu Chen couldn’t help but smile, “In half an hour it should be my turn. Please apologize to everyone on my behalf.”

After hanging up the phone sister Na was curious and asked, “You who came to see you perform?”

Lu Chen told sister Na about his live broadcast.

“That’s interesting!”

Sister Na listened with bright eyes and said, “I know that Internet broadcast is very popular now, but I didn’t know you had one. You can also do a live broadcast in our bar as well.”

Lu Chen also had such an idea!

Just as he was about to reply, one of the staff members rushed over waving a form in his hand. He shouted, “Lu Chen and the FIT Band please go backstage to prepare for your performance!”