1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 158



Only Noblemtl

158. Share Your Heart (8)

Michael Lang and John Scher went out onto the hotel terrace after hearing a loud noise outside.

“I······ That······.”

John Shea was so shocked that he couldn’t speak properly, and Michael Lang leaned over the railing with a serious expression.

The hotel they were currently staying at was right next door to The Devils. It was a small, cheap hotel, but there was no better place to watch the street festival.

But I wished that the scene unfolding before my eyes was a dream.

The sun was setting in the west, turning the sky red, and dozens of motorcades were slowly approaching us, carrying nature’s creation on their backs.

The parade was led by a green mini-truck. A little girl wearing a crooked snapback hat, a short-sleeved T-shirt, and baggy jeans was jumping around and singing.

The two immediately recognized it as Sparkling Ripple’s new song, ‘Sk8er Girl’. But what was surprising was the procession of dozens of cars behind it.

The girl at the forefront was clearly Annie Kim, but behind her were boys and girls dressed in similar fashion, waving from the top of the vehicle. There was a mix of races: mixed race, white, black, and Asian.

– When I was 16 years old,

(When I was sixteen,)

– I went on the road recklessly.

(I just set off on my journey.)

– A faded book, an old map,

(an old book, an old map,)

– and my friend, skateboard.

(And skateboarding.)

– That was all I had.

(That was all.)

As Annie took the microphone and sang, people all over the street gathered to cheer their slow procession.

“Hey, this is live······.”

Michael Lang knew the song the moment he heard it.

“Live? How is it possible to be live in a truck?”

“Other instruments may not be possible, but the microphone system is possible. Only the current performance track is MR, and the vocals are clearly sung live. The sound quality is a bit low, but that doesn’t matter to the people following that line now.”

“Michael, shouldn’t you report this? This is causing a traffic jam······.”

“Hey, look at the back. There’s a police motorcycle there. They must have reported it to City Hall in advance.”

People on the streets were buzzing with excitement at the live parade performance taking place in the middle of the city, while two men standing on the hotel terrace sighed and lowered their heads.

* * *

Even though The Devils didn’t copy our parade scene, I planned to march with all the CW musicians for the first and last week of the festival.

If we had a broadcast vehicle equipped with a generator on a large trailer, we could have done a live performance, but that technology did not exist at the time. For now, we decided to do at least the vocals live.

I gave the costume concept to the costume team, and we all wore clothes that would have been popular in the late 90s and got into brightly colored cars.

Since we were going to move as slowly as possible so that people could follow, my brother Kevin, who was concerned about traffic, contacted LA City Hall in advance to get permission. Thanks to this, we were able to start the parade safely under police protection.

If we start from the west and enter the festival site around sunset, we can produce a similar final scene to our music video.

Annie, who was at the forefront, ran without stopping, waving her hands to the people and singing.

– I crossed the United States.

(I crossed America.)

– From San Francisco to New York.

(From San Francisco to New York.)

– Like the main character in a novel.

(Like the main character in a novel.)

– Did I just ride a skateboard?

(Did you just ride a skateboard?)

– Hey, I’m not crazy.

(Hey, I’m not crazy.)

– I hiked the hitchhike.

(I hitchhiked.)

– If I had a good road, I would skateboard.

(When a good path appears, I skateboard.)

Annie gave people high fives when they reached out their hands on the street.

“I love you, Annie!”

“Wow, so cute!”

People were crazy about Annie’s playful actions,

“Brother James! Just hold my hand! Give me some energy!”

I held the hands of the guitar kids and shared my heartfelt energy with them as I played.

– But the reality was different from the novel.

(But reality was different from the novel.)

– There was fear instead of romance,

(Instead of romance, there was fear,)

– and hunger instead of pleasure.

(Instead of joy, there was only hunger.)

– I don’t know what my dream is yet.

(I don’t know what my dream is yet.)

– But through the wanderlust, I realized one thing.

(But through my wanderings, I realized one thing.)

– It’s the importance of family.

(That’s the importance of family.)

The core message of this song was a warm piece of advice to young people who read a book called ‘On The Road’ and then go on a road trip or dream of going astray.

If adults say it, they might think it’s nagging and it might only make them more rebellious, but the speaker of the song is a young girl who is only sixteen years old. I thought that if such a cute girl were to sing while jumping around, teenagers would be less likely to accept it.

– I took a train to the west.

(I boarded the train going west.)

– To my hometown, California.

(Heading to my hometown of California.)

As the song was ending, a car carrying KISS in flashy attire came towards us from the opposite direction. There were about a dozen fans following the car.

They stopped what they were doing when they saw our line.

Sorry, guys. I didn’t expect to see you here at the same time.

The vehicle continued to move, and at that moment, it crossed paths with the truck Annie was riding in. The KISS members, dressed up as monsters, looked at Annie with dumbfounded expressions.

At that moment, Annie stuck her tongue out with a “Meron” expression.

“Poohahaha!”

The members of KISS burst into laughter at Annie’s impulsive behavior.

Perhaps Annie was genuinely showing her dislike, and KISS just took it as a cute action to follow them. They even turned around and gave Annie a thumbs up as they passed her car.

Annie straightened up and stuck her tongue out again.

After the march, our team got out of the car and went into the club to perform today, while the rest of the people and vehicles safely exited the street under police control.

* * *

As the sun set after the CW’s spectacular parade, the club signs along Sunset Strip lit up, lighting up the streets.

The two men sat on chairs in the cafe, speechless.

“Hey, Richie. We should go to the show after dinner. It’s Friday.”

Tony Iommi came to his senses first.

“Oh, okay. But are we in the right order?”

“that’s right.”

“Then I guess I have about an hour to spare.”

“Do you want to eat a course meal?”

“No. I just want to see it for myself, the Sparkling Ripple stage.”

There was only one reason Ritchie Blackmore attended this festival. He wanted to see James play with his own eyes. He was taller than I expected at the parade, but he had a younger face.

But he’s currently turning the rock music world upside down. Not only with his guitar tone, his composition style, his unique lyrics, his ingenious planning, but also with his cinematic music videos, he’s now pioneering festival culture itself.

I became more and more curious about the boy.

“You’re really into it. I’m sure you are. I was so surprised when I saw you at the Pilton Festival. I was curious about the atmosphere of that club, so I suggested we go together, haha.”

Both of them had perfectionist tendencies, but they were musicians who constantly worked hard and explored for better music. They were more stubborn about their music than anyone else, but they were willing to bend their pride if there was something to learn.

Despite the pitch-black night, the two crossed the street to the North Line wearing large sunglasses.

I was watching from afar, but I was a little confused by the completely different atmosphere from the south. This was because it felt like an amusement park, not a rock festival. The streets were filled with laughter, and there was no cigarette smoke. No one was drunk.

I had only just crossed a four-lane road, but it felt like I had entered a completely different world.

The two men went to The Age of Rock and bought tickets. They were living healthy lives and passed the security check without any problems.

“It’s a whole new world, a rock band concert venue that’s so clean and smells so good. Richie, look over there. They sell tacos too.”

“Smoking is also prohibited in this concert hall. That’s why there are so many children here. And have you seen the security team here?”

“Yeah, I think most of them are Pakistani.”

“He must be a former Gruka mercenary.”

Ritchie Blackmore told Tony Iommi about the Gruka mercenaries he had heard about from his soldier uncle.

“Hello, everyone! This is Sparkling Ripple!”

Woohoooooooooooo!

“Tony, I thought this band was going to start right away without an opening band?”

“Friday is Sparkling Ripple’s solo stage.”

When someone other than Tony spoke next to him, Richie turned his head in surprise.

“zone!”

“Rich, I didn’t know you’d be here, haha.”

It was his colleague John Lord. Tony Iommi also greeted him warmly.

Jon Lord was a rock keyboard player based on classical piano, Hammond organ, etc. Just as Ritchie Blackmore was shocked by James’ guitar playing, he wanted to see for himself the incredible skills of Sparkling Ripple’s guest keyboardist.

The three men were entranced by the little girl’s refreshing voice and stage performance.

“Wow, that girl’s voice is no joke. I came here to see her play guitar, but in this song, all I could hear was her vocals.”

Ritchie Blackmore was enchanted by Annie’s live performance skills the moment he heard her first song.

“She has incredible stamina. That little girl runs around and sings nonstop. And her pitch is perfect. I think she’ll surpass Janis Joplin in the future.”

Tony Iommi also had great praise for Annie.

“Guys, while Annie gets changed, I’m going to play you a song. It’s the song we first played at Woodstock.”

As soon as they heard James Choi’s comment, three men shouted at the same time.

“Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Summer, 3rd movement, presto!”

It was the song they wanted to hear the most.