"Next, we have a stage from the friends who came to support our concert!"
"Waaaaah!!!"
At the words of Fukuda, the leader and vocalist of the band, the audience responded with passionate cheers.
"What’s this? It’ll be a problem if your cheers are louder than during our stage, you know?"
When he gave a sly answer to the audience’s cheers, this time laughter circled through the concert hall.
"If I had my way, I’d show you our stage without resting, but you all know. Our drummer is turning forty the day after tomorrow, so if we don’t rest in the middle, he might get carried to the ER after this!"
Clang!
"Don’t be ridiculous! I’m only thirty-four! There isn’t that much difference between you and me!"
"Now, we’ll take a short break before our drummer collapses. Please enjoy the next stage too!"
"Yes!!!"
At last, once the talk ended, staff members came up to move the band equipment, and in time with that, the members of Tokyo Reverse also moved backstage through the passage to the resting area.
"Concerts really drain your stamina differently."
"This isn’t easy. It’s on a whole different level from a live performance."
"More than ten thousand people are responding, so if you let your guard down even for a moment, it feels like you’ll make a mistake."
As they went down the stairs to rest, the members of Tokyo Reverse began chatting, each sharing a thought about the concert.
However,
"Get a hold of yourselves. Today’s concert is only halfway through. Don’t relax like it’s already over."
"All right. We get it, so you ease up a little too, Fukuda."
"Right. It’s way too obvious you’re putting too much force into it because it’s your first arena concert today."
Unlike those members, Fukuda’s nerves were sharply on edge.
'This is the arena performance we finally climbed up to. I can’t stop here.'
Tokyo Reverse.
A Japanese band formed five years ago around Fukuda.
The members had all left their respective bands and were wondering whether to quit music when they decided to band together one last time and overturn Tokyo. That was how Tokyo Reverse began.
Of course, there had been crises where they almost disbanded along the way, and there had also been times when they survived by working part-time at construction sites because they had no money. But in the end, they rose into the ranks of popular bands and were scouted by Unibex, a major agency.
And now, they had even come to hold a concert at an arena-class venue.
In Japan, concerts were divided into a total of five levels.
At the very bottom was the live house.
A venue that could hold anywhere from a few hundred people to as many as a thousand, where bands and underground idols mainly held concerts. Some people looked down on it because it was the lowest level, but even filling a live house was difficult without a fair amount of popularity.
And the next level above that, a hall, was a full-scale concert stage that could hold as many as ten thousand people.
'We finally moved beyond halls.'
In truth, even for a popular band, going around live houses was common, and holding a concert in a hall was rare.
To hold a concert at an arena class above a hall, a band had to go beyond being regionally popular and have nationwide popularity.
And concerts at domes and stadiums, which were above arenas, were the unquestioned symbol of the very top, possible only for bands that represented Japan.
In such a situation, Tokyo Reverse, which had broken out of being a regionally popular band and leapt to an arena, could safely be considered qualified to aim for the position of Japan’s next representative band.
However, for that, it was essential to successfully finish this current arena concert without incident.
"Thank you for your hard work!"
"···Good work. Please take good care of the stage."
"Yes!"
Even while Fukuda was coming down from the stage to take a short rest, still not letting go of his tension in order to finish today’s concert well, an unfamiliar female voice reached his ears.
Slide.
When he raised his head, he saw young girls who looked as though they might have just become adults bowing politely to him.
"Thank you so much for allowing us to perform as supporting guests today!"
"The company told us to do it."
"Ah···yes."
They had pretty faces that would make a person look back without thinking if they passed by on the street.
But to Fukuda right now, those looks did not even enter his eyes.
-You want us to put a Korean idol group on as a supporting performance?
Even though the set list had already been decided several months before the concert, Unibex’s Division Head Agaragi had suddenly said they would insert one supporting performance.
If it had been another band they were close with, or perhaps junior singers from the same agency, he might have gladly allowed it, but the problem was that the target was a Korean idol group that was none of those things.
Because of that, Fukuda had wanted to refuse the proposal immediately if he could.
But he could not.
'That damn division head bastard!'
That was because if they rejected the words of Agaragi, who oversaw Unibex’s domestic artists, there was no telling what would happen to the future fate of Tokyo Reverse, who had finally come to hold a concert at arena class.
-Do you want to go back to wandering around live house stages again?
In reality, at Unibex, there were more than one or two celebrities whose broadcasts and promotions had been cut off overnight as if it were a lie after getting on his nerves.
Fukuda had seen one fairly popular rookie female singer fall out of Agaragi’s favor and be unable to work properly for years.
Was that why?
Fukuda disliked Iam very much.
'How much time did we pour in just to perform at an arena···.'
The Budokan, where Tokyo Reverse’s concert was currently being held, was more than a simple concert venue.
After the Beatles performed there in 1966, the Budokan became something like sacred ground for Japanese musicians.
To hold a concert at such a Budokan was meaningful for Japanese singers, as proof that they had risen into the ranks of popular artists.
But for a Korean girl group to go on stage at such a Budokan, no matter if it was only a supporting performance—
And on top of that, idols who had not even debuted a year ago yet.
It was difficult for Fukuda to accept easily.
"Aren’t you going, Fukuda?"
"I’m just going to watch the stage."
"What’s this? You were so disgusted, but you changed your mind after seeing their faces? The girls really are pretty, though."
"···."
A familiar voice snapped Fukuda out of his thoughts as he watched the Iam members from backstage instead of going to the waiting room.
Kenji, Tokyo Reverse’s guitarist, had come up beside Fukuda at some point and placed a hand on his shoulder with a lecherous smile.
'Has this bastard still not come to his senses?'
Fukuda wanted to immediately brush off the hand on his shoulder, but the concert was not over yet, so he held himself back because he wanted to avoid trouble.
Kenji had caused an incident several months ago by assaulting the lover he had been dating.
The public knew that members of popular bands often had messy histories with women, so complicated relationships with women might be overlooked, but assault was a different problem.
Moreover, it was not just assault. Since talk related to an abortion was mixed in as well, if the contents were revealed to the world, he had caused a massive accident that might put Tokyo Reverse itself in danger.
-I covered this up.
And the one who had quietly covered that up, somehow or other, was Division Head Agaragi.
'We ended up with a leash around our necks.'
After that, Tokyo Reverse had been going around advertisements, broadcasts, and events as Agaragi ordered.
But seeing Kenji, who had caused such an incident and yet was now sending a lecherous gaze at Iam as they went up onto the stage as if nothing had happened, Fukuda’s fist tightened.
'Hold back. For now, just watch the stage.'
If he started throwing punches in the concert hall, it would not end with a simple article, so Fukuda ignored Kenji and turned his gaze toward the stage.
"Hello! We’re Iam!"
"Wah!!"
Then he saw the Iam members, who had just gone up on stage, greeting the audience in bright voices.
'The response is better than I thought?'
Because Tokyo Reverse’s fanbase was centered on young women, he had thought the response to idols would not be bad, but the audience’s reaction toward Iam on stage right now was better than he had expected.
Fukuda had heard that Korean idols were popular lately, but he had not known their popularity was this strong, so the audience’s reaction even left him slightly flustered.
"It’s truly an honor to be able to perform as supporting guests at Tokyo Reverse’s concert today! I’m also a fan who likes Tokyo Reverse’s songs, so being able to perform like this at the concert of seniors I admire feels like a dream."
Empty flattery.
He had heard that among the Iam members going on stage this time, there was a Japanese member, but it had only been two years since Tokyo Reverse became major.
So he thought there was no way a member who had gone to Korea to work as an idol would know Tokyo Reverse.
"My favorite song is Spaceship. It’s a song I listened to often when things were hard while I was living as a trainee in Korea. Today, I’ll show you a great stage so I don’t bring shame to those seniors’ concert!"
But at the words that followed, Fukuda was briefly left speechless.
Spaceship.
One of the tracks included on Tokyo Reverse’s first album, a song made while recalling the various misfortunes that had overlapped from the time of their formation to the release of their album, carrying the hope that someday they would fly up into the sky and reach space.
Of course, their first album had been a complete commercial failure, so Spaceship was a song only fans who had supported Tokyo Reverse from the very beginning knew.
So how could Fukuda not be shocked when an Iam member mentioned exactly that song instead of the recent hit songs?
"The first song we’ll show everyone today is ‘Spotlight’! Please enjoy it!"
While Fukuda was slightly stunned and blank for a moment, Iam’s stage had somehow already begun.
I’ve waited for this moment (Oh yeah)
The light I’ve kept hidden
Now it’s time to show it
You can’t avoid my eyes
Unlike when Tokyo Reverse performed, where minimal lighting was used to illuminate only the members, the stage was now being lit with dazzling lights.
At the same time, the Iam members, wearing outfits and makeup that sparkled under the stage lighting, began singing and dancing as if they were one body.
'What the···why are they good?'
Since he normally had no particular interest in idols, Fukuda had thought they simply relied on pretty faces and sold to fans.
He had no choice but to be shocked again.
Maybe it might feel like a dream
But I become reality
Now it’s my turn
Make everyone remember me
Even while dancing intense choreography that constantly moved their legs, their vocals did not waver, and their expressions smiled brightly, as if they were truly happy, without showing even a trace of exhaustion.
Because Fukuda himself was the band’s vocalist and knew very well how difficult it was to sing on stage, he had no choice but to be even more surprised.
"I know this song! It’s the song from that program that’s popular these days!"
"You idiot. They’re the girls who debuted from that program."
"Really? Wow, but they’re seriously good on stage."
Apparently Fukuda was not the only one who felt that way, because the audience’s reaction was good too.
The audience members, who murmured among themselves as if they were surprised while watching Iam’s stage, had before long begun moving their bodies along with the atmosphere.
Pick me now, pick me wow
The name that will make your heart race
Among countless stars
Choose me— now!
With the exciting melody, the repeated structure of the song, and on top of that, the intense choreography added in, even people hearing it for the first time found themselves singing along before they knew it.
Iam had made this place feel as if it were their concert hall, not Tokyo Reverse’s.
Watching the audience like that, Fukuda could understand at least a little why idols had been growing popular lately.
'I didn’t know when I only listened to the song, but seeing the stage, I get it.'
Seeing in person an idol stage where they wore outfits matched to the song and acted like actors, along with group choreography that matched the music exactly, he felt a force by no means inferior to a band’s live performance.
Shine me now, light me up
Believe in me until the end
There’s only one chance
"It’s me now, now is the time!"
At last, Iam’s stage came to an end.
Clap clap clap.
Not only the audience, but even Fukuda, who was watching from backstage, was clapping without realizing it.
"Did everyone enjoy that?"
And perhaps excited by the audience’s reaction, the Iam members picked up their microphones and asked the audience a question, even after having just done such an intense stage, and seeing them completely fine was now beyond impressive—it was almost fascinating.
'Didn’t they say this was their first concert?'
How could rookies who had debuted only a year ago stand on a concert stage for the first time and naturally draw reactions and atmosphere like that without even getting nervous?
Fukuda remembered how, when he himself had been a rookie, standing on stage made him so nervous that not only had his voice cracked, he had forgotten lyrics, or otherwise just focused on singing and could not even think about fan service.
"Then we’ll go right into the next song! The next song is our recent comeback track, ‘Black Pearl’! This song is···."
Iam was skillfully leading the mood of the concert hall as if they had experienced this kind of stage countless times.
The time given to Iam today was roughly ten minutes, enough to show two songs.
"Kenji, tell the members to get ready to go back on sta···."
Once Iam’s stage ended, it would be time for Tokyo Reverse to go back on stage, so Fukuda was about to tell Kenji beside him to bring the members.
But he could not finish speaking.
"What is this?"
Because he sensed something wrong with the sound coming through the stage speakers.
♬
The stage Iam had shown just now had been performed with a specially made AR-based instrumental prepared for the concert.
Because they had to dance intense choreography, it was a special AR that reinforced the singer’s vocals and added the vitality of live performance to the safety of a recording.
But the instrumental now flowing from the stage was not the specially produced AR. It was an MR with the vocals completely removed.
'This is way too dangerous?!'
Because it was a concert, they had put effort into delivering the sound to the audience properly. If they performed with MR instead of AR, then the moment the vocals were lacking even slightly, it could lead directly to a disaster.
This was a mistake that should never happen, so Fukuda, flustered, looked around to grasp the situation.
"This is a big problem. Looks like they’re going to be humiliated in front of more than ten thousand people."
And then he saw Kenji speaking with a greasy smile, sounding amused despite his words.