Chapter 73: The Concert (Part 3)
Time quickly arrived at February 7th.
The concert was scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM and end at 9:00 PM, for a total length of one and a half hours.
The songs they would perform were the ten tracks from their new album. Naturally, the opening song was the album's most popular track, "Carousel".
However, because the theme of the concert was "Return," after all ten songs from the new album had been performed, the final song would be The Girls' debut hit, "Girls."
Although the concert was held in the evening, Li Nuo and the others had already arrived at the venue in the afternoon to prepare.
Besides getting familiar with the venue, they also held one final rehearsal. After confirming that everything was in order, they moved on to makeup and costumes.
Since the concert had been organized rather suddenly, there had not been several months of promotion beforehand. As a result, ticket sales were not especially fast.
Fortunately, it was only a small concert and it was being held during winter vacation, so all one thousand tickets were sold out on the final day.
Most of the people who bought tickets were students from S City. There were also fans from other places, but not many.
For the currently modestly popular The Girls, they did not yet have the kind of die-hard fans who would travel from anywhere just to support them. Most people were still at the stage of simply listening to their songs online.
At 7:00 PM.
Backstage, makeup artists were putting makeup on the members of The Girls.
As for their outfits, they were wearing the Lolita dresses they had bought during their shopping trip a few days earlier. There were four outfits in different colors.
Li Nuo wore blue and white.
An Ran'er wore orange and yellow.
Ye Feilu wore green and white.
And Wu Yuxin wore black and purple.
After finishing his makeup and changing clothes, Li Nuo quietly stood backstage and peeked toward the stage and audience area.
By now, the audience had already entered the venue one after another. Although the arena was not very large, every seat was occupied.
Besides glow sticks, some audience members were holding illuminated signs with the names of The Girls' members and supportive messages on them. Li Nuo had no idea whether they brought them voluntarily or if the staff had handed them out at the entrance.
Looking at the sea of people outside, Li Nuo could not help feeling nervous again.
Fortunately, he quickly suppressed those feelings and kept encouraging himself in his mind.
Once everyone had finished their makeup, all that remained was to wait for the time to arrive and step onto the stage.
Even though only a little more than ten minutes remained, Li Nuo felt as if the time was passing incredibly slowly.
Tiny beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The hands holding his guitar trembled slightly.
An Ran'er, who had been paying attention to him the entire time, noticed his emotional state. She walked over, took his hand, and softly said:
"Don't be afraid. I'm here."
Li Nuo stared at her blankly.
Feeling the warmth coming from her hand, he gradually calmed down.
Soon, the clock reached 7:30 PM.
The four of them happily ran onto the stage together.
After reaching the center of the stage, An Ran'er, as the leader of The Girls, adjusted her headset microphone and delivered the opening speech.
"Welcome, everyone, to today's concert. This is our first concert in more than a year, and also the first concert since The Girls made its comeback."
After saying that, she paused briefly before continuing.
"As for why The Girls returned, I'm sure everyone already knows. But I'd still like to introduce our new member and lead vocalist—Li Nuan."
"Li Nuan! Li Nuan! Li Nuan!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the audience erupted into chants.
After introducing the new member, An Ran'er continued,
"Lastly, I hope everyone will share your passion with us tonight and give us strength. In return, we'll do our best to give you wonderful memories."
After saying that, she gave a deep bow.
"Wooooo!!"
The once-quiet audience instantly exploded with excitement.
Soon, the background music began.
An Ran'er, Ye Feilu, and Wu Yuxin started playing the opening instrumental section of the first song.
About ten seconds later, it would be time for the lead singer to begin.
However, as Li Nuo looked at the cheering crowd below, he became so nervous that he could not say a word.
Cold sweat covered his face. His legs shook uncontrollably.
The hand holding his guitar remained completely still.
Thirty seconds passed.
Still, no singing could be heard.
The fans in the audience quickly noticed that something was wrong and gradually stopped cheering.
Seeing that Li Nuo had frozen from stage fright, the other three members immediately became anxious.
But An Ran'er quickly regained her composure.
She stopped playing her guitar, walked over to Li Nuo, took his hand, and shouted to the audience.
"Our new lead singer, Li Nuan-chan, is still feeling a little shy. Could everyone please give her some encouragement and courage?"
The audience fell silent.
A few seconds later, one voice suddenly rang out.
"Li Nuan-chan, I'll always love you!"
Then more voices followed.
"Li Nuan-chan, you can do it!"
"Li Nuan-chan, I like you!"
"Li Nuan-chan, we'll always support you!"
……………………
"Besides believing in us, believe in yourself too. You need to know that you are the most irreplaceable person."
At that moment, An Ran'er's voice sounded beside Li Nuo once again.
Looking at the excited crowd and feeling the warmth of her hand, Li Nuo finally calmed down completely.
He gave An Ran'er a look that said he was okay now.
After a few words were exchanged with the backstage staff, the performance restarted.
This time, the audience was completely silent.
The familiar music began again.
The familiar instruments played once more.
And this time, Li Nuo was no longer afraid.
He opened his mouth and sang with all his heart:
"The long night has already passed"
"The sunlight pouring down is so gentle"
"Little secrets, melting ice cubes"
"There's nothing to worry about"
"Nothing to worry about"
"The harmony of our love"
"Is like a carousel"
"It will continue forever"
……………………
The clear and beautiful singing voice of the young girl echoed throughout the entire venue, leaving the audience completely enchanted.
As Li Nuo sang, fans in the audience waved their glow sticks to the rhythm of the music.
The crowd also joined in with rhythmic responses during the song.
Soon, the performance ended.
Thunderous cheers erupted from the audience.
The songs that followed were all performed successfully as well.
During the concert, the members of The Girls frequently interacted with the fans below the stage. At first, Li Nuo only focused on singing, but later he gradually joined the others in interacting with the audience.
The concert finally came to a close with the band's debut song, "Girls."
It felt as though they were saying goodbye to the old The Girls and welcoming a brand-new The Girls.
The cheers during that final song were even louder than during the ten songs before it.
And it was after this concert that Li Nuo's life would undergo earth-shaking changes.