Damn Idol
Episode 87
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Underground, or independent.
These were words commonly used to refer to non-mainstream musicians.
Those who didn’t appear on TV and made independent music.
Those who pursued self-made careers without the planning of an agency.
But even this non-mainstream world had its own mainstream and non-mainstream—that was the real indie scene.
An indie musician could have a few thousand SNS followers and be able to draw four or five hundred people to a solo concert. Bands that couldn’t draw even ten audience members (excluding acquaintances) when ten teams got together for a joint concert were also indie musicians.
If you didn’t show your face in mass media, you were all classified as indie musicians.
That’s why absurd terms like “the underground of undergrounds” or “the indie of indies” were occasionally used.
The performance happening today at 6 PM at a small venue called
A joint concert of indie musicians, even within the indie scene.
Six host teams split the rental fee and brought in one guest team through connections.
But calling them a guest wasn’t anything grand.
They had invited
That’s why the poster for this concert had the phrase [With a Special Guest] written on it.
If Zero Sugar had been a truly famous team, they would have plastered the name in large letters.
Pleading in a way that said, “A special guest is coming, so please come to our show.”
But if the guest didn’t have that level of recognition, usually the organizers chose random box marketing.
They wouldn’t tell you who was coming, but there would be a special guest.
If you’re interested, come check it out.
Stimulating curiosity in this way often made people appear to buy tickets.
It also had the effect of making the audience watch until the end of the performance.
Even if the hosts’ performances were a bit boring, they would be curious about who the special guest was.
So situations like this were possible.
“Hyung, you can’t come today?”
-Yeah. Seriously sorry. But instead, some kids way more famous than us are going as guests, okay? They’ll cover the same set length.
“Who?”
-They asked me to keep it a secret. Said they want it to be a surprise.
Yoo Changseop, who had invited Zero Sugar through connections from being in the same band club in high school, curled his lips.
Not because he was amused, but because it was absurd.
For a surprise entrance to work, people had to recognize them at first glance, or realize who it was the moment they heard the music.
But there was no reason for such people to come as a fill-in for Zero Sugar.
It was a gig booked through connections without any pay.
‘Ah, whatever.’
In the end, Yoo Changseop asked Zero Sugar’s main vocalist just one thing.
“Are they really more famous than you guys?”
-Definitely famous. If they’re not more famous than us, I’ll give you ten million won.
“Come on, hyung, where would you have ten million won.”
-That means I won’t have to give it to you.
In the end, Yoo Changseop nodded.
He didn’t know who it was, but as long as they were more famous than Zero Sugar, that was enough.
After all, the role of a special guest was exactly that.
“What’s the team name?”
-It’s a secret.
“Ah, seriously. Then what about rehearsal?”
-They said they won’t. Ah, they’re not a band. They don’t need instruments set up. They said they’ll hand over the MR on site with a USB.
At the words “not a band,” Yoo Changseop pictured rappers or dance crews in his head.
As of 2017, the band indie scene was dead, but the hip-hop underground scene was booming.
Because of Show Me What You Got.
There were also dance crews that had gained popularity by uploading choreography performance videos on YouTube.
‘Ah, it’s probably not dancing.’
Thinking about it, Brown Basic, today’s venue, had a rather cramped stage.
If they cleared away all the speakers set up for band sound, about two or three people could probably dance, but on the current stage, even one person would find it narrow to dance properly.
It was most likely a rapper after all.
-How many tickets sold today?
“Eighteen.”
-Excluding acquaintances? Why so many sold?
“Some high school juniors of someone are coming, about five or six.”
-Then roughly thirty people total including acquaintances?
“Yeah. Roughly.”
-Wow, they’re blessed. They hit the jackpot.
The Zero Sugar vocalist chattered on like that, but Yoo Changseop answered perfunctorily and hung up.
He was busy because he had to prepare for the performance now.
And so, when it turned exactly six o’clock, the performance began.
The performance cue sheet was simple.
Total performance time was 120 minutes.
Of that, the six host teams would cover 90 minutes at 15 minutes each.
But in reality, delays were inevitable, so it would probably take about 100 minutes.
And the remaining time would be covered by the special guest.
It would probably be around 30 minutes at most, or 20 minutes at minimum.
Thus the performance began.
The order of the band Yoo Changseop belonged to was fifth.
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
The performance wasn’t bad.
It had been a while since they played a show with over thirty audience members, and the response was quite good.
The next act was
Since they were a team that had mobilized their high school juniors, they were assigned the last slot.
Because if they came out in an earlier slot, the audience might watch only Evening Promise’s performance and then rush to leave.
‘Weren’t those kids idol fanatics?’
Actually, Evening Promise had uploaded a cover of some idol group’s song on the internet not long ago.
He knew it had gotten a decent number of views and gained some recognition, but honestly, it was a bit pathetic.
Guys claiming to be an indie band covering idol songs.
Thus Evening Promise’s performance began, and Yoo Changseop felt slightly embarrassed.
‘They’re pretty good.’
Because their playing was quite decent.
Around that time, Yoo Changseop, who had been immersed in the performance, belatedly recalled a question.
‘What about the special guest? Did they send the MR?’
Brown Basic, despite being a small venue, had an artist waiting room, which was rare.
And the owner handled the sound; he was someone fairly famous back in the day.
He was sitting at the mixer near the entrance of the artist waiting room right now, and Yoo Changseop wondered if he should go ask whether the guest had arrived.
He looked toward the waiting room area just in case, but from the audience seats, it was at a completely invisible angle.
Feeling anxious, he was about to head to the waiting room when Evening Promise’s performance ended right then.
“Thank you! We were Evening Promise!”
Those who had come to see Evening Promise let out loud cheers.
Thus Evening Promise left, and immediately, an MR began to flow over the now-empty stage.
Only then did Yoo Changseop relax.
The fact that the MR was playing meant the special guest had arrived.
But…….
Strangely, the MR sounded familiar.
It was music he had heard countless times somewhere.
‘Ah, Under the Streetlight?’
He didn’t listen to Korean songs much, but there was no way he wouldn’t know this song.
Because it played so often on the streets.
He knew that the song Evening Promise had covered was this one, too.
There was a cover version, and a remake version and whatever, but he didn’t really know about that.
But why was this MR playing?
Was this the song today’s guest was going to sing?
Were they covering a famous song instead of an original?
Then that meant it wasn’t a rapper?
Then, a man wearing a cap pulled down low appeared on stage.
The stage was dark, and the man was wearing a hat.
His face was invisible, and what was visible was his jawline and body silhouette.
But he looked like he would be handsome.
Something gave that impression.
He was tall, too.
At that moment, the man grabbed the microphone and opened his mouth.
Somewhere at the end of a grey alley
-Orange, under the streetlight
His voice was good.
Too good.
Just listening to the intro, you could tell he was someone who could sing.
And not in an amateur way, but a professional one.
At that moment, a sharp “Kyaa!” scream exploded from somewhere in the audience.
People looked over wondering what was going on, and a girl who looked like a high school student was covering her mouth.
The shadow lay with its color less faded
Why, orange
Gradually, the murmuring reactions from the audience grew.
‘What, is he a really famous singer?’
Then the man on stage raised his index finger in a ‘shush’ pose.
Asking them to focus quietly on the music.
The song continued.
Soon Yoo Changseop thought he understood why the audience had been murmuring.
That person—he didn’t know who—was mimicking the original singer.
It sounded almost identical, so the audience had been mistaken.
They wondered if the original singer had come.
But Yoo Changseop shook his head vigorously.
‘Why would an idol come here?’
Besides, even if one had come, they wouldn’t have that kind of skill.
Under the Streetlight seemed like a decent song, but they must have done an enormous amount of post-editing.
There was no way an idol could pull that off live.
He figured it was probably a YouTuber who used mimicry as content.
Since he didn’t watch those kinds of videos, he wouldn’t know even if the cap came off, but there would be people who recognized him.
That’s why Zero Sugar had said what they said.
Meanwhile, the song was already heading toward the chorus.
If you walk just a short while,
You and I, who stayed
That place, that place, there
--By the way, he really sings well.
Brown Basic wasn’t a place with bad sound quality, but it wasn’t that great either.
To be exact, it was decent enough for showcasing band performances, but it was slightly disadvantageous for vocalists.
Besides, since they hadn’t even done a rehearsal, it would be the basic microphone settings…….
He was an incredible skilled performer.
At that moment, suddenly orange lighting snapped on above the stage.
The dark stage brightened instantly, but this seemed to be an event unknown even to the performer.
He looked slightly surprised toward Brown Basic’s owner, who was looking at the sound engineer.
The owner was smiling and raising his thumb.
And so finally, the song reached the introduction of the chorus.
You and, I
-Under the
- Streetlight-!
The chorus that made you try singing this song at least once in a karaoke room exploded.
From here——!
It was tremendous volume.
But what he heard before that was.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
The screaming of the high school girls who were said to be Evening Promise’s juniors.
Because the man on stage took off his hat.
A pale face that gave a somewhat cold impression was revealed.
Even while belting a high note, his eyes drew arcs as he smiled.
That image was quite impressive.
Honestly, Yoo Changseop didn’t know who this handsome man was.
But looking at the audience’s reaction, it was impossible not to know.
“It’s Han Sion!”
Because people were screaming.
But the moment the chorus burst forth once more, the people’s reactions soon subsided as if by magic.
As if wanting to fully savor the gift that had arrived like magic.
When the song ended, Han Sion cleared his throat with a cough and quietly looked at the audience.
Without doing anything, people’s screams burst forth.
‘Fuck, I’m jealous.’
Handsome, famous, and he sings well.
Honestly, he couldn’t bash his singing skills.
But something about it was irritating.
He knew it was the warped mentality of a nameless indie musician, but he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that way.
Then Han Sion on stage opened his mouth.
“Hello. I’m Han Sion of Saedalbaekil.”
An even greater cheer exploded.
To the point that it was unimaginable that merely thirty-something people were making it.
“We were originally going to sing this song with two people, but that friend said he was nervous and dumped the opening on me. That’s bad, right?”
“It’s not bad! We love it!”
“Do you like Saedalbaekil?”
“Yes!”
Since small-scale indie venues were close enough to read the audience’s expressions, talk sessions like this happened occasionally.
This was the charm of indie culture that idols had a hard time experiencing.
But Han Sion was impossibly skilled.
After taming the screaming high school girl, he finally extracted a promise.
That no matter what songs he sang from now on, they would shout the name Han Sion loudly.
The moment Yoo Changseop wondered what this was about, the lights dimmed and an MR began to flow.
This time, it was a song Yoo Changseop knew too. One by Lazy Boy, the R&B singer who was hot on the Billboard charts.
At that moment, two men burst out from the artist waiting room and grabbed the microphones.
One looked a bit playful, and one……. ‘Crazy, what the hell is with that face.’
Impossibly handsome.
It was Gu Taehwan and Lee Ion.