章 85: Finding a Rhythm
"Okay. XLR goes here, everything's got power. Looking good." Ranko rose from her knees, having finished checking the audio mixing board resting atop a fuzzy gray amplifier case on caster wheels. She dusted the grass off of her knees beneath the hem of her black pleated skirt.
She reached over to the synthesizer keyboard, pressing a random key. The tone sprang forth from the tower speakers on either side of the little box outlined in orange spray paint on the grass, which was to be their designated space for the band. Both of the monitor speakers seemed to react as well, eliciting a satisfied nod from the band's vocalist.
"Ranko, I'm sorry you got stuck doing so much of that for your first gig. I swear, it's not a hazing thing. I don't know where the hell Kaz is."
She waved Crash off, plugging in another thick cable to the mixing board. "It's no big deal. Mei showed me how to do most of this. Hit it now?"
Crash strummed his guitar and again, the sound reverberated through the speakers.
The vocalist smiled in satisfaction. "Okay, check! Shinji?"
The bassist played a few notes, but it wasn't audible through the speakers. Ranko fiddled with a few wires. "Check your end?"
Shinji jiggled the cable connected to the bottom of his instrument, and it slid in another few millimeters. He plucked at the strings, and now his guitar reverberated through the audio equipment. "My bad, Ran-chan."
Ken was already riffing idly on the drums, off in his own little world, but Ranko adjusted the microphone pointed at his set. Walking back over to the mixing board, she flipped on the switch for his microphone, adjusting the level slightly downward to bring its volume in line with the others.
"Okay! I think everybody's all set!"
Crash handed her a microphone. "Nah. You forgot the most important instrument. Yours."
Blushing, Ranko took it from him and snapped a three-pin XLR cable to the bottom of the shaft.
Crash smiled reassuringly. "You ready for this?"
Ranko nodded, scratching her knee. "Sure! It's just like the bar. But with bugs."
Crash laughed. "And four other musicians. Well, three. Damn it, where the hell is Kaz?"
Shinji shrugged. "I tried calling him a half hour ago. No answer. You just know he's strung out again, man. This is really getting to be a problem."
"He'll figure it out. He always does." Crash glanced over at the empty stool where his friend should have been performing his sound checks.
Ranko blinked. "Is something wrong with him?"
The bassist scoffed. "Nothing he isn't doing to himself. I mean, the occasional weed is one thing, but that dude's a straight-up mess."
Frowning, the vocalist nodded. "Well, hopefully he gets here soon."
As she spoke, a chord sprung from the synthesizer, and she turned to find their keyboardist straddling his stool. He wore dark sunglasses in addition to his wrinkled gray T-shirt and blue jeans.
Crash sighed. "Nice of you to drop by, Kaz."
The bald man snapped back from his seat. "Look, man. We're supposed to start at two. It's two. I'm here."
Shinji walked over to Ranko, giving her a smile. He made it a point to avoid eye contact with Kaz. He handed her back her microphone. "You ready to lead us out there, girl?"
She swallowed, taking hold of the device. "As I'm gonna be."
She strode to the front of their spray-painted domain, flicking the switch on her microphone and taking a deep breath. Bouncing on her heels, she felt her adrenaline start to kick in. It was time to show her new bandmates she'd been worth the investment.
"What's up, Shibuya?! Are we having a good time at Market Day?" The four musicians behind her began to play a very basic rhythm. A smattering of people began to look over at the source of the sound, starting to make their way toward the one area devoid of tents and tables filled with local craft goods.
She frowned a bit, looking out over the empty grass in front of her. She was going to have to bring all the energy she could muster. They hadn't really had time to rehearse any choreography or stage blocking, so it was all up to her creativity. Fortunately, she was fairly used to shooting from the hip, but she needed a little more time to draw in a crowd.
"On drums, say hey to Ken Hirata!" The drums rocketed to life over the rhythm, their tempo increasing in volume and intensity.
Ranko held her arm out to the side. "On bass, Shibuya's own Shinji Yokota!" The bass guitar leapt into the rhythm, beginning to blend with the drums.
"On synth, let's hear some love for the amazing Kazuki Asai!" The electronic tones of the keyboard jumped into the rhythm, building toward a recognizable tune.
"Make some noise for our lead guitar, Mister Crash Matsuyama!" The blonde man to her right began plucking the intro to the song as the small crowd cheered, while more people began milling into their performance area with bags from the vendor stalls lining the park.
"My name's Ranko! What's yours? Hope everybody's having a great time shopping today. I know it's one of my favorite things to do! But is anybody going to help me out?"
She smiled, bringing the microphone a bit further from her lips.
"Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me. I think they're okay. If they don't give me proper credit, I just walk away."
She stalked across to Shinji, facing him from the side as he strummed his instrument. "They can beg, and they can plead, but they can't see the light!" She feigned pushing Shinji away from her, turning with a dismissive gesture over her shoulder and shaking her head as Ken chimed in with his microphone, "That's right!"
Ranko strode across the front of the orange box that passed for a stage from left to right, extending her left hand and rubbing her thumb and her first two fingers together. "'Cause the boy with the cold, hard cash is always Mister Right!"
Ken leaned into his microphone, harmonizing with their new lead singer as Ranko adjusted her jacket, popping her collar as if she were showing it off. "'Cause we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl!"
She strode confidently on her chunky heels, placing one foot in front of the other in a slow model's stomp. She stepped carefully over the cables laying on the grass until she reached the keyboardist's stool. She hopped up on another of the large gray amplifier cases next to it, crossing her ankles. She gestured with her neck and pointed with her thumb at her bald bandmate as he played.
"Some boys romance. Some boys slow dance. That's alright with me. If they can't raise my interest, then I'll have to let them be!" She gave a mockingly disgusted wave with the back of her hand in Kaz' direction, bouncing back down to her feet and walking toward the front right of the group, where Crash was playing.
"Some boys try, and some boys lie, but I don't let them play!"
She faced Crash and he turned to face her, grinning. She was proving to be every bit as great an addition to their group as he had hoped. Maybe more so.
Ranko placed her hand on her chin, stroking it as if considering him. "Only boys that save their pennies make my rainy da-ay!"
Crash, picking up on what she was doing, skipped a beat on his instrument, reaching into his empty pocket and turning it inside out. He frowned exaggeratedly as Ranko rolled her eyes, shook her head, and walked away. As she and Ken sang the lengthy bridge, she walked from one of her bandmates to the other, as if giving them a second thought, and deciding against each.
She strode to the front of the group, now singing directly to the crowd for the first time in the song.
"Boys may come, and boys may go, and that's alright, ya see." She reached out with her empty hand, curling her fingers as if beckoning the crowd to come closer. "Experience has made me rich, and now they're after me!"
The crowd, which had grown substantially as the song progressed, whooped loudly. Ranko grinned at the familiar sound of a jubilant audience. Now, this is more like it.
"''Cause everybody's living in a material world, and I am a material girl! You know that we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl!"
The crowd roared to life as the song ended.
"Once again, I'm Ranko, and that's Crash, Shinji, Ken and Kaz. We are the Dapper Dragons! Good to meet you! Now, whaddya say we really get this thing started, Shibuya?
Load failed, please RETRY
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット