The next night, after Zhou Yan led the band to finish the rehearsal, he met Jeff Brown and several members of the Backstreet Boys backstage.
Several members of the Backstreet Boys are a bit younger than Zhou Yan’s impression, but Europeans and Americans develop very early. Nick Carter is only fifteen years old this year, but his height is almost the same as Zhou Yan’s. .
Height comes second, but Nick Carter looks like a twenty-year-old boy. In China, most boys of this age have just entered high school or are still in junior high school, and are rarely seen. Nick Carter is so mature.
A few young men were also curious about Zhou Yan. Although they had seen Zhou Yan’s video and knew what Zhou Yan looked like, seeing him face to face like this, they still felt that Zhou Yan was really young, and that Zhou Yan was similar to Asians from the United States. Yi looks different.
Jeff Brown smiled and introduced several members of the group to Zhou Yan one by one. After the introduction, he said, "This is also a coincidence. After the company scheduled a performance for them in London, , I just found out that your concert is also at this time.”
This is true. "Yellow" has performed well in the United States. The company has launched a US tour for the Backstreet Boys. Two concerts have been held, and the results are very good.
Although the scale is small, with only four to five hundred spectators, the atmosphere is very good. Many fans are calling for more shows, and some are also complaining that the scale is too small.
At this time, the performance of the single in the UK attracted the attention of the company. They decided to take a few performances in the UK, otherwise they would waste this wave of popularity.
It just so happened that their US tour concert also needed some adjustments. Because the first two concerts performed well, they decided to increase the scale, change the venue, and facilities later. They might as well let them come to London first and take advantage of the opportunity. I will use this time to prepare for the upcoming concert in the United States.
When their performance here in London is over, they can start their US tour when they go back.
Zhou Yan said with a smile, "It is indeed fate. Where is your show? If I have time the day after tomorrow, I will go and see it."
"The first show the day after tomorrow is at the Water Rat Bar." Jeff Brown said.
Hearing that it was at a bar, Zhou Yan asked again: "Is it a special performance?"
"Yes, it is a special performance."
Zhou Yan originally thought that the performance of Backstreet Boys It might be a good size, but I didn't expect it to be in a bar.
Although Zhou Yan doesn't look down on this kind of livehouse, it's just that this kind of small performance is a waste of time and does not make money.
If given the choice, Jive Company would definitely not want the Backstreet Boys to waste their time on this kind of performance.
The group just debuted, and they are not well-known. They have entered big venues and have no appeal.
Fortunately, it is still a special event, otherwise it would be really meaningless.
However, Zhou Yan believes that before long, even if the Backstreet Boys cannot hold large-scale concerts with tens of thousands of people, they can at least be able to support venues like Arbat with thousands of people.
"Okay, I get it. If I have time, I will go and take a look. By the way, your second single should be coming out soon, right?"
Jeff Brown nodded, "Yeah , the plan is to release it in the United States next week."
The Backstreet Boys have already recorded four singles, and three of the singles have completed the recording of music videos and are ready for release at any time.
Now that the company has seen that "Yellow" is performing well, it is natural to strike while the iron is hot. Next, they will release a single every month for a few months, and then release an album after it has accumulated enough popularity. .
Zhou Yan nodded, "Then I wish your subsequent singles and albums will be successful."
...
The next afternoon, the orchestra went to the concert hall early to make preparations, while Zhou Yan went there a little later.
He arrived at four o'clock, and there were already many people standing at the door of the concert hall, most of whom were Asians with black hair.
Wearing all black, sunglasses and a hat, Zhou Yan walked leisurely towards the concert hall.
When passing by a small group of people, he originally wanted to hear what these people were talking about, but found that they were speaking in neon language and could not understand them at all.
Although he has been with Kudo Shizuka for a long time, his neon language skills have not changed at all, and all he knows are simple daily words.
Since he didn’t understand, he walked straight into the concert hall.
Hirasatsu and Guangzheng were chatting with their friends when they suddenly saw a mysterious man wearing sunglasses and a hat passing by. They felt familiar, and the man glanced in their direction, which made them even more aroused. his attention.
Why does he look a bit like Zhou Yanjun?
Although they thought it was unlikely, Hiramatsu and Hiroshi couldn't help shouting in Chinese, "Zhou Yan!"
Hearing Pingsong and Guang call "Zhou Yan", several of his companions were surprised and didn't know what he was doing.
When Zhou Yan heard the not-so-standard "Zhou Yan", he turned his head with interest, smiled and asked in Chinese, "Did you call me?"
Ping Songhe Guang didn't understand Chinese. He only knew some simple words, so he couldn't understand what Zhou Yan was saying.
He asked again in English, "Are you Zhou Yan?"
Zhou Yan did not expect to be recognized so quickly. He nodded calmly and said, "Well, yes Me, are you here to see the concert?”
Upon hearing that it was Zhou Yan, several Neon people immediately gathered around him.
“Hello Zhou Yan, we are all your fans.”
“We bought tickets for this concert very early.”
“I also I bought the next show.”
The English skills of these neon young people are quite good. Zhou Yan asked with a smile, “Are you studying here?”
Hiramatsu Kazuhiro said, "I am studying in London, and some of them are not here. Some are in Liverpool, and some are in Paris."
"Zhou Yanjun, have you ever thought about going to Paris to give a concert? There are many fans of your music over there.”
“It won’t be possible during this time, but there will be a chance later.” Zhou Yan smiled and asked, “Do you want to sign an autograph for you?”
"Is it okay?" everyone asked excitedly.
“Of course, as long as you have a pen.”
"I have it, I have it."
Hiramatsu Kazuhiro shouted as he took out a marker pen and four CDs from his backpack, one of which turned out to be the neon version of "Mysterious Country".
Others looked at Pingsong and Guang, and were a little surprised. They didn't expect Pingsong and Guang to be so well prepared.
Hirasatsu and Hiro felt a little embarrassed, but at the same time they felt that they were quite lucky.
After graduating from high school, he went to college in Neon for half a year and then came to London as an exchange student. He is now studying at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Several of his friends, including Tian Zhongmaer and others, are still in Neon Country.
This time Hiramatsu and Hiroshi came to the concert and wanted to see if they could get a signed album. Although he knew it was unlikely, he still made preparations.
Sure enough, opportunities still come to those who are prepared, and he actually met Zhou Yan at the entrance of the concert hall.
Zhou Yan saw the four albums and signed his name on them without saying anything.
Others were not so well prepared and did not bring albums. Some chose to sign their clothes, while others chose to sign their concert ticket stubs.
As soon as Zhou Yan finished signing a few neon people, another group of people came around.
Pingsong, Guang and the others surrounded Zhou Yan and soon attracted the attention of others, so they all came over.
Everyone was very excited to see Zhou Yan, and they all begged for Zhou Yan’s autograph.
Zhou Yan saw that there were not many people at the door, so he accepted everyone who came and signed in for everyone.
There were twenty or thirty people in total. After Zhou Yan signed, he waved to them and left.
After Zhou Yan left, someone smiled and said to Pingsong and Guang, "Pingsong, I really want to thank you this time. How did you recognize Zhou Yan?"
Pingsong and Guang touched their heads and said, "I I have liked him for many years, and I saw him at a Neon concert before. Besides, don’t you think he stands out?”
“Well, he’s wearing sunglasses.”< br>
“Not just wearing sunglasses, just looking at the temperament, you don’t think he is an ordinary person.”
Zhou Yan’s height is relatively tall among Asians. In this era, in East Asian countries, a man Those who can reach 1.8 meters with bare feet are definitely the ones who stand out among the crowd.
Moreover, Zhou Yan's tall and straight figure makes him look like he is no ordinary person.
A few Chinese people nearby also joined the discussion.
“Was Mr. Zhou Yan very popular when he held a concert in Neon?” one of the Chinese girls asked.
Hiramatsu Kazuhiro looked at the girl strangely, "Of course it's higher, Zhou Yan is now the most popular musician in Neon, no one."
"No one else? ? So exaggerated?" the girl said in surprise.
The boy next to the girl smiled and said, "If we go by the standards of musicians, Zhou Yan is also the most popular in the country, bar none."
"Oh, that's true."
Compared with those pop singers, Zhou Yan's popularity can only be considered average, but if compared with other musicians, Zhou Yan's popularity is several levels higher.
"Zhou Yanjun held a concert in Neon. Thousands of people gathered outside each concert, and none of them had bought tickets."
"Well, before, "Yanjing·Silent" "The concert was similar. There were more than a thousand people outside the venue, and they even came out to perform later."
"Zhou Yanjun will perform at every concert in Neon."
The blond boy next to him, who had been listening silently, asked curiously, "Will Y still perform at that time?"
A group of Asians looked at the blond European and American boy. Hiramatsu and Hiroshi shook their heads and said, "I don't know today. Anyway, it was like this every time before."
"Well, it's really not the case today. It’s easy to say, usually the reason for showing up for a performance is because there are too many people who haven’t bought tickets, and there are a lot of people outside the venue,” said the Chinese boy.
Although they all think Zhou Yan is great, they also respect the facts. After all, this is London, not China or Neon. Zhou Yan's concerts are definitely not as popular here as in East Asia.
This concert was able to sell out all the tickets, which is already very good. How could we expect many people to gather outside? The blond boy said with hope, "I hope there will be one today, because I didn't buy a ticket. It's so difficult to buy tickets. When I asked just now, there were no tickets left."
"You just came today, how can you possibly buy tickets? This concert hall can only seat more than 900 spectators, and Asians alone can buy all the tickets." Hiramatsu Kazuhiro said.
Several of his friends came from British cities such as Liverpool and Manchester City, as well as from other European countries such as Paris, and he helped buy the tickets in advance.
As he said, although Zhou Yan is not as popular in Europe as in East Asia, there are many Asians in Europe after all, and these 900 votes are certainly not enough.
The blond boy scratched his head, "I didn't expect it to be so difficult to buy."
Pingsong and Guangyu said earnestly, "Brother, this is probably the best time to buy. I'm afraid it will never be like this again." It’s a good ticket.”
After he said this, everyone else nodded in approval.
Everyone present believed that Zhou Yan’s popularity in Europe and the United States would definitely grow. Europeans and Americans still know too little about Zhou Yan, otherwise they would definitely fall in love with him.
“Yes, the tickets for this concert are relatively cheap. I’m afraid there won’t be such cheap tickets in the future.”
In fact, the tickets for this concert are not cheap. Among the many performances in London, they are at a medium level. However, in the opinion of Hiramatsu and Hiroshi, the ticket prices for Zhou Yan's concert should be at the top.
Listening to the conversation among this group of Asians, Casa gained a new understanding of Zhou Yan's popularity.
In fact, Casar first learned about Zhou Yan because of the movie "The Flying Piano Boy". He thought the music in the movie was very nice, so he bought the soundtrack and got to know Zhou Yan as a composer.
Last week, he knew that Zhou Yan had a concert in Chelsea, and he decided to come and listen to it at that time, but he thought that the tickets should not be too difficult to buy, after all, he didn’t care about the seats. Require.
He has attended several concerts before. Basically, he buys tickets on the same day and gets in the same day. If he encounters a more popular concert, he can buy tickets a day or two in advance and he can get tickets.
Today he came here several hours in advance to buy a ticket, but still didn't get it.
The reason why he didn't leave was because he didn't want to give up this opportunity, thinking that he would wait until someone refunded the ticket before he bought it.
While everyone was chatting, Casa suddenly saw two people walking towards the ticket office, and he quickly said, "Someone may want to refund the ticket."
After that, he ran to the ticket office mouth.
But when he walked to the ticket gate, he heard the conductor say to the two people, "The tickets are all sold out."
The two people were surprised, "There's no one left?"
The conductor was also in a bad temper and said without raising his head, "It's gone a long time ago. If you want to see it, you can only wait until later. . ”
Seeing that there were indeed no tickets, the two cursed and turned around and left.
Casa also returned to the group of Asians disappointedly.
"How's it going? Did someone refund the ticket?" Pinsong and Guang asked with a smile.
Kasa shook his head, "No, they also buy tickets."
Hirasatsu and Guang laughed, "You locals are so stupid that you don't even know to come in advance to buy tickets for the concert."
< br>“I didn’t know that before, but I will definitely buy tickets in advance next time.”
“Tickets for both concerts in London have been sold out, and I don’t know when the next concert in London will be. Well, Zhou Yan can’t hold many concerts a year.”
“That’s right, maybe next time it will be in Paris,” the student from Paris said with a smile.
"The next time I come to Europe, it won't be until next year at the earliest."
Casa gritted his teeth and said, "How about you sell me a ticket, I can..."
Before he finished speaking, everyone else took a step back.
“Don’t try to get our tickets.”
Casa sneered and said, “I’m sorry, I really want to see his concert.”
< br>
"We want to see it too..." Hiramatsu and Hiro saw someone going to the ticket office again, "Maybe the tickets will be refunded this time. Do you want to go and have a look?"
"Okay."
< br>Casa ran over quickly, but soon ran back disappointed.
“I still haven’t bought a ticket.”
Hirasatsu and Hiroshi said with a smile, “Then stop them.”
"Why should I stop them? If they want to stay, they might become my competitors and compete for tickets with me."
"You are stupid. Stop them all and leave them outside the concert hall. Then Zhou Yan saw that there were so many people outside who didn’t have tickets, so he would definitely come out to perform for everyone. By then, even if you don’t have tickets, you can still see the show.”
Casa’s eyes lit up, “That’s right. . ”
After that, he ran away and stopped the person who didn’t buy a ticket just now.
Hirasatsu and Hiroshi did not expect that his words would stop many people in Casa.
...
At around six o'clock, when the concert was about to start, the crew of "Sense and Sensibility" went backstage.
A total of four people came. At that time, Zhou Yan gave two tickets to An Li and Alan Rickman respectively. An Li brought Emma Thompson, and Rickman brought Kate. Winslet.
Ever since listening to Zhou Yan's songs, Emma Thompson's attitude towards Zhou Yan has changed a lot. After meeting, she kept expressing her expectations for the performance.
“I believe it will be a wonderful night.”
Winslet was very interested in the bamboo flute in Zhou Yan's hand, "Is this a bamboo flute?"
Bamboo flutes are somewhat well-known in Europe and the United States, but not very high. Many Europeans and Americans don't know much about this instrument. , compared to the flute, they will find the style of the bamboo flute strange.
However, in terms of appearance aesthetics, many foreigners think the bamboo flute is very beautiful. After all, it is one of the few musical instruments that retains the shape and texture of the material itself, and is labeled as "natural".
Zhou Yan nodded, "This is a bamboo flute in the key of G."
An Li said curiously, "This is the one you played in "Raise the Red Lantern" Bamboo flute? ”
"It's true."
The bamboo flute in Zhou Yan's hand was bought by He Wuming for him. The quality of the bamboo flute was very good and it was well maintained. Zhou Yan had been using it.
I didn’t expect that An Li could recognize this because of his sharp eyes.
Actually, An Li also asked casually. After all, when he saw Zhou Yan holding a flute, he would think of the scene of Zhou Yan playing the flute in "Raise the Red Lantern".
"Director, is that what you just mentioned a movie?" Kate Winslet asked curiously.
An Li nodded, "Well, it's Y's debut, right?"
"Well, yes, although it's only two scenes."
"You've actually acted in movies before Ah.”
“That was a movie that won the Silver Lion and was nominated for an Oscar.” An Li said with a smile.
“It was also a coincidence that the role was not mine at the beginning.”
...
A few people chatted for a while. An Li looked at the time and said, "Okay, we won't disturb you anymore. You can prepare for the performance."
Zhou Yan Nodding, "Okay, see you after the show."
The four of them walked out of the lounge. Winslet was still curious about Zhou Yan's movie. She asked Emma Thompson, "Emma, have you seen it?" That movie?"
"I have indeed seen it, but I have almost forgotten the plot. It happened several years ago. I didn't know there was Y in it unless the director said it." br>
"Director, did Y perform well?"
"Pretty good."
Although Zhou Yan only had two scenes in the movie, he still left a deep impression on An Li. Mainly because Chen Feipu is the most outstanding male character in this movie.
Although Mr. Chen has many roles, his face cannot be seen clearly throughout the whole process.
“I will definitely look for this movie again. I am really curious about Y’s performance.”
In fact, Kate Winslet was interested in Zhou Yan playing the flute in the movie. Just now she forgot to ask if there would be a bamboo flute in tonight's performance.
......
Not long after An Li and the others left, Zhang Youan walked in with a man and a woman.
After meeting Zhou Yan the night before yesterday, Zhang Youan has not appeared in the past two days. Zhou Yan is still curious about where this guy went.
As for the two people he brought, they were probably in their early forties. The woman Zhou Yan had no impression of them at all, but the man seemed familiar to Zhou Yan.
Just when Zhou Yan was thinking about where he had seen this man, Zhang Youan took the initiative to introduce, "Zhou Yan, this is Sting, and this next to him is his wife Styler."
Hearing the name Sting , Zhou Yan suddenly realized, isn’t this the top British male singer Brother Burr?
Sting is not his real name, he only got this nickname because he often wore burred sweaters to perform. (End of this chapter)