Rock Out and Ring In a New Era! Go, Crimson Phase!

[strangevisitor]

"'Preciate you watchin' my back, Beanpole." He began after she'd finished telling an admittedly fascinating story.

"I'm a big boy, though. Strap my own sandals and everything. I can look out for myself. Interesting bit o' information there, though. Artists can't mess with your head, but the guests can? S'one way to get an encore, I suppose..." He smirked, chuckling to himself.

"But fine. I'll be a good boy."

[Tensei Kaori]

Zyu just snorted. "If you're looking for artists who need genjutsu to get an encore, Short Stuff," she replied playfully, "then maybe you'd better try the music schools down the street. I'm sure they'd be happy to let the chibi-tachi play for you.

"I'm Zyu, by the way. Shall we call a truce for now? The show's about to start."

[strangevisitor]

"That ain't what I meant and you know it." He taunted back, giving her a soft punch to the shoulder. "But yeah. Truce. For now. I reserve the right to start a riot if it sucks, though." He added with a wink and a grin.

[Tensei Kaori]

After a few moments of inactivity, during which the only sounds were the murmur of the crowd and a bit of background music playing from the venue's speakers, a cheer went up from the front of the crowd. Anyone looking closely would be able to see the silhouettes of people with instruments moving around onstage, and that could only mean one thing.

The cheers got louder when the lights went up - keeping their reddish tinge but adding enough white for the performers to actually be visible - but quickly gained a hint of confusion when it was realized that there were four people in red-and-black outfits onstage.

Crimson Phase had five members.

Instead of the band's usual frontman, the group's only female member was positioned in front of the lead mic, and it was she who addressed the crowd.

"Helloooo Konoha!" Akane cheered, taking one gloved hand off her red guitar to thrust a fist into the air. "And welcome to Konoha's Official Unofficial War's-End Celebration Concert! We're Crimson Phase, and we're gonna rock til you all lose your voices!

"Some of you probably realize that I'm not usually the one standing here, right? Well, my idiot brother went and made himself late, but we didn't want to keep you waiting, so we're gonna shake things up a little bit for the beginning of the show. Never fear, ladies," she added with a wink to a group of teenage girls, "he'll be here soon. In the meantime, I'm gonna kick us off with one of my favorite numbers. Hit it, guys!"

At her signal, Isamu started them off with a fast-paced beat. Hideki was the next to join in on guitar, followed by Akihiko and Akane on bass and guitar respectively. It built up more and more anticipation until Akane finally started in on the vocal part, and then the party really started.

It was a fast-paced, high-energy number that was one of Akane's favorites to perform. It may not have had some of the fancier guitar parts she and Hideki liked, but she rarely got to sing a lead part, and the song's (relative) simplicity for most of the band was an easy way to warm up for a show and get the crowd really pumped at the same time. It also showcased Isamu's drumming, since he had to keep up a fast, intricate part for pretty much the entire song. All in all, it was supposed to be a fun, exciting lead-in to a set, and it did its job. Akane could feel the energy level in the room rising as they played, and when the song came to its dynamic finish, she was feeling even better about this concert than before.

[strangevisitor]

Tch, late to his own show? Way to be professional..

Of course, Ichiyuumaihi had far better things to be concerned with than a missing member of a band he had never heard before. First and foremost was, of course, properly evaluating said band's performance.

Good backbeat? Check.
Decent vocals? Check.
Blistering guitar? Not quite, but it was promising.

And most importantly, racing pulse for further enjoyment of a pit? Cheeeeeeeeeeeeck~.

A few minute flickers of flame leapt from his mouth as he joined in the cheering, hopefully they'd escape notice by anyone who'd take serious concern with the paltry embers.

"Alright! Maybe I won't need to riot after all." He grinned, applauding.

[Tensei Kaori]

As Crimson Phase began their first song, the figure of a teenage boy dashed into the front door and almost tripped over the gathered guests.

Crap! Crap! Crap! How could I be late!?

At least he'd gotten cleaned up; once he realized he'd already missed the sound check, he'd been able to take a little more time making himself decent for the concert. Doing that, though, had accidentally made him even later, and so he'd had to modify his entrance strategy a bit.

"Hey! Get me a mic!" he told one of the attendants at the snack bar once he reached the back of the venue.

"Ehh!? Y--"

"Just go! Hurry, before the song's over! And you, go snag one of the stage crew! Hurry! I've got a plan."

* * * * *

Following the band's opening number, Akane - at the lead mic - took a deep breath, stepped away to say something to her bandmates...

... and every light in the place promptly went out. The crowd muttered anxiously; just what the heck was going on here? That was when a voice came on over the mic:

"Well, well, well! What have we here?" Yoshito asked over the mic; the crowd's murmurs changed tone as soon as he spoke. Many of them knew this voice, after all. "My own dear siblings, starting the show without me?"

It was then that a spotlight came on, illuminating a grinning Tensei Yoshito, who was standing on top of the snack bar and hanging slightly off to the side by one of its metal support rods, speaking into a mic. He grinned even wider at the cheers, and continued his spiel.

"I guess I can't blame them too much," he continued with a wink, "but c'mon! You've gotta have the whole family to make this party complete, right? But now the gang's all here, so let's rock!"

That was all the prompting the rest of the band needed; Isamu counted them in, the red backlight having returned so they could see at least somewhat, and then the whole band played the first couple bars together. After that it dropped to just Akane and Isamu, with Yoshito - still in his spotlight - encouraging the crowd to get into things by getting them started clapping to the beat of the music. Once they were going he continued his animated gestures and calling out various bits of encouragement, pacing up and down the snack bar as needed. Hideki and Akihiko joined in for the next couple bars of the intro, and then Yoshito vanished.

At that instant the lights onstage blazed back to life, and there appeared a rather extravagant cloud of smoke that quickly revealed Tensei Yoshito, onstage where he was supposed to be, singing the song's first verse.

The crowd took that as their unspoken signal to cut loose, and Yoshito grinned even more. The rest of the song only got better from there as the song's high energy really kicked in, and the band members kept it up. Yoshito was pretty much all over the stage, urging the crowd with his every movement to get into the song. Akihiko's animated bass playing - and, of course, the infamous hairflip - had half the females in the venue squealing with delight, and Akane's quirky, play-hard attitude was a favorite of many of the male fans. Even reserved Hideki was getting into the song as much as he ever did. Isamu was having such obvious fun with his fast-paced drumming that Yoshito often wondered why his arms didn't fall off after a show, and - as usual - Akihiko's and Hideki's instrumental solos were a big hit. Yoshito's vocals kicked back in after the solos before allowing the instrumental line to build up to the finish.

Jeeze that song was fun.

[strangevisitor]

Credit where credit was due. The missing front man knew how to make an entrance. It was a key skill so few people seemed to understand the importance of.

Thankfully, the song they had decided to launch into seemed to finally crack the 'reserved' barrier around him. NOW things were getting fun!

"Hope yer not gettin' broken in two, Beanpole!"

[Tensei Kaori]

"Are you kidding!?" Zyu shot back with a disbelieving snort. "I destroy things for a living. I love this kind of stuff!"

"Thank you, Konoha!" Yoshito began with his usual exuberance once some of the applause had died down. "Is everyone having a good time so far?" More cheers.

"As some of you know and some of you may not," he continued after another wait, "We're the one and only band to see if you're looking for a rock band made up of ninjas who are also siblings! And for those of us who don't know us, well, we're going to introduce ourselves right now!"

A quick, highly intricate string of notes, much like the solos he liked to play, was what Hideki chose to lead in to his introduction. "I'm Hideki, the oldest, on lead guitar."

A bass groove with a hint of jazz - complete with hairflip - was next. "I'm Akihiko, the second, on bass."

Akane's powerful string of chords both contrasted and complimented Hideki's earlier introduction, and she even managed to strike a subtle pose at the end of it. "I'm Akane, the third, on rhythm guitar!"

Isamu, in the back behind the drums and without a mic, did the only thing he could do: let lose on the drums for all it was worth, as loud as he could.

"That back there is my devilishly handsome identical twin Isamu on drums," Yoshito finished up, "and I'm Yoshito, the youngest, your one and only lead singer! Together we're Crimson Phase, and we're gonna rock this entire village - starting right now!"

Akane started off their next number with a series of high-paced cords before the rest of the band joined in at full force, resulting in a far more forceful song than the ones earlier that still managed to retain the lyric style that Yoshito's resonating tenor fit so well. The song's driving pace kept up for quite some time until Akihiko's bass solo - one of his favorites to play - which led in turn directly into Akane's guitar solo, one of the few she had claimed since she normally let Hideki take the lead. After that it was back to a ramped-up continuation of the normal song, including a dynamic key change and a fast-paced finish that left everyone in need of a moment to catch their breath before moving on.

[strangevisitor]

The one and only rock back comprised of ninja siblings. Yes, because that was SUCH a vast category to dominate. Ichiyuumaihi rolled his eyes a little, grinning nonetheless as the next song took off.

I am going to have such a headache...I know! Isn't it GREAT?!

"Just don't break a branch, Twiggy! I'd hate to have to leave to take you to the hospital or something lame like that."

[Tensei Kaori]

"Aw look!" Zyu cooed with a mischievous grin. "Chibi-kun really does care! Worry about yourself, kiddo; they're only two songs in, y'know."

* * * * *

The concert proceeded in true rock-and-roll fashion: loud, exciting, and full of energy. The band played a variety of rock styles: harder, more intense numbers for the crowd in the pit, and more songs in the lyric style for when the crowd in the pit got a little too intense. Eiji even returned to do a small interlude in one of the songs, much to the enjoyment of the Triplets' fans.

Song after song blasted from the band's instruments: the band's favorites, the fans' favorites, and even a couple new numbers the group hadn't been able to debut because of the worsening war conditions. It wasn't long before an exhausted band stood waving at the cheering fans, and Yoshito began wishing everyone a good night. That is, a good night unless the crowd wanted an encore....

[strangevisitor]

So, it was that time already? Ichiyuumaihi could have gone on for another hour at least, but everyone else seemed to be tiring out. Still, he'd been having FUN, and he wasn't about to let that just up and end without a fight.

The band seemed to be waiting for something, though. He'd been to enough concerts across the lands to know what was needed.

Raising an arm up into the air, he snapped his fingers together, igniting a small, but noticeable flame hovering just above his thumb.

[Tensei Kaori]

The cheers rose, someone started up a chant.... and was that a small flame flickering towards the front?

The band exchanged glances, each member nodding in turn, and the music started up again. They played their oldest favorites, some of the first songs they'd ever performed, and three songs later, the band was bidding their final goodnights, reminding everyone to hang out afterwards for discounted fare from the snack bar - and a chance to chat with the acts - and then they were heading offstage. The stage lights dimmed for the last time, leaving the now-familiar red glow from the rear.

And the house lights came up, revealing a now milling crowd with a party to carry on.

[strangevisitor]

"Grraaaaahhhh~!" Stretching his arms wide, Ichi grinned. "That wasn't so bad after all!"

Now, to slip out before anybody caused much of a fuss. Like that Takeo kid. Wasn't much point in hanging around for grub, unless 'discount fare' meant 'free', which he highly doubted.