Episode 33: No Running Away

If there was no vocalist, I had no choice but to sing myself.

I practiced all night. I knew I'd be bad, but there was nothing to be done about that.

I told myself that simply showing up on stage was what mattered.

The event was at a 400-capacity live house in Harajuku. It was packed inside, with a long line still waiting outside.

There was nothing left to do but go through with it.

Honestly, it felt less like debuting a new vocalist and more like showing up to be humiliated.

I was nervous beyond words.

Once it started, it was over in an instant. I sang while playing guitar.

Out of everyone who performed that day, I was, by far, the worst singer.

Couldn't be helped. But performing that day taught me something.

As a vocalist, feeling the audience's eyes on you feels good.

Even singing badly, I felt that intensely.

What I took away from that show was this: in the end, you have to clean up your own mess. That's what I learned, I think.

I could have canceled. But if I wanted the relationship with her to continue beyond that, performing was the only option I was willing to consider.

Some time later, for some reason, an ad for my own vocalist audition aired on the radio. 😂

To be continued.