Chromatic Dreamers Debut At Pretty Heroes

Eeeeeek it has happened! My band has finally made it’s (acoustic) debut! And what’s crazy is that we were able to achieve our group goal of performing at an anime convention at the same time!

I feel both happy and relieved at the same time. It’s been a dream of mine to play with a band since middle school and a lot of trial and error, along with learning guitar from scratch, had to happen for us to get here. Was it perfect? Of course not, but we put ourselves out there and made it happen.

So here’s how it all went down.

Getting The Gig & Choosing Our Songs

After the holidays where we recorded an audition tape, I started reaching out to conventions and organizers, asking if there’s any way or any place we can play, we were even open to just busking in the hallway for example. Some, like Anime North didn’t have a space for us. Others never got back, though it seems like many weren’t happening this year.

But one gave a positive reply, and that was Pretty Heroes. They offered us the opening and/or closing ceremony. Due to space though, they asked us to do an acoustic set. They also requested that we do songs from shows or animes with strong female characters.

Up to that point, the few songs we were working on or considered were all rock songs and mostly had strong male leads, so we had to put a lot of consideration into these songs. Chu pitched Fukai Mori a while back and also mentioned Platina as it was a song she loved. Norman was all for it.

Personally, while I did like the songs, after seeing the chord charts for them, I was intimidated and tried to pitch other easier songs, hoping they would like them, but no luck haha Even then, Inuyasha and Cardcaptor Sakura definitely had stronger female leads then the ones I pitched anyways.

So I sucked it up and got to it. It will be a challenge, but I knew I will learn and become a much better guitarist if I stick with it.

It’s Time To Practice

We didn’t get to practice together right away though. Norman was finishing up nursing college, and I told him to focus. His grades matter more. Afterwards, he had to spend a bit of time figuring out his lead parts, so we started practicing more regularly in July.

Initially, I told the organizer we just need a couple microphones, as we can plug our guitars into the soundboard so it would come out the main speakers. We did that for our audition tape afterall. But while trying a couple lessons with a new guitar teacher and talking about the gig, he mentioned that it would be better to mic our amps, unless we have a pre-amp pedal. This was news to me, but I took his advice to heart. I have a friend, Kumiko Yurosawa, who performed at the JCCC years back so I asked what he did, and he said he mic’d his amp as well, so I informed Ray and the crew.

During our final rehearsal, I also wanted to dress up, make sure everything fits and that it won’t get in the way of our playing. Norman’s costume took the longest to get to him (thus why I pushed everyone to order at least 2 months in advance, cause I know shipping can take ages) and he had yet to try it on.

He got the biggest size for Kikyo since he’s quite tall. He was in a rush to leave but had some time to try it on. Good he did as it was too wide for him. It gave me time to pick up some safety pins, along with an extension cord for our amps just in case. I wasn’t sure what stage we’d play on, or how for the power cord was. Better safe than sorry.

The day before, we went over our plans and what to bring. I definitely had a lot, including my isntruments, recording material, and so on. Good I got a small amp and it could fit in this rolling duffle bag I travel with. I was definitely not carrying all that all day.

Day Of The Gig

We arrived around 5pm. The other got changed and I helped Norman fix out his outfit. My high school otaku friend, and bassist from my first band attempt, came out to support us and record for us. I went around the vendors, introducing ourselves and handing out business cards.

There was a huge chess board in front of the Girls Gaming booth, and Chu asked if I could play and to face Norman. I was down. Her and my friend sat down and tried out some origami while me and Norman started our battle. Me playing as black….by choice lool

We started off serious and intense. We both managed to strategically play some pieces and not losing any. But eventually, the war begun. 5 minutes in, we had about 3 pieces each. A lot of standstills for our pawns. Neither of us were really down for sacrificing at this point. I think I made the first check, but he successfully avoid it.

10 minutes in, he started making moves to close in on my king. I was surviving with not much issues, but could only do so much to go back into the offensive. He made a couple moves, working to check me.

I was feeling like a badass, using my king to knock out one of his pieces. I went a little too hard though (the pieces are light plastic), and it sent his piece flying into his other pieces, messing up the board haha It was unintentional ;_____; It’s alright though, I’m sure he would have won haha I’ll admit defeat, but we will face off again.

Vendors were starting to close and I only noticed there was a whole nother room with even more tables, so me and him rushed to go and introduce ourselves before we had to get ready for the closing ceremony.

Here We Go!!

We got to the room, introduced ourselves to Ray, the sound engineer, and started setting up. I made sure to bring my guitar stands as well just to make sure our instruments can stand in a safe place without us needing to unplug before or after our set. I was amazed at how much gear he had prepared, was surprised to see mic amp stands as well (I’ll probably invest in those too).

As people were allowed in, I went to the washroom and bumped into the other act, Velvet Fates. I’ve been looking for them, as I saw on Instagram that it was their debut as well and I wanted to invite em to Idol Revolution next month. They were tied up with the Idol Showcase event that went on a little earlier.

Velvet Fates did really well, very enthusiastic and joyful. Emily’s speech at the end was so touching. After it was done, I had to give her a hug and also earnestly thanked her. On the way out, I saw her again with another lady who said a few words as well. I introduced myself and asked if she was helping out…turns out she’s the voice actor of **8 for Akame ga Kill ^^””””””. My friends were talking behind me and I’m like hey, guys, she’s the voice actor! She was really cool! We followed each other on Instagram too <3

Time To Celerbate

It’s finally over! While it wasn’t perfect (we gave ourselves a fair 7/10), we were happy that we went out and did that. Like, it’s crazy when you think about it! When we started practicing a year ago, we really weren’t sure if or when we’ll get to perform at a convention, but hey, we did it!

We had to head and get some food. We were surprised at how busy some places were. We considered Petit Potato at Leslie and Finch, as they had a lot of Japanese meals, but they lineup was long, so we found another Asian restaurant. I got ramen, and the other two got bentou boxes.

After that, we stopped at TP Tea for bubble tea, on me ^_^ We usually go for Cocos or Real Fruit, but was trying to find a convenient place on the way.