A beginner guitarist performing at a big festival? Seems unbelievable but ahhh my goodness!!! It has become a reality! What better finale for this rookie band project then just that!
Natsukashii Kumo aka The Chromatic Dreamers Band Project 2.0 just performed at Japan Festival Canada which took place at Mississauga Celebration Square. This article will cover our background and journey, along with the experience performing at this amazing event!
Our Background
If you’re new to my blog, hi! I’m Nostalgia. I picked up guitar first in 2017 for a few months before getting discouraged, and then picked it up again in 2020. That summer, I started putting a band together, but was unable to find a full band until 2021 in which the original Chromatic Dreamers band project rehearsed together for a year and debuted in 2022. For more of the story, check out the Band Project page.
After a few months hiatus, the singer, Cloud, and I got together again in April 2023 and created an acoustic duo, Natsukashii Kumo. In less than a couple months, we learned 20+ songs and recorded a couple covers. I was already in touch with Emily from Pretty Heroes as I was considering doing a solo, but then asked about a duet and she offered us a 30 minute set, so we re-debuted at the convention in July.
I also reached out to Japan Festival, not really expecting a ‘yes’ considering their size, but it never hurts to ask! And to my surprise, they said they would love to give us a 30 minute set too! Since then, I quickly decided the songs and other details for that gig too. While I was quite nervous at first, getting through the Pretty Heroes gig certainly gave me more confidence, and I was excited for this opportunity!
Preparing For The Gig
Since I obviously need a bit more time to learn not just my guitar parts but my lyrics, it was great that I already started learning these songs between April and May. In June, I would review both setlists, and then focus on Pretty Heroes for the first couple weeks of July. I would say most of the songs were easy to remember the chords, but they all had one little section that needed a little extra attention.
Sayonara Elegy has a really fast strumming pattern in it’s intro and outro. Hikari Are is mostly in 1st position but has a Csus4 chord that takes a lot of practice to play well. Brave Heart has one of the longer chord progressions and other random things. Gravity’s intro riff was definitely the hardest of the bunch though…but at my current level, I was up for the challenge.
Cloud is a more focused learner, so she wanted to focus just on Pretty Heroes and worry about Japan Festival afterwards. It was okay though as she already knew “Dearest” and “Secret Base” ages ago, “Brave Heart” from the old band, and “Glamorous Sky” from our cover. “Sayonara Elegy” and “Hikari Are” were my solos, so she only really had to learn “Gravity” and “How Crazy” which were new songs for her.
So after our gig at Pretty Heroes, we took a two week break to learn on our own time, only leaving 3 weeks/rehearsals to go through everything, but I felt we could do it. One week to go over the songs and work out any kinks, one week to run through our set and start choreographing anything, and one week for our dress rehearsal and final touches.
A couple weeks before, the host said he’ll have to cut our time from a 30 minute block to 15, 20 minute max since the amount of guests and schedule was busier than expected….and honestly, we were all for it. While I did learn most of the songs by then, I was already thinking about cutting “Hikari Are” cause less songs means more time to focus on others. We went over the list again, and “Glamorous Sky” along with “Gravity” were cut as well, leaving us with 5 songs.
Since I would be standing this time around, I did have some ideas for choreography, but that would only be possible if I could get a headset (since I obviously can’t play guitar and hold a microphone at the same time). After inquiring, we were told they only have wireless microphones, but I still wanted to move a bit, so I thought of other ways to do what I had in mind at our second rehearsal.
We had our last rehearsal on the Monday before the show. Instead of just practicing in my room, we used my cousin/roommate’s room (which is technically the living room) as there’s more space. We really wanted to have a better idea and get used to the formations. I also made sure Cloud got experience using my camera and such for the selfies. All in all, we felt pretty ready for the gig.
Day Of The Festival
Usually, I don’t drag my cousin/roommate along for my gigs. I may ask for a ride, but had times where other bandmates were able to. While he is an anime fan, he’s not the biggest Jmusic, idol, or cosplay fan, so I’m not one to drag people where they don’t care to be. But since this was far out in Mississauga, and I didn’t know if anyone else would be there to record for us, I made the request.
So we headed out around 6:15. Picked up Cloud who lives about 10 minutes away, and then made the journey to Mississauga. Had some fun convos in the car on the way there. We couldn’t find closer parking, so we got a place at Square One and walked over.
We were on the scene around 7:30, giving us enough time to use the washroom, find a recording spot and check-in 15 minutes before our expected time. The event was certainly very lively when we arrived. I could tell they were running a bit behind schedule since Ice Qream was still on stage even though Anime North Live was scheduled for 7 to 8PM. I didn’t mind having more time to breathe, just didn’t know how long we had.
I noticed Dolly, Tiya, and the other Magical Monsters/THS.GO members. Most are people I danced with back in 2019 when I was a guest dancer with the group.
Me and Dolly got closer during the pandemic, and I hung out with her a couple times before our band had our full debut at See-Scape where Dolly works in 2022. I came as a guest to her Halloween Maid Cafe and then worked the door for the Christmas one, so I met other members there 😛 After saying hi to them, they came by our table and we hung out and talked a bit. I asked about their gig which I knew was much earlier, and how they felt compared to last year.
They headed out a bit after, and then I suggested we get ready to line up on stage. I still wasn’t sure what the progression was since Anime North is a bunch of different performers along with cosplayers, but better we’re on stage regardless. A lady checked in with us asking about our input, and later on, the MCs asked if we wanted a more thorough intro or if we were going to introduce ourselves. We had some things prepared, so we said just our name is fine (though, they had to find a way to fill in the blank as I set up my guitar).
Then it was showtime eeeeeee~~
They didn’t really ask or attempt a soundcheck, so I was a little worried. Once we confirmed our mics were good, we just got started. At first, I could barely hear the guitar for our first song, Brave Heart. Definitely a lot of feedback on my end for my mic, which didn’t get better for the second song that I was the main singer in, Sayonara Elegy. Dearest which was Chu’s solo, along with How Crazy sounded decent while I was up there. And then I couldn’t really hear myself at all for Secret Base, but I sang anyways <3
And then it was finally over *phew*. Well, the song portion anyways. I really wanted to get selfies from the stage, and we practiced that part too. I really wanted to ensure we had a flow and we both know what’s happening since I wasn’t sure how close we’d be or if I could whisper to remind her. I made sure she got practice with the phone I planned to take on stage (yeah, I got two phones haha). As the MCs took over, I took a minute to untangle my cords. Then we were done!~
After Show Thoughts
We did it! We did it! We did it!! YAAAY! *some Spanish words* We did it!!! We went out for gelato, and my cousin treated us to Montanas. All in all, it was a very chill and fun evening. Definitely worth all the time and money we’ve invested into this project since 2021.
I decided months back that after this gig, I’m definitely going on hiatus. I would have been done with the band stuff back in December, but Cloud convinced me to come again as a duet. Definitely more pressure as the only musician, but I was open to the experience for the sake of guitar growth and experience. These songs have certainly pushed me to places I’ve never been.
It’s really cool to be able to say we’ve played at a festival. Also such a pleasure and a privilege to end this band project on a big and high note. I’m so thankful to Andrew, the organizer, for the opportunity and warm welcome. Special thanks to all the people who help put this all together, including the stage crew, online promoters, security, etc.
I know no one in the crowd really knows who we are, and that dancers/idol groups and cosplayers are the more common act. We definitely had more minor sounding and chill songs, not really any hyped stuff…though it’s hard to hype up people in an acoustic act anyways haha But we’re very thankful to those who watched and listened attentively and cheered for us <3
Despite the many changes that happened on stage (someone swiped Cloud’s mic, my volumes got lower, lighting changed as it got darker) we powered through. I don’t know for sure if the monitors is just what we hear or what everyone hears. It was really hard to focus or enjoy the performance due to all the feedback, volume, and technical issues ^^” I definitely see why pre-stage mic and sound checks are very vital, but events like this have very limited time with the space, so I understand!
I personally didn’t feel nervous persay. It’s certainly a big stage and event, but when you’ve practiced so much, you get to that point of ‘this is the best I can do, whatever happens happens’. I’m a rookie musician, so while I hope to do well, I don’t have super high expectations for myself, so I would never beat myself afterwards. I still got to add something to my list of things I’ve done that many people will never even try to do.
Conclusion
It’s crazy seeing where you can take an idea or a project if you just take that first step and keep pushing forward. I’ve wanted to make a band since 2006, and attempted my first band back in 2014. I pitched this idea and gathered some friends in 2020 when I picked up guitar again, but we didn’t start rehearsing as a band until 2021. We had our debut stage in August 2022, and now we’re playing at a festival in 2023. Dreams can come true <3
So while this is the end of the Chromatic Dreamers Band Project, hopefully, it’s a spark that will inspire other Chromatic (Musical) Dreamers to also take that leap of faith and put themselves out there regardless of their talent or experience.
Sincerely, Nostalgia