It was quickly announced that Aiden was going to hold a concert on 29th April. Moreover, the venue was going to be Radio City Music hall, one of the biggest theatre halls in New York.
The news quickly spread as tickets started getting sold out left and right.
Singers would earn a lot from album sales, but concerts and shows were still one of the best ways to earn millions of dollars in a single night. Singers that were popular worldwide would even sell out more than 100k tickets for a big concert in a stadium, and the prices of some seats would be extortionately high.
That was one of the reasons why Cyco media was so aggressive with the idea of having a concert in Radio City Music hall.
With the capacity of 7k people, it was going to be a great experience.
After the announcement, a lot of established singers took note of it, and some even became worried.
Aiden's success was just too quick.
Radio City Music hall was a place only for top singers, and if Aiden had the capability of doing a show there, then it was a sure sign of his popularity as he was just starting out; it was still a long time before he was going to reach his saturation point.
Some records wondered what to do with it as they all wanted a piece of Aiden's popularity. In the industry, if one was popular, then people's behaviour toward him would surely change.
That was something everyone knew.
A lot of record labels wanted to get their hands on Aiden because of that, but in the market, everyone knew that Aiden liked to be independent.
Although he was in a partnership with Cyco media, he had refused to be under them. It also made sense as he had the label of the only independent mainstream artist currently, and it was slowly becoming a title.
If he could keep it up for a few years, then Aiden was going to be a huge inspiration for independent artists.
For now, the record labels could only just watch.
As for the fans, a lot of them were buying up tickets for the concert, especially the young teenage demographic. They all wanted to see Aiden live, and Radio City Music hall was the best venue.
His fan group was also discussing the possibility of going to the concert.
[iPhone Founder: Is anyone going to Radio City Music hall on 29th April? I wanted to go, but I'm going on a business trip in a few days.]
[Cigar Lover: I'm going, and I'm very excited about it. My girlfriend, who's a huge Aiden fan, just broke up with me yesterday when I was about to give her tickets to the concert. Now I'm going to go alone with a homie and send her a lot of photos. I want her to cry, regret and feel everything I felt when I got dumped. I'm making other plans to get revenge too.]
[Walls can hear: @Cigar Lover Man's became a supervillain after getting dumped. Funny thing is that it's still a better origin story than half of superhero movie villains.]
[The Martian: I want to go, but I also am in the mood of crashing the stock market and bantering on Sparrow that day. Then, I would be meeting with the President to talk about the plans to bomb Mars with nuclear weapons to make it livable.]
[Young Fruit smiley: I'm going! I got tickets! Wish me luck! Though I would be on the back and would barely be able to see him but something!]
[Dead Woke jokes: I'm going. I convinced my father to buy tickets to the concert, and it turns out he's a fan too. He even got a Kai t-shirt, so we both would be there.]
[Aiden's wife: I can't go, sadly. I wanted to, but the tickets are too expensive. Until I can get free tickets, I won't be able to go. Poverty really sucks. What about you, Insider? @Hollywood Insider.]
[Hollywood Insider: I won't be able to make it. Anyway, I'm busy tracking down new news about Aiden. It seems like he got cast in a Zetflix series, from what I heard. Won't share details, but it's not another rom-com from them and something that would at least be decent. #Know it all]
***
"Check the lightning again."
"Is the fog machine working? We need it during Aiden's entry."
"The background dancers need to stay hydrated. The concert would go on for a long time. We need to make sure they can perform for a long time."
"Are we going to have fan interactions between songs? The security needs to be extremely tight."
Ruckus was everywhere backstage as Aiden made his way towards Rachel's room. It was half an hour before the concert, and 'Firefly' was the song they were going to open with.
Rachel was going to stay for a few more songs.
As he moved, a lot of busy staff members greeted him, and some even asked for autographs, not knowing if they would be able to get them again.
A lot of people were working backstage, so it was not possible for him to give everyone an autograph.
"You are here."
When he finally reached Rachel's room, it was open, so he directly entered it and saw that she was in the middle of her makeup.
Linda was standing in the back with a stylist and some makeup artists.
"Are you ready? The opening act will start soon, and then we need to enter. If the first track isn't up to the mark, then they won't be excited. We would need to give our all."
"I know that."
"Are you nervous?"
Aiden tilted his head, looking at her. She had a blank expression on her face that he had seen a lot during X-Star.
She shook her head and replied, "No, I mean a little but not that much. It's kind of similar to the grand finale of X-Star, so I think I would be fine."
He recalled watching the broadcast of it. The X-Star finale was touted to be a grand spectacle as the stage prepared would be very big. He himself performed 'Lost in the Sky' on it in the last season.
It wasn't Radio City Music hall, but it was certainly something that could prepare you for a concert.
"Are you nervous? The tickets are sold in your name after all."
"No, I'm not."
Aiden replied quickly, showing no hesitation in his answer. He had thought that he would be nervous about a big concert, but he had a lot of experience doing live shows now.
The attendance of them wasn't in the thousands, but it was something. Contrary to what many people would think, he felt like this was the moment that was lacking from his singing career.
He was excited to give his best.
***
The opening act of the concert was by a young male singer from Cyco media who had made his debut just last year and was slowly making a following for himself.
He actually sang one of Aiden's previous songs, 'Revolution', and even Aiden had to say that the young guy's voice suited a vocalist of a rock band.
He gave his all to the performance, and the audience was pretty pumped up after it.
It was then that the lights in the hall dimmed so much that people weren't able to see a lot. Suddenly, one of the lights highlighted someone standing on the stage.
It was Aiden.
Seeing him, the audience went wild as a loud cheer went up.
He smiled, seeing such a reaction and took a look around. It looked jam-packed with people cheering everywhere; his eyes wavered.
All of them had come to see him, and taking a deep breath, he made a resolve that he wasn't going to let them go home disappointed.
He glanced at the band that was standing just behind him, and they nodded. In the next second, the music of 'Firefly' started to come out.
Silver light came out with it as the audience cheered and waved the glowsticks in their hands. Some of them were recording it on their phone, and a few guys were even live streaming it.
Though the quality was undoubtedly going to be bad with the lights dimmed and so much crowd.
Slowly, he started singing.
"I closed my eyes so I could reach."
"The world that could be mine and yours."
"Walking the path through the darkness only to reach your door"
"I'm on the path to do something that no one did before."
As he sang, people went quieter and quieter by the second as his voice was just like a soft whisper, making them want to focus on it.
Aiden put a lot of emphasis on each word as he poured out all the emotions he had felt while making the song. It was also working as the silver light was strong and looked to slowly reach every spot in the hall.
After the first verse ended, another spotlight fell on the spot, and Rachel emerged. A cheer again went up. This time, a little less than before, but as she started singing, everyone in the hall was mesmerised.
Like that, the concert began, and people couldn't help but think.
"Oh my god, they sound so good."
"The studio version was great, but why do they sound so real live? I'm glad I got the tickets for the show."
"I feel like I'm getting affected by the lyrics. Aiden's a genius!"
