Leaving on All Fours

As the festival lights went out, silence fell. The only sounds filtering through the quiet were the distant music leaking from the adjacent stage and the flapping of flags.

"Uh..." He looked at his friend, his eyes asking, What's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going on? His friend, equally bewildered, returned the exact same look.

What they had witnessed just moments ago was a wild wind howling indoors, flags fluttering, and even a banner bearing a bizarre slogan: [MAINTAIN THE ROCK REVOLUTIONARY FRONT]. It was a sight so absurd that it was hard to believe it was happening at a rock festival.

Yet, precisely because of that, the scene drew him in. He was caught between sheer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bewilderment at what this could possibly be and an inexplicable sense of grandeur. The feeling expanded. The longer the silence stretched, the more his suspicion turned into absolute certainty. A mounting anticipation filled him, whispering that something monumental was about to happen.

The waving flags ground to a halt. The howling wind died down. In that split second, when the entire stage was enveloped in absolute stillness—

The drums struck. One, two, three, and four. What followed was a low, heavy bassline so massive it felt like it would stop his heart.

"Whoaaaa...!" As the vibrations traveling through the floor climbed up the crowd's legs, transforming into a collective gasp of anticipation, a sound began to echo from the darkness without warning. It was a bass guitar crying out in a wah-wah filter, sounding like an alien transmitting a signal. Even though he had never heard the song before, the intro riff instantly seized his ears.

"Is this their song? The intro is insane!"

"N-no... I've never heard this on their album. Wait, uh... could this be Paradox?"

"Paradox?" He threw back the question, but the response he got was half-hearted. He's never heard it? Meanwhile, the guitar and synthesizer crashed in simultaneously. After a brief riff and some FX, a voice drifted out from the pitch-black darkness—a space where not a single beam of spotlight had yet fallen. From a silhouette barely visible under the indirect glow of colored lights, a low, deep voice began to chant.

The heavily processed, distorted voice fluttered on the boundary between rap and singing, unfolding with a rhythmic bounce. As he began to groove to the infectious beat, his friend spoke up.

"Wait, this isn't how the song originally goes."

"It's not?"

"It's completely diff—"

Slightly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠higher-pitched voices joined in like a chorus. Listening to them, he wondered what the original song sounded like, but that thought was quickly eclipsed by another: The atmosphere is absolutely insane...

The stage remained unlit. Only the gradually intensifying reflections of the colored lights revealed the silhouettes of the four members. Dry ice smoke spread like a thick fog, spilling over the edge of the stage and cascading down toward the audience.

The low-pitched vocals rolled out once more. A groove was forged over a mysterious beat that felt both on and off the tempo. Captivated by this strange yet exquisite sensation—something that was rap, yet not quite rap—he and the crowd around him began to move with growing energy.

All four voices resonated across the stage. A single beam of spotlight pierced the darkness. The cheers and applause that naturally erupted from the crowd were instantly hushed by the brilliant, soaring guitar solo... He stared at the stage, his eyes wide. The person playing the guitar was an incredibly young, beautiful girl.

I knew the vocals on Kingdom were definitely female, but...! He never expected the guitarist to be a girl too. And such a gorgeous one at that. While he was reeling in shock at her unbelievable skill and stunning looks, more spotlights began to rain down on the stage one by one. Just as he turned to look at his friend, utterly stunned to realize that every single member was female—the guitar solo ended, and all instruments except the bass ground to a sudden halt.

Behind a single, solitary voice, the instruments roared back to life. Bass, guitar, drums, keyboard—all of them. After a segment where they flaunted their virtuosity to their hearts' content, the same moment arrived. But this time, the voice did not sing. The only thing echoing was the bass. The guitarist raised her hand and pointed at the audience, as if reminding them of a duty left unfulfilled. The instruments swelled once more, then died down again.

"Unreachable Paradox..." A faint murmur rose from the crowd. At that sound, the guitarist gave them a thumbs-up. It was her acknowledgment that they had done exactly what was expected of them.

Against the backdrop of a slightly hushed chorus, the guitarist grabbed the microphone and spoke in slightly awkward Japanese.

"Hello, everyone. We are Group Sound."

She continued, "And we absolutely... will not let you leave in one piece. You will crawl out of this stage on all fours."

With that declaration, the stage erupted in brilliant light. The howling wind surged again, sending the flags whipping through the air. As he stared at the stage, which now felt entirely different from before, the bassist grabbed her mic and screamed.

"Everyone, one more time!!"

"UNREACHABLE PARADOX!!"

"UNREACHABLE PARADOX!!"

"Is that all you've got?! Louder!!"

Fists pumped into the air. The voices grew even louder in response. He found himself screaming at the top of his lungs to a song he was hearing for the first time in his life.

This is only the first song and the atmosphere is already like this? What's going to happen later...

Thinking that this was going to be an absolute blast, he stared at the stage with mounting excitement. His earlier thoughts of cooling down his overheated body had long since vanished.

The first song, Paradox, was a track from Group Sound's first Japanese studio album, Out of Time. The studio version was a cheerful, easy-listening track driven by a catchy guitar and bass riff—the kind of song that brought a pleasant vibe when it popped up on a playlist. However, the live performance of Paradox had been transformed into an entirely different genre. The only things it shared with the album version were the core guitar and bass riffs. Everything else had changed, from the song's progression to parts of the lyrics.

And that set the crowd's expectations on fire. If Paradox was rearranged like this, what about the other songs? As if to answer their anticipation, the second song they played was the very track that had shot Group Sound to fame: I'll Wait. Naturally, it too had been heavily modified.

"I'LL WAIT!!"

Originally characterized by a clean guitar tone and a warm, rounded bassline, I'll Wait had been completely drenched in overdrive and distortion. The main melody of I'll Wait, now layered with aggressive plucking and heavy slapping, surged forward relentlessly, lifting the crowd's feet off the ground.

It was the same for all the other songs. Not only Hanging Gardens, which originally leaned heavily into a shoegaze sound, but every other track they played. They pulled out all their Korean releases as well. For songs the Japanese crowd might not know, they projected the lyrics onto a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠massive screen and gave cues to guide them.

They didn't stop there; they actively utilized stage gimmicks. They used air circulators to keep the flags fluttering to build the atmosphere, and the members who had a free hand would wave flags to direct the crowd—red for jumping, blue for clapping. Group Sound delivered a performance that went far beyond merely "energetic." Ha Suyun tied her hair into a ponytail, Choi Iseor threw her signature beret and accessories into the crowd, and Jung Hyun-ah got so swept up in the vibe that she stood up to play her keyboard.

And for their final song, Faintly, But Surely... the entire second verse was sung as a massive crowd sing-along. The atmosphere was so overheated that a piece of paper thrown into the air would have burst into flames, and Suyun, who chose to wave a flag in front of the crowd instead of singing, made it all possible. It was that kind of performance.

With the performance over, the staff rushed onto the stage to pack up the flags while the instruments were wheeled off one by one.

"I'm exhausted." Suyun wiped off her sweat and threw herself onto the waiting room sofa. Iseor, who walked in right behind her, made a move to flop on top of Suyun but veered off at the last second to crash elsewhere. Normally, she would have yelled, "Body slam!!" and crushed Suyun. The fact that she didn't proved she was genuinely wiped out.

"I'm... so tired..."

"I'm literally dying here."

"Still, setting up the stage props really brought out the flavor."

"Right? I was actually thinking, maybe we should just do the whole tour with this concept. The stage setup doesn't seem too difficult either."

"That sounds like a great idea." After chatting with Seoha, Iseor glanced at the limp Suyun and walked over. "Aren't you going to watch Radiohead?"

"I don't know..." Suyun stared at the ceiling, still glued to the sofa. Do I really have to watch Radiohead? She had absolutely zero energy left. It was already boiling hot, and she had run around so much she'd completely drained herself. Yet, she felt great. It had been a long time since she'd played such a passionate gig. All that was left was to hope the audience loved it too—and, by extension, hope that tickets for their live tour would sell like hotcakes.

Well, they should sell decently. Everyone seemed to be having a blast. Suyun brushed her hair back with those thoughts. Since they had put on such a fun show, she felt she was entitled to a little optimism.

And so, Summer Sonic 2027 came to a close.

People posted their thoughts on Summer Sonic 2027 in various ways, in various places, utilizing various platforms. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Just like in Korea, where reviews flood the internet after any major event, with clickbait titles like "Real_Newbie_Review.jpg" or "First-Timer's Review," Japan was no different. It was a place where humans lived, so naturally, people sharing their impressions sprouted like mushrooms after rain.

The only noteworthy thing was that amidst the noise, a common sentiment began to emerge. Of course, it wasn't about Radiohead being amazing—that was a given. These unexpected reviews were coming from an entirely different corner. Specifically, from the stage of the artist who performed at 18:00 on Day 2 at the Sonic Stage.

"It was the best," "So much fun to jump around to," and so on. Even the closest thing to a negative review was along the lines of, "I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to hear the original versions, but I guess I can just listen to those on the album."

Explaining a one-hour performance in words is beyond difficult; it borders on the impossible. Thus, those who had witnessed it firsthand were frustrated by their inability to fully convey their experience, while those curious about what kind of performance Group Sound had delivered to warrant such praise were equally frustrated by the lack of concrete answers.

And just as this mutual frustration was reaching its peak, a piece of media surfaced on the internet, quenching the thirst of both sides.

Despite the strict no-recording policy, a foreign fan had managed to slip past the short-staffed security and capture the entire performance.

With the discovery of that video, Japanese rock listeners were... completely turned upside down.