The Los Angeles River flows from its source into the Pacific Ocean for about 51 miles, of which 32 miles are planned to be in the heart of the city, dividing the City of Angels into east and west. The city center is located on the west side of the Los Angeles River, although the west side of Los Angeles includes rich areas such as Hollywood and Beverly Hills, but the order is "chaotic" and "chaotic", and the poor life of Little Tokyo and Central China. The national city is also on this side.

Little Tokyo is one of the most 'chaotic' areas in the whole of Los Angeles, and after eight or nine o'clock at night, you must be vigilant when walking alone on the street, and if there is an emergency, you need to withdraw money from the ATM, so a companion is definitely a wise choice.

Just next block to Little Tokyo, there's a neighborhood called Poor Street (skid). row), which is what Los Angeles calls the slums. Poor Street does not refer to a single street, but refers to the area between East 6th Street and East 4th Street, between Maple Avenue (MAPLE). AVE) to Stanford Avenue (Stanford. ave).

Unlike the slums of other cities, the poor streets, known as the "Wandering Districts" by the townspeople, are located next to the two streets in the city center, which is also due to the characteristics of the city - the surrounding counties and cities are far more prosperous than the downtown development, the alleys here are dilapidated and crowded, and the blacks, Mexicans, Spaniards, and other minorities live in small spaces that resemble crockpot houses, doing the lowest physical labor in the city, hoping to maintain the livelihood of the family.

In recent years, there have been heavy metal rock bands called Poor Street, but they have little to do with this ghetto in Los Angeles, which began to rise in 1986 and became a smash hit with the "wave" and "tide" of metal rock in New Jersey. Jersey) didn't make their fortune in a homegrown band from the streets of Poor Los Angeles.

But the streets of Los Angeles have also become a paradise for many underground rock musicians, just as the Bronx of New York gave birth to hip-hop on the streets, where underground rock music lovers gather to vent their inner feelings and dreams in a distinctly rebellious manner. The Al Bar is located here, at the intersection of East 5th Street and San Pedro Street, within walking distance of San Julian's Park.

Before seven o'clock in the evening, Hugo arrived at his destination by bus, and when he walked on the street, he could see all kinds of bright 'bright' outfits, such as the flamboyant black 'color' windbreaker, the 'gloomy' black 'color' eyeliner, and the hot red 'color' hair, which detonated one after another 'color' colored balls in the line of sight, releasing infinite charm.

In the late '80s and early '90s, the unemployment crisis in the United States re-emerged - which was one of the reasons for the outbreak of the Rodney One Gold scandal, so heavy metal rock and grunge began to cause a strong reaction, and the punk music that was all the rage in the 70s was slowly revived. In the beginning, these music were particularly unique in the mainstream market, and the big record labels, professional music magazines, and top music studios could not accept such an alternative and new 'trendy' thing, and underground rock grew vigorously.

But then, grunge led by Nirvana unexpectedly set off a frenzy of 'tide', drowning out other qiē music, and made a huge breakthrough in both word-of-mouth and market, which also made grunge rock into the mainstream culture of the United States. After entering 1992, this kind of hot 'tide' not only did not weaken, but was in a state of continuous warming, and since 1977, another era of rock 'and roll' 'tide' seems to be coming.

Looking at the scene of the people in front of him, Hugo seemed to have entered the magical world of Harry and 'Bo', although there are no wands and spells in this world, but the musical notes flowing from the fingertips of musical instruments are the most beautiful spells in the world, with moving energy. Every figure in front of me, the unknown and the unrecognized, the familiar and the unfamiliar, the flamboyant and the introverted, and the strangely dressed with musical instruments, are like musical notes, arranged and combined in different shapes in the line of sight, and then a beautiful melody is played in the dark blue canopy.

Although Hugo told himself more than once that this crossing was a godsend, today Hugo still has to sigh again that life is really beautiful, thanks to him for coming to Los Angeles in 1992, not only giving him the opportunity to become a 'colorful' actor, but also allowing him to have the privilege of witnessing the most glorious era of rock and roll.

Hugo stood there in surprise, a little overwhelmed with excitement, he wanted to go up and talk to the cool young 'girl' with two dozen earrings on his ears, he wanted to join the unknown band that sat on the corner and started to play together, and he wanted to besiege Billy Joe and Armstrong, the lead singers of the Green Day band, like a star chaser...... It's like a Disneyland for rock 'n' roll lovers, full of joy and looking at one thing and losing the other.

"Hey, Hugo!" There was a shout behind him, so that Hugo, who had recently been trained to shoot conditional anti-shooting, looked back directly, and faced a handsome guy with long golden hair and strode over with long 'legs', "You're Hugo, right?" I didn't recognize the wrong person!" The handsome guy in front of him combed his long hair into a ponytail, revealing a clean and cold face, and his blue-green eyes were deep and distant under the soft street lamp.

Hugo recognized the face, so familiar that he could even remember where he had seen it, the guitarist he had met last time with Charlize on the streets of the Walk of Fame, but Hugo couldn't remember the other person's name. Hugo's talent in this area is really weak, only a little better than his sense of direction.

Looking at Hugo's tangled expression, the handsome guy laughed twice clearly, "I'm Neil and Anderson, I ...... last time"

"Yes, Neil!" Hugo's eyes immediately emitted a bright 'color', and his eyes completed the narrow crescent moon because of the bright smile at the corner of his mouth, "Avenue of Stars......" Hugo hurriedly said, proving that his memory was not wrong. But looking at Neil's paused smile in front of him, Hugo's last note involuntarily went up, "Right?"

Neil chuckled and nodded, "Yes, Walk of Fame." I didn't expect to meet so soon. Neil's eyes flashed brightly, last time he wanted to 'mingle' with Hugo more, but unfortunately he couldn't make the trip that day because of his own affairs, which made Neil feel sorry all the time.

Neil did not ask Hugo for contact information that day, in the United States in the early nineties, in addition to landlines, pagers were the most reliable means of communication, if there were neither, then to find another stranger in a metropolis like Los Angeles is undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But Hugo is right in one sentence, both people have common hobbies, as long as they can find the same circle, it is not so difficult to meet again. And so there was the second encounter of today.

"You have a show assignment tonight?" Hugo saw the guitar on Neil's shoulder, and pointed to the Al Bar just around the corner.

"Oh no, it's just a habit." Neil shook his head, "What about you?" Hugo also came with his guitar today, he chose a white 'colored' T-shirt with a crow pattern painted all the time, paired with light blue 'color' denim pants', and finally took a jacket with a 'flower' pattern of the Superman icon on a white background, which is much more integrated than in the afternoon.

Hugo laughed, and in Neil's eyes, he also smiled, and Hugo said, "Me too." I don't have a band right now, I'm just a music lover. ”

"Me too, temporarily alone, usually making a living by street performances." Neil simply said that when it comes to rock, there are actually a lot fewer solo rock singers, and they are like David Bowie. It's not that easy to make a career out of that. "So, last time you performed a jazz song, have you done some rock lately?"

Neil seemed a little impatient, so he didn't say a word, and went straight to the point, but Hugo didn't mind at all, "Oh, of course, I usually write and play more or less compose, but there are not so many suitable for guitar performance, you know, a lot of times you have to have a complete set of instruments." ”

"Do you have research on other musical instruments as well? Wow, I thought your guitar was good enough. Neil looked around and sat down on the side of the street.

"Oh, no, no, I'm not good at anything other than the guitar, and the keyboard is just basic." Hugo also sat on the floor and said honestly, "It's just that I like to compose, so other instruments are involved." ”

"In recent years, it is impossible to have a guitar solo in a rock band, and most of the guitarists who are 'good' will raise the quality of the whole band to a higher level. So, the guitar is enough. Neil said with a smile, his excitement clearly visible in the light of his eyebrows, "By the way, how did you set the chords last time you wrote that song?"

Hugo and Neil chatted enthusiastically here, and at this time the surroundings were also full of people, the sight was full of people, everyone was standing or sitting in twos and threes, discussing with great interest, almost everyone was discussing music, and even many people had already started to play on the spot, this scene was like the scene of a grand rock festival, but most of these music lovers had two brushes, which made the atmosphere full of blood-boiling gunsmoke.

It's hard to imagine that in Los Angeles under the dark blue night, there are such unknown corners, surging with countless musical notes, silently penetrating the land and becoming a part of the city's blood. How sorry it is to think about how many days and nights in the past Hugo has been in such a sacred land, but he has never really come into contact with this group of people who love music; Of course, the more regrets about the past, the more surging Hugo's inner 'agitation' is at the moment, and this is how it feels, even the street lamp on the street corner can see the graceful curve of the notes, so that all the qiē is covered with a layer of hazy and mysterious light.