Listen at the Maximum Volume - Brazilian Larp

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Concept and Text Layout

Luiz Falcão

Luiz Prado

Tadeu Andrade and Estéfano Vitagliano contact luizfdprado@gmail.com

English Translation

[ACKNOWLEDGMENTS] Bob Nogueira, Daniel Violato, Danilo Kobold, Goshai Daian, João Pedro Torres, Krishna Farnese, Lucas Marmitt, Luiz Falcão, Rafael Carnovalli, Rafael Castro, Rafael Rocha e Wesley Buck Rosa, the playtesters of Listen at the Maximum Volume.

[OVERVIEW]

LISTEN AT THE MAXIMUM VOLUME WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS OF ALL TIME.

YOU SOLD MILLION OF ALBUMS, FILLED UP STADIUMS ALL AROUND THE WORLD, HAD YOUR PICTURE ON THE COVER OF THOUSANDS OF MAGAZINES AND BECAME MILLIONAIRES. But all of this is gone. Fifteen years ago something happened, the band split up, and your life has never been the same again.

Now after a long time, you have finally agreed to talk about what happened and to see if the time has come for a second chance.

Listen at the Maximum Volume is a live-action roleplaying game for 3-7 people about split-ups, sorrows, regrets, frustrations, guilty, vanity and nostalgia. The participants are members of a

band that is meeting again fifteen years after its end, in a reunion that will bring out repressed anger and past joy, and give rise to expectations, grudges and the opportunity to forgive and retry.

[WHAT IS LISTEN AT THE MAXIMUM VOLUME?] Listen at the Maximum Volume is a larp, abbreviation for live action roleplaying. In a larp people interact with one another by means of playing characters in a fictional environment, living immersive experiences. Larp has elements of improvisational theater and performance art, but differs from them in that it is a art to be lived, not to be seen. There is no audience in a larp: every participant plays a character. There is also no script directing the action, which emerges from the interaction of ideas, intuitions and wills of those involved. Therefore a larp is never equal to another and there will never be two identical reunions of Listen at the Maximum Volume.

[PREPARATION] Listen at the Maximum Volume needs: - 7 Band Member Cards - 7 Initial Mood Cards - 11 Recollection Cards - 1 alarm-clock This larp lasts one hour.

[THE BEGINNING] Listen at the Maximum Volume starts with each participant drawing a random card indicating their position in the band.

The draw is open for everyone to see: you all know which instrument each of you used to play. If there are less than seven participants in the game, decide before or during the larp if this was the original formation, or if some members have not come to the meeting – pick whatever option is more interesting for the experience of the group. If no-one has drawn the vocalist card, you will also be able to ascertain during the larp whether the band was instrumental, whether someone sang besides playing their instruments, or whether the vocalist has not shown up.

In second place, each participant draws another random card indicating their mood toward the reunion of the band. The green card stands for a favorable attitude, and must be revealed, for the person who has drawn it has contacted the others and arranged the meeting. The yellow cards indicate doubt and, finally, the red card means a initial negative mood. Feel free to show or hide this information before the larp begins – the essence of Listen at the Maximum Volume is not made of secrets. If there is less than seven people present, discard yellow cards until there is an equal number of people and cards.

In the next stage, the participants decide collectively what was the musical style of Listen at the Maximum Volume and then take ten minutes for themselves to think individually about some traits of their chracters, based on the questions in the Band Member Card. Once this is done, place the Recollection Cards in an accessible spot and set an alarm-clock to ring after an hour – this will be the signal for the larp to end.

[THE REUNION] The larp starts with the character that arranged the meeting thanking everyone for attending, explaining the reason for her or him to contact them or with any other similar introduction.

If the larp was prepared before – online or somewhere other than the place where the game will be run, for example -, you can start it immediately

after the first participant arrives: once in the larp area, everyone will be playing their characters and welcoming those who arrive later.

During the meeting, you will discuss the possibility of playing together again and, consequently, talk about the end of the band, trying to justify, understand or reject its causes, exchanging charges, expressing guilty and reminding others of their responsabilities, bringing out sorrows and grudges. But you will also be able to remember the good times, the achievements, the albums and songs you are proud of, the memorable concerts and situations, the friendship that once existed between you. Moreover, that will be the first time some – if not all – of you have met in fifteen years and this will probably lead to questions about the career of each one during this time away.

Keep in mind that the split-up of the band (whether brought about by just one member or by consensus) meant the tail end of a period in everybody’s life.

Some may be doing better now and consider the time they were together only a good memory, but some may regard the band’s end as the destruction of their dreams, the separation from the people they cherished or the beginning of years of solitude, oblivion or sorrow. These psychological and social impacts should be kept in mind during the larp and have a bearing on personal decisions concerning the band’s reunion.

Another point to take into account is building the band’s and its members’ career and the history of their split-up. The concept of Listen at the Maximum Volume is collectively creating an event – the meeting – and the band’s history itself. With this end in mind, each participant will present elements that are part of this biography, and all of these contributions will animate Listen at the Maximum Volume. For this to happen, everybody should expand and accept each other’s ideas instead of rejecting them only for being different of one’s own concept of how the band should be. We call this “the yes agreement” and we are going to say more about it later.

THE MEETING ENDS IN ONE HOUR, WHEN THE ALARM-CLOCK RINGS AND A PARTICIPANT SAYS THAT HE HAS TO LEAVE FOR ANOTHER APPOINTMENT.

THIS IS THE LARP’S END, REGARDLESS OF THE DECISION OF THE BAND’S MEMBERS.

[CHORUS AND RECOLLECTIONS] At any time of the reunion, a member can pick one of the Recollection Cards.

They represent controversial issues in the history of the band and work as suggestions to build it. To use them, a player must choose one of his former partners, look into their eyes and sing

the chorus of one the greatest hits of Listen at the Maximum Volume. These lines are created by the player and, if the band is instrumental, they can sing a melody instead of lines.

After that, the chosen player must draw a random Recollection Card and, the next time they speak, approach the suggested subject. The recollection does not need to be spoken about immediately in the conversation, and the player can think for a few minutes or wait for the time that seems more interesting to do it. However, while they do not speak about the subject, they must remain in silence.

If any of the recollections have already emerged spontaneously, approach it under a new perspective, or develop it with someone else. Keep in mind that these recollections are controversial moments in the band’s history and all the years of separation, so it is natural to insist on them.

[AGREEMENTS] To have an intense and memorable experience in playing Listen at the Maximum Volume it is necessary to make a few agreements before the larp’s beginning.

It is very important that all participants be aware about them and be willing to keep them.

This is a collaborative experience and it is necessary that each one do their part for that to happen.

Stay in character – It is most important to everybody’s immersion that you do not get out of character at any moment in the larp. That means that you must concentrate in acting, thinking and feeling as if you were they, leaving your everyday personality out. Do not answer to phone calls, type messages or interact with people external to the larp being yourself (if you are in a public space). The meeting only lasts one hour, and we believe that, if you are willing to live this experience, you can do that.

Avoid clichés – Listen at the Maximum Volume is not a humor larp.

The band’s split up brought about traumas and resentments, frustrated expectations and shook the friendly relationship that once existed between you. The atmosphere needed for the development of these themes demands that you avoid explicit comparison with famous bands, that may lead to

humor and affect everyone’s immersion. We are not saying that there is no room for laughter, but that it must not emerge from clichés. This is not an experience of pretending you are the Beatles, therefore, do not accuse the guitarist’s Japanese wife for being responsible for the end of the band.

No pre-arrangements – With the exception of the style of the band, the instruments that the members used to play and the initial mood, everything else must be created offhand during the larp. One of the objectives of Listen at the Maximum Volume is to collectively construct the band’s and its members’ career through free suggestions of ideas and the challenge of group developing, accepting contributions of others and getting surprised by the discovery of the history of the band and the relations between its members.

The “yes agreement” – For Listen at the Maximum Volume’s and its members’ history to be a group creation, it is essential that the ideas of every player be accepted and developed by the others. If someone assures an European tour was the beginning of the end, assume the existence of a problematic European tour and add on new elements to this suggestion. If you do not like the direction the larp shall take after an affirmation, try to subvert it or make it mean another thing, but never ignore it or say it is a lie. In the example above, you could say the European tour really revealed the problems, but that something was wrong since the beginning of the lead vocalist’s solo project.

Play to lose – There are no winners or losers in Listen at the Maximum Volume. If during the larp you need to say, accept or do things that will harm your character interests but, otherwise, help developing everybody’s experiences, take a shot at it and move forward. Do not be afraid that your character may end mocked, isolated or hated by the others. In the same way, keep in mind that the Initial Mood Cards were made to facilitate the development of conflicts and are not objectives to follow; that is, even if you have taken the green card, that does not mean that it is your objective to convince others to revive the band. In the same way, the red card does not mean that you have to reject any possibility of reunion. This larp is not about “winning the game”, but sharing deep experiences.

[The End] Soon after the larp is over, take some time to talk about the experience you have just had. Talk about the emotions that came about and the conflicts shared.

Each player has a point of view about the meeting and it is important that everyone manifest it. Enjoy the moment to solve any misunderstandings and make it clear that all commentaries and actions done during the larp belong to the larp only and must not be taken outside of it.

[CARDS] Make copies of or write down the contents of the next pages. They are also available to print at http://boivoador-larp.blogspot.com

Band Member Card - Lead Vocal

- Bassist

- Rhythm Guitarist

- Drummer

- Solo Guitarist

- Keyboardist

- Percussionist

Recollection Cards - The wife

- Religious issue

- The contracts issue

- The sexual scandal

- The original line-up

- TV advertising

- The solo career

- The phone calls never answered

- The relationship with alcohol

- The stolen song

- The first friend to die

Initial Mood Cards - Green

- Yellow

- Red

Lead Vocal

Lead Vocal

Solo Guitarist

Bassist

Drummer

Keyboardist

Percussionist

The stolen song

The phone calls never answered

The wife

The original line-up

The contracts issue

The sexual scandal

Religious issue

TV advertising

The solo career

The first friend to die

The relationship with alcohol

[Green] You were the responsible for contacting your former band partners and putting this meeting forward. Remember that the band has not met for fifteen years for a reason, and, therefore, your motivation to arrange this meeting must be very strong.

While you think about your character, try answering these questions: - Why did you decide to reunite with your former partners?

- How you felt/feel about the end of the band?

- What have you done since the band’s split-up?

- What are the band’s unresolved conflicts?

[Yellow] You were called by one of your former band partners for a meeting, but you are not sure about the reunion of the band. Remember that the band has not met for fifteen years for a reason and, therefore, there must be good reasons for your hesitation to return to stage .

While you think about your character, try answering these questions: - Why have you shown up at the meeting?

- How you felt/feel about the end of the band?

- What have you done since the band’s split-up?

- What are the band’s unresolved conflicts?

[Red] You were called by one of your former band partners for a meeting, but you do not want the reunion of the band. Remember that the band has not met for fifteen years for a reason and, therefore, there must be good reasons for you to not want to return to stage.

While you think about your character, try answering these questions: - Why have you shown up at the meeting?

- How you felt/feel about the end of the band?

- What have you done since the band’s split-up?

- What are the band’s unresolved conflicts?

Listen at the Maximum Volume was one of the greatest bands of all time. You sold million of albums, filled up stadiums all around the world, had your picture on the cover of thousands of magazines and became millionaires. But all of this is gone. Fifteen years ago

something happened, the band split up, and your life has never been the same again.

Now after a long time, you have finally agreed to talk about what happened and to see if the time has come for a second chance.

Listen at the Maximum Volume is a live-action roleplaying game for 3-7 people about split ups, sorrows, regrets, frustrations, guilty, vanity and nostalgia. The participants are members of a band that is meeting again fifteen years after its end, in a reunion that will bring out repressed anger and past joy, and give rise to expectations, grudges and the opportunity to forgive and retry.

3-7 PLAYERS TOTAL TIME 2 HOURS (30’ + 60’ + 30’)