Great Lake Swimmers come to Wuhan

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Great music! Great friends! Great food! God, I love this place! Last night we all trekked over to VOX, our nearby weekend hangout, to watch our friend Colin and his band, Man Made Lake, open for the well-known Canadian indie band, Great Lake Swimmers. Outside it was chilly and damp but inside the atmosphere soon warmed up as the evening's music began.

A little plug for the venue, "VOX is considered, among Chinese music aficionados, to be one of the country's finest rock clubs. Offering live music almost daily, VOX is situated in Wuhan's student district and regularly hosts China's top bands and DJs, as well as a rotating cast of international bands. In addition to the club's excellent program of events and atmosphere, VOX is also stocked with an amazing selection of beers, offering Belgian favorites like Leffe, Chimay and Duvel along with the status quo Chinese pilsners. If that's not enough, VOX is definitely an economical destination; cover charges average around RMB 30, while beers are extremely affordable."

This was Colin's second appearance on the Wuhan stage and he performed with incredible energy and talent. The band had a few technical difficulties and he trashed his guitar a couple of times as a result of a little too much energy 😊, but they recovered from the mishaps to thoroughly entertain everyone with their latest stuff. After a short break, Great Lake Swimmers took the stage. This band has four studio albums to their name and their melodic folk songs have won over fans around the world. Their newest album “Lost Channels” received rave reviews. On their first China tour, the band is playing in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Wuhan. They played a great set to a warm crowd last night of displaced Canadians, other expats and local Chinese. I would have loved to have heard a second set but it didn't happen!

China is an exciting place to be these days and along with the "in your face" non-stop development, it is great to see the subtle changes taking place in Wuhan as the months go by. I was thinking last night that a show such as this probably would have been pretty rare as recent as ten years ago, especially in a non-tourist city such as Wuhan.

Well, that is a short entry for this weekend but next week we are off to Sanya and Thailand. Will try to keep everyone updated on our travel adventures over the next few weeks.

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