chengdu or chengdon't


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March 17th 2008
Published: March 17th 2008
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i like chengdu, despite its dull grey polluted skies (which actually had a tinge of blue to them these last couple of days; you couldn't even look directly at the sun!), the grimy city feel and the millions of people bustling quickly past. actually, maybe i like it because of those last two things. it's got a pleasantly seedy, busy vibe to it.

that said, we've been a bit removed from the city on this particular trip. being variously strapped for cash or unwilling to part with more than we have to, we've been avoiding hostels so far on the tour. i mentioned in the last entry that we're staying with sascha this time, an american we met when he and his mate came to stay at the kunming flat about a month ago. we swapped details, let him know we'd be in chengdu soon, and voila! it was all sorted. his place is a little way out of town (about half an hour on the bus, or a 35 kuai taxi ride), which makes a refreshing change. it's nice to stay in someone's house, and it's especially nice to stay in someone's house when that house really is a house, and not an apartment. yesterday we bought vegetables and had a big cook-up. in the morning there's a chorus of birds to wake us up. the birds struck me as kinda strange and really really loud, meaning i've been away from places near trees or gardens for waaaay too long.

but anyway, the gigs. we've played two gigs in chengdu, and were all pretty buggered for both of them, i think. the first one was at the jah bar, which we were really looking forward to. quite apart from the fact that the place attracts a good crowd and has a reasonable sound set-up, and you can listen to reggae and smoke weed all night there, we were excited to see lili and judy (the owners) again, as well as any other old chengdu acquaintances who might have happened to pop up.

we rocked up pretty early in the evening, and there was a great percussion jam going on out the front. we were greeted with smiles and hugs and spliffs, and everything felt warm and fuzzy and happy. it's always nice to be welcomed back somewhere. after a few hours of drumming (kt and mick) and disorientation/dozing (me - i hadn't eaten enough that day), we had some dinner and then it was time for the show. by the time we got on stage, there were probably close to 100 people packed into the small bar, and more came a little further into the set. olaf, our german friend from our last visit to chengdu, and some of the staff of the loft hostel, appeared, and that really got the vibe going. the crowd was clapping and singing along (there wasn't much room for dancing), and after an hour or so when we finished up, seemed pretty happy with what they'd gotten for their ten kuai.
after that, it was of course time for celebration beers - another great gig! we were cheering even more when lili presented us with what he made on the door: 1200 kuai plus pocket change! wow! last time mick and i played the jah bar (about two months ago, at the start of january), we made 380 kuai. what a difference! we were grinning all over and hugging indiscriminately after that. definitely a fitting last gig at the jah bar for this tour. tired and happy, we took a taxi back home and crashed.

yesterday (sunday) was a pretty tired day. everyone woke up with vague feelings of hangover and can't-be-fucked-ness, but we dragged ourselves off to the markets (where we were stared at A LOT, and had "laowai" yelled at us or whispered around us even more than usual - that's village life for you, i guess) to buy vegies and doufu (tofu) for the aforementioned cook-up. two of sascha's chinese friends came round, and we filled our hungry bellies with all sorts of fantastic food. then it was back on the bus and into town for us, to eventually get to the bookworm cafe.

the bookworm cafe is one of those "foreigner cafes" really, where they serve lots of expensive but nice western food (thank goodness for our 300 kuai tab, it meant we could enjoy a decent meal and a couple of drinks), and they have a whole lot of books for sale or to read in the cafe, and a very rich-expat/tourist vibe. not that it's such a bad thing, and places like that are definintely a godsend when all you want is just to be somewhere where you don't have to decipher another chinese menu, or just want some french fries, or, god forbid, a decent sandwich. it's also probably a good place to take your parents when they come visit you in your new foreign hometown ("see, mum and dad, it's not all weird sichuan peppers that make your mouth numb, and you can order meals without rice here if you want!"). we decided to keep the set low-key (it just wasn't the right venue or crowd for zombie girlfriend), and settled on two short-ish sets (about 40 minutes each in the end), with a lot of my more folky songs. the microphone situation was made more interesting this time by the addition of a clip-on mic for mick, as there were only two normal ones. provided with these and an amp for the guitar, we did what we could, and i think it worked pretty well. they have a jazz band playing there regularly, so there was a piano and a drum kit, and the mics were in good working condition (actually, i quite liked the sound of mine). i wouldn't let mick put tremolo on my guitar though - i thought that would be going too far.

this gig was easily our lowest-energy gig, which actually turned out to be ok. sascha and his friends came to see us, as well as dana, an israeli girl we met a few times in china when kt and i were travelling around last year. she's settled in chengdu and is studying chinese medicine. it was really lovely to see her again, actually, and her presence was a bright spot in an otherwise fairly disinterested crowd. there was another table of 20-something-year-old foreign girls who seemed to enjoy themselves, but otherwise people were engaged in their own conversations, and weren't too interested in listening to us.
that was ok. we were tired out anyway, and it suited us well to play a fairly chilled-out set (featuring our lounge jam, "mr. fai/mystify" - i should have been in a lounge band, but now it's too late, i've been corrupted by fungal horse). it was nice to be playing music, nicer still to be getting paid for it, and great to be able to eat some western food again (for the most part i don't miss it, but a decent vegan pizza every now and then is pretty awesome). ben, the australian guy who was organising our gig, thanked us for playing and paid us, and we left after a few more beers to go home and pass out.

we're leaving chengdu tomorrow, and for all the great nightspots here, i think the best place for us to be tonight will be sascha's quiet house, maybe watching a dvd or two, and sitting around talking shit like only we can. tomorrow, with any luck (we're still waiting to find out about tickets), we'll be on a 21-hour train to changsha (and i was hoping it'd be close!), where the real adventure begins. we have contacts and interest, but no solid gigs booked from hereon in. we don't know the cities, we may possibly know one or two people in changsha, we don't know where we're staying, and how exactly we're getting back to hong kong. the countdown begins, with ten days til our first booked gig in hong kong (march 27th), and only 16 days til i'm jumping on a plane and flying back to perth. should be an interesting ride!


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17th March 2008

way to go little chicken.
Sounds like "Tegan's big adventure" isn't over yet. Take good care of yourself and the band. 16 days will go too fast, so enjoy it all. Love Marmee. x x x

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