September 20 - Shanghai - first concert

After a good rest we were ready to play our first gig. At first it was very stressy, because the soundcheck was a complete disaster. Normally it was planned around noon, but it kept being postponed. In the meantime clouds packed up above our heads. After a while rain started pouring down, even on stage and in the mixing desk. Wind blew away the back of the stage. The rain was so intense we had to find shelter in a local bar. Suddenly we weren't sure anymore if we would actually be able to perform... Still, the audience didn't care at all. They just kept waiting for the first band to begin, covered up in plastic coats.

After a long delay we got the message that the festival had begun. Finally we went on stage and from the first notes and Steven's attempt to introduce the band in Chinese the crowd went wild. Goosebumps all over... We expected a rather reserved audience, but instead we got thousands of enthousiastic hands in the air making us feel like real popstars. Even though the people never heard our music before, they tried to sing along 'Panamajumbo' and 'Join The Bus'.

We spotted some Belgian faces in the crowd. "Buzze geve!" sounded a bit unexpected in Shanghai. After the show we met some of them. Tom Vandeweghe (VRT) explained us that this kind of response was not typical for a Chinese crowd. We kept on selling and signing CD's until they were sold out...

After the show Jan Vandenbergh, who sponsored part of our trip, took us to a very nice traditional restaurant. He wrote about us on his blog: http://tijdblogs.typepad.com/expatscorner/2008/09/the-belgische-r.html

During the afterparty in the JZ Club some of us joined a jam session with the musicians of Incognito. Many Tsing Tao's (local beer) later we went back to the hotel.