Video tour diaries – part 8 from China, featuring shows in Chongqing and Chengdu.

Chilling in Tamworth, hanging with my folks & reflecting on the past couple of months in Germany and China. Working on the remaining couple of tour diary episodes before heading home to Melbourne. Interviewed Max in a Shanghai cafe last weekend on her best tour moments (to be featured in the last episode due in a couple of days). It’s so quiet out here in the Aussie country-side. No crazy horns blasting, rickshaw guys running, noise from the street. Just crickets & roos.

Fires out.

Xinxiang University pic below from the China tour show there last month.

Pic courtesy of our China tour manager, Kim.

Off to Tamworth early tomorrow morning to see my folks. Looking forward to a few days hanging out there & debriefing the tour over a beer or two.

Fires out.

Home, just a couple of hours ago. Abbotsford, Victoria, Australia. A little tired, 10 hour flight from Shanghai. Catching up with friends tonight at one of our local pubs. It’s a bit colder here than when we left, chill factor in the Melbourne air. 6 degrees when we got out at the airport. Nice sunny day all the same.

Out the front of our house.

The tour officially over, feeling like mission accomplished.

Shanghai airport last night.

Fires out.

Heading back to Melbourne this afternoon on a flight out from Shanghai. Been a good week resting here & meeting people. Saturday, I was lucky enough to play with the Beijing Bombers (Aussie Rules Football). They didn’t leave me out there too long, which was great – not as footy-fit as I could be. Had such a great time – one of my tour highlights.

Marty marks – Beijing Bombers, 11th May 2013.

The game was close right to end but the Shanghai Tigers had that little bit extra in the tank. We went down by 10 points. The game was the 10th anniversary of the China Cup, a special annual match for these two arch rivals as part of China’s broader AFL season. Both sides took it very seriously. Got a few bumps & bruises to prove it.

Next post from down-under.

Fires out.

Resting here in Shanghai. Went out last night to hang with our tour manager Kim (she’s working for Lesoir now, a band from Netherlands). She loaded up a bunch of tour pics from her camera including this one from Xinxiang University.

The Xinxiang show was one of the biggest on the tour. We were expecting a ‘warm up’ show as the first tour date but 1500 kids turned up to the show in the open air university grounds. Amazing.

Fires out.

Next To You, live at Midi Festival Beijing last week – shot by our tour manager Tom, side of stage & a few beers down the track.

Next episode of the tour diaries coming soon.

Fires out.
PS – thanks again for the upload TC.

Latest Episode of the video tour diaries below. Part 7, featuring Midi Festival Beijing…

A huge thanks to the mighty TC (our tech-crew man down-under) for uploading our videos to You Tube. We can’t do it from China (YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are banned here).

We’ll be based in Shanghai for the rest of the week, the tour is over. Chilling and sleeping.

Fires out.

Last night of the tour in Nanchang, yesterday. Small crowd but we had a blast. Great way to end the tour. We took our time winding up the leads & packing up the gear for the last time in China – reflecting on an intense few weeks.

Shanghai tomorrow, where we’ll stop for the rest of the week before heading back down under.

Fires out.

What a cracker of a show we had last night. Vox went off. Stoked to have the crowd go nuts to our 2 piece dance-rock band. It’s an unusual format which adds to the vibe somehow. Something really different for the crowds here to see. The sound was HUGE in there, synth-bass & kick drum thundering through the floor.

Vox club was also our last show with tour-manager Kim. She’s been a delight to travel with. Great organiser, switched on & always a step ahead of us. We’ll miss her.

Kim, our tour manager – pic taken in Chengdu.

Last show of the tour tonight in Nanchang at Black Iron. It feels like we’ve been on the road for ever – but it’s not that long. Hopefully tonight will blitz.

Fires out.

Killer show in Chengdu – and Kevin’s last with us on this tour. We’ve had him drumming for us for the past couple of weeks, including Midi Festival. Great crowd, fantastic little club – called Little Bar. Sat around having a few quiet ones after the show. A farewell session with a great drummer and friend. Kevin will soon be back in Houston, awaiting his next assignment with Jane’s Addiction later next week.

Kevin Radomski on drums.

We play Vox Club in Wuhan tomorrow night.

Fires out.