British import David Mitchell brings his electro- jazz sound to Beijing's avant-garde set.

8:30 a.m. Home

Wake up.

8:38 Put the kettle on, light a fag.

8:45 Drink a cup of mahmoud tea from Xinjiang.

9:00 Shower.

9:10 Water turns cold. Shave.

9:30 Get dressed.

9:45 Smoke another cigarette.

9:50 Plug in my guitar and grab the charts for this evening's gig.

10:00 Need to practice some nasty chord changes for some of the more avant-garde tunes. 10:30 Worry that we might get fruit thrown at us for playing songs that are too avant-garde.

10:32 Light a cigarette.

10:38 Go back to work.

11:00 Start practicing a tune called "Vashkar."

11:30 Still practicing ...

11:45 Finish practicing. It's such a lot of work for so little money. Luckily I love it.

12:00 p.m. Get on my bicycle.

Ya Show Market

12:20 I've decided to channel the spirit of Miles Davis and buy a pair of ridiculously large sunglasses.

12:23 Ask bemused shop girl for same, reject some of the more sober samples.

12:35 Settle on a pair that will make me see the world as an insect does. Or that's what I think she said.

12:40 Worry about my deteriorating level of Chinese.

12:45 Pay ¥45 for the sunglasses.

12:50 Get my bike.

Home

1:15 Eat a tuna sandwich.

1:30 Decide I need a tambourine.

1:40 Climb on my bike.

Gu Lou Dong Da Jie

2:15 After some searching I get two for ¥45 (love China at this moment).

2:30 Ride back.

Home

3:00 Try to relax.

3:20 Put in a "Curb your Enthusiasm" DVD.

3:45 Larry David's mad situations put me in an excellent mood.

4:00 Put on the next episode.

4: 20 Make a cup of tea; smoke my Xth cigarette of the day.

4:45 Stress again about the concert; put on some more Larry David.

5:00 Smoke another cigarette.

5: 30 Load my guitar, charts, tambourine and sunglasses into a taxi.

Yugong Yishan Club

6:00 Arrive.

6:10 Soundcheck. I always prefer a last rehearsal to be really bad.

7:50 Finished. Everything seems suspiciously good.

8:00 One of the organizers, DJ Mael, takes the band out for dinner.

Sichuan Restaurant

8:10 Order super spicy food.

8:30 Worry about the possible alimentary disasters it could cause for the gig.

9:00 Get the bill. The organizers have been treating us well.

Yugong Yishan Club

9:20 Hang out.

9:25 Smoke a cigarette.

9:30 Really itching to get to work.

9:35 Watch Mael do his thing.

10:00 It's cool music. I can't wait to get on stage.

10:40 It's time to go on.

10:45 Tune up guitar.

11:00 Try jamming with DJs for a smooth transition to our set.

11:00 The computer works, and the mix is good. I relax properly.

11:15 There seem to be hundreds of people here suddenly, which is a nice surprise.

11:30 It's really f***ing hot up here, and as my enormous sunglasses steam up, I can't see a thing.

11:32 Wonder if Miles had the same problem. Realize it means I can't really see the audience, so I can concentrate better on the sound. Marvel at the genius of the man.

12:00 a.m. Go into a fast song; this should really get the crowd going, if anything does.

12.30 Finish the last song.

12:34 Really good reaction from the crowd.

12:35 Hug each of the lads as they have done really well tonight.

12:40 Come off stage, realize I am soaked through.

12:42 Fight to get to the bar (there really are a lot of people here) and rehydrate with water. Smoke a cigarette—this one isn't to calm my nerves at last.

1:00 Hang out with all the people I know, I hope.

1:40 Get stuff together and then head out the door.

1:50 Girl approaches me in the parking lot. I didn't know you got groupies for jazz music.

2:00 Grab a cab.

Home

2:15 Arrive. Dump stuff in the corner.

2:20 Smoke a cigarette completely unworried about giving it up.

2:22 Get into bed. Try to sleep.

2:50 Completely exhausted, but have too much adrenalin running through my body.

3:00 Close my eyes, listen to traffic.

6:00 Finally get over the adrenalin high and fall asleep. Good day.