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7:00am Across Beijing the various members of Girls Are Waiting To Meet You climb out of bed and go about their preparations for the coming day. Michelle wakes up, groggy, takes her dog for a walk. Natan rises, stressed and excited. Luke slowly packs up his one-man-band … Sax? Check. Flute? Check. Ukelele? Got it. Clarinet? Who’s going to help carry all this stuff? Donna feeds the abandoned kittens that she adopted. Bing slings his bass over his shoulder, and is picked up by the van driver who will be transporting us all over the city today.
Cafe Zarah
9:45 The usual mile-a-minute banter comes from all directions. We’re still divided on who would win the battle between cats and dogs if they were the last two species on Earth.
11:00 Breakfast, including the requisite amount of caffeine, is partaken. Today is in anticipation of our album launch gig on July 16 at Yugong Yishan. 11:30 After a quick set we squeeze into the van and speed off to Houhai to play on the lake, right in front of the lake’s management offices. Soon we’re faced with an official yelling at Michelle. She smiles, winks and continues to play. Bing calms him down, talking us out of trouble this time. Wangfujing
12:30pm In V-formation we push through the Wangfujing crowd. Onlookers and fans follow along, including one curious, pot-bellied, snaggle-toothed man in a tricycle tuk-tuk. “Come back tonight!” he shouts. “There will be even more people!”
1:15 We jump back into the van and heatedly debate which of us would be the first to go if we were on a lifeboat. We tease each other over factors based on natural survival skills (Donna HAS been in the Navy), necessity to the band, size, strength and who would be best just eaten. Whose sick idea was this anyway?
Sanlitun
2:00 We compete with the fountain and throngs of kids at Sanlitun Village to be heard. Mercedes-Benz ask us to play on their exhibition’s red carpet, and to pose for pictures with the cars. They give us cheap promotional keychains in gratitude.
3:00 Luga’s balcony is unnaturally quiet. We refresh with Cokes and margaritas, playing to just a few curious construction workers.
Ritan Park
4:00 Why is no one at The Boat on such a gorgeous day? We opt for an improvised set of Dylan covers, performing to a sprinkling of lazy fishermen from the gorgeous setting at the bow of the boat. Rushing to our next gig, we accidentally leave Aaron behind.
5:00 In the subway we unpack our smuggled instruments and start to play on the train, attempting not to topple over as crowds push through the doors. Many ignore us; others can’t stop taking pictures. Natan poses with female admirers. Fifteen stations, from Dongzhimen to Jishuitan. We hand out as many flyers as we can. Houhai
6:00 We crankily finish a set on the beautiful rooftop of Obiwan. The light of day begins to fade.
7:00 Stuck in traffic on Gulou Dongdajie for 40 minutes, we’re dreading this last stop. We’ve agreed to cancel our 9pm march down Nanluoguxiang–we just don’t have it in us.
Gulou
8:00 Jianghu Jiuba, the final stop. Here, we can (at last!) plug in. Bassist Bing, who’s been documenting the day, can finally join the band. As the amps and the reverb sound, we are suddenly back–energized and alive. Everyone’s eyes light up, and smiles return. Oh, the music (and the volume) feels good.