Funki volgt Afrowhat-band Mdungu tijdens hun tour door Azië. De negenkoppige band blogt over hun ervaringen en deelt zo met de wereld wat voor vele Nederlandse bands een droom is: internationaal touren. Een verslag van hete temperaturen, inclusief muziek, foto's en video's. Aftiteling!
VERSLAG THIJS Dag een. Zhuhai. Gearriveerd in het Grand Bay View hotel na een boottocht van een half uur. Door de Chinese customs en dan zijn we in China. Twee vrijwilligers die ons deze dagen door Zhuhai loodsden namen ons na aankomst mee voor lunch.
Zhuhai. Klamme warmte. Groene bergen en zee. Een vijf meter grote Mao kijkt op ons neer in het restaurant waar we lunchen. We houden het voor vandaag bij kip rund varken en vis. De eendekoppen, gebakken hanepoten, en ander niet identificeerbaar eten gaan we later wel proberen... Na 28 uur zonder slaap besluit de helft van Mdungu om nog door te gaan de nacht in.
Dag twee. Varkensvlees balletjes, vers gewokte groenten en croissantjes voor het ontbijt. Vrije dag vandaag. De stad in met Job en David. Job en ik hebben maatpakken laten aanmeten in de locale markthal naast de aquariumvissen en het stalletje met plakband en wcpapier. Davids haar is gekapt naar de laatste Chinese mode. In de marktstalletjes liggen krokodillenstaarten te koop.
VERSLAG BENOIT Blog, Zhuhai, 24th september 2011
Today some of us had to relax quite a bit to digest yesterday`s adventure. After an 11 hour flight from Amsterdam to Hong Kong, a 4 hour waiting period at the Airport before boarding a 40 minute boatride to Zhuhai, some of Mdungus very energetic bandmembers still went to take a dive into chinese nightlife. It all started after our first chinese dinner(and yes, the food here IS different then in Rotterdam`s chinese restaurants) when somebody said: "Hey guys, let`s go and have a little look what is happening on the Jazzfestival we are going to play on sunday".
Most of us were too tired to go and so went to have a little walk around the Hotel-area, but Job, David, Merijn, me (Benoit) and of course Frank took the challenge.And so Gerand, our very nice volunteer-guide-girl got us some taxis and off we went. The festival is indeed quite nice: nice music, nice people and nice hot temperatures.....
We met some people who suggested to take us out to the cuban bar and...off we went.By now Job was tired enough and went back to the Hotel and I guess the rest of us were in a good enough mood to party on. The mood was good, the band was fantastic (Alex, an old buddy from Conservatory times was playing the trumpet...the world IS small) and even Merijn took a dance. After a couple of hours, one of our new aquaintances suggested to go to the Karaoke bar......and off we went. We got to a place which had rent-out private Karaoke rooms and some british guy was celebrating his birthday (i think his name was Andrew). By now i started to be annoyed to be surrounded only by Europeans and Americans, so I was happy when everyone decided to go to the local disco just around the corner. Now this was quite a place: here the party was definitely on and i realized that China is also in partying far ahead of Europe or the States.There was a stage on which very good-looking girls danced and sang, and every table had a set of dices and people seemed to play some sort of drinking game.....my memory unfortunately fades from the moment Frank and I got each a huge glass of whiskey with the bartender saying "Welcome to China". This would have been the moment to actually go home.By now we didn t sleep for about 40 hours......but that is just what makes Mdungu such a great band: there is always enough energy to totally go crazy and party all night.The Rock`n`Roll in Mdungu.
Unfortunately Rock`n`Roll has its price and waking up this morning in Ruben s bed (allthough I am actually supposed to share a room with Thijs) with quite a headache reminded me that Alcohol is still the world`s most dangerous yet socially accepted drug. So kids, don`t forget, you don`t need to drink to party. Just party. Talking about the dangers of alcohol: tomorrow, the day of our first gig in China, is the 31st deathday of John Bonham, Led Zeppelin`s great drummer, who died after a drinking binge. So my playing will be dedicated not only to the people of China but also to Bonham.
Today our biggest success was ordering food in a restaurant without speaking the language. We didn t exactly get what we thought we had ordered, but nevertheless the food was fantastic. So until now China is a really great place to be.
