Shanghai – Day 2
The hospitality of the Qingdao folks was felt both after then show and this morning, so it was a late morning wake up for the Redbucks. Breakfast on the Observatory’s rooftop, set everyone straight and we decided to tackle the streets of Qingdao.
We set off with Qingdao’s the endless stacks of Qingdao beer kegs in mind. Beer is cheaper than water in this city and we think more readily available. It wasn’t long before we found a woman with a keg and a scale (beer is sold by the half-kilo here). Before we knew it Bonedaddy and Yeehaw had bitten the corners off a bag and were no different from Nine Pound, Two Sheds Jackson’s 7-week-old newborn.
With our beer-bags in tow, the Bucks went for a stroll along Qingdao’s crowded beaches. Breathing in the sea breeze was a nice change from Beijing’s stale summer air. Yeehaw found a street stall selling crabs, mussels and other briny morsels and a hole-in-the-wall restaurant prepared everything. For fear of registering on the hive count, Uncle Luke among others decided to opt out of local seafood.
At the table, Sweetgrass was coerced into a drinking contest with a Chinese man…and lost. Something worth mentioning is the taste of Qingdao’s unfiltered beer that is light years ahead of it’s clear, green-bottle counter part. Perhaps it gives the locals an unfair advantage. In true Redbuck style, Two Sheds and Amy mounted quarter-cent plastic horses, but were bucked off when they found out they cost 10 kuai a ride.
Then it was off to the airport and hours spent finding a hotel on unreliable public wifi. The World Expo has made this task quite difficult. It was a race against time, however, Spice’s skills came out on top and before we knew it, we were driving above the bright lights of the World Expo by a jolly Shanghainese man.
The evening ended with A little World Cup, followed by several things not fit for print. The Redbucks are in Shanghai and we are ready for another face melting show at Mao Live tonight. We hope to see you there!
-The Redbucks
Qingdao – Day 1
With an early rise to make it out of Beijing, we had to fight the morning traffic. We all proved responsible band members and arrived with time to spare. After hurrying to the Golden Arches for some homegrown sustenance and coffee, we got on the train for a quick and pleasant ride to Qingdao.
Neil, from Redstar Magazine, the local English-language monthly, came and met us at the train station, and we got a brief glimpse of the cities narrow, winding streets and quaint European vibe (or so the Qingdao Chamber of Commerce would have you believe). He took us to our hostel, an Old Observatory which sits atop a tall hill and normally provides stellar views of Qingdao, were it not for the blanket of fog and pollution.
We napped up for bit and headed to the venue for soundcheck, takeout food, and fresh Qingdao brews. Despite the torrential rains we had a good showing with mostly Qingdao expats and a good contingent of local Qingdaonese. We kicked it off with a few fast-paced Bluegrass standards and the crowd was diggin’ it. We cruised through the first set and got some feet moving. Jimmy Yeehaw observed that many faces were melted during the performance or the audience had a high concentration of people with downs syndrome. See recap of the RedStar show.
The evening ended with death nearly adverted, as we made the responsible decision to take the stairs out of the venue instead of an elevator straight out of a horror movie that was flooding with water.
Near death Experience count: 1
Jackson Hive Count: 1
Pictures and video coming soon, Keep Buckin’!
Redbucks BBQ and Tour Kickoff
The Redbucks in Hong Kong
Howdy Buckaneers,
The Redbucks are getting into high gear, preparing for our tour down the China coast. To celebrate the kickoff of the tour, we are having a Redbuck BBQ on the 2 Kolegas lawn at 7:30pm Tuesday, 29 June.
As if things couldn’t get any better, Hobo Luke and Jimmy Yeehaw promised to pull out their smoker they built last year. Their creation makes the best smoke meat this side of the Pacific and the resulting pulled pork sandwiches are nothing short of spectacular.
Join The Redbucks at 2 Kolegas for a pulled pork dinner and an early evening bluegrass show. There’s no better end to a work day than Bluegrass, BBQ and Booze
Get their early, the pulled pork is going to go fast!
40RMB
-The Redbucks
