When Damone, the rock act from Massachusetts, was asked to go to China and perform gigs with local bands, they jumped at the chance. We asked Noelle, the 17-year-old lead singer, to keep a diary of the band's trip for us at ym.com. For more on Damone, read the April 2003 issue of ym and check out their album, From the Attic, which comes out on April 1.
Saturday, November 30 5:45 p.m. Day 1
We're in the van on our way to New York. I'm in a weird state of mind. I'm in shock; I don't believe we're going to China. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone. But I'm wicked excited. I learned about Asia in elementary school and have been interested in going ever since.
The camera guy [Damone's trip was being recorded for a documentary project by their record label, RCA], Tyler, hung out today and shot us cruising around Waltham. It's a little hard adjusting to having a camera in your face that much. I feel like a dumb ass and say the stupidest s***. Tyler seems like a really great guy though, so I'm sure he'll make us feel comfortable.
We're in the Tin Tin (restaurant in Brighton, Massachusetts) parking lot; we met up with the rest of the posse here and everyone is chilling outside while I'm in here trying to keep myself together. Adam Lewis, the big, funny, promoter from Boston, and Carly Carioli, the handsome (unfortunately taken, married with two children) journalist are accompanying us on our journeys.
Sunday, December 1 9:58 a.m. Day 2
We stayed in a hotel in New York last night and are in the airport now. We actually made it on time, which is highly unusual. Adam's the organizer of this trip, basically, and he seems not to like to put up with any stupidity, so I'm sure he'll keep us in line. I couldn't sleep last night, most likely due to nerves.
12:00 p.m.
We just took off, and I think they have a two-year-old flying this ship. The turbulence doesn't scare me as long as I keep telling myself we're on a roller coaster. It's amusing listening to everyone gasp each time it shakes a little.
The kid next to me seems like your typical dude, with the name of the college that he goes to printed proudly on his sweatshirt, Old Navy shorts, and adidas sandals. He was so freaked out he almost grabbed my leg. (There is a possibility that we could die right now, and if we do and this journal just so happens to be found, please don't publish it.)
7 p.m.
I have no idea what time it is, I'm sure we still have a long way to go. When they served food I started talking to Abercrombie & Fitch. He's a nice guy, and I feel like a jerk for being prejudiced toward college geeks.
I'm really starting to get fidgety, I don't know what to do with myself. It's not right for one person to sit down for this long, I'm going to end up getting blood clots. I watched three movies already, Men in Black II, Like Mike with Lil Bow-Wow, and Scooby-Doo. I wish they had a better selection. The video games are pretty lame, too.
My soul is writhing with boredom but I can't sleep. I'm suffering from flatulence, and out of respect for my neighbor, am pinching it. One time in my eighth grade science class, I fell asleep and my own fart woke me up.
Monday, December 2 10:00 p.m. Day 3
Since we flew to the opposite side of the world we missed a day. It's Monday morning at home, China is 13 hours ahead. Or maybe it's the other way around.
In Tokyo, we had about a two-hour layover, then another two or three hour flight to Shanghai. We met the local promoters at the airport there. They're from America and they seem very, very nice. They're trying to develop a big rock scene in Asia by bringing over rock bands from America. Punk is starting to grow here and they're really big on Nirvana.
Tuesday, December 3 6:30 p.m. Day 4
You could never imagine the greatness of China, it's unreal. We shopped in the market places and I already bought a load of s***. There are little outdoor shops all lined up right next to each other, and huge three-floor-mall places, one is called "The Fashion Market," filled with a million tiny stores. And everywhere you go, it's packed. It's a real hassle to make your way through the crowded corridors and figure out what to buy for gifts.
You can negotiate and get things for less than half of the original price, which is the best part except I'm really bad at negotiating. You point to an item and ask "How much?" And then they whip out their handy dandy calculators and punch in the price, and then you type in your offer. And you haggle each other for a while and settle the deal. It's very fun. Tyler was really, really good at it.
Wednesday, December 4 11:30 a.m. Day 5
At night, the promoters took us out to a nice Chinese restaurant for an elegant dinner. We didn't know what half the food we ate was. I know we ate some duck and some frog; it was interesting...and bony.
We gave the restaurant owners a two-song Damone sampler, and they were quick to crank it throughout the whole friggin' place, which was cool I guess. And what was even cooler, since American bands are so new to the Chinese, we had our pictures taken with them.
Thursday, December 5 Day 6
This morning we had to wake up bright and early once again and took a two-hour train to Nanjing.
When we got there we checked into our hotel, which was awesome. It was a s*** dive that was going to be torn down after everyone checked out the next day.
The club was underground right beneath the hotel. It's called "The Red Balloon." I'd estimate its capacity to be around 100-150 maximum. There were these two sorry looking kittens roaming around the joint. They were cute, just really dirty. We went out for grub and ended up at a K.F.C. Everyone was craving regular food, but after the meal I felt the brick of fast food in my stomach more than ever, and I surprisingly wanted Chinese.
We went to this government-run radio station nearby to do an interview. It was in an old, rundown cement building. We walked through security checkpoints and up four flights of stairs. No one cared that we were all going with video cameras.
It kind of sucked, but then again all of our interviews suck. They asked us about music around Boston, and we told them how there's about 3,000 bands in Boston. And how there are apartment-type buildings that bands rent to rehearse in. In one building there could be up to 300 bands. They couldn't believe it. It was odd how immensely surprised they were. We asked how many bands were in Nanjing. They told us there were only 25 bands there. And this is out of millions of people. That's unbelievable, and really sucks. [The promoters of this tour are] doing the right thing, I think. Imagine with over a billion people what kind of music you could find, if they even knew they had it in them. I think it will help them realize it when they experience more and more different bands.
We did another interview for a well-circulated Chinese music magazine called Rock. They gave us a copy. Barely any of it is in English, but there are articles on Primer 55, Jay-Z, and DMX. And John Lennon is on the cover.
The show was awesome. The band we played with was Black Element. The drummer was an Asian, 1960's Bob Dylan type, and was wearing a Ramones shirt. He was beautiful. The bass player was a girl with a really cool haircut. It was short and feathered on the sides and really long in the back. The singer had a Mohawk and played guitar. The lead guitar player was a good player and very nice. He could speak a tiny bit of English. Their style was old school punk. It was so good. There were about 100 people at the show, maybe more. Everyone was having a good time.
Since we can't really talk to the kids in the other band we just give each other the thumbs up as our way of saying good show. That works well enough.
After the show, a couple Russian kids said they liked it and gave me a glow stick, which later broke in my pocket and made a mess.
I had a really good time. I hope Beijing will be cool. It's supposed to be where most of the music in China is coming from.
Since the hotel was going to be demolished the next day, I took the liberty of taking a few little things off their hands, like an ashtray, toothbrush, exit sign and the phone.
Friday, December 6 Day 7
We woke up at 6:00 a.m. for an early flight to Beijing on Eastern China Air.
Our hotel is another fancy one, unfortunately. Except the bathroom is messed up, the shower curtain is literally in the middle of the room on the other side of the toilet. There is no normal barrier separation. The shower is just there. And the whole bathroom gets soaked.
We took a trip to Tiananmen Square. That place is amazing; it's gigantic. I took five rolls of film.
We got back to the venue about 6:00 p.m. The place is rather large; I was worried it would be empty. It's the worst to play a huge venue with nobody there. Adam Wilkes told me the place is part of a university, and it's an art gallery during the day. Just recently, the owner started putting shows on every other month or so. The first band that played was called the Wild Strawberries. An all girl band, they kicked ass.
We were on second; the place was packed. The show was crazy. Kids were going ape. I almost got pulled into the crowd, kids were reaching out for high-fives and handshakes and s***, and there were like ten dudes tugging at my arm.
I'm really glad we have the chance to bring what we've got, and give it our all. I hope we inspire them to make music, too.
We almost started a riot, so they turned up the house lights and made us stop for ten minutes in the middle of the set. I felt really bad, but I have no control over what happens onstage. Whatever I do is not intentional. Somehow during a breakdown in a song I ended up on the balcony, diving into the crowd, then on the floor and back onstage playing the rest of the song. I don't remember what happened.
Saturday, December 7 Day 8
We got like two hours of sleep last night. We had another flight at 8:00 a.m.
We're in Shanghai again where we're playing tonight with The Honeys. I caught their sound check, and they're actually a regular, radio-friendly sounding band. One of their songs is just like that band The Calling. The best part is the guitar player. He's a cheesy 80's shredder, with long hair, Ibanez guitar, and crazy affects pedals.
We went outside to scope out the line. There were a few kids who we took pictures with. Its funny, they've never heard of us or seen us before besides pictures on the posters, and they know it's us because we're the only foreigners.
The show went really well, except I fell over when we played "Territorial Pissings". I stayed down because I was too embarrassed to get back up. We finished and I just ran off stage. It was a much mellower crowd reaction, but [the promoters] said it was surprisingly good for a Shanghai audience.
Sunday, December 8 Day 9
It's our last full day in China. We're going to dig a hole to the other side of the world tomorrow. Eat fake Chinese food. Pay too much money for stuff. I'm going to miss this place.
We made the most of today, though. We shopped. I spent a lot of money, but got a lot of stuff. That's the thing, at home you spend a lot of money but it's not worth it. Like I'll spend $50 on pretty underwear but never wear it. The stuff you buy here is cool and worthwhile, plus whatever it is, it's cool because it's from China.
We raced go-carts, which was so much fun. The carts go so much faster than any other go-carts I've ever driven. You don't have to wear helmets and they encourage you to run into each other. I wrecked so many times. You start doing it on purpose, it's so much fun.
Monday, December 9 Day 10
It's our last morning in China. We're flying to Japan today, and then to New York tomorrow. I'm pretty bummed out. But I'll be glad to get home. I was pissed we didn't get to go to Tokyo, but that's more reason to come back.
This trip has had so many positive effects on me. I got to experience a world that I never thought I would have been able to. And I became a lot closer with [band-mates] Dustin and Vazquez.
We all passed out and woke up early the next morning to take the long ass flight back to New York. It wasn't so bad. I watched the movies Mr. Deeds, Lilo and Stitch, and The Road to Perdition.
It was dark, and we were going towards the sun, so if you looked out the window ahead you could see daytime in the distance. It wasn't cloudy at all, and the stars were huge. It was really beautiful.
