...The Next Day
Brett very smug over Ipwich. Depart hotel to further round of gifts and flashbulbs from the very lovely Thai fans. There is such a warmth here, not just in celsius, that everyone feels a little twinge leaving. Off to Hong Kong where the typhoon seems to be abation and the biggest show on the tour.
IT's been a couple of years since we were here but nothing sppears to have changed. The polive men are wearing different uniforms but there are still girls and cameras at the airport. The new airport is on reclaimed land an hour away from Hong Kong island so what you lose in time you gain in not having to floy through someone's house. I remember the first time we came to Hong Kong, Simon (not the best of flyers) had a window seat. We'd all heard about how built up around the airport it was but we literally waving at people in the office blocks as we flew though to land.
Hong Kong, gateway to the east, tiny giant, used to be British, now it's not, capitalism gonje mad but most of all.. welcome to Hong Kong Mr Bond. For me this really is as exotic as it gets. Slightly disappounted to find that the Bottoms Up club now has a enormous "as featured in The Man with the Golden Gun" sign outside but not so disappointed to stop me having my picture taken there.
Another instore, another offer of CDs and Kim still hasn't been given the Air Supply one.
The gig is in the Convention Centre, the place that Chris Patten sailed away from after handing over to the Chinese with a tear in his eye, presumably because he knew he was going to miss this Suede show. Or maybe he just knew how band the sound could be on stage.
A huge shed stuffed with 5,500 punter but still with spece at the back and all too efficient air conditioning, this it not the viviest place we've ever played. The fans, however, are verging on rabid. There's a bit too much pushing and shoving on the way in a couple of people end up in hospital trying tojump a queue and smashing an escalator. This makes more space in the paper than the band does, reported in that very precise, not-judgemental but slightly judgemental way that only government approved press can. The band don't come out of it badly but it's inferred that the audience should not get quite so excited about this pop music nonsense.
But back to the show. Everyone seems to be doing quite well, all bar Brett that is. To the audience everything's fine, he 's flashing smiles, the rest of the band are grooving away but he walks towards the monitor desk he has that face on which say make this work for me now. His in ear monitors that enable him to hear himself wherever he's standing on stage have stopped working or are picking up interference from something else in the vene. Basically it's not doing what it should and it's ruining what should be a brilliant night for him. Not only that it's stopping him give his all to the thousands of people that have paid to see him perform which must be really infuriating. Still, he soldiers on, Simon flashing him encouraging smiles and Neil stepping up to the mic when Brett really struggles.
And the audience just won't let go! They want this to be great and so it is. There's some debate before the encore as to what or whether to play but it's the audience that pulls them back on with a what the hell New Generation and a Hong Kong traditional 2 of Us, which was my standout memory of the first time we played Hong Kong in the Queen Elizabeth hall in 95.
Back to the hotel for a quick shower and then to the after show drink up at a karaoke bar for some reason. Lots of record company doing their singing thing, it really is so popular over here, it seems to be treated as a team building withing the company with everyone taking turns. Luckily manage to slip away discretely with a sore throat or a bad knww when it's my turn.