After two nights in Hong Kong it was back to Shanghai for two gigs the following weekend. As detailed, I spent much of the week watching Chinese television and working on tracks. Once Friday night rolled around, I was booked to play in the tallest building in Shanghai. I showed up for an early sound check and found out I was to be playing in the lowest level basement of the tallest building in Shanghai. Needless to say, I was disappointed but amused. The party was a celebration of the expansion of a high end Japanese restaurant into Shanghai and was about two thousand people strong. I was on after a live, Tokyo-based Jazz band doing very soulful disco covers. Therefore, I had something like an obligation to drop Ring My Bell before digging into some choice Crydamoure-label cuts. After my set, I was asked to take some official photographs with the on hand celebrity chef, who gave me his card and asked about partying with me the following night. It was a surreal but fun gig – kind of an only in Shanghai sort of thing. Also, worth noting was the several hundred thousand dollars in free food and drinks.

The next night was my proper Shanghai gig where I was playing with my Antidote boys who’ve been running underground dance music in Shanghai for years and have been nice enough to host me on two previous occasions. Since my last visit they’ve switched Antidote to a new club. Both clubs are housed in former bomb shelters and retain a certain sort of bomb shelter feeling, but the new club is truly the bomb and is, wisely, called, Shelter. What really excited me about this China trip is how much deeper and open the crowd seemed than my gig just a year back. No matter what I played, the crowd was with me and going hard all night. That’s a great situation and it’s exciting to see how things are changing in the world of music in the China.

After Shanghai I flew to Bangkok and promptly escaped to a small Thai island. I was staying at a fairly remote shack on the beach near a small outdoor restaurant that played no music. Sometimes it’s nice to be without music and this was one of those times. As my island week wore on, I rented a motorbike and managed my way across the island’s one dirt road until I found a restaurant playing Bob Marley’s greatest hits. Sometimes it’s nice to hear Bob Marley’s greatest hits. Inspired, I was later able to pick up some proper Bob Marley shorts. Very good week.

On Friday, I made my way back to the Bangkok to play the six year anniversary of Dudesweet. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but the party was wild. Packed out crowd and people getting crazy all night. That was my last gig in Asia. After that, I hung around Bangkok for a few more days, ate some amazing seafood – thanks to Onsiri – and generally vibed out. Eventually, I flew out of Bangkok, leaving Asia and just barely missing the heaviest of the current turmoil.

Next stop Portugal.