It started out as a rough day, Garrett had a million things to do and I had a bum knee. Braving the cold alone Garrett went out and caught up on all the things he needed for his Shanghai Debut. Guitar strings, straps, food… you know, the essentials.

At about 8:30 Garrett and I headed to Beedees a small hole in the wall bar that allowed Garrett and his Canadian band mates to play live in front of an audience. Having met only a week or so before the big performance, Garrett was a little nervous about what would come.

Nevertheless we braved the Shanghai cold, hailed a cab and headed towards rock and roll stardom. Or at least we headed towards the traffic. What should have been a 15-minute cab ride soon turned into 30 minutes. And soon turned into Garrett freaking out because he was suppose to be on stage in minutes. It’s funny how when you are actually in a rush, you get the cab driver mindful of red lights and speed limits… typical. Mr. Taxi Man took his time in dropping us to our location, even missing the exit and having to turn around. (Usually when this happens, Taxi drivers turn off their meters and drive you the rest of the way since they are making your trip that much longer. But not this taxi cab driver… of course not him.)

As we speed along the freeway, in one sudden jerk Garrett and I fling forward as the driver plummets his brake petal. He had missed the exit and thought it more logical to stop on the freeway from 60 to 0… in hopes of getting over to it. Unfortunately it was way to late and his attempts to reverse were not being had by the other freeway occupants. So with an “EEP” and a grunt he continued for another kilometer until the next exit. There he turned around and headed towards our street.

Once we got to the street where Beedees was, he tried to drop us off about a block away from it. We told him the address one more time and told him straight ahead. This did not matter, he continued down the block about as quickly as the old lady trailing along with her food cart. We tried to explain to him that the address was 4-3-3… and we were only at 4-0-5… and to go straight but he insisted on looking at ever buildings number at the same pace as a fat crawling infant.

Finally, Garrett spotted the fluorescent red sign that shined “Beedees” we quickly told him to stop, paid him the over priced fare and got out.

There among the cute tree lined street stood a whole in the wall that happened to serve alcohol. Tiny, smoky and basically empty, Beedees is the kind of place I imagine beatniks and hippies enjoyed in the 70s. Orange walls, old LPs, expats and big coaches cluttered the tiny room. Garrett really enjoyed the venue, it was much more his scene then my usual glossy floor, sleek table kinda place.

Garrett only had a few moments to settle in before they began playing there 6 song set. They were only granted the time to play 6 songs, until the nights headlining band took the “stage.” Which I thought was funny, seeing how there really wasn’t a stage and people continuously walked past the band to get to the restroom located in the back. But they had the set up, sound, and mood lighting… very hippie sheik!

Garrett’s band and the other band were both quite good. Garrett’s band played covers of songs everyone could sing along to; while the other band played songs I had never heard.

As the night progressed, the tiny bar filled with smoke and soon my eyes began to twitch with the irritation of cigarette fumes and visions of not so cute dancers. (I want nothing more than to not be mean, but if I could just explain to you the outfits that were being worn you would understand the dissatisfaction of my vision… schoolgirl skirts, daisy dukes, and chunky thighs… do with that what you will.)

By the end of the night I was eager to leave, slightly disappointed that I had worn my new sparkly, silver knitted mini dress to this place. (It was a much more jeans and boots kinda place!) My dress now cries out for a severe Febreezing especially when you get a whiff of the cigarette smoke scent I acquired while I was there. It’s no Chanel 5! But Garrett did an amazing job (as always) and shined bright among his Canadian counterparts (but I’m biased)!

1 Comment »

1. 

   Ha baby your too kind! I think you fit in fine, there were plenty of girls wearing short skirts…take the lead singer of the other cover band for example But seriously, I thought you shined as always.

   Comment by Garrett — March 30, 2009 @ 11:40 pm

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