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Last night my band played a gig (first one of 2026 and this marks the band's 25th year!) as always, my gear fits in the spacious trunk, my favorite guitar- Gretsch hollowbody in its hard case, homemade pedal board, backpack as well as leaving in my car cover and detailing materials without any hassle. My amp will fit, but I didn't need it for this show.
The venue was really special, it was in an old rail yard that has been converted to artistic and shopping spaces. There were still trains sitting there and the stage was build over the tracks. The tracks were uncovered in the middle of the space and you can see the arches where the trains would have come in or out in the background. I had to get some night shots of the Camaro with the old trains in the background as well.
Being in that area reminded me of my first few years in China where I was just becoming self sufficient and could buy a train ticket and explore China. I took a train like that going on my first tour in the middle of winter to Yinchuan, overnight, with the other band getting absurdly drunk off of vodka and orange drink they brought aboard, or the first time I bought tickets, not knowing and just buying the cheapest- which happened to be hard seats on an overnight train to Shanghai. I remember other passengers laying down newspapers under my seat to get some sleep.
Now with the high speed trains, those are just a relic of a different time in China, but gave me a lot of fascinating experiences. Slowly going though the country side of China and getting so see so much. Also, traveling so at that pace gave me and my band a lot of time to bond and get to know each-other even better without the distractions of life, schedules or work.
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