Chengdu, a city of nearly 11 million people, has been undergoing massive real estate development for the past few years. If you find yourself in a tall building on a clear day you can see a myriad of construction sites scattered around the periphery of the city. To attract interest, these development companies host big PR events at hotels, clubs, and restaurants. The parties feature music, magic, comedy, and a performance that is basically a conglomerate of the three- the "Lao Wai [foreigner] Gig."
This show has few demands. We all must dress the same, must play along with a CD, play songs that are familiar to the audience, and arrive very early. What happens on stage is pretty much inconsequential. The pay for these gigs is about three times the typical jazz show, the performance time is half as short or less, and the food and drinks are usually provided free of charge as well. The only catch is the slight feeling of shame after it's all over.Well today's gig was pretty typical, no big surprises. Our mission was to play our soothing sounds at the Parrot Club to coax some upper class individuals into buying a few villas. After a few tunes including "What a Wonderful World", "Sad Samba"(which actually was pretty sad), and a blues we were finished.
Afterwards we were fortunate to watch an accordion playing story teller march in with a few toddlers, sit down on a couch, and bumble his way through a story that had no one's interest. I'm still not too clear how this performance is intended to get people to buy real estate. On our way out we got to enjoy a common perk at this type of gig- mingling with the models. After receiving our payment (almost enough to pay one months rent here) I would say today was a success!
1 comment:
Ditto
Post a Comment