JEF / CHINA / 3 TO 18 APRIL 2006

The China tour, April 2006

3 to 18 April 2006 · Beijing, Xinxiang, Wuhan, Changsha, Guilin, Shanghai · 40 photos

Eight shows in six cities, one small camera, and three of us who had no idea what we were walking into. These are our own pictures from the trip, sorted the way the memory card had them: the tourist day in Beijing before Pez and Katy landed, the trains, the clubs, the crowds that photographed us back, and the last thing JEF ever did on a stage.

Nobody photographed us for a magazine on this tour. We photographed each other, and the kids in front of the stage photographed us. That is the whole archive: a Nikon Coolpix, a lot of stage light it could not handle, and a country that turned out to be nothing like the warnings.

From the dated April 2006 folders in the JEF archive (Jef mappen / MER JEF, 748 files), shot on the band’s Nikon Coolpix E4300. Forty photographs chosen; dates follow the folder names and the camera’s own clock. Captions are being filled in over time.

3 April 2006 Beijing

  • Tiananmen Square on 3 April 2006. Kjell's first day in Beijing, alone with a guitar and a suitcase, three days before the rest of the band landed.

  • The Gate of Heavenly Peace, Tiananmen, 3 April 2006.

  • The Forbidden City, 3 April 2006. The tourist day on foot, before anyone knew how the tour would go.

7 April 2006 Beijing

  • Beijing, 7 April 2006, show day. The city Kjell had driven into at 170 km/h a few days earlier.

  • 13 Club, Beijing, 7 April 2006. One of the three rock clubs in the city that really counted.

  • Soundcheck and first show: JEF at 13 Club, Beijing, 7 April 2006, with Joyside and Reflector as support.

  • The 13 Club crowd, Beijing, 7 April 2006. The first of eight shows, close to full.

  • JEF live at 13 Club, Beijing, 7 April 2006.

  • Kang Mao from SUBS joined JEF on stage for a song at 13 Club, Beijing, 7 April 2006. She had written the note in Chinese that got Kjell from the airport into the city.

8 April 2006 Xinxiang

  • Xinxiang station, 8 April 2006, after the 06.00 train from Beijing and the run through the starting gates.

  • Bifengtang, Xinxiang, 8 April 2006. Completely sold out; the first non-Chinese band ever to play the city.

  • Katy, trumpet, Bifengtang, Xinxiang, 8 April 2006. The club sat on the second floor of a restaurant and the crowd stood where the tables had been.

  • Kjell at Bifengtang, Xinxiang, 8 April 2006. Nobody in the band had ever been photographed and filmed by so many people at once.

  • Pez at Bifengtang, Xinxiang, 8 April 2006. Every amp knob was labelled in Chinese characters and the drum stool was a restaurant chair.

9 April 2006 Wuhan

  • The sleeper train to Wuhan, 9 April 2006.

  • JEF at VOX, Wuhan, 9 April 2006, with Hongyianqiang and SMZB. Wuwei from SMZB travelled with the band as guide for the whole tour.

  • JEF live at VOX, Wuhan, 9 April 2006.

  • The JEF 2006 China tour poster on the wall at VOX, Wuhan, 9 April 2006.

10 April 2006 Wuhan · Changsha

  • VOX Bar, Wuhan, the morning after, 10 April 2006.

  • JEF at the door of VOX, Wuhan, 10 April 2006, before the train to Changsha.

  • Outside 4698 Bar, Changsha, 10 April 2006, with the local crew and the Chinese rock magazines that had written about the tour.

  • JEF at 4698 Bar, Changsha, 10 April 2006, with Last Choice. The bar's name scrambles the date 4 June 1989.

  • 4698 Bar, Changsha, 10 April 2006.

11 April 2006 Guilin

  • The karst hills outside Guilin from the train window, 11 April 2006.

  • Arriving in Guilin, 11 April 2006.

  • JEF at Shuanle Bar, Guilin, 11 April 2006, with Banana Peel and Bad Lucky King.

  • The Shuanle Bar crowd, Guilin, 11 April 2006.

  • JEF live at Shuanle Bar, Guilin, 11 April 2006.

13 April 2006 Shanghai

  • JEF at Yuyintang, Shanghai, 13 April 2006, with Sonic Bastards from Austria and Angry Jerks.

  • Yuyintang, Shanghai, 13 April 2006.

14 April 2006 Shanghai

  • The Bund, Shanghai, 14 April 2006, between the two Shanghai shows.

  • Shufle Music Bar, Shanghai, 14 April 2006.

  • The JEF poster on the wall at Shufle Music Bar, Shanghai, 14 April 2006.

  • JEF at Shufle Music Bar, Shanghai, 14 April 2006, with Load Speaker and Happy Sky.

  • JEF live at Shufle Music Bar, Shanghai, 14 April 2006.

16 April 2006 Beijing

  • Yugongyishan, Beijing, 16 April 2006. The last JEF show, with SUBS and Café In.

  • The flyer for the last show, on the table at Yugongyishan, Beijing, 16 April 2006.

  • JEF at Yugongyishan, Beijing, 16 April 2006.

  • The last JEF concert ever. Yugongyishan, Beijing, 16 April 2006. Nobody on stage knew it at the time.

17 April 2006 Beijing

  • Beijing, 17 April 2006, the day after the last show. Chopstick licence finally earned.