We loved Beijing!

The Strawberry Festival was a huge success.  Everything felt right, like we were doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing in life.

The festival attracted a diverse crowd, which was nice to see.  Hardcore, emo, rasta, as well as whole families with kids.  It was cool to see the the way the arena would empty out between shows, but as soon as the first chord was struck the tide of people would crest back over the hill.

We woke Saturday to find out sound check had been moved during the night to two hours earlier and had to scramble to the stage.  The sound guy loves Scott from last time he was out, so he spent a good two hours making sure everything was just right.  The end result was a huge sound.  It is the first time the music has been loud enough without any compromise in clarity.

We kept expecting to get nervous, this being the biggest gig we'd ever played.  Instead we all just felt more and more excited.  Getting up in front of that crowd felt like the most natural thing in the world.  When we took the stage people swarmed the hill and we jumped into the set invigorated by it.  We put in 200% and had a great time.  Every break between songs was filled with cries of "one more!"  Each change in a song was followed by cheers.  We could not have asked for a better audience.

Scott and Carm stole hearts with their version of "Let Go."  It was their first time performing it together.  Dave looked on proudly while Carm's face was projected five stories high on the screen behind us.  There were camera men covering each of us for an upcoming DVD.  

After we played we were on cloud nine.  We spent the rest of the weekend taking pictures with anyone who asked us, signing whatever people wanted, and feeling giddy.  The people we met at the festival were so consistently nice and so genuinely excited about music.

Hanging out at the hotel was a blast.  Basically we rarely slept.  It was great to meet and spend time with Deerhoof, Panther, and Rebuilding the Rights of Statues.  We can't wait to see them again.