AND THUS IT BEGINS
A new year is born...unfortunately, it begins with the aftermath of the death and destruction of the the Indian OCean tsunami...amazingly, any friends that I know of in the region appear to have been spared but seeing the anguish, confusion and grief has been affecting me at all hours...it's hard to watch and impossible not to watch the coverage...and of course, whether you knew anyone or not in the area, this is something with impact that affects everyone..whether they acknowledge it or not. As for me...I donated some $ to www.nwmedicalteams.org/ and also my show in Madrid was a benefit for Oxfam. In any case, an event like this would be a worthy test to see if your rusty heart still has functioning gears...timed with the New Year's opportunity for reflection...this is an opportunity that arrived wrapped in a tragedy. I leave the interpretations for you to conclude.
In line with tradition
Valencia, 12/28
There I was, up at the crack of dawn again...(I thought being home with a baby was when you were supposed to be going for days without sleep?)...flew into Valencia to find that I had actually *dreamt*, in between snooze buttons, that I had packed my sunglasses in lieu of actually doing so. This day I spent in the dark hotel room watching CNN, as the tsunami reportage was really only just beginning to hint at the magnitude of the disaster (in fact, relatively little was known until about a week had gone by). I found a curious bar/cafeteria that would make an outstanding TV series' setting, and in the evening sometime, made my way to Sala Matisse. Very similar in appearance externally to, and just a few meters down the road from, Wah Wah, the club I was originally rumored to play (I guess even the promoters can't tell them apart?) and where I opened for White Flag in early 2003...the christmas break had given me just enough rust that I can't say this was a spectacular show, but it was more confident than say, Paris, by about, oh, 15 shows' worth. There were some good bits. Folks shied away from 'meet the audience' tho'. OK, scratch that from the act in Spain!
Barcelona, 12/29
A lovely evening, I knew it was going to be good from the moment I opened the tiny door that opened directly onto the stage from the dressing room, and saw the place packed with friendly faces...nothing wrong with this gig...and thus I celebrated by staying out til 8am...rumors abound, none *exactly* true.
Madrid 12/30
This is another show impossible to describe. A night of intense passion, joy and effortless musicality...one of the mysterious synergies that seem to bubble up under me whenver and with whomever I play Madrid. A packed house, my compatrtiots McCaughey and Mills, the familiar-as-my-living-room-if-not-more-so environment of Moby Dick, and that thing that I can't explain but would never dare question that happens in Madrid, that I just end up playing I think better than I thought I was capable of...I can give credit to the people of Madrid, and perhaps the ghosts that underneath that city stir...but what a collision...bravo
I spent New Year's Eve at home with the girls and massive Cote Rotie...and after some travel shenanigans, find myself in Lisbon, ready to undertake the REM tour of Europe and parts very south and very east....
In other words, see you soon comme d'habitude
KS
Lisbon PORT.
