ZARAGOZA, 5/24
It all was going so well. This was a classic Spanish show, dirty, sweaty, unhinged. The club was tiny and I was crawling all over it. People danced. It was exactly what I hoped it would be. They didn't want it to end--finally we ran out of songs and I closed the evening with a solo version of "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" by the Beatles. You know...'so I'll go-za' so I could wrap it up with 'Zaragoza'. After the show I chatted a bit with Cuca, aka Hada Quimica who I worked with in Zaragoza on her record, just being released now, in 2002. We actually went to this bar one night, according to her. She lives in Germany now with her guy and their boy, but were in town visiting and found out we were playing.
The next morning I woke up early--we had to hit the road at nine. I couldn't speak. I thought with rest in the van it would go away. It didn't. When we got to Castellon, it was no better. I could only croak. Now, I did go pretty crazy during the show, but that's a Disciplines show--I didn't do anything I haven't done at all our other shows--scream, yell, howl, act like a fool. Forgot to mention the funky freestyle that we did in Stockholm to get people up to the stage in my review of that show...hahah. But, I guess that the long hours during the previous week's mixing, the two super early morning flights in a row, the fact that a late night show in Stockholm was followed by no sleep and an afternoon show in Denmark...and then I got hit with allergies in Zaragoza, just knocked me out. Boom.
We got dropped off by Sergio in Castellon, and the promoter took a long time to meet us at the drop off point, so we were sitting in this park with our shit for like half an hour. Finally he came and in the meantime I had already found a doctor recommended by my insurance online. Our promoter had brought a friend along to translate, so she walked with us to the hospital which was just a couple of blocks away, and we made an appointment for later that evening. We were all staying at the promoter's mom's flat--she was out of town. I went to bed. Got up at 5.30, and we went back to the hospital while the guys, optimistically, went to soundcheck. I told them not to get their hopes up. We ended up waiting well over an hour past my appointment, but finally the doctor had a look. No problems beyond ordinary laryngitis. It would go away. He prescribed a cortisone shot, and soon, I was getting one. But, this would take at least a couple of hours to take effect and the show was in like an hour--and who knows what kind of damage I would do that would effect the important festival show the next day. With great sadness, I felt it was necessary to cancel. We'd sold 50 tickets in advance and the club only held about 50 more so I guess it would have been sold out. So sorry about that, but we'll be back.
Dom & I went to dinner at the
Casino Antiguo a pretty fascinating place that seems to be a private men's club of *some* kind...we weren't allowed to sniff around and find out much and they ain't tellin'. But it's a lovely old building, with glorious heavy wood beamed ceilings in the lobby, and simple tables set outside in the garden. It's right in the center of town, and they are not hiding from customers, but they aren't trying too hard to bring 'em in. It was Monday, too. But they were open. The restaurant clings to one side of the edifice, the side that faces the garden where we ate. The lobby shows a couple of salons closed in glass, with groups of old dudes smoking cigars and what not. Up the stairs...who knows. A security guard chases you off if you get curious. The food was outstanding, however...totally weird little world worth checking out if you find yourself in Castellon (which is right by Benicassim, so if you're in town for the festival...have a look).
BARCELONA, 5/25
I woke up and was totally OK. I could speak. No pain. It was eerie. We went and got my prescriptions for anti-inflammatory meds and the pills to protect my stomach from their harsh qualities. We went back to the Casino Antiguo for breakfast--again, almost no one there, and we had a continental breakfast--espresso, pains au chocolates, and fresh orange juice--for €2.50 each. I mean, really. They must be doing some serious business in those back rooms. This was basically free food, and we paid a couple of Euros for them to bring it out and let us eat in the garden.
The promoter had a tiny car in which we stuffed Bjorn and all our gear, and the rest of us walked and...eventually...found the train station. The first thing we came to was the *old* train station, in front of the Corte Ingles...this little tiny building that says Ferrocarril on it. It's used as some kind of tourist office now, but they could barely describe where the real station was. But we found it. And got on the train, with some stress--it pauses at the station and we had guitars, bags and 5 people to get on board--same kind of stress getting off. But all fine.
We checked in to the hotel and I sms'd the production to tell me when they were really ready for us, and when they said to come soon we walked to the Apolo. Reigning Sound were still checking, so no stress. We got up and did our thing. And it was going to be fine, and I knew it. It was so weird. My voice was 100% gone 24 hours earlier. And now it was like nothing happened, almost.
So, the show began. It was a Tuesday, 8pm. Not many people there, but the place filled up during the set and we did our special set restructuring to put the hits a little further back. By the time the set was halfway the room had plenty of people, dozens of photographers and I was pushing, pushing my body to do all the things it knew it shouldn't be doing one day after being in a hospital. It accepted the challenge...at one point, I launched myself from the dance floor onto the stage as a flip on my neck and shoulders into a standing position--there was a mighty 'crunch' and I knew I'd be paying for that one...but anyway, the voice was great, we played super tight, people rocked out, and we did real real fine.
I made the after show which was held at my friend's bar Las Guindas--chatted with admirers and all my colleagues and friends, and also Reigning Sound's organ player, Dave Amels--who is a very fascinating guy--he co-founded Bomb Factory, for starters--but I knew not to push it and thus called it a night by about 12.30. I know my bandmates had a good time and represented!
DONE! Mission accomplished. We made it to the Primavera Sound Fest., we did a great job. I celebrated with Dom by doing...nothing. We checked out of the hotel and went across the street and had tapas for 2 hours. We checked into our next hotel, closer to the main part of the festival, and rested. We went to see the Star Trek movie, and listened to the city tense up and then completely spooj when Barca won the cup. We went to Arola Restaurant and had a glass of wine with Nacho while he DJ'd. Again, I knew not to push it, so a lot of my friends were partying around the city, I had a lot of options, but I took a nice quiet one and again got to bed by 1.
On Thursday Dom & I walked to the beach and I swam a bit. We had a great lunch with Lydia Lunch, she is always a machine gun of ideas and energy and wit, and inspiring and
ready to bring it, now.
We went to the festival, too. I had a very narrow agenda. Jaime from Houston Party told me to check out Women, and I did--seemed like 4 guys kinda standing there playing guitar, so I have to admit I didn't really give it too much time, but... I watched Kiwi pop legends the Bats, and I thought...these guys are really old, not super charismatic, they don't move too much...and they are on a big stage, and people are loving it. There's hope for me yet...I ALWAYS feel too old and behind the times to really be welcome, but in fact, if these guys can be up there, so can I. They have some really great songs, I'm not knockin' em, I'm a fan. Just sayin'. We watched a bit of Spectrum on the main stage..."here's our new single"...and then 20 minutes of the SAME CHORD. It was AWESOME. The sound was so enormous, and heavy...usually, to be honest, it's hard to find a UK band that plays with such brutality, but these guys were HEAVY. I loved it.
Then we watched the Vaselines, and they were great too. It rocked a lot harder than I expected...It's Frances & Eugene with some Belle & Sebastian bits to round it out. Superb. We tried to watch Phoenix do their acoustic set in this little tiny tent but it was impossible. I had my picture taken with about 20 fans. Fun! But time to go. Dom & I went and had some paella, and then I met up with a guy who puts on a festival in the Dominican Republic. We ended the night listening to MBV from our room...it was an incredible sound...a weird distortion of what the people in front of the stage were hearing, an abstraction made by echo and bass throb, but totally absorbing.
And on this day, Aden turned 5. She had a party at school, and was happy to have her party with us postponed til our return...more presents spread out over more days.
I was really pissed off that I kept hitting my head on this stupid light fixture over the desk in my room so I kicked an ashtray in the elevator instead of breaking this ugly glass thing that prob. costs thousands of euros. The door opened and a tech for some band said "Isn't that the guy from Big Star?", while the top half of the ashtray was still rolling around, decapitated from its base. Good for the legend.
BRYNE, 5/29
Up at 7.30, so it was wise for us to have retired early--I still had a show to do, and I was still wary about pushing my body--and thus my voice--too far. We checked out and I ran into my friend Brian with all the Andrew Bird folks waiting for their van--Brian is tour managing, and he worked for REM and of course at the Crocodile in Seattle so I've known him for heap long time.
I checked in for my flight, and went to have a cafe with Dom, then ran back to retrieve my laptop from the check in machine, still waiting for me. Damn.
Flew to Copenhagen, flew to Stavanger. Bag with the merch and our backdrop didn't make it. Made arrangements that the other guys could get it when they got in. Waited for Baard's flight, coordinated with our driver, and headed to Bryne, about 20 minutes from SVG. Glorious sun, blazing green meadows...and stretches of pure white beaches. What a place.
We pulled into the Jaeren Hotell, for the Jaernatta Festival. I played the exact same place with Brikseby in 2006, when the D's made our first recordings, May 2006. Now three years later...well, a lot has changed. What an amazing thing grew out of this. Funny I famously kicked an ashtray that morning before we drove to Stavanger too. So, some things only change by...degree.
I was so glad to have some quiet time, and so...somewhere else. A couple of days off, a medical scare, a massage at the hotel...wanting to be home for my daughter's birthday...and sort of a mission accomplished feeling after our great shows at Spot and P Sound...hmmm.
Plus, there were other things going on, too. I am not going into those details here. But, let's say that the night was bigger than the show, and the show was smaller than the night. All in all, I was intersecting the show from a completely different angle than the audience, which is usually not the case. When it was almost showtime I walked down from my hotel room into the lobby (the show was in the hotel ballroom) and the place was packed with drooling drunk folks. I mean, this is normal for a Norwegian party and it's totally OK. But I was just not there. And when we played, it was hard to get a real connection with the audience, they were just too hammered, and the stage was all skinny and weird, and I was just not able to make it as awesome as I wanted it to be. There were people into it. There were also lots of people just staggering off and the room was less crowded when we finished than when we started, and it was really late, but still, that wasn't a good morale booster. It all sort of seemed like it didn't matter, and that's a bummer, because I want EVERY show to matter. But this was sort of ending the great week with a whimper. We weren't terrible. But we were in danger of being OK. That's not good.
I went to bed immediately afterwards, and slept for an hour and a half. The hotel was loud. Then, at 3, when I woke up, it was quiet. Light was starting to emerge again outside. I ate a sandwich and some fruit from the dressing room for breakfast, and had a bath. I didn't really start to crash til I was waiting in SVG to board the first flight. So, in the cab going to the airport, which took no time at all so I was there WAY too early. It was, as it always is, psychedelic to hurtle thru the sunrise past the kneeling cows and steaming streams and popsicle colored morning light.
Sleeping on the flights and in CPH airport. Incredibly, my flight to Paris was at the adjacent gate to the one I arrived from SVG to.
I got home and it was a great big party, granparents, Dom, Aden, and LOTS of presents. We had been sticking presents away for months, actually--I picked up a Furby at Value Village in Bellingham in Janaury. She got a tennis racquet. DVDs. Lots of stuff. A package from my mom. She made out like a bandit, and we had cake & candles. I will say, she was so happy to have me home that she fed me the candy bits off her piece of cake. That's love.
Dom & I went for a walk later, having a cafe and walking on the Promenade Plantee, an old elevated railway that's now an elevated walkway with all manner of flowers--a parqueduct, as it were. We stopped an bought a bottle of wine on the way home. It was finally warm here in Paris. Glorious.
My files are uploaded. I'm going to bed and not setting an alarm.
Love
KS
Paris
