The rain in Spain - Tour 2018

And so it began, 14 shows in 3 weeks in Sunny Spain, Well maybe not so sunny at this time of the year. The weather is decidedly inclement and reminds us much of the weather we thought we left behind in England.

The plan was to arrive in Valencia the night before the tour starts to be relaxed and refreshed for the tough run of dates. However, partying til 4 am wasn’t really helping that cause. But like the troopers we are we battle through, do a great show then hit the bars in the old town once more.

We do not have our usual driver on this trip, instead we have a local. A good worker, but speaks no English, but then it gives us all a chance to practice our Spanish. Which is good enough to introduce the band, order food and drink and get into trouble.

On drums we have Don Pedro, the Pedromadre! El Guapo on guitar, El Nino as JPJ and of course myself El Santo on vocal. Why do people laugh when I am introduced as such?

Onward to Castillon, where we are appearing on TV with Nacho, a famous magician here in Spain. He has his first TV series where he displays his magic tricks for us. As well as amazing some of the audience as they enter the packed venue. Nice bloke too.

To Murcia and Malaga, in the teaming rain. I don’t think this part of the world has seen such rainfall, streets flooded, thankfully this doesn’t seem to affect the attendances too much. Nor the band spirits which remain high. Nothing like working with a good bunch of guys.

Seville is a lovely town where we spent our first night off, doing the tourist bit by the cathedral.

The band fully warmed up now and latest additions to the set, The Song Remains the Same and The Rain Song going down particularly well. We are doing 4 encores per night and we need the rest day, or should I say, go into the old town and get drunk day.

Including a walk along the river by the Torre D’Oro, a drunken horse and carriage ride around the town, the open top carriage certainly was exposing!  When we left Seville, I got the impression it was just about the right time, as we would soon have worn out our welcome in some of the bars, not to mention the monastery!

And then the snow came.

It is a long drive north to Burgos, a lovely old town full of history and tales of Napoleonic sieges. The Duke of Wellington himself held the town. Statues of El Cid adorn the bridge.

Woke up the next day to reports of an earthquake in Burgos! Apparently a biggie, reports of people in the shower hanging on for grim death, dogs hiding under the bed, people fleeing for their lives. I don’t know anything about this, I must have slept through the lot.

Now every tour has a mishap, and ours came in Burgos, where a bloke resembling Beavis from the cartoon made off with a load of our cash! However, we did know where he worked and were able to exact a form of revenge before the drive to Oviedo.

Now, Santiago de Compostela !!!!!!

There is a name that resonates through the century’s. A place of pilgrimage, the magnificent Cathedral where the relics of St James rest, whom the town is named after! We stop at the marvellous building and pay homage to the saint in a manner we felt appropriate.

We finished the show and once the public had left the building the venue put all the shutters down, I thought this a bit odd as we haven’t loaded the gear into the van yet. I asked them to open again only to find the shutters had broken and we and our equipment locked inside the venue!

It is festival time here and the streets full of revellers. But we somehow managed to find a quiet little street just by the old city wall for some peace and privacy. The sound of my heeled boots on the cobble stones sounds more like cloven hooves rattling down the ancient and now misty street.

Boiro is a small fishing village, the smallest town on this stretch of dates, but we still get a police escort to the venue! Apparently the biggest man-hunt in all of Spain came to an end recently. Nice little venue too, and well attended as was the Monday night show in A Caruna.

So: 5 shows on the bounce, a we play the full set every night, the crowds still want more, and we can’t resist giving it to them.

Today a travel day, and then a much needed day off in Zaragoza. I’ll be back with more later.