Saturday, November 8, 2008

Madrid - Day 31

November 7, 2008
Day 31 - Madrid, España
Venue: Joy Eslava



SPANISH NIGHTS:
well we finally got out of uk. not that i don't love the uk but...
we arrived in bilbao, basque country, 2 days ago and it's been a breath of fresh air. the tasty "pinchos", lunch time snacks much like tapas but more open sandwich like, and the Guggenheim museum to shelter us from the mountain rain, were much needed and appreciated. the show last night was really good. the audience definitely though. these people like to talk!! we had to shush people quite a bit but eventually they shut up which was good because otherwise you can get depressed on stage which is not good.
we are only four now on stage after my mom's departure from dublin 4 days ago. time is moving very fast. since then we have played nottingham, where i was a little under whelming because of exhaustion and the rest of it, oxford, which was a really good gig i think, and we've dropped some of the crew and flown to spain, done press, had a great meal with promoter, and done bilbao. angus and julia are still with us which is nice. they provide a lovely feeling and are a joy to work with. it is too bad we never worked anything up together but it has just been too hectic. this has been an unnatural amount of shows but i guess i knew it would be. i can see how you age quite fast on the road. i'm looking a bit rough and as a woman that's a bit depressing. thank god i have brad to be nice to me and tell me i'm pretty when i feel down.
we had a great dinner with unai and uri the promoters in bilbao. they take a honking piece of cow from the rib and bring it out on a ceramic hot plate sizzling. the meat is still cooking while on the table and you can pull it off when it is cooked to your liking. i've never eaten so much meat and felt a bit rough afterward but my god was it good. my apologies to vegetarians reading this. this was definitely a free range animal. and the rioja harvested from the hills an hour away was a perfect complement. oh what gluttony! to the vomitorium! no, just kidding. the meal was super fun. we also had a beautiful hotel which was was a god send after the stinky tour bus with the broken toilet. now we are racing through the mountains of alava coming into rioja land on our way to madrid. brad's a bit sick and my back aches but other than that we do have a great life!

8 comments:

warriorgrrl said...

Mmm, rioja! I'm vegan but I'm not offended by all the fun you're having ;)

Your set in London was marvellous, thank you so much. I'm just starting playing solo shows again and the way you throw yourself in to every song is a real inspiration. I love that you're blogging too, more musicians should. I hope you continue to enjoy Europe - it's raining buckets here so you left at the right time!

Erika and Sarah said...

Hi Martha,

Nice to hear you're having fun in Spain. You really did play a huge amount of shows in Europe over the past month! It must be very exhausting for you to travel and play concerts and give interviews almost every day, we hope you can find some time soon to relax. Don't worry if some shows aren't as good as others, even if your voice sounds a bit rough and you're tired you still sound and look much better than any other artist would.

Enjoy your time in Australia, we hope the sun there will make a nice change to windy rainy Europe.

Love & all the best,

Erika and Sarah

Campbie™ said...

Keep travelling till you get back to MTl
Love to all
campbell

Sian said...

All sounds awesome. Come back to the UK soon though ;-) xx

.Helia. said...

I'm glad you had a great time in Bilbao!!

Your show in Madrid was absolutely marvellous, and you looked beautiful!

I know we spanish people are a bit noisy and that's something that truly annoys me everytime I go to se a band play. But I don't think you should get depressed at all and don't be afraid to ask us to shut up(It wouldn't be the first time a musician does so)... Luckily I had the chance to be on first row so I didn't heard other people talking.

And you and the band were just amazing... Even thought you are doing so many shows you manage to have so much energy on stage!
I had a great time, I hope you had it too playing for us! And also I wanna thank you for being so nice to us after the show, I know you were in a rush!

I'm really looking forward to see you back in Spain soon. Lots of Love!

Helia.

P.S.: Sorry if my english wasn't very good!!

Gilly said...

Gosh Martha! You have been working and some! Glad you have-'brad to be nice to me and tell me i'm pretty when I feel down'. It is said that one can't know pleasure without knowing pain and I think you live that! Take care. Gilly

Lys said...

Hi Martha, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU for remembering about the polkadot scarf and wearing it on two shows :-). That was so nice of you! It was in Utrecht, when I gave it. I totally understand that after 31 days touring you get mixed up :-)
For what I heard it was an excellent show. I wish I was there in person but i was in Florida instead...touring around with the Rubus for youknowwho :-)
Next time we'll catch u for sure somewhere around europe again. Enjoy Australia, can't wait to see the Emily performances!!!

Ulla Inga said...

Hi Martha! I was there in Madrid last Friday, I was one of the 'scarf' ladies ;D We met briefly after the show, I was the one who kept taking pictures of people posing with you trying to be as fast as possible 'cause you had to leave for dinner! :D I just wanted to say again that I really enjoyed the show and that I hope you'll be back in Europe soon! Big big hug to Brad - I spoke to him too and he was lovely! I'm very haooy to know he enjoyed my friend's chocolate bar on your way to Sydney!;D