I found Michelle up at the crack of dawn...before, really....having breakfast down by the river in a nice spot at the back of our hotel. Truly relaxing stuff.
As we found out later, the owners had suffered a terrible flood the previous October, when ten meters of water pretty much washed out the first floor of the hotel. That part had just reopened; we were staying on the second floor and had no idea about any of this.
Michelle, ever on the lookout for stuff for us to do, had found some ruins close by in Acinipo. We decided to go there a bit after breakfast the next day. Turned out that day might have been the hottest of all the days we spent in southern Spain; the sun was relentless on us as we investigated the small but interesting set of Roman ruins. Still, it was something to do while we were both there.
As we found out later, the owners had suffered a terrible flood the previous October, when ten meters of water pretty much washed out the first floor of the hotel. That part had just reopened; we were staying on the second floor and had no idea about any of this.
Michelle, ever on the lookout for stuff for us to do, had found some ruins close by in Acinipo. We decided to go there a bit after breakfast the next day. Turned out that day might have been the hottest of all the days we spent in southern Spain; the sun was relentless on us as we investigated the small but interesting set of Roman ruins. Still, it was something to do while we were both there.
After Acinipo, we had lunch in the nearby town of Setenil, and then took refuge from the sun in our well air conditioned room. And probably a nap. Or two.
That night, the Hickoids were playing the first of our Pueblos Blancos shows in Villaluenga del Rosario, which as it turned out, was the longest drive we would have from our home base. Distance-wise, it wasn't even that far, but the mountainous region required a circuitous to getting there, so it was about a 45-minute drive. Not bad, though. The roads weren't even treacherous.
Once we got the town, I had no idea where we were actually going to play. The rest of the guys hadn't known, either. And this led me to make a poor decision that, if I hadn't taken out the full insurance for our rental car, would have been pretty costly. I made the mistake of driving from the main road into the town, and ending up in a maze of small roads that became harder and harder to navigate. I finally found a couple of band members, who pointed out the general area where we were playing - the town square at the center. Cody told me the other members' rental van was parked off the main road, and they had walked up. So, in my not-so-gentle retreat from the small roads of centrallish town, I managed to scratch the driver's side rear panel of the rental car. As I remembered I had the insurance, I wasn't worried....still, you don't like to bring a rental back with obvious damage. I parked off the main road in an otherwise empty parking lot (the other guys' van was parked in a marked lot, figured I wouldn't do that), and Michelle and I walked up with my stick bag and pedal. I didn't bring the cymbals, as it was my understanding everything would be provided at these gigs. That would come back to bite me in the butt (lungs, really) later.
After the uphill trek to where we were playing, we sussed out the situation. There was a stage set up, sort of in the town square, but with a backing, making us sort of cordoned off from town. Out of all the places we played, I'd say this was the least picturesque. The first band, Cives, was sound checking, and the time....well, let's just say that the Spanish are not too big on timeliness. We waited around for awhile for Cives to start. Hickoids were on after Cives. When they were playing, I noticed a couple of cymbal bags around and thought I'd better ask the situation. I talked with Jack Ryan, who was playing bass for the two bands following us and found out that no cymbals had been provided. Uh-oh. And it was getting close to time for our set. And it was no easy trek back to the car and then uphill all the way to where we were playing. Patrick volunteered to go to help me, so off we ran. Back to the car, and then he grabbed my cymbals and hustled up, while I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. By the time we got back, it was set up time, and I thought I was going to have a coronary right there. I mean, it was scary. I'm sure being out in the hot sun for a few hours earlier in the day hadn't helped. So, I took a bit of time setting up, trying to catch my breath and be ready to play well. We started slow (Jeff kept checking on me), but actually the set went fine. We built up and by the end were rocking at full force. The setting was the most intimate we would play for the whole festival, so I would say despite everything, the set worked out really well. And I didn't die. Yay!
The Jake Levinson Band played next, followed by Maf É Tulà, both based in Guatemala and sharing rhythm sections. Both acts were pretty great. I really enjoyed the Levinson Band's arrangements of familiar covers. Maf is a singer/songwriter, and her stuff is gripping in presentation...she's a fantastic performer. What I didn't know at this point was that we would share the stage with these two bands every night of the festival. Cives we only played with one more time. Well, I think that's right.
Afterward, another long trek (downhill, at least) to the car and the 45-minute drive back to our hotel. And sleep. Aaahhh......
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