Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/27/14

Mike takes a break midset. Not really.

 Wednesday, 2/27/14 – Here we are in Madrid…the Big City!! And it IS a big city. Driving in I was reminded of Chicago or New York, but with many more examples of really good architecture. I’m just glad I’m not driving! People here take the Free Jazz approach to automobile operation, I think. “I’ll just do what I feel is right!”

Got to the club, La Boite (I don’t know what that means and Google Translate couldn’t help) and found another subterranean place with several sets of stairs to negotiate…but we were helped by the promoter Pepe, and the sound man Ishmael. Both very nice and fun people, and very willing to join in the fun of the load-in. With Ishmael’s expertise we got soundchecked quickly in this very large, nice underground Rock Palace, and went out to dinner with Pepe. Again, no one spoke English in the restaurant, but with his assistance we managed a good meal. Still no Tapas, but one can’t have everything, I guess.

 At La Boite..."Someday your name will be up in lights..."

Really good show!! For a rainy Wednesday we had a pretty good turnout, and the people there were cheerful and rowdy. Everyone in the band is either sick or recovering, but we certainly rallied for this show. Johnny Bee was especially energetic and played brilliantly…such a pleasure to jam with him! And Mike sounded as good as he has all tour, rocking that Stratocaster and pulling sounds out of it I wasn’t aware were possible. Singing great too! You’d never guess that he was getting over the Cold From Hell.

Got back to the hotel too late to do a Skype, but I did post up a video giving my Dad a shout, which I know Cyn will show him later. She’s been taking care of everything back in Michigan while I’ve been here, and that includes watching out for my Pop. He’s getting older and weaker, and this winter has been challenging…they’ve run out of propane again due to the extreme cold, and Cyn has had to cut her way through the chest-high snowdrifts to get to the tank. I did that too before we left, but I was so sure that the worst was over then. Man, was I wrong!! It’s officially the worst winter there in history. I owe my wife much more than I can say…she’s the best.