Satch Bus ouside Bergara Gymnasium & Smoke Pit of Horror.
The performance space was a gymnasium. Conversation with Doug Nightwine, FOH sound mixer:
RF: What's the sound like?
Doug: It sounds like a gymnasium.
RF: Why do think that is?
Doug: Because it's a gymnasium.
RF: D'you think that's related?
The gymnasium sounded awful. And all the local stage hands smoked. All the audience smoked. This was the worstest, smokiest gig I can remember in perhaps 25 years. Nor were all the crowd sympathetic to Soundscapes. Perhaps Crowd 5, Robert 3.
At the end of Joe's set, the climax to his performance, the Lunar Module went into equipment meltdown - the same siren-sound as in Paris went off, very loudly. Terrible. Not exactly what Joe needed.
Yow!
14.05
Hotel Tired But It Was Never Very Awake Anyway, Madrid.
A sufficient place to arrive around 10.00 after an overnight drive, sleep for two hours, then shave, shower & put on clean clothes, check out at 15.00.
A Room With A View --
23.58 Satch Bus outside Riviera Club, Madrid.
A very up crowd. Heavy smoking among audience and stagehands once again, and a packed venue.
Soundscapes: we cut the length to 20 minutes in response to our experience of G3 audience-response. This is the point at which, among those less inclined to offer silent praise or erupt in generous expressions of enjoyment, restlessness becomes open rancour.
Very strong sets for both Steve & Joe. A fun jam. We could have done an encore even at the end of that, but tonight we are under a curfew: the club is about to become a disco.
Palm Trees And Smoke --
The palm trees are a feature of the Riviera. Mass smoking prevails - stagehands, local production, crowd, several of our crew - but the open ceiling helps to a degree. Backstage, it's just smoke.
"The audience is mother to the music."
