I’m excited. Perhaps I oughtn’t be. Should I be? Everything is so… shitty isn’t it? There’s so much suffering. All the front pages, the news channels…
On the band front, poor Nick, stranded in Panama City with an ear infection. Shows cancelled in Mexico City, Guadelajara, Texas, Tulsa. He must improve soon, we can only hope. The touring party is scattered in limbo, waiting for a thumbs up, some words of improvement; but nothing… yet.
Notwithstanding all of this, for me, our Tour of South and Central America was an absolute triumph.
Let me give you some of the highlights:
1. The aftershow party in Venezuela. Making new friends and dancing to DJ Andres, hearing Midnight Juggernauts and Crystal Castles for the first time, in the best possible context and giving me some reasons to start contemplating the year-end-best list that Katy will be asking me for any moment.
2. Sao Paulo. The Saturday night show - the best of the tour, up there with LA and London for best of the year. The audience with us the whole way, every song played with passion and enthusiasm, Dom in particular was magic that night.
3. Brazilian Music. At last my mind opened to its beauty. One retail assistant recommending the essentials: Getz/Gilberto, Sergio Mendes, Tom Jobim, Tropicalia, Samba history and Marisa Montes.
4. Football in Santiago. Going to see Colo Colo play, but being unable to take my eyes off the north stand crowd singing + drumming throughout the entire game. Did anyone notice the score?
4. (b) English Premier League broadcast across the continent en vivo (live) by the Fox Soccer Channel. To sit + have breakfast in my Venezuelan hotel suite watching Aston Villa beat Arsenal at The Emirates! Making Midlands soccer history.
5. Mexico City. Thanks to artist Laureana Toledo (who took the photo below), I got the most extraordinary tour of the city and will never see Mexico in the same light. What an incredibly dynamic, fantastic culture. Bring on the movies of Bunuel (Los Olvidados) and the writing of Fuentes.
6. Maroon 5. Had to revise my opinion of this lot also, who played festival shows with us in Venezuela and Panama. They knocked us off our pedestal first night, but the status quo was regained by Panama. More importantly we had a good time getting to know them and I shared some seriously good yoga moments with Adam and the guys at our Panama hotel.
Oh yeah, and did someone forget that night in Lima? Something MASSIVE? I got to watch America get a new President. The one I just happen to believe in.
Sad to have the cancel the concerts though, watch this space…
