digwemust

metro gig was worth $25 just for the support act alone. Brownbird Rudy Relic... one of the best acts i've seen in ages... check him out! brownbird link thing

Craig McLachlan, Indira Naidoo and Dave Mason from the Reels within minutes of each other in the cross the other day.

Hey Ron! I saw your ugly mug staring at me from an Interstellar Villains single here in Valencia a short while ago. It was in a shop called ¨Oldies Discos¨. How appropriate.

i´ve just been to barcelona and there´s not much rock n roll to be found, but if you look hard you´ll find a bit. there´s a cluster of good record shops around c/- tallers, and a good one in c/- reira baixa called wah wah. THE rock and roll bar i kept hearing about is called barbara ann.

20 euros for desert boots over here in spain in almost every colour you´d want. bargain!

These were the chaps I caught the other night in Valencia. Nice guys.

Yes it was Springo, and i did indeed.

Thursday night report... Los Idiotas from Spain were a fantastic two piece and like most bands over here, fantastic people as well. Earlier on in the night, a fat, bald, english mod pushed in front of everyone at the bar and impressed no one with his arrogance. Turns out he was lead singer of the second band and they deservedly sucked. Thee Bat from Japan were outrageous and crazy and damn good as well.

Friday night... The venue is out in the burbs in the middle of an industrial estate, It reminded me of Marrickville Bowlo. It took about an hour to get in and I missed the first band, Los Imbecils from Bristol, but luckily there was plenty of cerveza and whatever else tickles your fancy supplied from car boots and vans. Mondo and his lady showed up and doubled the Australian contingent. Thee Vicars from England were very young and very shambolic. Was it the atrocious sound and non functioning monitors, or can they actually not play very well? They were fun nevertheless. Khan and BBQ did not cope very well at all with the sound and cracked the shits constantly. When it clicked (i´d say on about 3 songs) they were great. The Mummies? They too complained about the monitors but I think the concept of the Mummies playing with fully functioning equipment isn´t quite right. Suffice to say they were brilliant. My hearing is shot, My legs hurt from dancing (and from walking around in circles, lost, for about 2 hours on my way back to my digs), I have had about 4 hours sleep and haven´t eaten for 24 hours but I´ll be backing up for night 3.5 of Funtastic in 2 hours time and will cover it here manaña. Over and out.

I´m relaxing in Valencia right now, still jet lagged as all hell but looking forward to the Mummies show tomorrow night. Both Russell and King Khan were at the gig last night at La Edad de Oro which was supposed to be headlined by Los Explosivos from Mexico City, but they got deported before they could play any shows. The replacement Spanish bands were pretty good though... can´t remember there names though. Bumped into an Australian expat at the gig so at I didn´t feel alone with my meagre spanish skills. Until next time...

On another note, any suggestions for cheap but clean hostels in madrid?

I'll be going to Gruta 77 when i'm in madrid to catch Los Chicos. The other venues I've been told about are as follows (the descriptions are by my contact in Madrid):

LA VIA LACTEA, Velarde 18, Malasaña - the oldest rnr club in Madrid, a must!

LA PEQUEÑA BETY, La Reina 4, Gran Via - A cool rnr restaurant (don’t miss it!) upstairs, and a small rnr club with good 60s live music downstairs

WURLITZER BALLROOM, Tres Cruces 12, Gran Via - Gigs, and rnr club until 6am!, big queues late on weekends when other clubs are closed

LOUIE LOUIE, La Palma 43, Malasaña - small, but a classic rnr club

EL TEMPLO DEL GATO, Trujillos 7, Gran Via - another classic rnr club in Madrid

ROCK PALACE calle Vara del Rey 5, Plaza de Atocha - Club, our place for rehearsals & second home…

EL SOL, Jardines 3, Gran Via - great club for concerts in Madrid, but only if there is a cool gig, after gigs it is normal disco til 6am

BAMBALAN CAFÉ, calle de la Villa 3, Plaza Mayor - Cool tapas and soul music, quiet and in the old city