Lisbon, Portugal...27 July, 2010
Yesterday, the 26th was a day off here in Lisbon. At this point in the tour everyone is conserving energy...heads on pillows and not much sight seeing. The gym at Four Seasons-Ritz is one of the best of the tour and second only to the San Fransisco Four Seasons. Located on the upper floor of the hotel it's new, spacious, clean, very well equipped and surrounded by floor to ceiling glass for a 360 degree view of Lisbon and the water. The remainder of the day was spent listening to music on the balcony of my room and laying low. A get together of the band and crew was enjoyed in the evening by all. We took over a tapas bar and the beer, wine and food kept coming. Best of all it was great seeing everyone together outside the normal gig setting. After three hours I couldn't hold any more beer and my legs were getting tired so along with Matt, I walked back to the hotel. I had hoped to get to sleep at a reasonable hour but am on this late night sched and couldn't fall asleep. I put the TV on for a couple of hours, watched BBC news...the longest the tele's been on for the entire tour.
Up this morning and down to breakfast. Danny, his wife Shelley and their boys William and Dominick had a table and I joined them. Beyond that I couldn't have done any less with the rest of the day...more balcony time, music and sleep.
Tonight's show was at Campo Pequeno, a venue we played two years ago, an enclosed bull ring in one of Lisbon's many town square. Very handsome from the outside but inside it lacks ventilation and is sweltering. Backstage is a warren of passways that can be very confusing and I'm no stranger to taking a wrong turn. Hot as it was, you can add another 10 degrees on top in catering where the stoves are working overtime. One of tonight's miracles were grilled shrimp. I've never seen shrimp this large, two would be a meal and they were tender, sweet and monstrously delicious.
I was sweating before we took the stage and it never let up, but the Lisbon audience of 6,000+ was electric and the show was fun and exciting to play...as always. As we head in to the final five gigs, everyone is still anxious to play and trying new things, always striving to do better.
I was soaked clear through by the time we took our runner back to the hotel. A quick change of clothes and down to the comfy hotel bar for a couple of perfectly mixed martinis.
So long,
Richard