On the Road: The Hazey Janes take Europe with Wilco (Part Three)

Our intrepid explorers navigate the streets of Barcelona and fire themselves up for showtime with a little Chas & Dave...

Blog by The Hazey Janes | 25 Oct 2012

Unfeedbacking

Catalonia lay undiscovered by three quarters of us so as we arrive in Barcelona it presents an explosion of possibilities, culture and architecture being at the forefront. Tonight’s venue, Grand Teatre del Liceu, is a breathtaking example of this. Largely thanks to a faithful rebuild in the mid nineties, since its opening in 1847 two major fires have done nothing to bow the incredible beauty of the five tiers of golden galleries that horseshoe in front of the stage or the warm iron and red velvet seating on the main floor. Stunning. 

After a hearty dinner of grilled vegetables and tuna and a little Chas & Dave on the dressing room Lumley we’re fired up for the show. Despite Andrew fending off a cold and, the daunting, towering tiers looming above, the set is well received and with the help of Wilco’s crew the stage is stripped with time to spare after our performance, so at the recommendation of Alan, our engineer, we decide to slip out of the venue and up La Rambla to Boadas for what are, reportedly, the best cocktails in town.

Entering the small, pokey bar is a step back in time, with tenders in tuxedos and the original deco intact and remnants of the artists and thinkers who have drank there since its doors opened in 1921 hanging on the dark, wood panelled walls. Thoroughly impressed by the quality of Margheritas we’re back at the venue to find I’m A Wheel being pummeled into a lively crowd. We meet up with our new Catalonian friends Raquel and Luis, who kindly take us in for the night and look after us generously. Perhaps too generously, as the following morning is a silent, bleary-eyed affair while we take to a sea of traffic in an effort to find an exit and a route to Madrid.

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Our good friend Vicente is trying to tell us the relevance of tonight’s show. Forget that the venue was a historical and prestigious bull ring in the city for many decades, but rather the scene of a now-legendary Ramones gig back in 1982. It’s important we understand the difference. These days Palacio Vistalegre is more familiar with basketball than bullfighting and looking out to the vast arena during soundcheck is a foreboding sight. It’s not our best performance on this tour, the combination of long drives and Andrew’s cold beginning to take its toll, but the growing crowd don’t seem to notice and the set goes down well. Wilco, however, bring the house down.

We watch Pat Sansone’s double-windmills and Mikael Jorgenson suffocating his keyboards with a pillow from the side of stage and the band fire into their second encore. We’re late back to the hotel and awake early for a live performance on Spanish television and an interview for national radio. The sessions pass unaffected by a distinct lack of sleep between us and we’re soon in the sweltering hot cantina wolfing down some tasty Paella. Radio 3 are then ushering us in to the studio to talk about music and our dates with Wilco, accompanied by our translator for the afternoon – the beautiful and dreamy Mayte. Quietly sidestepping a couple of questions about the upcoming Spanish elections, the interview is a lot of fun. The legendary Julio Ruiz has clearly done his research and, as it happens, has even visited Dundee as a football journalist, stopping by Groucho’s to pick up some C86 seven inches.

A brief stop off for another interview with a good-natured gent called Pacopeppe and we’re soon weaving in and out of traffic on our way to the Wurlitzer Ballroom for our first headline show. Before our stage time we stumble upon a meat parlor around the corner from the venue and decide to snack on some amazing tapas, while pig’s thighs hang at every conceivable angle. Tonight’s a good one, we loosen up on the smaller stage and generous crowd. Deemed a successful day, we enjoy the Wurlitzer’s hospitality to a soundtrack of 80s Powerpop and Nuggets Garage.