Two weeks ago we were playing in Guadalajara in Spain. It seems like an age ago! There is something extraordinary about playing overseas dates. It is an epic expedition for starters. It's not jump in the van and two or three hours later you're there.
It is an all-day affair, up early, immigration and customs, the whole journey seems designed to stop you getting there, and then when you arrive, everything is exciting and different, and the overwhelming desire to sleep is overtaken by the overwhelming desire to join the party!
The event of course was Guadasoul 11. Guadalajara is 50 miles from Madrid. We've never played in the city before, but last year's event at Miranda de Ebro, near Bilbao gave us an opening to do more festival-style dates in Spain, and so we arrived full of expectation, and we weren't disappointed!
The host, the event, the venue, the food, the organisation - all perfect. But as always when Squire and Spain combine, the audience are absolutely ecstatic!
They are singing the song before you've started playing it. You announce the song from the stage and they're already singing it before you've joined in! It's their gig - and we played everything we knew, and then started again for the encore! Click on the link below to see for yourself!
It reminds me of what it must have been like to be a band in the 1960s, playing and visiting far-off exotic locations. It’s not quite like the 1960s movies of The Beatles being chased down the street by screaming fans, but the fans are there, with bags of records to sign, all wanting a ‘selfie’ and all speaking in Spanish with the occasional English phrase thrown in for politeness!
Of course, bt mid afternoon, the crowd is mostly all ‘sozzled’! We cant drink any alcohol until after we play, which we were told was going to be 11pm, and which inevitably became midnight! And we were still celebrating in the venue at 4am, trying to catch up with the crowd!!
No gig can happen without drama, or nervousness. It’s not until you step on stage for the soundcheck, at 3pm, that you feel ‘at home’ finally. Voice works, guitar in tune, and then the panic - James had lost his bass guitar strap, so we borrowed one from the support band, and everything was back on track. Indeed, with James beside me on stage, it’s a real family affair. and the last time we played in Spain, ‘up the road’ in Madrid in 2013, it was James and Kevin together. Time moves on, but some things don't change - the songs, the crowd, and the feeling that there is absolutely nowhere else you'd rather be at midnight, than with Squire in Guadalajara.
It is also indicative of what we were discussing in the last newsletter, that these events are more often than not organised and supported by a cohort of very keen music fans. Of course it's a very rare event these days to do a gig and not see yourself on social media playing back at you before you've finished the night. So it is that there is some footage on Instagram — which seems to be the medium of choice in Spain rather than YouTube - and we can share a little clip of us at the event. We hope to find more clips to share soon.
It wasn't a blur, it wasn't a dream - it actually happened. You can see on stage the excitement of the moment. But of course we had to return home the next day, and endure another day of hanging around at the airport, arrival back in dark and rainy UK, and a motorway drive back to a very welcome cup of tea, and sleep!
Now we are looking forward to the next date - Mods Mayday in London on May 3rd. But between then and now there is a very special event that we are taking part in, which will be announced in April!
All the best from Squire