Coimbra, Espinoa

On to the next, on the next! It’s been a couple days since my last post, so I’ll give the old “reader’s digest condensed” version. We arrived in Coimbra in the afternoon after a short two hour trip north from Lisbon, settled into the comfort inn, and made our way over to the venue. The city itself is small, but our soundman Nelson (aka Nelly aka Son) told me that it’s the most educated place in Portugal given its status as a primary school town. Apparently Coimbra is home to the oldest university in Europe, a fact which I can neither believe nor confirm. But I guess we’ll take his word for it.

Nelson is an interesting character. He speaks great English, has a beaming smile, and tells some of the filthiest jokes I’ve had the pleasure of hearing. Something about a joke being translated into a secondary language is hilarious; the punchline always needs a little help from the body language and gesticulation of the teller. One of them involved Sean Connery and his famous prowess in the sack, but it’s just barely over the line enough to validate its omission from my blog (my Grandma won’t find it very funny).

After sound check we ate a MASSIVE lunch of grilled meat, including steak, pork chops, blood sausage and some of the most goddamn delicious chorizo I’ve ever tasted. The show was a little tough on account of some technical difficulties, but we powered through.

The next day brought us even further North to the seaside city of Espinho, where our venue was the performance space of the Espinho Academy of Music. Playing music for an audience full of music students requires a top-notch effort, and that’s pretty much exactly what we put out.

Before the show, we recorded a little stripped-down live performance of Apples and Gentlest Gentlemen for some Portugese Indie music blog in the foyer of the auditorium which should turn out pretty cool. The guys seemed pretty p r o and filmed using a mini-steadycam rig. Shanda and Nelson took us for lunch afterward in a restaurant with an open-fire oven, and we ate some true authentic Portugese food. Only downside was my sweater now smells like a campfire.

The show itself was the best so far by far, as evidenced by the fact that we played three encores, each one receiving a standing O. I think last night was the most connected I personally have ever felt to an audience, probably because of how close the seats were to the stage. We finished up, packed our gear, and said goodbye to Nelson and the rest of the crew, who would be heading back to Lisbon directly.

Today’s trip puts us back in Lisbon for the night before our flight to Italy tomorrow. By chance, our friend and fellow MBD member Marla will be in the city tonight, so we are on our way to meet up for some lunch. Our next show will be in Rome, followed by Athens, and then home sweet home on December 12th. More to come soon.