Day 18

Sunday November 16

As with so many other times there was the possibility of a gig today, or maybe even two, but collectively we decided during the week that it was best to finish with what we did yesterday to then give us all this free day today before the trip back to London tomorrow. 

It’s quite mad to think of what we’ve achieved here as a team of three. And what Richard and his friends and associates managed to create for us. Phenomenal really. 

I’ll break it all down now. First, we arrived here with eight shows on the agenda which was beyond expectations in itself. But before we had even arrived there were assurances of more to come. Well that certainly played out as we’ve ended up playing live 17 times, with five radio interviews among all that. We’re not entirely sure of the other numbers because as I’ve said in here before, things just came, went, came back again and all the rest of it, so much so all the time and everyday that we just couldn’t keep up. What we’re deciding to surmise is that if we could have said yes to every single offer that came in we could have been looking at over 30 shows for our time here. And then you can also factor in offers, leads or pursuits that didn’t quite come through.

It went like this. Some offers were for the same time as what we already had. Others would have been impossible to get to in time from the show we already had before it. At least one was just too far away to contemplate. Also, some shows could have been done but were turned down simply so as not to burn us all out too much. To that list you can add whatever had been on offer for today. Then there’s the vague memory that one of the three gig days could conceivably have been a five gig day but that really was deemed a few bridges too far. For today, we’re pretty sure there were at least two possibilities there that were turned down so that we could all enjoy this final day with nothing in the book. And then there were other shows that just didn’t quite materialise for whatever reason with some being of the on again off again variety. Then there was the show Jessica tried to get for us but she was told the bill was already full. 

But that’s all done now. All uncertainties and possibilities shaken out and done. With that, very fittingly, we’re invited to the party tonight which we’re choosing to see as a kind of wrap celebration. This isn’t just any party, as we are going to be thrown into the private world of a Mexican TV personality – a presenter and actor who’s also had her share of hit singles. I won’t reveal who it is, but I will say that not long after we get back to London she’s on the cover of one of the world’s most famous entertainment magazines.

Before all that, this is one of the most chilled days we’ve had in Mexico with a real end of term feel to it all. Among it is a return to what has become a favourite restaurant of ours in the area and even the same table. This is a really large open plan place of two floors with ‘our’ table on the second tier but also at a huge open window overlooking the busy highway between this place and Richard’s apartment. It’s almost like sitting on a terrace. This is our second visit here and we will be making that a third tomorrow.

Along with this wonderful leisurely late lunch, we meander into the evening before heading off to the spectacular apartment party of Richard’s celebrity friend. Here, we settle right in among what is a very comfortable amount of invited guests. About 20 or so people in a sprawling very luxurious apartment right in the centre of Mexico City. There’s a barbecue out on the balcony which wraps all the way around this place, and the food from that is periodically brought inside to sit majestically and invitingly on the main table around which people come and go with different spontaneous hangouts popping up all over the place. Including the upstairs of this two floor apartment where there are floor to ceiling, wall to wall windows, and another balcony that disappears right around the corner.

Among all this, anyone we speak to takes us really seriously as we hear about what we’ve done and the kind of people who have been booking us. But then, with such a small exclusive guest list here, as soon as people hear we’re performing songwriters in Mexico from London, we’re just accepted and with all kinds of levels of kudos and cachet. 

This all goes on until some time past midnight, then with nightcaps carrying on back at Richard’s, we’re comfortably up until around 5am.

Day 19

Monday November 17

And up at 10am today. We packed at a very leisurely pace during the day yesterday, so this is a very easy morning. Then when we’re ready, we’re out to have lunch at that marvelous restaurant again, and again we get ‘our’ table. 

Once that’s done, we’re back to the apartment for a quick mop up of whatever we have to do, then it’s into Richard’s car for the trip to the airport. And this time we have a direct flight to London so there’s no chance of a repeat of the Miami airport drama.

But we still find room for drama. Of course we do.

Security is chaotic and moving quickly and the staff are causing it to feel like some kind of panic situation, often shouting at people to move quicker, get their things unpacked, keep it moving moving moving. Into all this we arrive and we have our computers to get out and the thing with the belts and jackets coming off. Just normal airport security stuff really, but with manic instructions and people being told off just on the right edge of polite, but really, more often than is comfortable on the wrong edge of polite. The security people in here are very much creating a tension and a feeling that you have to do things fast fast fast. Keep it moving moving moving. We have our bags up on the conveyor belt and I’m checking to make sure the right ones are open and my computer is out. Behind me Maja is doing the same, getting her work computer out so that it can be easily seen. But I don’t see it and I don’t stop to see what’s going on behind me. I push my security box containing small suitcase and whatever else, then reach back to pull forward the security box behind me. Which in the meantime Maja has carefully placed her computer. With security personnel all around calling for things to be quicker, and more and keep it going, as I reach the box behind me I give it a good solid yank forwards, not realising Maja’s computer is now on it. The box comes forwards so quickly that the computer simply takes off. I actually hear a cry of alarm from a lady nearby as the computer soars through the air and lands with a heavy smack and a skid right across the hard ceramic-like airport floor. Despite the heightened situation, all blame still has to be on me and I can only hope the computer is alright. When Maja retrieves it and we’re away from all that madness and she’s able to open it and turn it on, no it definitely is not alright. The screen has a massive crack in it and the thing just will not come on properly. But OK, kinda, she says. Maybe her company will help out with repairs, or just supply her with a new one. This can totally be put down to an accident among airport security chaos.

With that thought in mind, Maja is like, yeah, that was all a bit silly but let’s put this behind us and get on with our journey back. So we both calm down after all that and do the normal thing of finding our gate, then joining in with boarding before enjoying the flight back indulging with as many movies as we can fit in.

Day 20

Tuesday November 18

We arrive back in London at 1pm. Taking the Mexico time difference into consideration, as we leave the plane and enter the terminal at Heathrow, it feels like it’s still Monday November 17. I don’t think either of us can get it into our heads that it’s Tuesday.

We’re still in the arrivals section when Maja’s phone goes. When she answers, it’s suddenly clear that something bad has happened. I can’t quite make out what but none of this is good. In the middle of this she signals to me that she’s going to take this call somewhere else. She’s gone nearly an hour and by now I have some idea of what’s happening but not the whole picture. When she returns, it’s all laid out. While we’ve been away her company has hit some downsize issues. With that, almost her entire department has been wiped out in redundancies. Maja has just been told that she’s among them.

But in that hour, she’s also learned that the job will continue for a while yet. So not quite the sudden drop off a cliff, and this grace time should allow a solid enough period to make the next end meet. But still, this is a huge shock to land into and it’s immediately clear that any momentum we were hoping to jump into following Mexico has just been totally stopped in its tracks.