Day 17
Saturday November 15
Up and out earlyish and one of the first things we see is a message from the manager of Tlillan Calli saying, thankyou for last night, we are now superfans of yours. Well that’s about as good as it can get for feedback. With that, we’re out by 9am to make the wonderfully scenic and sunny drive up and out to Milpa Alta for our appointment with the guys at Musika Real. This really is spectacular as we hit the green mountains and start to ascend high above the city with more hilly terrain all around us, but also that endless city vista below us. Yes we have been here before more or less, but that drive to our gig a few days ago was done as it was getting a little dark, which is an experience all itself with all the lights shining everywhere. This is a sunny drive with everything laid out below us in full colour.
As we get higher up in the mountains the roads all become slower as they twist and turn, and then when we hit the neighbourhood areas things really slow down. This is where much of the time of the drive happens with the smooth fast carriageways left far behind. Eventually we pull into the large green driveway of a large house and two people come out to greet us. This is brother and sister Miguel Angel and Elisa. There is another brother, Dario who I arranged this interview with on a recommendation from Richard, but unfortunately he isn’t here today. But Miguel Angel and Elisa couldn’t be more welcoming and happy that we are there and ready to feature on their show. This is to be a recorded interview to be broadcast when and how we’re not entirely sure, but we are also happy just to be here.
We discover now that this radio station is something of a family affair as we’re also introduced to their parents David and Veronica. Veronica brings us drinks and snacks, while afterwards, David leads me out to their roof patio for the most spectacular view over what seems like the whole of Mexico City. Here, we can peer down the mountains and look right across the by now almost familiar and neverending urban vista, but I’ve never seen it from this perspective before.
Into the radio studio and they have a great setup with Miguel Angel in the control room behind the glass while me and Maja are set up at a table in front of the Musika Real backdrop while Elisa sits beside us and conducts the interview. Richard also joins us at the table and he will be helping out with translations.
We’ve now been in Mexico City over two weeks and have played live fifteen times including at the prestigious Pata Negra, a Day of the Dead street festival, the incredible Capitan Gallo experience, and of course on Maria Letona’s radio show. We now have a lot of experiences and perspectives to talk about and Elisa is keen to get into it all. It’s also clear she has done her homework and has had a good look around our website, as she knows all about us and our back story. This really helps us to relax and expand on themes, and it means this becomes a richly explorative interview. It’s just amazing to be having this kind of experience in a lavish family radio studio high above Mexico City. And of course, apart from some of our back story, some of which is bizarrely and fantastically relayed to us by Elisa for our thoughts, we really get into what it’s been like being here and what we’ve been up to. How the gigs have been, how the people have been, our thoughts on Mexico and London, the whole thing. There’s also something of a comical moment when I’m talking about some of this to Elisa, then Maja interjects and says exactly the same thing I’ve just spent a few minutes saying. When I point out to her that I’ve just said all that, she immediately replies, ‘Yes, but you were speaking Spanish. I had no idea what you were talking about.’ Oh yeah. OK. Fair enough. You’ve got me. This wonderfully natural spontaneous moment, which sets us all off laughing, is all captured on whatever the digital thing is that we’re using for tape here. It also adds a whole other layer of texture to an amazing and deep and far ranging interview experience. Thankyou very much Elisa. In fact, when we do make the point of thanking her for her research and far reaching questions and conversation pieces, she says that herself, Miguel Angel and Dario have all been involved in the impressive preparation for today. All I can say is that we are deeply privileged and appreciative of such an effort and we feel it really comes across in what we all work together to get down today. Richard very much included in all that. Not least because one of the subjects brought up is how we got here in the first place, and of course Richard and Los Ekis are front and centre in that story. And with that, he is able to come in and totally justifiably become part of the interview as he tells his perspective of how we all randomly met in that bar in Camden back in May.
When we’re ready to leave, the whole family assembles in front of their beautiful house to see us off as we begin our descent down the mountain and onto the first of the final two shows of our entire Mexico trip.
The first of these is to be an outdoor show at a place called Faro Tecomitl. We were amazed when we saw the poster of this and it declared we were Revolutionising Pop. Damn yes we’ll take that.
Before all that, we should take a look at the surroundings. This is all happening outside and behind the small but steep concrete auditorium area is a lovely playpark and Sami has come to join us for today. So we just have a hang out around here as we hear about he progress of the dog show as people come out, introduce their dogs and tell cute stories about their relationships with them, how they got them in the first place and all that. About as idyllic a pre gig experience as you could possibly have.
So yeah, we’re not going on after a puppet show today. Nope. Today we are going on after a dog show. Which means we have a wonderful and cute audience of dogs to play to. But really, all of their owners as well which means we’re facing a pretty packed audience for this penultimate show of Mexico. And it also kind of looks like some of the people out there have come out just to see us. Just something in the rock’n’roll way some of them are dressed and the intent with which they watch our performance.
It really is fun to go up out there, up the steps and play among this wonderfully attentive and appreciative audience of all ages. We have Maja going up one side and me the other. And once again at times I just take a seat on the benches alongside members of the audience as Maja continues to do her thing.
Together back on the stage, we’re stunned when we suddenly see a couple of familiar faces looking down on us. Oh wow. That’s Elisa and Miguel Angel from Musika Real having come down to see us live. What a surprise. With them there, it’s great that they see us get an enthusiastic encore shout, then we’re done, but not before a whole bunch of photo requests from people, again, wonderfully in view of our new radio friends. But even then we’re not done as the organisers call us up onto the stage once more. With that, we are thrilled as they present us with a certificate which commemorates us having played this first event of its type they have held here today.
All that now done, we go down to be congratulated by Richard and a very impressed Sami, and then the Musika Real guys are here and it’s like a little reunion even though we left them only a couple of hours ago. After saying a few nice words about the performance, they say they’ve come down to see if we can do a live interview with them in the park kind of as an aftergig piece. Of course. What a great way to round off this afternoon of an experience. Richard is very happy for us to do it and happy that the guys have thought enough of us to have come. But our stage time was quite late with the dog show running on a little longer than scheduled, and now with this unexpected interview, he gently lets us know we are pushing time a little to get to the next one. OK. Interview done, emotional goodbyes again, and also to Sami who parts ways with us now. With that, we’re in the car to make our way to our very last Mexico City show.
On the way down we begin the customary pre gig routine of writing an individual setlist. What kind of show is it? How do we want to start? As we’re mildly debating this and putting songs in and out and changing bits of the order, Richard says, ‘Guys? What are you doing? You never stick to the setlist anyway.’ Oh damn, he’s right. But we keep going and get this thing done.
I’m going to fast forward now, and after our first song Maja calls out Give Me The World. That’s not even on the list. Then she says we should follow that with Make Me Shine. Again, nowhere near the list. I don’t quite remember what we do after that but I do know we don’t look at our carefully curated list anymore. Like we said right at the beginning. Richard gets us like almost no-one else ever has. Once again, he’s proven why we also listen to him more than anyone else.
As for the event, this is an amazing mini festival of music in something of an outdoor arts compound with a large stage and an amazingly powerful sound. The venue is Café ZAPATA VIVE and this event is run by Internacional Cananea with our friend from a few nights ago Marie Ann very much front and centre of organising things and generally just being everywhere dancing and taking photos.
Once again, it’s mostly all big rock and blues bands with us comfortably holding our own in this kind of company and really pulling people into what we do. So much so that the headline band invites us onto stage to jam and sing with them during their finale.
But before that there is of course our own finale. The reception to everything we do today is huge and afterwards we feel totally part of the whole environment. This really does feel like a suitable ending to our Mexico adventure and it’s simply a privilege to be part of this event. The feeling when we finish our final song is almost overwhelming, and the tiredness that spontaneously descends is all too real; for about fifteen minutes after we finish, we’re both just totally empty and barely able to even speak as I think the whole thing just catches up with us and we realise, that along with Richard and so many of his friends, we really have done it. But then a second wind kicks in and we’re able to throw ourselves right back into the party for the rest of what is a wonderful evening of live music and overall great vibes. Yeah. Just a perfect final gig for what has been certainly the biggest such venture The Diaries have ever embarked upon.
