Raelha´s first concert for almost five years

Actually, make that concerts, or rather one huge festival jam packed full of concerts. Yes indeed, I spent last Thursday, Friday and Saturday swaying, jigging, jiggling, rocking, dancing, bouncing, pogoing, arm waving and singing my heart out in Bilbao. A full three days of Supergrass - always excellent, and coincidentally my last concert in the UK before coming to Spain; The Ting Tings - surprisingly talented as well as being lots of fun; Asian Dub Foundation; Primal Scream; The Editors; Placebo; Jane´s Addiction - best sound and general entertainment of the whole festival, though they also win the ´worst dressed´ prize for the guitarrist´s flared leather trousers; Fisherspooner - my first taste and upon reflection, I like; Chris Cornell - wow; Depeche Mode - I still have ´It´s No Good´swirling around in my head; and others. Basically, sign me up for next year right now!

I´d forgotten how much I missed the entire festival experience, apart from the three-days-camping grungy feeling which, no longer being a manky student, I attempted to avoid this time with baby wipes, spray-on deoderant and finally a trip to the shockingly cold showers when it all got too much.

And no, I didn´t forget to take my camera, but rather forgot to charge the battery beforehand.

The Weekend: Sunday - John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers

I'd been awaiting last Sunday evening with interest, if not anticipation. Having never heard of John Mayall before I wasn't sure quite what to expect. And I still wasn't sure when we arrived at the concert venue in Oviedo as it was full of people of all ages, sizes and dress senses.

Having been fortified with a Rioja from the posh bar we made our way to the auditorium, passing John Mayall himself on the way signing autographs and selling CDs - 'well, at least he's eager', I thought. I noticed a greatly-pleased man who had just bought a CD and also got his T-shirt signed. Said item of clothing was printed with 'classic' album covers - I noted Pink Floyd's 'The Dark Side of The Moon' above the signed John Mayall cover and in true High Fidelity style decided that was all I needed to know about the man. (I have a slight problem with Pink Floyd. For some reason or other, many of my boyfriends across the years have had a P.F. obsession - Matt included - and their albums have been played to death for my 'benefit', despite much protest on my part.)

Being seated at a concert for me is a bad start. My natural concert habitat is a dark smoky room with a bar in the corner, where I can stand, beer in hand, and observe the band. I prefer to have full dancing options too, ranging from toe-tapping to a jump-up-and-down-in-the-middle-of-the-crowd frenzy (although I can't quite remember the last time I did the latter). So it was with a little resignation that, having checked that there was indeed no bar in the auditorium, I settled myself into my seat to await the music.

We had the Bluesbreakers on first to warm up the crowd before they introduced the 'Father of British Blues' and then on came John Mayall, who despite being in his seventies had the demeanour, and body, of a much younger man. 'This is what doing something you love as a profession will do for you', I decided and sat back to see what would happen next. It was round this point that I noticed I had the concert's most-enthusiastic goer right in front of me. A 30-odd year old woman who couldn't stop jiggling in her seat and clapping to the music with her arms in the air - obviously the blues's version of a mosher. Now this was entertainment. I wasn't hugely enamoured with the music - although they were all obviously highly-talented musicians - but put them together with the crowd and we had something worth watching.

A quick glance down my row two or three songs into the performance and I realised that I had found a more fervent admirer than jjiggly-woman. It was, in fact, T-shirt man from the autograph signing. At the end of every song he would half stand up, arms raised in the air, and give those on stage a big thumbs up with both hands whilst grinning and cheering madly. He was obviously having the time of his life and I felt slightly guilty for my lack of enthusiasm, although I was pleased to have found some more entertainment.

The rest of the night proceeded in similar fashion, with two encores at the end. After a pleasant dinner in nearby cafe and a couple more glasses of Rioja, we made our way home. I can't say I'd be tempted to see John Mayall in concert again, although if knew T-shirt man would be there too I might say yes.

Cold turkey and my first hit in three years

Tomorrow evening Matt and I are going to see John Mayall perform in Oviedo (incidentally, we nipped into the regional capital last week and I had a quick check on Woody - I was pleased to see he's still without a full pair of glasses).

Now, this would not have been my first choice of concert. Before Matt's dad had told us he was going, I'd never even heard of the man (is this a big musical faux pas?). Matt, however, was very enthusiatic about getting tickets. I think this is because since he started taking guitar lessons about two months ago, he's become slightly obsessed (up to two hours practice a day while I get stuck with making lunch and dinner) and wants the opportunity to watch, and maybe learn something from, one of the greats. Actually, this reminds me that I must take my glasses so I can see what Matt gets excited about and so be able to ooh and ahh at the correct moments.

As the last concert I went to was Supergrass in Cardiff in 2004 just before we left and I've been cold turkey ever since, despite my best efforts (I wasn't pleased at having to forego Calexico last year, Matt wasn't interested in Van Morrison the year before and we've missed various other bands at numerous festivals too), I thought I''d give it a go, despite having to part with €20 for the ticket. I'll let you know what happens.

What I've just discovered this morning is that Crowded House have announced tour dates in Spain. Whoopee! Anyone who knows me well will know I have a soft spot for Neil Finn & Co (I even had a crush on the man until I realised that the photos of him during their Together Alone era strongly reminded me of an ex-boyfriend). I've been waiting for this since I heard about them reforming.

Shortly after we arrived here, Neil and Tim Finn played in Madrid and despite my best efforts to persuade Matt, he refused to go. At that point, I had no money whatsoever, so couldn't use the offer of paying for it all if he came with me. (I've still not quite forgiven him for it.) This time, the really, incredibly, awful news is that the concert dates are 30th September in Madrid and 1st October in Barcelona. Noooooo! Do they not know that we start the new school year at the Academia on 1st October and there is no way on earth that a) I can get out of being at work or b) get to Madrid and back in time?

I'm gutted, what was wrong with just one day earlier? However, I'm slowly becoming resigned to a more-or-less gig-less existence here in northern Spain - most bands/singers only play Madrid/Barcelona. I guess this is just one more I'll have to add to the list. I'll get over it, eventually, maybe. (And I'm sure I'll be able to read all about it here when they play the UK.)

Home alone

Matt returns today. He's been away for four nights on his bike with Duncan driving down the Portuguese coast to Cape St. Vincent, Eurpoe's most south-westerly point, and coming back through Spain via Salamanca. He took the camera with him, and I've been bereft without it - I'm looking forward to its return. And of course it'll be good to see Matt when he gets back (with my camera).

While he's been away I found a music shop in a town down the valley and bought him a guitar stand - the guitar previously had its very own place on the sofa - and found someone to give him lessons. Hopefully he'll be pleased with this early birthday surprise. We were about to give up on finding a teacher, needing one that spoke some English didn't make it easy. Matt's been learning the guitar for six months now, and while he's fairly adept at playing 'House of the Rising Sun', 'Blowing in the Wind' and 'Redemption Song' we'd both like him to be able to play something different!

The devil and Daniel Johnston, and me

A few weeks ago our friend Duncan lent us a DVD entitled 'The Devil and Daniel Johnston' which was a documentary about the life and career of singer-songwriter-artist Daniel Johnston, of whom I'd never heard before. We watched it one Saturday evening when we couldn't think of anything else we'd rather pop into the DVD player. At the time, I enjoyed the documentary, it was interesting and capably directed by Jeff Feuerzeig - who was also previously unknown to me. (You can read a good review here.) The songs, however, have had a more lasting impact and I now can't believe I never knew who Daniel Johnston was before. I must warn you that the man's singing voice is not great, it could be descibed as terrible; the lyrics and music are what makes him stand out head and shoulders above many of today's singers/bands. As I recently said to a friend, I find most of the new music pouring out of the UK today insipid, unoriginal and uninspiring. Daniel Johnston's music is a wonderful antidote to all that.

Duncan also lent us a wonderful CD, released in 2004, of covers of Daniel Johnston songs (The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered). There's one track on there that, although very simple, is just perfect - 'True Love Will Find You in the End', sung by Beck. It's made it straight onto my favourite songs of all time list - a feat not easily achieved. You can have a quick listen here: