Mexico City w/Anathema!

So after some time off it was time to get back to work! We made our way to LAX to get our two flights down to Mexico City, all that swine flu stuff had simmered down and we didnt feel to bothered by it all knowing that the tarja crew had played down there a week earlier and survived!

So we arrived in Mexico City in the evening of May 26th to be greeted by our friends ChazZ and our Mexican manager Marco from Disharmonic Music. We when and got settled at our accomodation and head out for some Mexican food and beer, I can not remember what anything was called but it was meaty and delicious although it reeked some havok on our bodies later down the track but not a tale for the blog!

After a late dinner and a few beers we got some sleep for the show! We woke up to a lovely cooked breakfast from chazZ, some quesadillas with ham and cheese. At 1pm Marco showed up and we head to Circo Volador for our sound check and to get settled. I had played at this venue once a few years ago with another band and knew it was going to be a great night.

When we arrived Anathema’s crew were line checking all their gear and Anathema them selves were in various places watching the soccer which pushed their sound check back at least an hour:) Jamie from Anathema was doing an amazing Aussie accent which had a fooled and prided him self on how many lines he know from the movie Chopper, it wasnt to long before Vinnie was in on the act also and the liverpool lads were calling everyone bloke, saying g’day and having a good old time!

After Anathema sound checked it was our turn and our mexican crew swiftly set up all our gear and we began what was a long and confusing sound check, in the end it all came together and we were ready to rock mexico city!!!

One interesting thing about shows in Mexico is how organised they are at making pirated merchandise and how good it is! There are like 12 stalls set up directly outside the venue with so many different Anathema tour shirts, mugs, pillows and much more, all as cheap as hell with amazing levels of detail. Knowing this was a rare chance to get some rare Anathema stuff I went a bit crazy and picked up loads of t-shirts and a pillow haha we also had a nice walk around the area and check out wht was going on, being in Mexco city for 1 full day sucked a bit as we would have loved to see more of Mexico but due to the flu thing and all that it made it a bit hard for us to get down there any earlier!

By the time we got back doors were open and people where making there way into the venue! This was a really cool night for me, playing with a band that was a big influence on my own music and that had been party of my life for at least 15 years! It was great to finally share the stage with Anthema and to top it off it was in one of the greatest rock/metal venues in Mexico City!

We hit the Stage at 7.30 and got a one hour set! we played: silence / without reason / a cruel misfortune / a means for an ending / down / blood / hollow inside / everlasting / lost our way / to drown – The crowd was really responsive to us and i think their was at least 1000 people which was just awesome, clapping screaming and generally being awesome, so Mexico we thankyou with all of our hearts I hope we make it back again, was a moment none of us will forget. Marrty threw out loads of drum sticks, i gave the crown setlists, picks, strings and even one guy yelled out for me to give him my belt, so that was just crazy haha

Not long after Anathema hit the stage and played a great set, well over 2 hours with a collection of tracks from their whole career, for me this was a very special show!! Marty, Dave and Myself also walked the crowd giving out flyers, signing autographs and posing for pictures, we knew it was very important for us to get into the crowd and make some fans, and I think it went well, the Mexican people we met are so lovely and generally amazing to spend time with, we hope we see you all again soon!

After Anathema ended their amazing set we did some more meet and greet in the foyer and went back stage to annoy the Anathema boys some more, I found a very drunk marty already there tormenting them but they are from liverpool so i assume the have seen worse hahah Its worth noting anathema had ham, cheese and lettuce sandwiches and we only had ham and cheese!! bloody rock stars! haha I think their mayo also tasted better haha

The boys had early flights in the morning and so did we so all parting was cut short as it was well after 2am, Anathema had to be at airport at 4.30 and us at about 6.30! arghh!

This was a very special for us and I can only hope we will get to play with Anathema again some time! Id like to thank all involved in the show! Marco from Disharmonic, Carlos, all the crew, the great mexican people we met, Jamie, Vinnie, Les, John, Lee & Danny from Anathema, ChazZ, her lovely family, Midori, my aussie mate Brett who showed up and anyone else we met! cheers!