Gigs from Abroad Part 18 – Madrid

I have discovered I have a particular affinity to visiting Spanish cities as I love the vibe, bustle, ethos and cuisine and my personal favourite would be Madrid as the buildings and architecture to a degree remind me of Manchester. Our first visit was as part of a backpacking trip across the country in 2003 encompassing visits also to Seville, Zaragoza and Barcelona.

Our trip to a staggeringly hot Seville took place about a week after the Uefa Cup final between Porto and Celtic and I think the Irish bars were probably still restocking and recovering! Zaragoza was intriguing despite the train station having moved location since my Rough Guide tome was published, however we had a couple of challenging circumstances in Barcelona that probably meant we didn’t see the city in its best light.

The history of Madrid dates back to the ninth century and the extensive Ferrocarril Metropolitano (Metro) was subsequently introduced in 1919 which now provides easy access to the Aeropuerto from the city. They suffered a terrorist attack in 2004 when 118 people perished from bombs placed on busy morning rush-hour trains. Famous madrileno include Penelope Cruz, Placido Domingo, Julio Iglesias and the excellent garage rock band the Hinds.

Our mode of transport on the 2003 trip was the uber efficient trains including the AVE on the Seville to Madrid leg completed in under 2.5 hours, a train so punctual they begin to compensate you if over 10 minutes late! We visited the Prado Museum, had an aperitif on Plaza Major and basked on the vast El Retiro Park. The cultural highlight though was via a train trip to nearby Aranjuez where we visited the Royal Palace there which was an astonishing place to behold.

We stayed near the Puerta del Sol suburb which contained a rabbit warren of dusky streets with a suite of fabulous bars and tapas restaurants to weave in and out of. We also paid homage to a superb rice restaurant called Arroceria Balear Pozuelo.

A young David Beckham in PNE shirt. Image Credit www.bing.com

Whilst we were in the city there was blanket news coverage of David Beckham transferring from Manchester United to Real Madrid. Quite often forgotten is the fact that his first ever professional appearances were when he was briefly on loan to my team Preston, a fact he graciously referenced within his Sports Personality of the Year acceptance speech. We chortled though when the reporter referred to them as ‘Preston Norte End’!

We visited again a few years later and this time ensured we included a trip out to the old walled city of Toledo. As you exit the train and peer up the hill to the city you could imagine you are on a ‘Game of Thrones’ set.   

In May 2019 we returned for our third and most recent visit though the trip started in chaos from the point we landed, as our suitcase had the brazen temerity to not arrive with us. Emergency shopping trips and considerable hassle ensued, but after many phone calls, we finally managed to reconnect with the missing suitcase three days later.  

Our carousel looked like this! Image Credit bigstockphoto.com

Just prior to traveling I identified that the prestigious Madrid Open tennis tournament coincided with our visit, so we headed out to La Cala Magica to attend. It was a superb set up and we saw Petro Kvitova and Elise Mertens competing, however we unfortunately could not gain access to the court where the best named tennis player ever, Juan Martin Del Porto was playing. I had a close sighting of Novak Djokovic and a more distant sighting of one of my sporting heroes, Rafa Nadal. One thing Gill and I both observed and commented on was that all the players were astoundingly lean and generally very tall.

As ever, I scoured the lists and managed to locate a gig taking place at Madrid Sala Caracol which is located in the Palos de Moguer suburb.  Prior to the gig we visited a terrific bar across the road, where on a muted TV they were showing Liverpool’s remarkable comeback in a Champions League semi final against Madrid’s arch enemies Barcelona. In those circumstances I thought the locals might be animated, but they were very chilled and almost ambivalent about it.  

Madrid Sala Caracol. Image Credit ideasala.blogspot.com

The Caracol was a small stylish venue with vibrant lighting and an unobstructed view to the stage. Previous bands to have played there over the years include New Model Army, Editors, Suede, Mark Lanegan and even Mogwai on an early tour way back in 1999. It operates traditional Spanish opening hours from 5pm to 5am, but thankfully our gig didn’t have an am start time attached to it.

We were there to see a six-piece country rock band from Texas called Whiskey Myers who released their debut album ‘Road of Life’ back in 2008. They received a significant boost when they were featured on the ‘Yellowstone’ TV soundtrack and were also in one episode playing on stage. They put on a decent set but were a tad country lite when I was hoping for a bit more of a ‘Crazy Horse’ crunchy sound from them.

Manchester Venue 138 – St James and Emmanuel Parish Church

In the centre of Didsbury Village, School Lane crosses over at the traffic lights onto Barlow Moor Road where you will pass the slightly battered establishment of the Nelson public house. This is currently one of the stops on the famous Didsbury Dozen beer route which has been in place for decades, the dozen being subject to subtle changes as one place opens, and another closes. The crawl has seen a recent upturn in more youthful groups undertaking a Saturday sally round, which has been viewed as a positive as it maintains a steady footfall for the hostelries, but also a negative due to an increase in drunken antics.    

On the other side of the street is Manchester St James and Emmanuel Parish Church which is in front of Didsbury Library. It is the second oldest church in Manchester, with some elements dating back to 1275 and the Grade II listed building was extensively refurbished in 1986 and is affiliated to four local schools. It also contains a bell tower with the six bells originally being cast in Gloucester in 1727.

St James and Emmanuel Church. Image Credit didsburycivicsociety.org

This building has previous pandemic connotations for myself as I had one of my vaccinations here and also undertook a couple of shifts as a Covid volunteer. I have also attended the café located within.

A small matter of a few weeks ago we were in that very area when we discovered the residents were currently in thrall to the Didsbury Pride event taking place that day. Immediately sensing a bonus gig, I navigated the security into an extremely busy area behind the church where there many stalls of varying merchandise and also a stage at the very back where the Didsbury Choir were undertaking a jaunty set. Afterwards by chance we saw Tris and Ross perched outside the nearby Head of Steam so grabbed the chance to have a cheeky cold one with them!

Continuing down the road takes you past a couple of cafes including the bohemian bar and book shop Art of Tea and then onto the traffic lights with Palatine Road. If you take a left turn, and on that stretch of the highway, you can see on the right the remnants of Fridays nightclub which opened originally under the name of Riverside in the 1970’s. It was a renowned venue in the 1980’s and 90’s and many punters who survived the aforementioned Dozen gravitated there after closing time.

Fridays Nightclub. Image Credit manchestereveningnews.co.uk

It was made up of three separate rooms and based on the testimonials it sounded abundantly ‘cheesy’ with the traditional sticky floors and on Thursday nights all drinks were 80p until midnight. It also apparently had a draconian dress code in place. It continued into the new century and in 2010 launched a Polish party night to welcome people in the Manchester area who derived originally from Eastern Europe. It finally closed in 2016 before morphing into Bar Rogue which at some unspecified stage subsequently closed for good.

Further down Barlow Moor Road you arrive upon the Grade II listed Woodstock Arms which has a large outdoor area primed for summer drinking. I recall watching Portugal lose to Uruguay there in the red hot summer World Cup of 2018. It is also one of the prime locations used on the popular TV series Cold Feet and they also utilised houses on the streets nearby.

If you head across the busy Princess Parkway you reach the Southern Cemetery, which is the largest municipal cemetery in the United Kingdom and second largest in Europe. Notable people buried there are John Rylands, Sir Matt Busby, L.S Lowry, Tony Wilson and Joy Division and New Order’s manager Rob Gretton.   

‘Cemetry Gates’. Image Credit blog.sevenpounds.com

The location was also the inspiration for local miserabilist Morrissey to warble the opening lines ‘A dreaded sunny day, so I meet you at the cemetery gates’ on the Smith’s track ‘Cemetry Gates’. The title track apparently being deliberately misspelt and is based on Morrissey’s walks there with his photographer friend Linder Sterling who he initially met at a Sex Pistols sound check in 1976. Linder was also the frontwoman of post-punk band Ludus and designed the cover for one of the Buzzcocks early singles.