Tag: Kylie Minogue

Gigs From Abroad Part 25 – More Spanish Gigs

I have visited many places in Spain, including the islands of Majorca, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and several trips to Lanzarote. In 2003, we undertook a backpacking trip utilising the staggeringly efficient trains (like most of Europe!) starting in Seville, a city that we aim to revisit one day. We then gravitated northwards to Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona.

About ten years ago we obtained a large villa in San Pedro and jetted off with all Gill’s family, making a grand total of thirteen of us. There were challenges in booking restaurants on the nights we decided to eat out as in some smaller places we took up half of the establishment! There was a pool table in situ and an epic doubles match ensued, with the final nights play live on Sky Sports! The youngest brother-in-law Phil and I eventually triumphed 17-15 after a titanic battle.

There was a coastal path from there which weaved you through to the town of Marbella where the ‘beautiful’ people lived! Millie Bobby Brown of Stranger things fame was born there, while Rick Parfitt lived there for many years as did actor Mike Reid. Thinking of Mr Reid, his Eastenders stint doesn’t come to mind, but what I recall most fondly is his presentation of the children’s TV programme Runaround, with his cockney catchphrase ‘Runaround Naahh’!

Mike Reid on Runaround. Image Credit dailyrecord.co.uk

In 2016, Gill and I stayed in Torremuelle, which is situated between Malaga and Fuengirola. There is a superbly handy train that runs between those two towns, and I can proudly say in the entire fifteen days we were away; we did not catch one single taxi as we walked or used the trains each day benefitting from the fact that there is also a stop at the airport. Remarkably though we didn’t manage to witness any music on that trip but enjoyed the culmination of the Euro 2016 football tournament and Andy Murray winning his second Wimbledon.

In August 2019 we had a cheeky week away with Gill’s sister and brother-in-law in Marbesa which is located close to the areas above and is within the Costa Del Sol enclave. There were a plethora of resorts nearby including Cabopino Beach were using old vernacular the ‘lucky lucky’ chaps endeavour to sell you their wares including one who had an original sales pitch by stating that the products were ‘genuine genuine fakes’!  

One logistic problem we identified en arrival was the dearth of a local supermarket, so there were daily trogs of a mile each way, the out route obviously being up a steep hill in blistering sunshine, the upside being that it kept us fit with weights training of hauling the bottled water back to base!

There was a smattering of restaurants on the seafront nearby with the centrepiece being Marbesa Simbad Restaurant & Beach Bar where we had a couple of meals and imbibed several cold ones. The restaurant has apparently been there for over 25 years but some of the recent reviews suggest it has now lost its way. On one of our visits there was a Kylie Minogue tribute act playing, though she was admittedly a very pale imitation and from the non-Australian city of Cardiff.

Marbesa Simbad bar. Image Credit vitadent-clinic.com

In late summer 2025 we headed away again with the same group, this time to Calpe, which is located in the Marina Alta beyond Benidorm, and we travelled in via Alicante airport. Their economy is based primarily on tourism and fishing and imperiously overlooking the resort is the Northern Rock signifying the start of the Penyal d’Ifac Natural Park. Apparently from the top vantage point you see as far as Ibiza.

It reminds me a little of pictures of the Rock of Gibraltar, but more so its resemblance to the alien artefact that Richard Dreyfuss constructed out of mashed potato in the Steven Spielberg Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie.    

Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters. Image Credit ar.inspiredpencil.com

There was a restaurant near the hotel called Calpe El Chiringuito where we saw a chap called Pedro playing and adjacent to there was the large Calpe Unusual Hotel where on a pop up stage, we saw Beko performing. Even nearer to the hotel was Calpe Rocce Club where we witnessed an artist with the unoriginal name of Party Singer.  

Behind the resort a sharp incline took you up to the old town where there was located a plethora of places to eat and which had more ambience and atmosphere than the seafront area. At an open-air establishment named Calpe Los Dos Canones Raul was providing some acoustic tuneage. Down another winding alley from there brought you to Calpe Restaurant Con Alba where we saw Rafa performing.

Manchester Venue 191 Gorilla – Part 2

Manchester Gorilla had a coup a few years ago when none other than Kylie Minogue requested to play two intimate European dates prior to her upcoming arena tour and she chose to play Berghain in Berlin alongside the Gorilla. I believe as a result the tickets went like hot cakes!

My next visit to describe was the exceedingly welcome reformation of Rocket from the Crypt (RFTC), who in my personal view were the best live band on the circuit for a couple of years in the late 1990’s and was the first time I had witnessed them in twelve years. They were still in fine fettle, and I enjoyed the show.

Manchester Gorilla. Image Credit Visit Manchester.

The driving force of RFTC is the lead singer John ‘Speedo’ Reis, who owns the Swami record label and has also been in several other bands over the years including Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, Sultans, Night Marchers, Swami and Hot Snakes. In January 2018 I saw the last named act who serve up a more stripped down sound than RFTC where John was more in the background and during the first track dampened down the ‘Speedo’ chants from the admittedly sparse audience. They produced an urgent, vibrant and thoroughly enjoyable performance.   

On a cold January night in 2015 we trogged over to see Neneh Cherry for the first time. She was born in Sweden under the name of Neneh Mariann Karlsson and her half-brother is musician Eagle Eyed Cherry. She has punk heritage as a 15 year old member of the Slits and around that time roomed with lead singer Ari Up in a squat in Battersea. In 1989, she had a huge hit with ‘Buffalo Stance’ and has also dabbled in DJing and broadcasting.

She cut a spiky intriguing presence and was a veritable bundle on energy on stage and we very much enjoyed the show however we unfortunately had to scamper off early to guarantee we could catch a train home.   

The Slits. Image Credit billboard.com

Next up was Parquet Courts, a four piece from New York who met whilst at university in Texas. They were touring to support their fifth album ‘Human Performance’, for which the art and packaging of that particular release garnered a Grammy Award nomination.

Later that year, I had my latest dose of the unique Lovely Eggs who were in fine form. It was Gill’s first exposure to them, and she was swiftly converted. They were supported on the night by the Hornblower Brothers, who have nobody named Hornblower or any brothers in the lineup! What I can tell you is that they had more than a passing resemblance to Half Man Half Biscuit. A couple of years later in 2018 we saw the Eggs again there and they marked a milestone as it was the first time I reached a century of gigs in a calendar year.   

The next one on the roster was a band that I had been chasing for a long time, but events always seemed to conspire against me when they announced tour dates. The act in question was Mono, an instrumental band from Tokyo. They formed in 1999 and have released eleven albums in total, and my favourite is the epic titled ‘Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined’. In 2005 they took the unusual route of releasing a split album with the aforementioned Pelican and restricted the recording to vinyl and only 4000 copies.

They have more of a lush classical sound then their post-rock compatriots. They are seated when they play live, but they are definitely not Westlife as they break into some noisy sonic guitar sounds when the muse takes them. The only remaining band of this ilk who I have still not seen is Built to Spill.

Mono were joint headliners with French post-rockers Alcest, who started originally as a black metal combo before moving into less abrasive territory, and their sound evoked comparisons with My Bloody Valentine.   

Mono on stage. Image Credit asiapacificarts.org

In April 2018 I witnessed the Madrid majesty of the Hinds. They were originally a two-piece called Deers but risked legal action from The Dears so changed the name to their current moniker, but to a degree retained the original as it can be translated in some languages to ‘female deers’. They then morphed into a four-piece and released 4 albums before resorting back to a duo in 2023.

They are firmly in the garage rock domain with lovely harmonies and were terrific fun and had a fine stage banter and presence. My most recent attendance at the venue was in 2025 to see the band again for a second time. In 2019 I had my second sighting of Fontaines DC who were very entertaining again and were supported by Cut the Mustard.

At the final ever Dot to Dot festival later that year I saw Crows who provided some thunderously loud abrasive post-punk. Their latest album ‘Reason Enough’ was recorded in a former Catholic church and convent in Stroud and their lead singer James recently fronted the band Humanist on their arena support slots for Depeche Mode. Finally in May 2024 I saw Maybeshewill, a post-rock band from Leicester who I enjoyed as much as the previous time I had seen them at the Ferret in Preston in 2011.

Now, for the very eagle-eyed (not Cherry!) among you, you will have noted that I have only documented seventeen gigs at the venue, the eighteenth I will document next time in its own specific article, and the reasons for this will then become apparent.