BCN to the MAD...

Just got back the other day from Madrid, Spain's capital city.  So many things going on all the time...

Thursday May 22, I took the AVE (high speed rail) and arrived in 2.5 hours--direct from Barcelona Sants (the main train station) to Madrid Atocha (main station.)  I arrived in the afternoon and (as usual) had plans to do a few things before my gig that night at La Huelga.  ...Long & short--hung out at the house and then went to the gig...

La Huelga is in Lavapiés, kind of a cool neighborhood in Madrid.  Reminds me a bit of the Raval in Barcelona, but my comparison is probably off...

It's usually a funk/soul sort of place, but that night it got "turnt out" as we say so "colorfully" in Los Angeles.  I started out following a compilation of blue-beat/rocksteady music from Jamaica with dub and mixed in latin, african, funk/soul and even quite a bit of house music...  Not bad for a Thursday, but I think next time I'll follow their advice and book myself for a Friday or Saturday.

Friday was a night off, so I went to check out my friend Marcos Boricua.  He played at an event that was amazing.  The music was great (as expected) and the venue was quite interesting as well, but really the thing that made the party was the folks who came.  It was really like the best party you could imagine at a friend's place...  I will try to get info to post about the event, but let's say at the least it is HIGHLY recommended.

Saturday night was a return to Bar Garaje in Getafe with Q-rro from Los Cuñaos Del Funk and new friend (to me at least) A Galan Called Angel of Groove Lee & Funk Norris.  Great mix of funk, soul, downtempo, house, disco, latin and such were played by all.  Much to my surprise, at 5:30 I was informed by a displeased patron that I needed to "pick it up" (i.e., the energy of the music) rather than "mellowing it out" as I had thought--we ended up blowing way past the 6am mark...  Let it be said that Getafe knows how to party!

Sunday night I caught up on some of my sleep...

Also, here's a few joints I copped on vinyl for the collection:
Smith & Mighty DJ Kicks
Nicolette DJ Kicks
Noiseshaper "The Only Redeemer"
Agent K "Ladies"Blackbyrds "Mysterious Vibes" Masters At Work/Joey Negro Remixes

Great visit, but now I'm getting back to the business of being in Barcelona...
Radio show coming soon!