Viva España, Viva la Musica!

After five amazing days at the Nowhere festival in Spain, I decided to head West to spend three wonderful days recuperating at a friend’s house in Madrid. However, the night I got back Spain won the World Cup and the country went absolutely crazy-not really an ideal setting for a weekend of relaxation. I missed the game due to the fact that I returned from the desert only a few hours prior and passed out the second my head hit the pillow. While I’m sure I’ll regret missing that game forever, after going almost five days without sleep, the world could have ended and I would have slept through it. Besides, the days following their triumphant win, the entire country went into 24-hour party mode, so I didn’t totally miss out on the chaos. It didn’t matter where you were: at a café, in the train station, or at the park; you could see smiling faces, Spanish flags waving high, and hear the familiar toots of World Cup horns that sounded strangely like swarming bees buzzing proudly through the warm summer air.

But since my time in Madrid was meant for me to unwind, I chose to avoid the craziness by merely observing the celebration on the streets on my way to the city center -which for most meant drinking until they pass out in an alley. Instead, I spent hours strolling through Madrid’s world renowned Prado Museum-which houses such great Renaissance artists as Goya, Rembrandt, Rafael, Velázquez and Bosch; Got lost in its labyrinth of a botanical garden, and enjoyed a few nights at home for a change, in the company of new wonderful friends.

Nevertheless, it was only a matter of time before I got bored with relaxation and stumbled upon a new festival to partake in. For only 75 euros for three days of music, I couldn’t miss the chance to see Vampire Weekend, Hot Chip, John Butler Trio, Prince, Keane, Spoon and many others rock out at the Super Bock Super Rock festival in Lisbon, Portugal. So I quickly found a group of CouchSurfers going to SBSR, booked my train ticket to Portugal and said hasta luego to Spain for a short while.

Only a few hours after my train arrived we were off to the festival. “We” being my CS host Bruno, and three other CouchSurfers from Portugal, Brazil, and Spain. Even after a ten-hour train ride from Madrid I was full of energy, imagining what a Portuguese music festival would be like and how it would compare to the ones I love back home. It only took 45 minutes to get there from Bruno’s apartment. Still, we had to stop to get groceries and other necessities for three days of camping, and by the time we arrived the campgrounds were already packed with people. Lucky for us, we had four more CouchSurfers saving us uneven patches of uncomfortable campground where we could set up our tents and call home for three nights. Despite the fact that I love to camp and can sleep pretty much anywhere comfortably, these campgrounds were pretty damn awful. But considering the only time we spent there was to rest our weary drunken heads at the end of the night, it never developed into an issue. (Except for the two out of three mornings I woke up with half of my body outside the tent, due to the incredible slant of the ground, with 50% of me all cold and wet from the morning dew.) But hey, no festival is perfect!

Besides, we only ended up sleeping there for two out of the three nights. Since Bruno lives so close we figured it would be easier to pack up before the last shows and just drive home at the end. It ended up being the smartest decision of the weekend. Even in broad daylight we had trouble putting the tent away, in the dark it would have been complete chaos.

Each night of music was better than the last. With only two main stages, even overlapping shows were easy to jump back and forth, so I never had to choose between them! But the last night, though the start times were staggered, Prince played partially during John Butler Trio’s set, and I had to stay for all of John Butler. I love his music and I have never seen him live! I pushed my way to the front row, and was blown away by every minute. By the time the show ended, Prince was just warming up. Unfortunately, the weather was cooling down and I was absolutely freezing. We ended up leaving a little before the show ended because we were all shivering.

SBSR was set up much different than most festivals I’ve been to in the States. Rather than have the music going strong all day and into the night with no considerable breaks in between, the live music didn’t actually start until 7pm every day. So from the time we woke up each morning until the time we got to the festival grounds, we got to soak up the sun at the nearby nude beach while we anticipated the wonderful concerts we would enjoy come nightfall. It was a perfect (hang over cure) way to unwind after a night-full of drinking and dancing, and the beaches were beautiful.

Despite the icy and unforgiving waves at the beach, the sun was just too hot to avoid cooling off in its tide. Ideally, I would have liked to just wade in the water peacefully and let the soothing sound of the ocean take me away. On the contrary, every time I tried to get in the water I ended up being sucked in and spit out at least five or six times before I could escape with a bathing suit full of sand and a mouth full of salt water. Not to mention being laughed at by three or four bronzed and naked 60 something year old men that seemingly get enjoyment out of watching unsuspecting tourists wash up on shore who try to compete with the raw natural power of the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe next time I will just go to a swimming pool.

Overall, the festival was incredibly fun. The shows were amazing and so was the company. I got a wonderful mixture of two of my favorite things: Great music and the Ocean. Although, the ladder treated me unkindly in this scenario, but I think I can forgive it under the circumstances.