Madrid 2nd show

I didn't do much at all during the day yesterday. I didn't go to the gym since I had a bad headache during the night, and I still had a touch of it in the morning. Kevin’s been battling a cold for the last couple of days, so we both stayed in the hotel most of the day. I indulged in another one of the hotel's hot chocolates that you could literally paint the walls with--it's that thick! But it's good. :)

 

As we then knew, the show didn't start till 9:30, so we made our way out to the venue around 7:30 and had dinner at the restaurant across the street where we ate the night before. It was a bit later, so the place was packed, and we ended up having to share a table. Two English girls had come over from the UK for the show and hadn't seen Roger before. They loved hearing Kevin's stories of traveling Europe for the last 18  years, and I gave them a card for my blog and told them to check it out when they get home. Hope you both enjoyed the show, and I look forward to seeing your comment! After dinner, we headed over to the venue, and I got chatting to two amnesty international guys. There were a lot of them around the entrance to sign people up, and they told me that Roger had specifically asked that Amnesty international be at the venue.

Two new Roger fans we met          Amnesty International reps

   

Kevin and I made our way to the front left of the stage after entering the venue and stood in the same place we were for the first night--left side about three rows back from the barrier. The guys came out again  just after 9:30 to a rapturous applause, and the two guards threw Pink onstage.

One of the guards heading to the stage

 

As seen in the pictures below, the words “No Fucking Way” were written in Spanish on the left hand side of the wall during Mother.

      

After Young Lust we made our way right to the back of the venue to the first level behind the seats. It's amazing how much better the projections look from further back, and as much as I like being at the front, I would definitely recommend to anyone just seeing one show to watch it from at least halfway back to take in all the projections. You miss so much when you’re closer than fifteen rows out.

After the first half we made our way backstage for a drink and to meet up with the guys. I first saw my friend Jose, whom I hadn't seen since Barcelona in 2002! He's a great guy, but it's always a touch difficult communicating, since he speaks very little English, and I speak even less Spanish! We always seem to manage, though. He’s been writing a book on The Wall for the last five years, and he's hoping to have it published next year. Unfortunately, it will only be in Spanish--at least for the moment. I had a quick chat with Marky again, and it was great to see Pat Lennon. They not only do a fantastic job onstage, but they are also such wonderful, down to earth people off of it.

Me and Jose

Before the second set started, Kevin and I made our way to the section of seats up on the right of the stage and watched the second half from there.

Comfy Numb

The second set just seemed to fly by again. Dave's guitar on Run Like Hell sounded fantastic, and to watch Jon Carin switching between guitar and keyboard is just amazing--it all just looks so natural to him, and he makes it look really easy!

Its nice to be at the side of the stage when Roger comes over to the podium on the right and does The Trial sequence. He lays on his back on the floor at the start, looking up at the graphics onscreen before standing up and gesturing to the crowd in the wings with his arms open wide, savouring all the admiration they give him. He repays them by picking people out, pointing to them, and smiling.

The wall fall tonight was excellent. Harry Waters came out at the start of The Trial and sat on the rear of the front barrier to watch it fall down. I guess it's something the band rarely sees from the front! The bricks float down with grace from the top couple of tiers, and the second fall of bricks just tumble down and, as can be seen below, cause chaos at the front of the stage. The large section to the right came in one big section and had security below running for their lives!

The crowd did the Ole Ole Ole chant before Outside The Wall again, and it sounded even better than the previous night.

 
All in all, not just another brick in the wall, but a fantastic goodbye show for Madrid, since the band (and Kevin and I) moved on to Barcelona to take in another few bricks.

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