Modesty Blaise in Spain June '99


Viva Modesty Blaise!

The Blaise in Spain


Who would have guessed that Spain and Modesty Blaise would get along so famously? A country that doesn't know the meaning of the word `excess' and a band that doesn't know the meaning of the word `poliomyelitis' (with the possible exception of Jonny ). Spain is indeed `different' and it could have gone horribly wrong for `the Blaise', but in time-honoured style they managed to win many new friends and admirers by playing some great concerts and talking a great deal of rubbish in several different languages.
As usual, they played something old (Christina Terrace), something new (The Little Things You do), something borrowed (No Matter What) and something blue (Blue & Beautiful) along with many other top pop tunes. Quite what the audience made of the whistling solo in Ocean County Blues is another matter but it seems that there was no room in the MBs hand luggage for a flute and we were reliably informed that Roger Whittaker is very popular in Spain.






Jonny





The full itinerary was as follows:

Saturday 5th June - Sala Ritmo Y Compas, Madrid
Thursday 10th June - Rock Palace, Madrid
Friday 11th June - Sala Marascal, L'Estartit
Saturday 12th June - Sala Magic, Barcelona
Sunday 13th June - Sala Nitirambo, Lleida
The Band on Stage ... Magic!

Top moments of the tour?

1. Being told that we were `better than the Beatles but not as good as the Rutles'.
2. Walking into the Sala Magic in Barcelona and hearing `Let's Get Together' being played by the DJ.
3. Seeing Julien retrieve the bass drum skin from the back of a Madrid bin lorry at 3am.
Senor Clapperton on Drums

Many thanks to Lagarto, Irene, Paco, Eneida, Virginia, Josep, everyone at Animal Records and many others for making the tour so efficient and enjoyable.


N.B.: poliomyelitis = "infectious viral inflammation of nerve cells in grey matter of spinal cord, with temporary or permanent paralysis".


text by david brown. photographs by modesty blaise. html by hcm.