Before we left Ponferrada we stopped and took a peek at an old castle. So amazing. We only had about 30 minutes but it was worth every second. You just don’t see this kind of stuff in the states.

The part of Madrid where club Gruta 77 is located in is under heavy road construction. So it was a complete nightmare to get to the club. To make matters even worse it was Good Friday and the Procession was on. So many streets were barricaded off making Miguels job of getting us to the club next to impossible.

From our hotel it took 2 hours of winding around and getting lost to finally get to Club Gruta 77.
Sound check was great. With out a hitch. Then it was off to a bar for the meal. Great stuff as usual. This was the first day we saw any rain.

Because of the holiday attendance was down a bit at the club but these were REAL Mono Men die hard fans. All of them wanted to take our picture with them and sign singles. I can’t tell you how many people came up to me and said they saw us 15 years ago and asked when we were going to come back.

Our trip to the show in Ponferrada started off with a big traffic jam. Not sure if this was because of the upcoming Easter Holiday or what. Dog played DJ opening his powerbook and playing cuts. We spotted more castles and cathedrals on our journey today. Miguel was excellent at making up time only putting us a little late at the club.

Ponferrada is a beautiful small town located up in a valley surrounded by snow capped mountains. When we arrived some of the crew and door people yelled at us “We cannot believe the Mono Men in our little town of Ponferrada!”
The Mono Men kicked off the 3-night Freakland Festival with some local acts and the Demolition Doll Rods opening the night. Sound check went very well. The on stage PA guys came over to me and pointed at the master volume setting on my Marshall and said. “you do not have to play at this volume setting”… I did not have a response for him other than “I need to hear over the drums”. Yea right.

From the Gruta Show - Your Eyes:

We blasted into the set no stop. This was by far the best sounding club we had played at in Spain this time. And our best show yet. Really was probably as good an any Mono Men show of 10 years ago! A fitting end to this little jaunt.

Adios Madrid! Thanks for remembering!