Back in Santiago

Back in Santiago (18/05/2017)

I spent a last few moments on Easter Island nipping to the post office - postcards are so retro but I felt compelled to send a couple!  They also put an Easter Island stamp in my passport, a great tip I had from an American girl a couple of days earlier.  I then went for a final walk to the coast to take in my last view and consider again my existence on this tiny speck of land in the vast ocean.  I eventually managed to wrench myself away, back to the hotel to collect my things for my transfer.  The driver gave me a moai necklace as a parting gift.

Mataveri airport is so small and so close to the town you can check in then go for a wander!  However the flight was earlier than I had thought so I contented with buying a last few souvenirs at the airport, through security to a lovely outside waiting area.  The flight was fine – I listened to Marillion on the in-flight entertainment and chose a classic movie in Casablanca.  I was rather confused by the time – I thought were were to land at 6pm but the on-board screens said 7pm.  When we landed my phone picked up the time as 6pm.  A cursory glance at someone’s watch told me 6pm so it seems the Dreamliner’s computers hadn’t updated with the clocks going back!

To get into Santiago quicker I thought I’d take a shared taxi.  At around £8 I figured it wasn’t bad and would save me the hassle of lugging my case on subways and buses.  However rush hour traffic and a screaming child in my ear made me wonder if it was such a good idea!  It took 90 minutes to get to the Crowne Plaza, my home for the next four nights.  I quickly changed and half-unpacked (a pat on the back with the idea of packing the clothes for Santiago at the top so I could leave the things I wouldn’t need in the case), then took a taxi to the Sheraton to collect my good pal Malcolm.  Indeed I impressed myself with communicating in very broken Spanish that we were collecting and then going on elsewhere!

With Malcolm in tow we headed to a pizza restaurant, joining a few other crew members.  It was good to meet some new Marillion folks – there were six of us, all different nationalities.  After pizza a drink was had back at the Sheraton before our Chilean host Christian took me and Stefan (one of the official photographers for the weekend) back to the Crowne.

Marillion Weekend – Day One (19/05/2017)

I woke pretty early and lounged in bed, falling back into the old internet habits.  Breakfast wasn’t included with my room so after getting up my original plan was to walk to a McDonald’s I had seen nearby.  However I passed an independent café and decided that was a much better idea.  Eventually I managed to get two fried eggs, some toast and some coffee, perfectly adequate and about a quarter the price of the hotel option!

When I mentioned to my friend Jen that I was coming to Santiago she was very insistent that I should contact her friend Jocelyn who she met in Barcelona.  The joys of modern contact, I had messaged Jocelyn and she agreed to meet me at my hotel at 11am.  She was a little late but that wasn’t a problem.  It was most useful to have an interpreter to help purchase a Bip! card, the transport card for Santiago’s metro and buses.  We took the subway from Baquedano to Pedro de Valdivia.

Jocelyn got a little lost but she found the way to the cable car station to take us to the top of San Cristobel.  The cable car has only just started running again after being closed for about 20 years.  It is tiny (860m) bit of the Andes in the middle of the city with a 22m high statue of Virgin de la Immaculada at the top.  From here you can really see how much the city of Santiago sprawls around, almost as far as the eye can see.  You can also see a thick brown haze of smog in the air.  It’s a peaceful area with the music of a plaintive female vocal and acoustic guitar in the air.

We took the funicular back down to the bottom of the hill and went walking.  I’m not 100% sure where we went!  Jocelyn’s first thought was to got to the Mercado Central where there are a number of restaurants specialising in fish.  We looked at the menus and felt they were overpriced so she had another idea.  Instead we had lunch of steak, chips and egg with terremotos (earthquakes) at La Piojera. The terremoto is a drink of Chilean legend.  It’s basically a large glass of pipeno (a fermented white wine) with grenadine and pineapple ice cream.  Sort of a dessert and drink in one!  The bar / restaurant itself was a spit-and-sawdust kind of place, graffiti covered the walls and there were odd metal trellises that had plastic straws tied to them.  Jocelyn loves the idea of being a tour guide in Santiago and I said it was a perfect place for tourists as it feels kinda real!

Jocelyn and I got on great and we had a good giggle (especially post-terremoto!).  She mocked my English accent – in South America I think they are much more used to hearing American English – and I introduced her to some new words and phrases.  From the bar we walked all the way to the venue so that I could collect my tickets.  If I’d have known how far it was I would have waited until later!  My original plan (this seems to be a phrase I’m using a lot on this trip) was to return to my hotel and change before the gigs but it was already approaching 5pm and there was a fan meet at Bar Nacional, back the way we had come.  Here I sadly had to say goodbye to Jocelyn as she had to work that evening (she is an English teacher).  She was terrific company and we both parted hoping to meet again before I return to the UK.

The fan meet was bustling with people from all over the world.  I had a good long catch up with Marillion’s manager Lucy – despite her being surrounded by people who wanted photos and to shake her hand it was lovely for her to spare time for me.  I also met up with Mark who I think is the only fellow British fan to make the trip.  Nicole from Chile who had organised the meet, Kathryn who had been guiding Mark around, American Matt who was at the LA gig I was scheduled to attend in October last year.  And lots of others who I have no doubt missed or forgotten in a terremoto / pisco haze.  They had a karaoke system and played the Marillion songs they had for us to sing along to.  We left just after 7pm to walk the mile back to the venue.

At Teatro Caupolican I found my seat – dead centre, right in front of the mixing desk, in a block of three rows I was in the second row.  It was all very tight and I couldn’t imagine it would be a good idea to try to get in and out through the concert!  I chatted with Malcolm during the (rather noisy) support act, then took my seat.  I have been asked to write reviews of the three shows but as I sit here I realise that I’m not sure it’s something I can do.  Certainly I think it’s something to do separately from this diary.  However a few notes (if only to give me something to work from if I do write a review piece!):

It wasn’t sold out but the downstairs area was full and enthusiastic.  Being seated was a little strange, especially in such small seats!  Not much dancing room to You’re Gone as I usually would!  I struck up a good rapport with Guillermo beside me who was Chilean but living in the US.  Unfortunately to my right was a gentleman who spent most of the gig hugging his merchandise.  The crowd very often stood to applaud but there was little standing during songs until the end (it will be interesting to see the reaction to the Saturday night set list!)  The set focussed largely on songs that don’t often get an outing.  There were a number that particularly resonate with me of late – Beyond You, The Only Unforgiveable Thing, 100 Nights.  Also a series of songs that are not so much political but let’s say social commentary, A Few Words From The Dead, A Voice From The Past and Gaza.  These all chime very closely to my own thoughts and beliefs.  I still don’t like that quiet version of Hard As Love though!

Oh, and one thing everyone at that gig will tell you is that it was FREEZING!!!

Post gig I helped Malcolm with counting the merchandise, running around behind the stage and getting lost trying to find all three selling points.  Our work done I hitched a ride (thanks Rich!) with the crew back to the Sheraton for a final drink.  Everyone’s still conserving their energy for their duties though and at about 1am I got a taxi back to my bed.