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What is there to say about the land of the Aztecs other than that it is a magnificent and amazingly nice country. The trip itself was indeed short as it only took us a mere 10 hour plane ride to get to the capital of Mexico City , DF from Paris. The Mexican airport is huge but we still manage to find our guide victor who will follow us around the impressively crowded capital. (20 million people reside there which makes it the most populated urban area in the world.) Before strolling El Distrito Fédéral, we head out to Merida in the state of beautiful Yucatan to meet with phillipe who welcomes us with margaritas. We drive down to our hacienda to rest in the inner courtyard near the pool. What a sight it is for us !
The next day we decide to visit the town a bit, under a pleasing temperature of 27 degrees in the middle of November. We stop for a quick drink of organic orange juices and stroll down to the beach. On our hour long bus ride there, we can hear the songs of our compatriot Manu Chao. We manage to find a seafood restaurant to eat some freshly caught grilled fish The following morning, we get ready for our interview with the paper « El Periodico » and in the afternoon we leave straight for our soundcheck at the Olimpico stadium. Upon our arrival, the drumset is there but we find no amps for our guitars. We marvel at the beauty of the theatre, adorned with Aztecs paintings and relics. Phillipe, the concert promoter bargains for hours to get us proper equipment. We forget that in our host country, with the scorching heat, the rhythm tends to slow down a bit. I find that kind of entertaining actually… Showtime ! The theatre is filled with 500 souls, everyone is filling the space tightly, some are even sitting right onto the walking areas reserved for personnel.
The next morning, we all gang up to get our amps and a drumset. Victor and Marc, our drummer, end up bargaining for almost two hours to get the right kit for the show while we rest under the Aztec sun.
The show actually takes place in the « Hard Rock Live » auditiorium, right next to the Café. We get the benefit of a very performant Crawn/Amcron system to boost an EAW. Almost 20 kilos of heavy sound !
Paradoxically, this is where we end up playing to the least amount of people. Although there are still about 300 people attending. The atmosphere is so hot, infused with Tequila. What a night still !
When we finally finish our 10 hour ride, we are welcomed by Fred, who gives us a short tour of the city. He tells us Zacateca is a Unesco registered city which strips its engineering of any visible power line wires. A mesmerizing spectacle for us !
I decide on a visit of the market where I end up buying a cool pair of boots dirt cheap for just 15 bucks, stoked to not have to pay the 150 euros they cost back home. I then take a stroll in the Manuel Felguerez auditiorium to make sure the equipment is there and to try to find a way to convert our 220 volts systems into 110 volts. Then, it is a long series of interviews for the local press and the radios, i am worn out and it is time for the show.
The following day, back to Mexico then to Paris .
What I will always remember from our Mexican trip is the amazing people of Mexico, the ever-enriching simplicity of life, picturesque landscapes, and a great amount of pleasure all around. |
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We take our trip back to the capital where we meet up with Victor again at the hotel.
We head straight out to the kick ass Hard Rock Café, in the yuppie area of Mexico city . This joint is owned by a French guy named Gérard who greets us with authentic Mexican Cuisine, much to our delight.
The next day, we ride out to Zacatecas in a nice air conditionned tour bus. The landscape of cacti and desert leaves us, poor frenchies, speechless. We stop on the way to several local restaurants where we get to try out some spicy foods. 
Time for another Burrito, spicy as hell, I don't know how many more i can ingest.
