On seeing, and not seeing, Jonathan Richman

On the Murcian Tourist Information website it said "Murcia se prepara para acoger el regreso del gran Jonathan Richman, uno de los creadores más excéntricos y divertidos del pop de los últimos 30 años * Garaje de la Tia María, Avda. Miguel de Cervantes s/n - Murcia * 04/11/2006" or, in English, Murcia gets ready to welcome the return of the great JR one of the most excentric and amusing pop artists of the last 30 years at Aunt Mary's Garage, Miguel de Cervantes Avenue, no street number, Murcia.

So despite not having tickets (see previous post) we decided to drive down and see if we could get in. In the dark, in the wet, in quite heavy traffic we found the street and we found the club. It was still an hour and a half to the advertised kick off so we weren't surprised to find the doors shut fast. We went to get a meal and we paid nearly 40€ for it.

The club was open when we got back, there were lots of youngsters in an assortment of hooded tops, baggy jeans and short skirts. Not quite the crowd we'd been expecting. The advertised ticket price was 15€ per person and that's what we paid. 70€ so far.

The air was heavy (and I mean thick) with dope smoke. A lad just behind us passed out through a mix of booze and drugs. We felt a bit old, a bit out of place. Maggie read her ticket which was for a band called La Excepcion (see photo). But on the walls were posters advertising Jonathan Richman! The address was right, the club name was right, time was right, the price was right but the music was wrong. La Excepcion were awful (and I mean dire). We left; we asked the man on the door "Oh, that's our other place", he said, "about 100 metres up the road in the Sala de la Tia Maria. (Aunt Mary's room - spot the subtle difference)" We strolled around in the rain a bit but we couldn't find it. We got back in the car and drove home. Disappoined, foolish and worse off.