An Englishman in Lisbon singing songs to celebrate American Independence...

The ball is now finally starting to roll in my quest to find some regular gigs in Lisbon. An afternoon spent exploring the town centre for likely venues and opportunities bore some slightly unpredictable fruit when I found a rather trendy little "English bar" - The George, on Rua Da Crucifix in Baixa...

Upon walking into the venue and pleasantly finding an opportunity to enjoy some genuine English beer for the first time in six weeks - London Pride on draught (get in!!), I sat down among the complimentary peanuts, union jacks, London tube signs and other homely decor to wait to speak to someone of authority in order to hassle (politely) for a gig. 

A rather important looking chappie in a tidy suit, making what seemed like a never ending phone call, looked a likely candidate, and upon noticing his concentration would only break for a fleeting second to glare menacingly at the Portuguese girls on the bar, I concluded this must be one of the managers, or perhaps even the owner. 

Indeed, after merely two half-pints of the lovely London Pride (forgive-ably chilled on such a hot day), his phone call ended and I was able to confirm that he was indeed a man of appropriate authority and I launched into my sales pitch...

...He must've had a cancellation or something, because within a minute he had opened his events diary and was booking me in - in flawless English - for next coming Saturday, which happened to be July 4th, and completely in-line with what you'd expect from an 'English' pub, I had agree to do a two hour set in celebration of Independence Day! Oh, the irony...    

To save my sanity, national pride and considerable set-list constraints, I managed to re-brand this "American" theme into a musical recreation of the War of Independence (at least giving us Brits a fair chance of a different outcome) and offered to pitch the best of theirs vs. the best of ours on the musical battlefield. And so here it is, my latest Lisbon gig, along with the accompanying promotional blurb...

"Two musical national powerhouses, who have provided the world with some of the greatest songs of all time, go head to head to re-draw the world's musical map.

To celebrate the anniversary of Independence Day, Trevor Hambidge Music will be pitching classic songs from classic artists on either side of the Atlantic against each other in a 2 hour musical battle...

Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Green Day and more will be hoping to tread on the faces of such noble, plucky British musical upstarts as The Beatles, Arctic Monkey, The Kinks, Oasis and other imperial pretenders...

Which side are you on?

The battle commences at 21:30 at The George Pub, Lisbon... be sure to be there!"

It's good what you can do with a little positive spin...

From England with Love...

Ahead of my first Portuguese gig next week at Primeiro Andar, I have just had to conduct my first Portuguese interview to promote the concert. This promised to be a fun happening as my two interviewers could understand 'the gist' of what is being said in English, whilst not being able to speak it well, and likewise I could understand 'the gist' of their questions in Portuguese, whilst not being able to answer in the local tongue. Therefore it was a bit like a Chinese Whispers interview conducted at a children's party.

After some difficulty finding the venue and avoiding an unsavory local - having to ask someone and being promptly identified as English by one of  Lisbon's keen-eared cocaine dealers, who proceeded to give me his relentless full sales pitch and wasn't keen on believing I had only three euros in my pocket - I managed to seat myself in the back room of the small but cosily decorated venue, under the watchful eye of the scissor-bespectacled gentleman pictured below, to begin deciphering the questions.

The venue had the feel of an old English antique shop, with slightly broken old arm chairs that looked like they had been borrowed (or stolen) from Grandma's house nestling among wonky legged tables and floor standing lamps and the numerous, and obligatory in Portugal, Rooster ornaments.

The venue is clearly the home of some of the more bohemian elements of Lisbon society and the mostly handwritten posters on the wall tell of many 'uber-cool' underground nights that have been hosted here alongside pro-cycling propaganda, vegan menus and quirky English slogans such as "Home Sweet Home".    

So that's exactly how I felt as I began to tell my interviewers the story of my musical career so far and what they could expect me to sound like at my concert - piano lessons at 10, I like the Beatles a lot blah blah blah, whilst hoping that the short hand notes that were being taken would tell a story at least approximating to what I was saying.

After resolving the interview, I exchanged contact information with my interviewers so they could link to my music and put an appropriate photograph in the blog, had a good look at the PA system I'd be using the following week and headed for rendez-vous with my lift home... everyone seemed happy enough and contented. It is not a very common thing in England to be interviewed as part of the promotion for such a tiny gig and I couldn't help but feel impressed once again by the efforts and attitudes toward live local music in Lisbon.

I had a little smile and a positive thought that when I returned to Primeiro Andar next week for the concert, I'd be playing to a very small, but hopefully very well attended little room of happy and contented Lisbonese bohemians - and at least would be enjoying a plate of nourishing vegetarian food :)

You can read the blog/interview here... It's in Portuguese, but if you 'right-click-translate' you should be able to recognise me from what's written. Thank you very much Ana and Manuela for the kind words and excellent translation skills.

Lisbon's first taste of me...

Am very proud, and a tiny bit smug, to announce my first gig (concerto for the locals) in Lisbon at the fantastically generous 'Primeiro Andar' venue. Am being paid for the privilege too with a hearty meal for me and my lovely lady, lashings of wine and a big hat with which to pass around the audience to collect any forth-coming financial gratitude.

Having sent out a zillion emails to bars and venues in the Lisbon area before coming to Portugal, I can confirm that this is not the most effective method of soliciting music work, but given I was still in England - trying to get ahead of the game - I was well made up that the owners - Liliana and Teresa - were the solitary venue prepared to take a chance on an "estrangeiro", based on nothing more than an optimistic email with some music links.

For any English artists wishing to come to Lisbon and play a gig - something I do fully recommend - this is a great place to start. The venue is forward thinking and prepared to take a chance on new music and the uber-relaxed surroundings make for the perfect introductory concert in Lisbon. They serve some quite excellent food - much of it vegetarian and vegan friendly, and once the live music is over (around 11pm) they continue into the early hours with a lively DJ. Whilst the venue is not huge, it is spacious, conveniently located and has a bustling regular clientele, who I am hoping will receive me as kindly as I've been told I should expect they will.

Obrigado to the guys here for giving me a first break in Lisbon, and let's hope it's the first of many ...