This week has been insanely epic. (mostly because of last night) There was a holiday in Madrid on Wednesday, so we only had a 3 day week. However, because it was on Wednesday, having class Monday-Tuesday and then Thursday was a little annoying. We had some people over on Tuesday and we hung out, made some mojitos and had a pretty good time. Wednesday my friends and I decided that we would go to a bullfight. We haven't been to one yet and we thought it would be time to experience this brutal side of the culture. That's the keyword: BRUTAL. It was very interesting to see how the whole process is done but in the end it was pretty hard to watch. The only fun part was chanting "OLE" with the crowd. Still, it is something that you need to see if you are in Spain. (They also might not be around much longer anyway) The stadium was amazing and although we sat up near the top, it was actually pretty close. We got to see everything from a good view (not sure how great that was though). Thursday went well with class and now for the part we have all been waiting for..Thursday night.
So, earlier this week somebody posted on our IES facebook that Michael Franti and Spearhead were going to be at the Sala Heinekein (a very nice club) on Thursday night. I, immediately, looked into it and bought my ticket. I told my friends about it and they had no idea who he was. I was disgusted, seeing how they were all from California. I convinced my roommate, Jay, to go with me (he thanked me very much afterward) and so that's just what we did. Basically, my whole family likes Michael Franti (especially my brother and my Aunt Pam). We got to the concert about 20 minutes before the set started and met up with two other people from our program. The place was surprisingly not crowded so we ended up standing right in front of the stage. Throughout the entire concert, we were close enough to touch the man. That's just to start how jealous you are all going to be. So, he rocked the entire night without stopping (the man is an animal). He was jumping all over the place, playing all of his good songs, making the crowd go crazy (we were all jumping up and down and singing along) and doing everything barefoot! Because we were in the front row, there were some perks. We got multiple high-fives and fist bumps from Franti and the rest of Spearhead (again, only tapping into how lucky I was). He jumped down into the crowd a couple of times. The first time, he was standing right next to us playing and singing and guess what? Michael Franti put his arm around me while playing his guitar and was singing to me. I couldn't believe it. But, guess what else? Later on in the night, I am standing in the front row and he pulls this girl on stage from the left side of the crowd (we were on the right) and then he comes over our way and I am jumping up and holding my arm up and what does he do? MICHAEL FRANTI GRABS MY HAND AND PULLS ME ON STAGE. HE GIVES ME HIS GUITAR AND HAS ME "PLAY BACK-UP" WHILE HE SINGS. It was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. After a minute or two he went to the other side of the crowd to start his next song but I got to keep playing with Spearhead for like 5 minutes, pretending to jam out with his band members. Holy freaking sh**. (Obviously, the unplugged the guitars so that we didn't actually end up playing horrible notes. We just got to look like we were jamming out.) So that was awesome and the set kept going for a while. Later on in the night he drops one of the picks he was using and I HAVE IT. Also, after the concert ended, he jumped into the crowd and is right next to us. Next thing I know, I am hugging Michael Franti (he was dripping/drenched with sweat) and then tells me "hey you did a great job playing up there". What an amazing ending to one of the most amazing nights. You want proof? Look at those pictures. That's all that matters. Best concert of my life.
Luke
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