Off Topic: Donkey Breakout!

Zebra….er….Donkey Crossing

There’s always something interesting going off outside our house. in addition to having a wonderful view of the Sierra Cabrera Mountains from the balcony, there’s also the opportunity to see lots of things happening in the dry river bed for instance. Sometimes, it actually becomes a raging torrent, with the river waters almost overflowing into the fields, sometimes it has a shepherd and his herd of goats wandering down it, their tinkling bells bringing a kind of pastoral musicality to the day. Every now and then, you’ll hear the roar of moto-cross, and catch the colourful blur of riders as bikes speed down the winding riverbed. And then there’s the donkey.  I was moved to look out of the window yesterday when Miki, sat at her computer yelled “Donkey!”. Sure enough, a lone donkey was ambling down the street to the main road. Within minutes, a horde of adults, children and dogs were high-tailing it after him, as he trotted up the main road to Mojacar village. Cars were slowing and swerving in an attempt to ‘corral’ him. He responded by crossing a ditch and cantered across somebody else’s field. Somehow though, eventually this rag-tag legion of kids, adults, dogs and cars managed to get him back here, and we watched with amusement as he was finally roped and the young boy who’d lost him was sat back on him, and they trotted off.

Who needs television when you’ve got animal antics like this outside your front door?

Kev Moore

Off topic: Out in the ‘hood

On a bridge over a (currently) dry river bed in Turre

Although we have a fairly strict fitness regime here at Moore towers, Sunday morning usually sees me crawling from my pit, giving the daily press-ups a weekend break, and plonking myself down in front of either office or studio computer like a month old, bleary-eyed sack of potatoes.  But today Miki suggested we head out for a walk. The wind was blowing a gale, yet it was curiously warm, so donning my boots off we went. now, we’ve been on bike rides in the surrounding area, but it’s amazing what you can discover just wandering around, even when you’ve lived here for years. We had a great wander over the fields and alongside the huge, sprawling river bed which had, unbelievably , just weeks before, been a raging torrent of floodwaters.

The village of Turre from a distance. In the far background you can see the foothills of the Sierra de los Filabres, with the villages of Los Pinos on the left, and Bedar on the right.

It’s also odd to view your village from an angle you’ve never seen it from before. This all might sound a bit strange, but you’d be surprised at how much people miss what is on their doorstep, especially when you travel so far and wide and often as we do. It’s yet another reminder that we are lucky to live in such a lovely place down here in Turre, Almeria, and that when we’re here, we need to get out more!

Kev Moore

Rocktober looms, so…..

Tomorrow night I fly to Gatwick on the first leg of my journey to join the Witch Cross lads for our Rocktober tour. So today, it was great to get out on the bikes with Miki and do a 25 km circuit taking in the local playa…it all helps to keep the fitness levels up for what is set to be a busy week!We set off from our home in Turre and went via the nearby fishing village of Garrucha, and then along the Playa to our favourite cafe, Masko, where we then headed uphill towards Mojacar village, before turning right onto the bypass which eventually took us back down to rejoin our original route.

We’re so lucky with the weather here, and it was perfect cycling weather, a cool breeze, sunny, not too warm. Miki particularly enjoyed giving her new bike a run, having just bought it on our last trip up to France! It was amazing to see the river, usually dry, still full of water after the recent disastrous floods.

Having the bikes stops us getting complacent. Even living in such a great place, it’s easy to fall into a pattern where you rarely get out and enjoy what’s on your own doorstep, so I love that aspect of it. And yeah, we weren’t the only ones with the same idea!

Kev Moore

Off topic: Rain stops play

Sunday, a sunny but temperate day, and we thought we’d head out to the local tennis courts on the bikes for an hour or two knocking a ball about. We’ve been threatening to do this for a while, but the summer was just TOO hot, and what with one thing and another, we’d never got around to it. Which is a shame, because I don’t think we’ll be getting around to it anytime soon.

The courts have been totally trashed by the recent apocalyptic floods that battered our area a couple of weeks back. I hadn’t even realized that the large river channel some minutes away from us had burst its banks. (We arrived home from the North the morning after the floods) -and the river channel that passes our house hadn’t been breached. But on arrival at the tennis park, we dismounted and stood, dumbfounded at the devastation. Every lamp-post , fence, or child’s play apparatus was swathed in bracken, detritus and debris, given up by the river on its relentless march to the sea.  The whole of the ground had been layered in mud, up to 6 inches thick in places, which had now eerily dried and cracked into some kind of devil’s jigsaw. It looked like a tennis centre from Mars. The force of the water had ripped metal stantions and fences asunder, and left weeds and driftwood occupying the bleachers where spectators might normally be expected to sit. It was a sad and depressing sight, especially, in the light of the current economic climate, we can’t possibly know when it might be cleared and repaired.

The day was salvaged by turning it into a full fledged bike ride out to Los Gallardos and back to Turre, exploring the route of the (eventual) new railway and a new urbanization that I didn’t even know existed! (I need to get out more!)

But I couldn’t help thinking, as I cycled along, knowing how saddened I was to see the state of the courts and the despair of ever seeing them restored to their former glory, just how much worse it was for those who’d returned to find their homes like this, or, tragically, those who never returned at all.

Kev Moore

Rock under the Sun

My old mate Stef from the UK is over in Spain again, and that means – fun gigs!  So Stef, Mario and I threw a couple of sets of rock together and began by playing Mario’s own Bar Zambra on friday night, followed by El patio beach bar on Mojacar Playa on the Saturday early evning. We had a blast, playing the set by the seat of our pants with virtually no reheasals, and performing songs such as Radar Love, La Grange, One last Soul etc. but by far the most poignant for me was playing the late great Tommy Bolin’s ‘Teaser’. I’d had a message from his brother a couple of days back after I’d tweeted we’d be doing the song, telling me to say it was a ‘special request from his brother Johnny from Sioux city, and to rock it!’ That we did, and it was an honour and a privilege to do so.

We have one more show coming up in the nearby mountain village of Bedar on Wednesday, and I’ll be posting pics etc from both that and the El Patio show later!

Kev Moore

The Kev Moore Band live @ Bar Zambra, Turre

"In four lads, and I'll meet you at the end...."

There’s no such thing as the Kev Moore Band really, but that’s who Me, Mario and Stef were last Friday night at Zambra in Turre, down here in Almeria province, Spain. Stef had come over with his family, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a gig, so, one quick rehearsal, and we took the stage for 2 hours worth of rock classics, ranging from Led Zep, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Black Country Communion, Free, Bad Company, Thin Lizzy, Stevie Wonder…you name it, we gave it a go!

It was brilliant fun, and as I often mention on here, just great for me, as I don’t play all that often locally. Here’s a few examples from the night, but please bear in mind, it was recorded with a little camera and the sound quality is very Lo-Fi!!

 

 

 

We had such a good reception in fact, that who knows? The Kev Moore Band may ride again, down in the beach bars in the summer!

Kev Moore

The Sentinella – Cover Boy!

Our popular local magazine, The Sentinella, where my Kid Monsta cartoon strip appears monthly, was kind enough to give me the Front page for their July issue – and of course, The Kid was featured, sunbathing on Mojacar Playa!  Pete and Jo, who run the magazine single-handedly (well, double-handedly) do a great job collating news and views from around the region, and putting it all out in the ‘little mag that fits in your bag’.   Check out the online edition RIGHT HERE.

This month, I went a bit ‘topical’ with the comic strip, as you can see below:

Kev Moore

My Other Job……

Kev with El Retiro gallery owner Curtis Helm

Today, with not a little fear and trepidation, I presented for the very first time and exhibition of my artworks at El Retiro gallery, hosted by Curtis Helm in our village here in Turre.

I was really pleased with the turn out

I can stand in front of 1,000’s of people and sing, it’s my job, and I’m confident in my abilities, but my artwork is something I’ve kept much more to myself over the years, gradually allowing Miki to coax it out of its shell.

"But why is the squirrel blue?" - an Artist explains

I was overjoyed then, to find it so well-received by the local community, selling one piece and a couple of my Blue Odyssey CD’s into the bargain! It was fun to see the public so engaged in the art, drawing comparisons with their own lives, kids, or experiences, or just enjoying the humour that I hope pervade the majority of them.

"Your name's not down mate, you're not coming in" - Full House

Certainly, for me, the interest, and of course the sale, gives me the necessary impetus to continue, and perhaps even exhibit again this year. So I can now order that bumper sticker that proudly exclaims; “My other job is ‘Artist’!”

The picture says it all.......

If you want to buy any of my prints, click on the widget below:

Kev Moore

Reggae Night!

Here in sleepy Turre, life rolls along at its own, distinctly Spanish pace, and us ‘locals’ usually have to make our own entertainment. So there I was in The Pasty Shack  a few weeks back, watching a Clapton concert on the big screen, and Pete, who runs the local magazine said “we should have a reggae concert on”.  Neil, the owner -with a background in Audio-Visual stagework for EMI – started mulling it over, and I said “well, you could show Marley at The Rainbow, and I’ll come and play a short reggae set!”

So there you have it – tonight The Pasty Shack will become The Rasta Shack, and I’ll run through some Reggae classics for the locals. Here’s my attempt at Bob Marley’s “Is this love”, with the backing vocals ably handled by my daughter, Hollie.

 

Criminal shortsightedness: The Death of the Lorca Rock Festival

About an hour up the motorway from where we live, there is a small town called Lorca. It is famed for its spectacular Spanish fortress high on a ridge overlooking the town, under which the motorway passes, tunneled through the mountain – and it is famous for the spectacular Rock Festival that is held there every year, bringing the cream of heavy rock from around the world to this small corner of Spain.

The last Lorca rock Festival. Shame on you, Mr Mayor.

But, while trawling the internet yesterday, Miki discovered that the Lorca Rock Festival is no more.  This is just one more blow in a worrying trend. You see, they have a new Mayor. The Mayor doesn’t like Rock, or apparently, visitors, and has put such a huge amount of obstacles in the way of the organizers that they have found it impossible to continue.  So the Lorca rock festival has died.  How stupid can one man be? How short sighted? His vision is narrower than the tunnels that run beneath his Fortress.  Much the same is happening in nearby Mojacar. The Mayoress here makes no secret of her dislike of the UK residents and tourists, to the extent that tourism here as all but dried up and the season, once as fulsome as a watermelon has shrunk to the size of an unpalatable prune. English couples, working on a dream of running a bar or some other service business here, are returning home dejected by the dozen. This area in particular, has experienced growth courtesy of the tourist euro from the Brits, French and Germans for over 30 years. Now it’s thanks very much, and goodnight.

The lack of foresight in Lorca and Mojacar is breathtaking.  Only a couple of decades ago, these people were selling Asparagus by the side of the road to make ends meet. Now, every peasant that had a horse and cart drives a Mercedes. Mojacar was a dead village until the then Mayor (a man cut from considerably finer cloth than the current incumbent) offered up the empty houses at a tenner a throw – artists and musicians flocked here, and the village was reborn. They may have come a long way financially, but social finesse has been sacrificed on the altar of ‘progress’.

Does the Mayor of Lorca not realize that his town is known around the World because of the Lorca rock festival? Because of the song “Night train to Lorca” by The Pogues? Make no mistake Mr. Mayor, if you continue with this madness, your town will be little more than a forgotten archaeological footnote, barely visited.

Similarly, in Mojacar, the Mayoress is playing with fire. The Spanish tourists rarely spend money in the bars, the tourist industry locally is a fragile one, and is collapsing before our very eyes.

I must qualify this by saying our village, Turre, just 5 minutes away, seems to be run a little differently. But all it takes is a change of Mayor, someone who forgets, or who is too young to remember why this tiny forgotten area began to flourish in the first place, and it can happen here, and anyway, all these villages are in the same area, and the residents are hostages to the same ‘tourist eco-system)

The world economic crisis has badly affected the tourist trade, and steps should be taken to bolster it, not kick it while it’s down. The Brits, for one, are creatures of habit, and when they get into the habit of discovering that the likes of Florida and Turkey can offer more for less, they won’t come back.

Bring back the Tourists, and more importantly, BRING BACK THE ROCK!

Kev Moore