One week in Brazil part 1

     We are racking up those frequent flyer miles. This is our second trip down to Brazil this year. I am not quite sure if I ever recovered from the last one. This time we were slated to play three shows over a week's span. It seems so simple in theory. Three 90 minute shows in three different cities in seven days. Well, once again my love / hate relationship with this beautiful country has reemerged. We flew into Sao Paulo on Wednesday morning and rushed into a van for a "short" drive down to a small beach town to relax for the day. The drive turned out to be more like 3 1/2 hours thru the heart of Sao Paulo. Let me tell you that the last thing I want to do is sit in a van for three plus hours after 14 hours of airports and airplanes. I will say the beach was gorgeous and uncrowded. Donavon, Tito and I managed to grab a few waves after stuffing ourselves with massive amounts of freshly fried seafood and washing it all down with too many Skol beers. The surf was small but the scenery was breathtaking. It is so nice to wash off the travel stinch with some warm ocean water. We were greeted by a few sea turtles hanging just outside the break. 

seafood extravaganza

      The Alma Surf peeps always go above and beyond for their acts they promote. They organized a small get together for us back at our surf lodge style hotel where we consumed way too much beer. The following morning after a 6 a.m. lobby call, we headed right back to where we were the day before. The whole day off beach experience was a great idea but it seemed we spent more time in traffic than actually relaxing which is par for the course with any Brazilian tour. 

     Donavon's music is on an upswing in Brazil. Our first show was sold out. Around 7,000 screaming fans were packed like sardines in a can into a small arena littered with action sports booths everywhere. The event put on by Alma Surf was a mix between music, art and board sports. The venue sported a full on mobile skatepark and art show on the top floor. The event coordinator told me the unofficial count was around 12,000 people through the door for the entire event. Needless to say the fans were anxious and excited. Photos courtesy of Alice Martins   

view from the stage

Brazilian Flava Flav kickin' out the Jams

     After the show, The whole posse went out for the late night all-you-can-stuff meat buffet. It was great! Lamb chops, beef and pork ribs, chicken hearts, sausage, beef fillets and oh yeah caipirinhas. It was awesome until I realized that I had a 6 a.m. lobby call once again.