Rimini: Italy

Moonlight Festival 2011moonlight2012_3

Dateline : Sunday 28th August. Britain 16C overcast Rimini 32C sunny

 

Moonlight candid 0017am ish. After a two hour drive and another hour working the car park at the airport out, we take a photo to help us locate the car on return the following day…don’t want to take any chances! Note the cheery english weather we are going to leave behind for a day.

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12.30pm local time – “Lucky bastards! the Italians are having a proper summer!” Spon exclaimed in frustration at the lack of a British ‘proper summer’. We drove 100 kliks from Bologna airport to the festival site at ‘Velvet’, Rimini…nice motorway (or autostrade)

 

Moonlight_candid_0032pm -ish. Pull into Festival venue by nice lake with fishermen (and as it turned out later, nasty mosquito’s!)

 

 

 

 

2.30 pm ish. Despite being late for soundcheck because of lost baggage (Abbo’s guitar) at airport..the festival techies are running behind & we have to wait another half hour..”don’t worry, this is Italy – everything runs late” we were confidently re-assured.

Moonlight_candid_0042.45pm ish. Time for a quick scuttle round venue of moonlight festival site at club ‘velvet’. Nice venue – bit like a graffiti-ed cow-shed by a lake. It wouldn’t make it through a british summer let alone winter..but in italy’s climate it actually works really well as a venue.

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2.50pm ish. The side of the venue facing the lake The back-stage area is near the other end of the building, beyond the tomato trees.

 

 

 

Moonlight_candid_0062.55pm ish. The punters have arrived as you can see in this car park at the other end of the long building. In the distance you can see san marino mountain, we were to have dinner there later as it turned out. Actually the festival wasn’t due to start until 7pm

3pm ish. Back to the van, where everyone is ‘hanging out’ and keeping real cool…just awaiting that starter pistol..

3.30pm ish. Technically, the soundcheck should have finished 15 minutes ago. Everybody is ready to jump into action, once the word “let the soundcheck commence” is given.
Well, very soon, the word was finally given…we soundchecked and were told that dinner would be in nearby in San Marino later..

5.30pm. Arrived at the hotel, this was to be the shortest stay ever, 3 hours kip then sign out and go to dinner.

10.30pm ish..Dinner in a San Marino ‘rock cafe’ with authentic san maronian cuisine – veggy chilli, of course!

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10.30pm ish. Special guest at the san marino buffett was a life size dummy of a san marinoian ‘melvis presley’ how bizzare! By 11pm we were back in italy and back at the venue. mucho stuff to prepare.We left the ‘house’ at 3.30am ish and raced to make our plane back..

 

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6.30am ish. mid flight back and “gosh! look at those mountains” An hour later we were hobbling through the arrivals and fumbling through our bags for the car keys.

So a it was thirty hour jaunt by the time we got back to our homes, with little or next to no sleep.
But boy! what a thirty hours “I met a boy who wore a mask, just like today” It was Spon…