Figuring Out The Live Music Scene
To festival, or not to festival?
Hi friends!
I’m back in your inbox with some more adulting (and fun) this week. Our latest adventures?
To festival, or not to festival
Big boxin’
Quick hits
Let’s unpack this edition:
Figuring out the Music Scene in Europe
One of the things that excited me about moving to Europe was a change in the live music scene.
Many of my favorite artists are based here and rarely make it to the USA, and often American bands will play at much smaller venues here. Plus I’m stoked to unlock new sounds and artists that don’t get air time in America.
We’ve been to a couple of shows so far: Alt-j, Macy Gray, Ana Moura, and a candlelight Queen tribute. With summer coming on, the shows are popping up fast and furious.
Souls of Mischief passed through last week on their ‘93 ‘Til Infinity 30th Anniversary Tour. Yes, I’m old. I saw the original tour in Seattle with A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to catch them again. They played at a tiny, intimate club. It was a perfect way to see a favorite group.
Tons of great bands are coming through Portugal this year, but most are playing at big festivals. I loved multi-day music marathons in my 20s, but I prefer smaller crowds and shorter playbills now.
In the interest of breaking my anti-festival paradigm, we grabbed tickets to see Kendrick Lamar, The Pet Shop Boys, New Order, and more at Primavera Sound.
It’s in a big park that’s walking distance from our flat, so why not? The headliners also include popular European acts like Rosalía that are way off my radar, so it’s a chance to hear new beats.
Hilary scored tickets to see Madonna in Lisbon this November - a perfect excuse to get out of town and see an iconic American artist with a new crowd.
Red Hot Chili Peppers with Lizzo and Sylvan Esso at another Lisbon festival? Chemical Brothers playing the Porto waterfront? The options are overwhelming and we don’t have endless concert money, so we’re forced to pick and choose.
It’s a high-class problem to have. I’m saving some of my ticket money for smaller shows that I’m sure will pop up.
Portland friends - will we see any of you at the Sylvan Esso or Jungle concerts at Edgefield this summer?
Big boxin’
We’ve been needing a new bed for our guest room, and with friends coming to town this week, it became a priority. We also wanted to get a patio set and a new grill, so we could start enjoying the spring sun on our veranda.
Where do car-free, European city dwellers go for this stuff? Big box stores, of course! There’s a herd of them out in Matosinhos, a short, cheap Uber ride away.
Our first stop was Conforama, where we found a patio set that would do nicely for the time being. We put a pin in it and walked down to Leroy Merlin, the French version of Home Depot, where we found a solid gas grill. It was huge and heavy, so once again, we noted it and moved on to our tried and true - IKEA.
We knew what we wanted from IKEA, and were considering paying for delivery, but what about all that other stuff?
Hertz 24/7 to the rescue.
Turns out that you can rent big box vans by the hour here, all from the comfort of an app. I was able to sign up, send a photo of my driver's license via email, and within about an hour, I was driving a Sprinter van around the cobblestone streets of Porto.
For the cost of the IKEA delivery, we were able to get all of our items in one go. The downside? Hauling all of it up into our apartment with a broken hand, then assembling it all. Normally I’d spread this out a bit. I ache.
Quick Hits
Our friend Emily clued us into iHerb, a site she relied on for hard-to-locate vitamins and similar while living in Japan. We can find most things we need locally, but this is filling in a few critical gaps. Thanks, Em!
My Portuguese is getting melhor, rapidamente (better, fast), in big part thanks to Anki. This tool came recommended by my friend (and even bigger language nut) Dakota. It’s a powerful tool for learning anything new. There’s a decent learning curve, but it’s worth it for those who are truly invested in drilling knowledge deep into the brain.
We also attend a Wednesday night Portuguese language gathering near our apartment that’s hosted by a freelance language teacher. It’s a fun way to get together and speak Portuguese in a low-stakes environment. Hilary has really leaned in, flexing her language skills with other expats. There’s usually wine, so that helps too. Looking for a language prof? We’ve got your gal!
I was admonished for not including a musical selection in last week’s newsletter. Sorry about that! Here’s one of my favorite Spotify-curated playlists, perfect for spring/summer sunsets:
What have you been up to? I’d love to hear from you!
Until next time…
–Don
If you ever want secondhand, this is an option: https://www.olx.pt