Summer Concert Tour, Wolf Pup Adventures

We had summer concert FOMO this year and decided to hit up a few shows. We don’t go to many concerts and prefer smaller venues, but some of our favorite artists came to cities not far from Braga. It served as a good excuse for a trip.

The first show featured Alanis Morissette in A Coruna, our favorite city in Galicia and perhaps our favorite city in all of Spain. It reminds us of a miniature version of Barcelona. Of course, A Coruna lacks the Sagrada Familia or Gaudi architecture, but the vibe, the beach, and the food and bar scene give us those Barca-feels. So when we heard Alanis was coming to A Coruna, we immediately snatched up some tickets.

I’ve been an Alanis fan since the release of Jagged Little Pill. I bought that CD multiple times because the first copy became too scratched up from overuse. Some of my more “masculine” friends, which in hindsight probably reflected their insecurity, teased me about my musical taste, but I didn’t care. I really enjoyed the music, and it resonated with me.

The concert fully lived up to the hype. We left amazed by her performance and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Despite the arena being fairly warm (no AC), the heat didn’t dampen our spirits. Instead of jostling around in the General Admission area, we purchased seats in the lower bowl. Sure, we were a bit further away from the stage, but we could see perfectly, and it was really nice to take a seat when we needed to rest our legs. We’re getting too old for crowded concert spaces.

After the show, we thought we could catch a bus back to the city center. Otherwise, we faced a one-hour walk back. We waited at the bus stop with a group of other concert-goers. After about 20 minutes with still no bus in sight, we decided it wouldn’t come and chose to walk back. We also tried to order an Uber, but the app showed no availability, likely because everyone else from the show did the same. The evening weather turned out perfect, so the walk wasn’t too bad, despite being tired from a long day. When we made it back to the hotel, I checked Uber again just out of curiosity, and drivers became available again. So it seems you just need to hit up a bar after the show for a drink or two to wait out the rush. Overall, we had a spectacular evening.

Our next summer concert featured Muse and Nine Inch Nails at the NOS Alive festival in Lisbon. When I bought the tickets, I didn’t realize it was so close to the Alanis show. We only spent one night home before hitting the road again. Originally, this show was supposed to feature Kings of Leon instead of Muse, but one of the band members broke his hand, forcing them to pull out. I knew some of Muse’s music but wouldn’t consider myself a big fan. However, after this show, we became huge Muse fans 🙂 They put on a mind-blowingly great live performance. Nine Inch Nails, on the other hand, disappointed us. They seemed more interested in playing for the cameras on stage instead of engaging with the crowd. They used a lot of fog machines, so we could really see them only on the big screens on either side of the stage — not exactly why you pay to see a band live. They started the first hour of their set with deep tracks that put the crowd, including me, to sleep. We actually decided to leave at that point. As we exited the venue, we could hear some of their popular songs finally being performed, but they had lost us by then. Oh well, not every band lives up to expectations.

NOS Alive is one of the biggest summer concert festivals in Portugal. It offers a lot of food and entertainment in addition to the four stages of live music. We decided to show up about an hour before Muse went on, which was maybe an hour before sunset. I’m glad we went later because navigating the hoards of people took a lot of energy. Some areas became less crowded, but getting stuck in a bottleneck mass of humans was unavoidable at times. Seeing Muse made it worth it, but I don’t think we’ll attend this festival again.

Spending a few days in Lisbon felt nice. We visited our usual spots and tried some new ones. We didn’t go down to the touristy neighborhoods at all this time. Our favorite meal came from a bakery called Jezzus, which also served sourdough wood-fired pizzas. We enjoyed a pizza topped with zucchini, leeks, pistachios, blue cheese, and parmesan. It made an excellent pie. For dessert, we had a house-made Basque cheesecake. We also dined at a nice Asian restaurant (LUKA). We even made it out to Monsanto Forest Park for a hike. Catching a Bolt out there proved easy, but getting a ride back turned into a challenge. We hiked to a different part of the park and managed to catch a driver nearby. Our earlier attempts to order a Bolt kept getting canceled. I understand, though — it’s all about supply and demand, and who would want to drive 15+ minutes just to pick up a fare that earns like 5-6 euros?

So in recap, Alanis Morissette and Muse stole the stage and will forever have fans in us. We feel too old for big festival shows. Our temporary residency permits have expired, so we find ourselves stuck in residency limbo until we can renew them for 3 years and get new cards. We will probably stay within Portugal until then, which may take up to 6 months (fingers crossed it won’t take that long). Stay tuned for the next update, and bye for now…