After a great show last night in Bilbao, I had a press conference this morning in Santander.  The next few days are all press conferences for upcoming shows.  Keith, Roland, and I met Ander in the lobby of the hotel to make the 75 minute drive to Palacio de Festivales in Santander.  The contrast between the Teatro Arriaga and Palacio de Festivales is dramatic.  One is historic, the other is modern; one is ornate, the other is contemporary.  Here’s a view of the front of the theatre – the main entrance.

Once inside, we were greeted by the Director of the Palacio de Festivales and several of the other executives.  I also met with Rob, the translator for the press conference and Thursday’s show.  We had a brief meeting and then I was whisked away for a photo session with several of the area newspapers.  This was, perhaps, the most interesting part of the day for me.  Several photographers and a videographer put me in various positions and poses throughout the theatre as though it were more of a “fashion” shoot than a “performance” shoot.  It was fun – and the entire thing was captured on video by the videographer.  After photos, we went up to the second level where the press conference was going to be held.

The media were already in place – cameras, reporters, notepads – all ready to go.  We sat at the table and talked about the upcoming performance. Afterwards, we took questions from the reporters.  And then I performed a trick to introduce them to the magic.  The response was great and I’m hopeful that the coverage tomorrow will be fantastic.

Once the press conference was over, we took a tour of the venue.  It’s 1650 seats, well-designed with a large stage.  The show will look very nice here.

Keith was able to have a meeting with the Technical Director to make sure that everything would be ready to go for us on Thursday.  They talked through the lighting, the positions of the scenery, and the audio needs.  It should make for a smooth day for everyone!

Tomorrow morning, we have another press conference in Logrono for the performance on Friday night at the Riojaforum.