I had happened to wake up early while we were driving to Madrid & I was able to check out the Spanish countryside, which I must say is very picturesque. I decided to indulge in a little wake & bake & was thinking about how good the tour has been going thus far. With some great shows behind us this early in our world tour, I can only look forward to what is gonna come our way.

We arrived in Madrid & again we had only day rooms. This is another city that is worth checking out. The festival was about an hour outside the city & there was an early load-in for the crew so we wouldn’t be at the hotel for long. Its too bad because I was really craving some tapas. I figured that once we got to the gig, there would be some good grub.

This festival is the Spanish version of the “Rock In Rio” festival in Brazil. This was gonna be a big show because the line-up featured us, Jane’s Addiction & Rage Against The Machine. We missed Rage at the festivals in Germany because we were playing on different days & I believe Jane’s just came out to Europe for a couple of shows. I knew that we had to be on our A+ game tonight but after Paris & Barcelona, I knew we would be just fine. When we got to the venue, it was a very nice spot. It seemed though that they didn’t have real grass there, it was like astro-turf. The closest festival that we have in the States that can compare to the look of Rock in Rio is the Coachella festival. In any case, I know that this show will be special.

The band that came before us was called Las Coronitas & from what I heard, they sounded really good. I think the show really got started when we hit the stage. We hit the stage and there were a fair amount of people but soon after we started, people were coming from everywhere. The crowd was alive as the sun was going down. Our set was only an hour so we just gave the crowd our “power” set, which means no filler just the hits!! When we got to the “weed medley”, the crowd was ready to feel the effects We were definitely on point on this show. By the time we got to “Rock Superstar”, the crowd was bananas!! We got the crowd ready for both Jane’s & Rage.

I was really excited to see Jane’s Addiction perform. We are all friends. I’ve played several times with Stephen Perkins, who is the drummer, in a side project that I put together called “Mary Jane’s Boyfriend”. B Real actually came up with the name. I also performed with Perry Ferrell at Coachella last year with his group “Satalite Party”. They have Duff from GnR & Velvet Revolver on bass now so I was anxious to hear how he sounded with them. As I was standing on the side of the stage, I saw Tim C. from Rage then Brad Wilk, whom I am the closest with in RATM. Brad asks me if I still had my percussions handy & I replied yes. He then said that he was gonna talk to the rest of the guys to see about me getting up to perform with them.

I, of course, was down to play. Now, I’ve performed with Rage before in the states. The one that people remember most was the Tibetan Freedom Festival in 95 when I damn near played with them their whole set. When I got the word that the guys were down, the Cypress & Rage crew guys sprang into action. Now the special thing about all of this is that we are in a different country & that Rage are only doing 7 shows this year. Yea, they can do that!!! This was their 6th show & to be asked to play with such an iconic group like that is huge for me even though we all go way back.

Their show was about to start & all of the Cypress crew were on stage watching. It was great to get that support from them. It was decided that I was gonna play on 2 songs, “Renegades of Funk” & “Sleep Now In The Fire”. When the lights went down, the crowd exploded!!! This band has crazy energy. They are definitely a band that you don’t want to follow, that’s for sure. To tell the truth, I was nervous. When it was my time, Zack introduced me and we started. I’m so glad that there is footage of this performance (Thanks Julio G.). Now, what’s cool about this is that we didn’t rehearse, I just kept my eye on Brad. Needless to say, we rocked it & the homies were proud. They even gave me a solo in “Sleep Now In The Fire”. This was the type of stuff that my father prepared me for so I thank him as well. The high I was on was way more than what I get from a Kush joint.

As we all said our goodbyes, we got on the bus to head to the next spot. I couldn’t sleep because I just kept playing the night in my head over & over. Before you know it, I was the last one up. Time to go to sleep, tomorrow is yet another show. Good times!!!!