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›comments[1] ›all comments ›post #212 ›bio: katie ›bio: victoria ›perma-link ›8/1/2005 ›16:59 ›archives ›first post ›that week |
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Art Colony: l'esperienza "Northern Soul" Monday, August 1, 2005 › by victoria  it's so hot outside that the sun beating down on your face feels good, damn good, and blinding too, and you can feel your skin scorching because you work an ideal vampire job, that is, if vampires liked fluorescent lights because the library basement certainly has a lot of those. in the meantime, my mom emailed me this rather amusing (?) account of my parents & sister's attempts to attend a 60's-70's Northern Soul event at the RiverHorse bar. Now, my mom's record is actually pretty big since she did record a 1960's-70's Northern Soul song with the Vandellas singing back up, so she decided to attend the event and see what transpired. Well, she sent out a big group email in italian telling people how it went... Caro Lorenzo, Cara Anna, (Dear Laurence, Dear Anna Grazie della risposta. Molti miei amici sono incuriositi, percio` ho scritto una breve descrizione della nostra scappatina. Ecco il resoconto della nostra esperienza: (Thanks for your response. Many of my friends were curious, because I had written a brief description of the Riverhorse event. Here's the summary of our experience:) Come avete ben capito, al River Horse si doveva suonare musica quasi sconosciuta degli anni '60 e '70 tipo "Northern Soul"--dunque, per questa ragione, ci siamo andati per vedere il posto e l'avvenimento. Il locale era in un vicinato "pittoresco" circondato da bar e case scadenti. Abbiamo dovuto parcheggiare lontano due strade, e nella camminata per la strada, un uomo alto due metri ci ha accostati per "ask you a question." (As you will have understood, at the Riverhorse they were going to play music that was semi-well-known from the 1960's and 70's of the type "Northern Soul"--therefore, for this reason, we all went to see the place where they were going to be playing the music. The locale was in a "picturesque" vicinity surrounded by bars and broken-down houses. We had to park really far away/2 streets down, and in the crossing of the street, a 6-foot tall man accosted us to "ask you a question.") Siccome io e mio marito non gli abbiamo dato retta, si e` volto verso nostra figlia Olivia che ci seguiva. Sembrava che lui la volesse abbracciare, e lei si e` impaurita. Io mi sono girata, e l'ho chiamata perche` ci stesse piu` vicina. (Seeing as me and my husband didn't say anything, he came towards our daughter Olivia who was walking behind us. It seemed like he wanted to embrace her, and this scared her. I turned around and asked him why he was getting so close to her/us.) Bryan e Sophia avevano trovato da parcheggiare piu` vicino, e loro ci aspettavano di fuori il locale. Erano circa le dieci meno cinque; il programma doveva iniziare alle 10. (Bryan and Sophia had found parking much closer, and they were waiting for us outside the place. It was around 9:55; the program was supposed to start at 10.) Io sono entrata, e in un attimo mi e` sembrato di essere stata trasportata in un altro universo. Il barista aveva la faccia coperta di tattuaggi. Ogni sedile del bar era preso. I clienti erano giovani vestiti con abiti che sembravano "cenci." Quando ho chiesto dove si sarebbe svolto il programma, tutti i clienti (una decina) si sono girati verso di me, e mi hanno guardato come se fossi io la "strana." Il barista ha indicato la stanza dove si doveva ascoltare la musica, ed io e Steven ci siamo affacciati all'entrata di un camerino gia` pieno di gente giovane tipo speudo-brit punk. (I entered, and in a second it seemed like I was transported to another universe. The barista/bartender had a face covered with tattoos. Every seat at the bar was taken. The clients were young people wearing clothes that looked like "rags" (?). When I asked where they were going to have the program, all the clients (una decina--this could mean "a dozen of them") turned around to face me, and they looked at me as if I was the "strange one." The bartender indicated the place/stage where they were listening to the music, and Steven and I entered a small room already full of young people of the type "pseudo-brit punk.") Anche li, mi hanno squadrata come per dire: E te da quale pianeta vieni? Sono ritornata dal barista e gli ho chiesto a che ora doveva cominciare perche` erano gia` le 10 meno qualche minuto. E lui mi ha risposto con un sorriso ambiguo: I DJ arriveranno alle dieci "They will roll in at 10!" Noi cinque ci siamo dati un'occhiata, e poi siamo usciti di fretta, abbiamo attraversato la strada per non incontrare il gigante di nuovo, e ci siamo infilati nella macchina. (Also here, they looked at me as if to say: And you came from what planet? I went back to the bartender and asked him at which time the show was going to start because it was already 10:05. And he responded to me with an ambiguous smile: The DJ arrives at ten "They will roll in at 10!" The five of us gave him a "look", and afterwards left in a hurry, crossing the road so that we wouldn't encounter the scary giant-guy again, and we all got in the car." E` stata un'esperienza "culturale" (cosi` diciamo in famiglia per classificare un episodio sgradevole da non ripetere, ma ricco di colore locale). In pochi minuti eravamo a casa, ma psicologicamente avevamo fatto un viaggio lunghissimo. (It was a "cultural experience"--this is how we describe in the family an awful episode that we wouldn't want to repeat, but that was rich in local color. In a few minutes we arrived at home, but psychologically it felt like we had made a super-long voyage.) Ringrazi Dio per avermi risparmiato la carriera "Northern Soul." (I thank God for having saved me from a career in "Northern Soul.") |
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