Folklore Music in a Peña

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The last couple of days have been filled with incredibly wonderful times and experiences. It began on Friday when Laurence proposed something ‘new’. She had told me that we were going to a ‘peña’, which was a place where folkloric music was played. She had been invited to this place by one of her co-workers whose cousin was playing guitar in the band. When I asked if it was a bar or restaurant or some sort of dance hall, Laurence replied that she didn’t know, all we knew was an address and a time. At 10pm, we were dressed and ready to leave. We headed towards Avenida Las Heras and waited to catch our trusty #93 bus that would take us to the Plaza Italia, a major intersection near the ‘peña’. After taking a quick Café Americano at one of the many corner cafes, we headed to the address. We have started going for coffee at night before going out because nothing really gets started in Buenos Aires until 11pm and us poor Canadians sometime find it hard to adjust to the late night scene, man I must be getting older.

Anyways, as we walked down a side street, towards the address nothing really jumped out that said ‘peña’. No blinking lights, no menu sheet on a front door, nothing except for a man standing outside a single unmarked door. We asked if this was the right place, we’re told it was and proceeded through the small door that was opened for us. Inside, the lights were dimmed and a set of stairs showed the way to the entrance of a grand room and a short women sitting at a table collecting a cover charge. She said that in fact, we were a bit late and that there was no seats left, having come this far we entered anyway. Passing through an archway we entered a dimly lit room, overflowing with people sitting at small candlelit tables, smoking, drinking, eating and chatting. The place was filled with families, couples, tables of young men and even the odd toddler and child. It was a very welcoming place. Looking around it was clear that the woman at the door was right and that there was little remaining seats. Quickly though, we found one vacant chair that we sequestered and placed against the wall, where we thought that we would be able to sit. It was then that Enrique, Laurence’s co-worker walked into the place and greeted Lo and I. He insisted that he would find us a seat and soon enough we were sitting at a table with his Aunt and Uncle and their young son. A couple of bottles of beer were ordered and Laurence bought me a Gin and Tonic as this was the beginning of a birthday weekend for my 25th. Minutes after we had taken our seats the music began on a stage that was in the corner of the room.

Try and imagine a room with high ceiling and wooden columns filled with wooden tables and chairs, holding people of all ages enjoying the finer things in life under candlelight. On the white walls hung pictures of horses and cows, metal stirrups and bits and medieval looking scissors, (your guess is as good as mine although castrating those horses probably needs a mean set of scissors). Enrique briefly explained that if Tango was the music of Buenos Aires, folklore was the music of Argentina and the countryside and that there were ‘peñas’ all over Buenos Aires and the country. The ensemble was made up of two men and one woman. The men both played guitars and sang, while the woman beat a drum to the rhythm of the guitar strings. There’s something about a guitar and Latin singers that make for great music. It turned out that these guys were the opening act for the main group, made up of 5 young guys aged between 18 and 25. We were sitting with the mom and dad of the 18-year-old guitar player, whose baby face made him look closer to twelve. The music and voices of these five young men filled the small room and achieved huge rounds of applause. It was a great night filled with great music, good drink and wonderful conversation, all in all a terrific Argentine experience.

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Comments

[anonymous]

I can almost hear the music. God! It must have been great. Je vous envie.......

[Mom]

Sounds like a wonderful night..I close my eyes and can also see where you have been..