With apologies to the late great Robin Williams in ‘Good Morning Vietnam’:
“Goooooooood evening, Algarve! Hey, this is not a test, this is rock ‘n’ roll!”
And, yes, as his character DJ Adrian Cronauer goes on to say, it is time to rock it from the Delta to the DMZ! Or, more appropriately, from the Guadiana to the Cape, as 50s rock ‘n’ roll comes to the Algarve in its rawest, purest form.
Two of the Algarve’s biggest rock and roll activists, Fernando Caeiros (aka DJ Greaser) and Brian (DJ Rockindad) Jutsum, have teamed up to form a once-a-month 50s Rock and Roll Music Club based in Loulé, with the ambition of ultimately taking the show on the road during the summer months.
And the first shout of “Let’s r-r-r-o-c-k ‘n’ roll!” will be heard on September 6 at the Baco de Bafo on Rua Afonso de Albuquerque, starting from 10pm through to 4am, with free admission.
The club evenings will take place every month at the Baco de Bafo where the two friends, neither of them professional disc jockeys, first met through a mutual love of rockabilly music.
DJ Rockindad explained: “I am not a professional DJ, just a music lover, who decided to start DJ-ing as a hobby because at most of the events I went to the music played was so poor and lacking in imagination.
“They didn’t play the music I wanted to listen to and dance to. When people come to my dances, they know it won’t be the dull and dreary songs that clog up the airwaves today.
“As for the name, Rockindad is from my vinyl record selling days on the internet!
“A mutual friend, Bob, manager of the Baco de Bafo, was the catalyst for our joining of forces and we will be playing original 50s Rockabilly, Hillbilly, Western Swing, Jump Blues, Doo Wop, Rhythm and Blues and Big Band Swing.
“Any New or Neo Rock and Roll music we play has to be true to the spirit of the Golden Age of Rock and Roll.”
Said DJ Greaser: “I think everyone likes rockabilly. The problem is that they don’t already know it! We have great rockabilly bands playing across the Algarve in some different places, and every time they play or every time I ‘dj’ some rockabilly or rock ‘n’ roll music, the impact on people is very good!
“I think things come naturally when music is good, and it gets more supporters every time people learn more about the bands and the music.”
He added: “This is rock ‘n’ roll and rock ‘n’ roll is freedom and irreverence, so come and have fun! It’s like a life cycle … rock ‘n’ roll never dies!”
By Matt D’Arcy
