Papa Dance
Papa Dance
The Venue: The open fields of Gdansk, west of the central train line.
The Event: A ridiculously cheap outdoor Polish live music festival.
The Band: '80s Polish favourites "Papa Dance."
"Great come back of "The Polish Beatles" declares a member of Warsaw University in response to the news that everyone's favourite '80s synth. band is reforming. Arriving at the Gdansk July open-air festival, we were blissfully unaware of the musical significance of the band we were about to hear. A mere 60p secured our place amongst Poles from Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia and we stood amongst the thousands waiting to hear their favourite band of yesteryear. Heavily sponsored by LG the electronics company, the compare teased the audience with free t-shirts, flinging them to the masses, and earned his sponsors moneys worth by slipping "flat screen tv" and "mobile phone" into every other word.
Once the masses had been stirred to fever pitch, the stage went black and a single man with bleached hair and reflective sunglasses strode up to the synths. The first Jean Michele Jarre esque chords confirmed that we were in for a treat. Gradually, one by one, the rest of the band took to the stage. The lead guitarist, resplendent with ginger mullet and baseball jacket struck some chords, heavy on the reverb, just as the bass player took his section of the stage. The spitting image of Neil Morrissey except with a blonde mullet, he injected some funk to the musical mix. The drummer, a wee slip of a man, crept behind the drums, just as the man everyone was waiting to see strutted onto the stage.
Spray on denim and a tight t shirt surprisingly did not manage to disguise the ageing rocker's physique. Despite this, his arrival was met with hysterical excitement and screams from the over 30s. Pointing to the no. 1 stuck onto his chest with rhinestones, he took to the mike and began the two-hour showcase of Papa dance's discography. Visually the band was hypnotic. A real energy, and no doubt the source of all power, seemed to emanate from the lead singer's groin area. Simple moves to be found in any '80s band's repertoire such as the two handed point to the audience and the stamping of feet combined with big grin and arms stretched to either side, were delivered with emphasis on the thrusting of the hips.
Half way through the set the lead singer underwent a costume change, adopting a more demure shirt for the slow ballads, chances for parents to reminisce about their courtships, and for teenagers to indulge in ones of their own. We took this chance to make our way to the Brewski tent for a quick half, making it back for the encore demanded by hoards of nostalgic Poles. Musically Papa Dance had it all, the synth rock pop of Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, the power ballads of T'Pau and the curly mullets of Bon Jovi. This seminal '80s band was a hit with Poles of all ages and a hit with the intrepid Polska Adventurers too.
Papa Dance in action.
Poles enjoying the outdoor rock concert
The Venue: The open fields of Gdansk, west of the central train line.
The Event: A ridiculously cheap outdoor Polish live music festival.
The Band: '80s Polish favourites "Papa Dance."
"Great come back of "The Polish Beatles" declares a member of Warsaw University in response to the news that everyone's favourite '80s synth. band is reforming. Arriving at the Gdansk July open-air festival, we were blissfully unaware of the musical significance of the band we were about to hear. A mere 60p secured our place amongst Poles from Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia and we stood amongst the thousands waiting to hear their favourite band of yesteryear. Heavily sponsored by LG the electronics company, the compare teased the audience with free t-shirts, flinging them to the masses, and earned his sponsors moneys worth by slipping "flat screen tv" and "mobile phone" into every other word.
Once the masses had been stirred to fever pitch, the stage went black and a single man with bleached hair and reflective sunglasses strode up to the synths. The first Jean Michele Jarre esque chords confirmed that we were in for a treat. Gradually, one by one, the rest of the band took to the stage. The lead guitarist, resplendent with ginger mullet and baseball jacket struck some chords, heavy on the reverb, just as the bass player took his section of the stage. The spitting image of Neil Morrissey except with a blonde mullet, he injected some funk to the musical mix. The drummer, a wee slip of a man, crept behind the drums, just as the man everyone was waiting to see strutted onto the stage.
Spray on denim and a tight t shirt surprisingly did not manage to disguise the ageing rocker's physique. Despite this, his arrival was met with hysterical excitement and screams from the over 30s. Pointing to the no. 1 stuck onto his chest with rhinestones, he took to the mike and began the two-hour showcase of Papa dance's discography. Visually the band was hypnotic. A real energy, and no doubt the source of all power, seemed to emanate from the lead singer's groin area. Simple moves to be found in any '80s band's repertoire such as the two handed point to the audience and the stamping of feet combined with big grin and arms stretched to either side, were delivered with emphasis on the thrusting of the hips.
Half way through the set the lead singer underwent a costume change, adopting a more demure shirt for the slow ballads, chances for parents to reminisce about their courtships, and for teenagers to indulge in ones of their own. We took this chance to make our way to the Brewski tent for a quick half, making it back for the encore demanded by hoards of nostalgic Poles. Musically Papa Dance had it all, the synth rock pop of Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, the power ballads of T'Pau and the curly mullets of Bon Jovi. This seminal '80s band was a hit with Poles of all ages and a hit with the intrepid Polska Adventurers too.
Papa Dance in action.
Poles enjoying the outdoor rock concert
posted by Polska Adventurer at 12:57 AM
5 Comments:
hi Beth
Bri and i are missing you a lot.
E-mail me back
T.T.F.N.
Kyxxx
Hello!!!
I just though I'd leave a little message to say that I'm glad that you're having a wonderful time and that everything is going well! Its been fascinatng to hear about Gdansk when the furthest I actually got to today was the local shop to buy a Cosmopolitan - Heat doesn't come out till tomorrow but if you like I can leave a message letting you know the very latest on Jude and Sienna etc.- do they have a Heat eqivalent in Poland??
Anyways,
keep living the Polish dream,
love
Baisden
Hi Beth, guess what? My sling has gone and my arm is better. I have to do exercises like bowling in cricket. love Ky xxxxx ooooooo
o = hug
Wow Ky! It must be amazing to be able to use you're arm again after all that time! Bowling and cricket sounds like great fun, we'll all have to play when you come up to mine in the summer. But what an earth does T.T.F.N mean?
miss you too, Beth xxx
Hi beth even I know what ttfn means Ta Ta For Now. He is so pleased to have his sling off and has played on playstation games mom and dad bought all afternoon. We are loving site you are all doing great love Nikki (b sis)
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