Whether music-related or culture-related, week long parties are something that Europeans attend from time to time. Given that many Europeans have a huge fascination with 60’s music and culture, the more popular parties in Europe are in fact 60’s-related, case in point: Euro YeYe.
Euro YeYe is held in the north of Spain every year in the small town of Gijón, which is conveniently located along the Asturian coast (and I do mean conveniently in the sense of it housing an amazing beach!). This party in particular caters to Europe’s 1960’s psychedelic, garage, and soul scene. It is attended by people from all over Europe, and sometimes the world, and I was fortunate enough to attend Ye Ye this summer. YeYe this year took place from July 30-August 3 (although we kept it going days after this as well) at a discotheque called Oasis that contains two large rooms and a large outdoor patio. Bands open the night up each evening, and the party continues with international dj’s rotating all night long spinning some of the rarest and most danceable 60’s records. The front room takes care of your entire psychedelic and garage needs with full on 60’s psychedelic lighting and projections, while the back room (known as “la pista negra” for obvious reasons in Spain) caters to those in favor of soul and boogaloo. However, be prepared to find in ‘la pista’ a dance floor completely infested with baby powder for all your slippin’ and soul slidin’.
Getting Wasted Gijón Style
The nights usually start with a nice dinner consisting of amazing meats, or in some cases plenty of tapas. Throughout the meals, glass after glass of cidra and sangria were consumed; Gijón is very well known for their cidra! The stuff is so good and sweet that you don’t even notice how much you’ve been drinking until you struggle to even pick up your fork. After dinner we’d hit up a bar or cidrería until it was a reasonable time to show up to the club (usually around 12am-1am). The band’s always played earlier than that and therefore I missed all but one of them. The final night of the all-nighter party featured the band the Pretty Things who are an amazing raw R&B and psychedelic group from the mid to late 60’s. Therefore I made sure to arrive on time that night. Considering the band didn’t consist of all original members, and that the music coming from them sounded a bit more like country than it did raw rhythm & blues in the 1960’s, some of their classic songs were nonetheless still enjoyed by many.
When first walking up to the Oasis, the first thing that I noticed was a parking lot filled with vintage Vespa and Lambretta scooters.
Upon entering the club, you are greeted with a variety of fashion straight out of a psychedelic movie. Women are wearing extremely short mini dresses complete with bell sleeves and dark eye make-up, while men are wearing tapered and flared corduroy trousers with paisley shirts and cravats.
Red With Purple Flashes
Considering it’s already nearing the peak of the evening, everyone seems to be already drunk and riding the psychedelic experience of MDMA and hashish. Pupils everywhere are huge and people are beginning to lose themselves in the colorful and fuzz-filled sounds that the dj’s are unleashing. I myself lost myself in the sea of fluorescent music, and didn’t stop at anything. Every night was more of the same, and every night usually ended around 6-8am. This is unheard of in the States, but is ever-so-common in Europe.
All Dance and No Sleep
Many of the British and Italian attendees were actually staying at the same hostel I was, and so we all retreated to what would be our home for the week. Little did I know that their plans were completely beyond me and continued to party at the hostel till 12 or 1pm. I, of course, made my way to bed around 10am or so but hardly even slept given that their party was happening on the floor above me. My dreams were constantly interrupted by banging, stomping, loud peaks in the music, and different accents singing in unison to various 60’s songs. This continued on every night thereafter until it was time to depart.
Leaving, of course, was a bit hard for me considering that I felt as though I’ve known everyone for years. They all tend to see each other at other various 60’s parties throughout the year, but I unfortunately live on the opposite end of the world and will not run into them for another few years or so. Until then, they’re pretty much pen pals. Well in this day and age I guess Myspace pals is more like it.
Photos Courtesy of:
L. Arturo Cardoza (www.bangbangishotudown.com.blogspot.com)
