There are no goodbyes...

The summer solstice has passed which means a couple of things. One, the days will once again begin to shorten bit by bit and two, I must be packing my bags. The life of a nomadic English teacher; find a new place, teach eight months, pack and clean, travel for a few months and start again in the fall. I celebrated my unofficial going away party yesterday with a music festival featuring Morcheeba and The Manic Street Preachers which finally gave me a chance to explore the Malta area a little and in the end I wound up having a good time.

The signs were ominous. Repeated text messages warning of intense security and lack of beer. Plus the normal confusion of figuring anything out in Poland, if you haven't done it or been there, the only way to figure anything out is to follow the crowd. Upon finding the entrance things don't look good as it seems to be true, there are more security personnel than fans. However, there does seem to be a Lech tent, there must be beer, stupid British friends. Entry also proved less stressful than a flight check in as we weren't carrying any food or beverages. Even the task of finding my friends visiting from Krakow was easy, but then things take a turn for the worse. It's about 5pm and they are entering their third hour without beer. The beer tent turns out to be exclusively for VIP's (most of whom seemed to be no different than you or me, save for the expensive camera around their necks alongside the plastic ID card, passes into Nirvana). Making matters worse, the clearing in the woods where the site of the festival took place, quite beautiful in it's pristine state I'm sure, was dotted with the churches of the capitalist faith. Red Bull tents, coffee stands, Coke, telepizza and of all things a Malboro booth! Caffeine and nicotine, but no alcohol.

It's a slippery slope this country seems to be taking. I understand the need to create a safe atmosphere, one where families can enjoy a music festival alongside fans of all backgrounds. However, by creating this mecca of corporate culture, the organizers also help in moving society in the wrong direction, ie. towards America and away from Europe. My British friends were in shock. An outdoor summer music festival, beerless. Fear of a few drunks is no reason to not have a beer garden at a festival. Thanks to the no re-entry policy at the gate, by the time the Street Preachers finished it was getting on 11pm and my friends were in hour 9 without beer, not to mention I was entering my 6th.

The show was a blast even without beer I must admit. Sofa featured one die hard fan up front thrashing around and Anna Dabrowska had a few catchy tunes plus what appeared to be a unique ability to dance while her shirt stayed still. I might piss a few bleeding hearts off by what I have to say about what happened next but...c'mon. Before the next act, a man came out, said a few things of which I only caught a few words. Then he said "...Allegro!" and for the first time, after two hours of music, most of the crowd rose to their feet and cheered. He had the people crying Hallelujah to their corporate god, it was truly revolting. Turns out that he was a pretty famous guy, Jerzy Owsiak who started some charity for kids. Between him and another announcer, Allegro was chanted more than 10 times in a few minutes, with the twin spires to this deity rising on both sides of the stage.



Morcheeba was just that, Morcheeba. They played their classics and got me grooving before the closing act, the ones my British friends had come to see. The Manic Street Preachers have been around for a good decade and over that time have amassed quite a festival following. So when they struck the first chord, much of the crowd roared their approval and began to bounce around. Their set was good fun with a few highlights such as If You Tolerate This (one of the songs I knew before the show). Here's a little you tube from yesterday to get you in the mood:



Thanks to a miscalculation on my part, we didn't wind up breaking the beer drought until about midnight. 10 hours without beer, filled with Red Bull and Coke. Thanks for the concert Allegro, but really, a security fence could be built to contain the frenzied fans, even with beer in their system.

See you next year Poznań! Anyone interested in writing articles for this site, be they your experience as a Pole here or abroad or a foreigner trying to make their way here, please get in touch with me either via the message board to the right or at nahummer@gmail.com

PS. A plea for help! If anyone hears or knows of a flat/apartment that will be available October 1st, please let me know, once again by message board or email. Relatively close to the centre, around 50m and 1000zł. Thanks in advance!