Party like it’s 1979 (and I’m still 19)

December 7, 2010 - 10:00 AM by

Madboojah Project

There’s only one thing more uncomfortable than being the only 50-year-old in a room full of twenty-something college students at a raucous dance party. That’s going with your 17-year-old daughter.

I have been wanting to see an Israeli band called The Madboojah Project for a year now, since I missed their concert last Purim. The group performs an eclectic mix of Celtic, Irish, folk and trance music with bagpipe, flamenco and belly dancers to boot. They’ve just released a new CD (their second) and began a new tour in October.

So when I read on a street poster that Madboojah Project would be playing a concert last week, along with two other World Music bands I dig – Balkan Beat Box and Amir Yakobi’s Tribal Dance – I quickly snapped up two tickets for my wife Jody and me.

But come the night of the performance, Jody wasn’t feeling well. I called up my Israelity colleague David Brinn who’s usually up for a musical experiment, but he was exhausted after a hard week.

That’s when I thought of my teenage daughter. She loves music and dancing. And it could be a nice father-daughter night out.

I should have known when we got to the performance space – a side annex to Jerusalem’s Crown Plaza Hotel – that this might not exactly be my crowd. My peers are not particularly tattooed, pierced, dreadlocked or scantily dressed (we middle-agers rarely don mini-skirts). Another clue: when we asked where the concert was, the guard responded, “Oh you mean the party.”

But we had made the journey out already, and the tickets were already paid for, so there was no turning back.

We arrived at 9:30 AM – much too early for the fashionably tardy college set. We milled around for about an hour with my daughter becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Here was a room full of young people and she was hanging out with her…father. Her old father. She tried to joke, but it was clearly a strain.

I tried to make the best of it. “Once the music starts, you’ll love it,” I said. “Or you could stand on the other side of the room and pretend you don’t know me.” I also suggested that no one would actually know I was her dad; they’d probably think that – with my buffed body (not) – I was a plainclothes security person.

But it was too much. My daughter, apologizing profusely, left to catch a cab home, leaving me alone with the crowd.

The first band, Tribal Dance, came on an hour later. They were very good, but without a dance partner, it was awkward. I hung out in the back inhaling far too much second hand smoke (the Israeli crowd disregarding en masse the law).

As midnight passed, I thought to ask the guard at the exit what time he thought Madboojah Project would go on. He didn’t know. “How long do you think the party will last?” I asked. “Until at least 4:00, maybe 5:00,” he replied. AM.

That was beyond even my pain tolerance. I made a quick exit and headed out into the chilly Jerusalem air, feeling doubly defeated. I had missed my Madboojah fix a second time. And I had come to the realization that, despite feeling young at heart and still hip, I was, alas (and as my daughter will readily profess), no longer cool. Middle age and Moodbajah just don’t mix.

Tags: , , , , • Category: Entertainment, Music 

Comments

3 Comments on Party like it’s 1979 (and I’m still 19)

  1. David on Wed, Dec 8th 2010 9:26 AM

    2. Brian,
    I’m sorry, but not really, that I was too tired to go out… here’s to 9 pm shows!

  2. Lauren Helfand on Wed, Dec 8th 2010 10:13 PM

    3. I can totally relate. I’m 50 (yikes!) and my daughter is 20. If she did deign to go with me to a concert, she wouldn’t let me dance and she would have to be in control of my wardrobe. I think she’s thrilled we don’t live anywhere near each other. I say, go to the party anyway and enjoy it like you’re still 19. Life is too short to worry about what all those kids think.

  3. Ira Kerem on Thu, Dec 9th 2010 12:38 PM

    4. There is a solution to the dilemma that Brian describes. For those “mature” adults (above 50) who really like to dance and don’t care that most dancers are considerably younger, you should check out boogie dance in Jerusalem most Thursday nights now located in a backroom at the Jerusalem Theater. The dancing is very freestyle to music that ranges from world to 60′s rock and roll. Most people dance without partners and the atmosphere is conducive to just letting go and expressing yourself with movement. The crowd is mostly young in their 20s and 30s but there are some dancers even older than Brian. I am one of them and I certainly don’t feel embarassed to dance in this most welcoming environment. All kinds of people come to dance – native born Israelis, olim, students, hippies, hipsters, and religious people who most probably like the opportunity to dance and not necessarily with a partner of the opposite sex. Dress is pretty casual and with no alcohol on the premises, there is only the music, dancing, and magic in the air to transport you back to 1979 or to times and places even further away. It is definitely worth checking out.
    http://www.boogienights.co.il

Leave a Comment





© 2012 ISRAELITY | Sitemap