Most of the readers probably find familiar the atmosphere of the houseparty-era’s passionate nights which was just blooming in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when the spacious (and continuously swelling) group of friends always got their world-saving meetings at different places on weekends. These parties were about youth, love and freedom, and of course about that spontaneously nascent power of community forming, which definitely meant the important fundament of subsequent festival culture.
The international intellectual and musical activity – which showed up recently in our county with the help of Swiss rock band Angry Buddha – evokes the houseparty era with its system, spontaneity and nature but avoiding its commitment. Angry Buddha from Basel played first in our region in 2010, as the guest of Alternative Music Club of Sárvár (AZK). Shortly the scenically feeling gigs, the colorful dresses, the spicy incenses and music they share and especially their extremely open and friendly aura resulted a group of fans in Sárvár. The Swiss guys were very thankful for this enthusiasm, so they became an important gear of the mechanism of the AZK, regular visitors of the Club, and they’ve never come empty-handed…
Namely they invited those other bands gig by gig, who joined their missionary roam for music. They often showed their favourite place in Sárvár to other Swiss, Austrian bands, and last year their Israeli brother-band, Arallu waited on in the club, too. In such a multicultural society like the Swiss, probably evident, that the doors of world open to each other. We don’t have the routine in Hungary that musicians from Switzerland, New-Zealand, Argentina and Columbia play together in the same band (like in Angry Buddha). Furthermore they usually travel thousands of miles for a gig!
It’s natural, that we, Hungarians – with our narrowed thinking caused by our limited financial possibilities – start to think first, how they can organize such an international career, how the bands can finance the tours and of course the places of the gigs. Well, the answer is simple. They developed a particular conception, which can fit susceptibly for the actual economic and cultural terms. And the prime payment here is not the money, but the attitude of the partners and the good relationship. The not mainstream music scene by itself is not profitable these days. If a band who brings some strong musical potential wanted to show itself, it doesn’t have to wait for the big discovery but represent itself as many places as possible. The members of Angry Buddha know this very well, and when they have gigs abroad, they don’t expect anything special from their host, except lodgment, alimentation, friendly service, and ensuring of organization of further gigs. Just like in the case of the house parties…
Lately a band from Sárvár joined to this vastly pointful and well-given circulation. This band, Atakám made a Black Sabbath tribute show last weekend with Angry Buddha and the amazing Austrian Phi in the Club Bergwerk in Neusiedl. The same trio also plans the future. After the show and some beer they took their calendars out and agreed the common stages for the summer and fall period. In these plans there are places for gigs equally in Sárvár, in Austria and in Switzerland. Just like in the case of the house parties…
And what is the best in this effect besides the adventures, the friendship and the international possibilities? On the website of Atakám has already appeared some multilingual information, and they get along with the English presenting on the stage. We could fly more and more fictive flags not just Atakám’s, but on the other bands’ Facebook site, too. As the house parties grounded the festival culture in the ‘60s and ‘70s, maybe this rising musical activity will ground something, too, which will reinterpret the European amateur music culture.
