I'm gonna try to explain this in the least contorted way I can. If you think about how your music taste is multi-faceted, with highs and lows of interests in different genres. You have your favourites songs, styles, artists at that time and of all time, what you listen to for certain effects and how you live your life musically. While I was in Bologna, I noticed that these levels shifted in order to suit my lifestyle, albeit just for the weekend. Of course I still loved all the same music, but different genres sprung to mind or released the good feelings I wanted. I was so happy to be relaxing that the vibe the music was creating reflected my feelings in that, and so my music taste essentially adapted to curate this balance. I have a playlist for my friend which I'll link here, but some of the highlights of this were Stay Flo and Binz from the new Solange album, both fantastic, Monsoon by Amber Mark, Loved Ones by Armando Young and Grave by Summer Walker. R&B has always been a favourite of mine, but it has never felt more right than it did this weekend.
Of course, we did get some clubbing in as well... what did you expect. Peggy Gou happened to be playing in Bologna that weekend, not planned at all, so obviously I was GASSED. We saw her at this club called Link which is outside the city, we had to get a bus which was packed to the brim with everyone going to the same place, shouting and being jarring, it was so jokes. The queue had absolutely no organisation and for half of it I was just being carried between people, my feet weren't even touching the ground. I'm sure that's some people's idea of hell but in the excitement I was creaasinggg. I also had to fill in a form for membership at the front and got given a membership card for 'Loris' lol. Once we got in I was really impressed by the club itself. We were obviously in the middle of nowhere so this old factory building just had all the doors and windows open and the techno was just pulsing from the inside. Anticipation was building. We walk in and it's packed with people, there's not many clubs in London that can carry that kind of capacity, and we squeeze into the crowd and enjoy the vibes.
I really rate Peggy Gou, it was my first time getting a glimpse of her live work and she can definitely DJ. Track crossovers were sick, and the way she was bringing the bass in and out as it shook the ground really got you into the rhythm. Anyway, maybe ten minutes into us being there she dropped her 'At Night' remix. Absolutely. F***ing. Lost it. What a TUNE, I'm sorry but it just needs no explanation. When it drops into a silence halfway through the song and the whole of Bologna sang the line back at her, the crowd mentality vibes were unreal. My night was already made. We didn't get to stay for more than about an hour and a half unfortunately, so didn't catch any of her 'Once' EP which I was disappointed by but I know I'm going to see her again ASAP so not worried. What I more came out thinking about was how interesting it is experiencing the different clubbing cultures in different cities and countries. I've never been anywhere in England where you have to travel so far to the middle of nowhere just for this kind of night out. But the adventure of it was so exciting, and the insulation of the area almost made it feel like a festival, I found it really exhilarating. 10/10 would definitely go again, although getting home was a mission and it could have been even worse, let's not talk about it.
Also worth mentioning that this made me wonder if Peggy Gou alters her set to fit her audience. You could tell the Italian crowd absolutely lived for techno, and the section of the set I saw was almost entirely this. I thought about how most sets I see in London there's usually more variety. Of course taste in dance music changes wherever you go, but I just find the details of diversity as you travel around so fascinating. It's in the music, the club layout, the culture inside and outside. When we were on the bus, everyone was shouting crap but not one other person was giving any 'oi oi's. Heartbreaking to be honest, but we move on. Anyway, just thought that was quite cool.
Leaving Bologna was pretty hard. I'm actually seeing my friend in a few weeks for my birthday anyway but it was knowing how special that weekend and the period of time we purely got to spend together in that specific setting was. I appreciated it so much and at first it was hard to accept it was over. Cried at the airport a bit, not gonna lie, and just played those songs I mentioned above on repeat. This kind of brings me back to the point I made in my post last time about music nostalgia. I said I was excited for the music I was listening to now to become a peng memory, and this is that in action. All those beautiful songs are now going to be inextricably connected to my memories of that weekend away, of the sun, the city, the chills, the vibes. If I want to feel that warm content that that weekend gave me, I can re-echo it in the music. She has a window sill in her apartment that looks over the tiled rooves of the buildings nearby, because we were on the top floor, and we spent so much time just sitting on it, looking out, and that image is exactly what comes to mind as soon as I press play.
Just wanna mention my favourite song at the moment too - Redstripe Rhapsody, LAUSSE THE CAT - layers, genius, listen to it. x x
