Halfway down the wormhole between Rick's Bar and the Restaurant at the End of the Universe is the Freakeasy, where two epochs collide and unfold without heed to time or history.
The introduction to the brand new 'Freakeasy', launching at Passing Clouds this weekend, intrigues as much as it illuminates. A further glance at the densely worded back of the flyer reveals the words 'celestial swing' and the dress code: 'Stanley Kubrick meets F Scott Fitzgerald for a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster'. Interesting.
"It's basically a pan-dimensional speakeasy" says creator Will Wiles, "the idea behind it is that in our present time we still have our equivalents to the speakeasy in unlicensed parties, and we have many of the same concerns as those who populated the original speakeasys. Free thinkers and artists have always been drawn to the marginalized - and there's always been great parties in those places. The idea is to draw parallels between the collective consciousness of both eras - the '30s and now - and to bring out the perpetual nature of the major struggles that each generation deals with."
Whilst this sounds like a pretty dry evening we are assured that entertainment is top of the bill. "As I researched this project I realized that the soundtrack for it was vintage remix and in looking for it I discovered some truly fantastic new acts and a burgeoning new genre of music."
'Electro-Swing' or 'Swing beat' is the new genre that he refers to and it certainly seems to be taking hold - with the success of The Correspondents and a growing interest in the barnstorming Parisian band Caravan Palace - who made their UK debut at WOMAD last year. The genre combines all the heavy beats and bass that's a must for modern dance floors with the lyricism and humour of the swing era and - as was seen at the recent Correspondents gig at The Book Club - is rapidly gathering an army of followers.
"I love Caravan Palace' Wiles said, 'but I don't think we're ever going to see much of them over here because they're so successful in Europe, the headline band on Saturday is Swing Zazou who are similar to Caravan Palace but have a slightly different quality to their sound, drawing on R&B like Louis Jordan as well as the Manouche swing of Django Reinhardt. And a live band is crucial to recreating the spirit of the speakeasy which was always cram full of singers, dancers and musicians. If you'd like to know what a pan-dimensional speakeasy looks like, check out this link."
Freakeasy is at Passing Clouds this Saturday (Feb 6th) from 9.30pm until 4am. Tickets cost £12 on the door or £10 before 10.30pm.
Image by Shreyans Bhansali.
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