You may recall that about a year ago I was visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina winding up a 3 country trip (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay) when an unscrupulous and fake taxi driver took advantage when I let down my guard.
My man took off with my cameras, passport, computer and most importantly, 3 weeks worth of footage that I had shot for Punktology, the documentary about the worldwide influence of punk music. I chased him down the streets of Buenos Aires in a vicious rain storm like a mad man to no avail.
New Friends from Mundo Bizzaro in Feb. 2010
If you missed it my little adventure, well you can read about the debacle HERE. After years of travel in Latin America it was the first time I had been robbed and it was a pretty low point for me. But as with most bad things that happen in life, there was some good sprinkled in.
After briefly entertaining the idea of cutting the trip short and heading back to NYC, I decided to forge ahead to Montevideo, Uruguay with an intent to beg, borrow or steal (ooops, not steal!) a camera to salvage some footage form my month long trip in really way down south, South America.
Batra at Rehearsal at Salon Pueyrredon in Buenos Aires
Turns out the punks of Montevideo were awesome and came through big time, borrowing various cameras so that I could book some pretty decent interviews. You can still check out in the archives if you like (type “Uruguay” or “Montevideo” in the search bar). Thanks to my amigos in Montevideo, I didn’t return to NYC empty handed.
Now, It’s time I head back, back to the scene of the crime. Back to Buenos Aires not to exact my revenge (though I have day dreamed about what it would be like to see the bald little weasel who took my stuff), but to go back to Salon Pueyrredon to take in a punk show; back to Mundo Bizarro to check out the rockabilly scene and back to Montevideo, Uruguay, where this time Ill have my own camera (with proper sound equipment). The punks from Buenos Aires and Montevideo should be well represented.
This time, in addition to covering the punk, rockabilly and psychobilly scenes for you, I’m also working on another new, exciting project, a travel show called “Raw Travel” check it out HERE.
Because I’m working on dual projects this time, I have a really tight agenda but here is a preview of what you can expect.
First in Buenos Aires I plan on passing by Salon Pueyreddon again to catch up with my friends there and see how things have changed in a year. This spot is a good spot to see a good live rock or punk show. It’s always full of good people like Kita, the psychobilly bartender, or Maria who runs publicity for the venue or Batra one of the owners or Anita the rockabilly queen.
Psychobilly fan Kituh @ Salon Pueyrredon
We will also stop by Mundo Bizarro where we hope to hook up with manager Pinata to document the rockabilly scene in BA as well as hopefully repeat our interview with local rockabilly band Los Primitivos which never got published.
If Dos Minutos is around, we’ll hook up with them again and we hope to drop in on a rehearsal with our buddies at Drop Dead Dreams.
Rudos Wild After Rehearsal in Feb. 2010
In Montevideo, we are planning on shooting Rudos Wild for Raw Travel and shoot some footage for a kick ass music video, beginning with their concert at the Apartado Bar on 2/18/11 for Punk Outlaw Records.
Then on 2/21 we’ll be shooting the city sites for Raw Travel. We hope to swing by our buddies at the Clash City Rockers and Decibilios bars as well!
And if there are punks in Salta, Argentina (we know there are), we hope we’ll be able to tell you all about it as we head there for 4 days of Raw Travel.
But the best part of any trip are the unplanned, spontaneous things that happen. Who knows what might pop up, so stay tuned.
I try to stay open to the unexpected, embrace what the universe throws at me, but I truly hope I’m not chasing a fake taxi driver down the streets of Buenos Aires this time. But life is crazy. You never know.