Na festa de drum & base

Na festa de drum & base toda a gente está sentada pelos cantos da sala, e eu e a Rose sentamo-nos também, num sofá, ao lado de um polaco que já dorme de tão bêbado ou cansado. Afasto as pernas dele um pouco para o lado, para me poder sentar confortavelmente, e ele abre os olhos ligeiramente e sorri-me, enrosca-se melhor e volta a ficar com as pernas dele encostadas às minhas. Eu tinha dito ao Shine que ia àquela festa com a Rose, e que viesse ter connosco mais tarde. Mas nessa noite ele fica a construir quartos no armazém naval, pois faz demasiado frio para continuarem a dormir em tendas. Durante mais de uma hora eu e a Rose falamos sobre festas, sobre os diferentes tipos de músicas que se tocam nelas, e sobre as atitudes e rituais das pessoas que a elas vão. Passámos por um bar onde tocavam uma espécie de house, antes de virmos para aqui. Um house desinteressante, como grande parte desse estilo musical, onde a comunicação proveniente tem muitas vezes um interesse puramente sexual. Quando entrámos nesse bar as pessoas olharam-nos de uma maneira demasiado intensa, que nos causou desconforto, e agora, nesta festa punk, sentimo-nos extremamente à vontade.

- Have you noticed that the further you go the harder it gets? – pergunta-me a Rose. – I mean, the music?

- You mean, you started by enjoying house and now that’s too soft and you can’t relate to it?

- Exactly. – diz. – But also the whole scene involved with the type of music, do you know what I mean?

- Yeah, I guess so. First trance was too fast for me, than I got into it and the whole discovery of the psychedelic world amazed me, and the squat scene, and suddenly I got tired of it all, and had to go on to the next discovery.

- Which was? – pergunta ela.

- Well, punk, I guess. – respondo. – And equality, activism, anarchy, all that.

- Yeah, and then it doesn’t make any sense to go back, does it?

- No. – concordo. – Trance got a bit boring. And I also don’t think that those who start with punk will ever end up liking house. It’s almost impossible!

- Exactly, it’s like going back, isn’t it?

- I never really liked house. – digo-lhe. – I discovered music with the alternative scene.

- Yeah, house is like the absolute begin.

- And do you think the guys at the bar were conscious of themselves? - pergunto-lhe.

- No, they were like peacocks, just looking and showing themselves. – responde ela. – They were absolutely unconscious of almost everything!

- Yeah, their drive is merely sexual, isn’t it?

- Yeah, absolutely!

- I mean, there’s nothing wrong with sex, but people join and dance for other reasons too. – opino. - The trance scene, for instance, is really not sexual, it’s totally tribal, and people dance to get in touch with themselves, and the divine, and get a sense of unity... right?

- Yeah, that’s exactly it! – concorda ela. – And the punk scene is more about reality, and what’s going on in the world, politics, and so on.

- And the alternative scene would be about art and madness.

- There are so many scenes when you think about it! – exclama ela. – It’s mad, isn’t it?

- Well, actually, not really. What’s the basic need that makes people join and dance? – pergunto-lhe.

- It’s tribal, I suppose. – conclui ela. – The need to be together, don’t you think?

- I think it’s everything we've mentioned so far, and thus all the different scenes. – respondo. – But I don’t think the peacocks realize that by far!

- Yeah, you’re right, it’s everything, and we’ve been through it, and the peacocks are only beginning!

- If they ever get anywhere. – acrescento.

- So, is Shine coming, you think? – pergunta a Rose.

- Probably not. – respondo-lhe. – They are building rooms, because it’s getting so cold, and tonight they have electricity, so I guess they will be busy until as late as possible.

- They don’t normally have electricity?

- No. Nor water.

- That’s amazing! – exclama a Rose.

- What is? – pergunto-lhe.

- These kids from rich countries, who decide to live without water and electricity, in the freezing cold, to question the system and fight it and be free!

- Yeah. – concordo. – It’s like we’re going back to the roots.

- Yeah, but when you’re poor and need to survive, all you want is to have water and electricity. It's some kind of paradox, isn't it?

- Evolution turns back. The whole world is a paradox. – respondo. – I’m really proud of those kids!

- Yeah, I like this new generation. They’re better than my generation! – diz a Rose.

- Me too. – concordo. – They’re conscious of so much, aren’t they? And they are fighting and busy about a lot of things. They have the energy and the brains!

- I know!

- I can’t sit down anymore, Rose. – digo-lhe, por fim. – Why doesn’t anybody dance? They’re making me shy!

- Yeah, the music’s good, I don’t get it. I guess nobody wants to be the first.

- Oh, I can’t stand it anymore, my legs hurt from sitting!

Levantamo-nos. A música está realmente boa. Começo a esticar as pernas e os braços, pois doem-me, e a Rose principia a sua dança amalucada de sempre, com o toque da geração de fins de oitenta. E em cinco minutos todos os punks perdem a estranha timidez inicial daquela noite, e a pista enche.