Dancing in the Streets

Friday night, I got to see Gipsy.cz again, for free, at a festival on Wenceslas Square. It was "Taste of Europe: A Festival of European Regions in Prague" coinciding with EU talks on European regions. At the foot of Wenceslas Square, they had food and craft booths from countries like Holland, Romania, France, Croatia, Greece, and a variety of Czech areas. There was some food and crafts, but mostly wine. They also had a stage set up for musicians from Europe, including Gipsy.cz. I got there early and wandering around a bit. Had a glass of wine from France. Listened to the Greek rapper do his show. Sniffed a little paint…on accident. I couldn't figure out why I was smelling paint thinner until I saw a homeless man walking near me with an open can of paint thinner. Then, I found a place close to the stage. Next to a bunch of homeless guys. I think they were, or at least some of them were, Romani. In addition to their coloring – most people with darker complexions living in the Czech Republic, who are extremely poor, are Romani – they also heckled Gipsy a bit and at one point yelled for a czardas, traditionally a Hungarian folk music style, it has been popularized in Roma music. I think they got it – although I know their music, I can't necessarily tell the rhythms that each song is based on – because they started to dance very excitedly. Throughout the concert, they were having a really good time.

A few highlights of this performance, was the Michael Jackson beat boxing. Gipsy had to fill a few minutes so he hit the mic with his Michael Jackson routine. I found a video of him doing it on youtube, so if you're interested.

Then, I noticed that he was wearing a Houston Astros baseball cap! I wasn't sure at first, but at one point I saw the emblem on the back used on the MLB paraphernalia and I kept watching until I got a good look and yes, it spelled A-S-T-R-O-S. Being that this is the only pro team that I have followed my entire lifetime, I was pleased. Next stop, Eurovision!

ADDENDUM: Nope, no racism here! An extremist group is protesting Gipsy's nomination for the Eurovision competition. Their main argument is that Gipsy.cz was nominated without a nation-wide competition (although their latest album was #3 on the World music charts) but they are a well-known anti-Roma party. ARGH!