that subliminal kid

I started walking up the pedestrial road to Irodeio Theatre, just downside Acropolis. It was a warm summer-ish nigh. Αt least 3.500 people were there. I was stunned! I thought it would just be me, myself and I, best case scenario. But I was wrong.
And when Paul D. Miller, better know as DJ Spooky, stood in front of us at 21.15 sharp, he just said “Wow!”

And WOW indeed! He is the first dj that ever played in a theatre that is… 1850 years old! His records are not distributed massively in Greece but there he was, opposite 3500 people waiting to listen to him mixing and spinning his sounds, scoring an alternative soundtrack for D.W Griffith’s 1915 movie, “Birth Of A Nation”. The screening began, a mutant version of the "Star-Spangled Banner" hit us through the sound system and, for the next ninety minutes or so, we witnessed an extraordinary gig.

I am not going into any details but, for those unfamiliar with the movie [don’t worry, it’s not exactly a mainstream blockbuster production], I will just underline the fact that it is still used by none other than... the Ku Klux Klan as a “recruiting device”, despite the racist content, or rather, just because of it. According to that movie, the African Americans have divided the US Nation, so the country must be re-delivered to white rulers… Anyhoo, I have never been in the States, but I know that racism still exists there, even though one would believe that the KKK belongs to a forgotten past. Unfortunately, that is not the case!

Nevertheless, the point is that DJ Spooky took a controversial [to say the least] movie that’s more of a call up to arms and a propaganda tool instead of an artistic document [although, technically speaking, it’s kind of interesting] and managed to counter-narrate the tale, spreading the message in a complete different way. As he told us before the gig, in his short introduction, “Those who do not understand the past are doomed to repeat it.” Words of wisdom [erm, actually, this quote is Santamaya's, the LATAM philosopher]...

I despise politics and this blog is bored to death when it comes to analyze things that are too serious to deal with within a blog limitations. But, the music was fantastic, the scenery was majestic, the combination of the phat beats, cinematic strings and… ancient stones was inspiring and when the sounds went off… the night proved to be still young.
And I might as well witness the re-birth of a nation, but I also had a good night out. And spooky that… it was not. So, call me shallow, but “nice” is always a good option…

As a matter of fact…
Call me morbid, call me pale…
I've spent six years on your trail
Six long years
On your trail
Six full years of my life on your trail

But if you have five seconds to spare
Then I'll tell you the story of my life…