What is something we like to hold on to in the past? Why do we call them the good old days when those days were filled with insecurities and doubts? Maybe we love the innocence of youth, the courage and foolishness, the open road we face. Music is the vessel that holds these memories.
When I was in Alvajiri last time, I heard one of PM Dawn’s songs and she violently dragged me into the room of a friend of mine from when we were in second grade.
We were sitting there listening to RnB and talking about girls we liked but never dared to talk to.
We had pimples on our faces and were getting used to our cracking voices. We found hope in Johnny Gill. Bobby Brown gave us courage. Snoop Dogg made us feel like we could get away with being bad and cruel. Usher activated us.
In music, we found a place where we could be awkward and dreamy without feeling ashamed of our growing limbs and unruly emotions.
The alvajiri has no decor worth mentioning. The parking is terrible. Sometimes the service is a little slow. But music never fails. Often times, music is all we need because it is our magic carpet that sends us to places where we have lost our feet. Places where the winds of adulthood have swept away our footprints.
We recently gathered there with a few friends because of their popularity Grilled meat And music. I felt at home again, listening to the music, seeing faces that seemed familiar at first glance, but turned out to be faces that represented the zeitgeist.
These are all the boys and girls who grew up in the 80s and 90s. They look like the ones you used to see at Choices Bar, but now they’re grey. There’s comfort in that too, because we’re all getting older. Safety in numbers and all that kind of stuff.
What is the purpose of a bar if it does not motivate people to walk a common path through music and memories?