2023-10-21 03:30:22
From 8 pm the place was packed. Last Saturday night, October 14, the ‘temple’ of Bogotá rock, Abbot y Costelo, was going to close its doors following 38 years in operation. People knew it and a line of almost two blocks that extended on 65th Street, between Caracas Avenue and 13th Street, evidenced it. All paths led to the same conclusion: it was the last event.
(In context: Iconic rock bar in Bogotá closes its doors).
‘Rock of yesterday, today and always’
This weekend was the last one they provided their service.
Photo:
Abbot and Costelo Rock Bar
Just outside the establishment you might hear rock classics echoing in the air. ‘Metallica’, ‘Kiss’, ‘Queen’, ‘Guns n’ Roses’, among other bands that played on the speakers, ended up setting the scene for the venue’s farewell night.
The scene was the following: ‘Flasks’ and ‘flasks’ of beer entered non-stop to continue feeding the bar during service and dozens of people continued to accumulate around the bar and the characteristic projectors, which in the corners of the establishment They showed the videos of each song.
The 20 tables that were located in the space were already full and the conversations did not stop, unless it was to sing a song together with everyone present.
For Jorge Blanco, a university student of political science and theater, that night reminded him of the essence of the place: a friendly, peaceful space full of rock.
The well-known list of songs by DJ Jean Pierre Mariño, who had been working there for years, never failed. He managed to take the attendees, as they described, on a journey through the classics of the 70s, 80s and 90s.
(We recommend reading: The iconic bars of Bogotá that have closed their doors: do you remember them?).
It was anthem, following anthem, following anthem. People sang, danced and jumped
“It was anthem, following anthem, following anthem. People sang, danced and jumped,” said Jorge, who had been visiting the place since he was 18.
The first time was when his father, Alexander Blanco, took him. The smell of wood, old rum and a decoration with paintings and photographs of historical figures in music, stayed in his memory. Objects that were for sale that night.
“It was a very cozy legendary Bogotá bar. The people and the atmosphere were fraternity and friendship. I remember when a married couple, who were at least over 60 years old, talked to us and the man spent the food for us and we spent the money. But it is not an isolated situation, it is something that always ended up happening: either you sang the song with a stranger, you jumped together or you talked to anyone,” the 22-year-old student recalled.
He, his friends and his girlfriend were one of the few young people in the space. According to what he said, 90 percent of those present looked between 30 and 50 years old.
And the bar is in the memory of that generation. It was founded in June 1985 and its motto, until the day it closed, was ‘Rock of yesterday, today and always’.
Why did Abbot y Costelo close?
Located in the town of Chapinero, Abbot & Costelo stood out as one of the pioneer establishments dedicated to the disruptive genre in the capital.
This site became the meeting point for multiple generations and played a crucial role in bringing together musicians and lovers of the genre from different eras in one place.
However, following an uninterrupted service of almost forty years, the doors of this iconic bar that knew how to bring the finest of ‘rock and roll’ from all corners of the world were closed.
Family relatives told EL TIEMPO that the establishment closed due to the death of Luis García, the father of the founder, Jairo García, on September 17 of this year. Apparently, due to some disagreements, it was decided not to continue with the establishment.
EL TIEMPO contacted family members and members of the staff who worked there. However, they preferred not to delve into the situation.
(You may be interested: Bogotá becomes ‘Paradise’ with Mora’s concert at the Movistar Arena).
Jairo and Don Luis were the faces of this space, everyone who frequented the bar might, at least, distinguish them.
Unfortunately, death surprised Jairo 10 years ago, on Friday, July 12, 2013. At 50 years old, the man who had dedicated his life to that business said goodbye. According to information provided to this publishing house at that time, his death would have been caused by lung cancer.
(In context: A rock Friday without ‘Flaco’).
Abbot and Costello. Year 2013
His father, Don Luis, decided to continue his son’s legacy until this year, when he died of natural causes.
The man had a kind face, always wearing a black coat, standing outside the bar, alert and attentive to the needs of his customers. He “was everyone’s dad,” or so Paul Contreras, an ‘old guard’ of the place, remembers him.
The first time Paul attended the establishment was in 1998, when he had just turned 18. At that time he was doing his mandatory military service and a corporal convinced them to go listen to good music. The man, now 43 years old, remembers that Jairo was the one who was tending the place, almost empty, on that Thursday night.
“’Please play me ‘Ace of Spades’ by ‘Motörhead’, I asked him and he said ‘The live or video version?’, the alarm immediately went off and I thought: these people know what they’re talking regarding. “, he commented while remembering the first of many conversations he had with the founder of the place.
The walls of music and memories
“It was an old-fashioned bar, where you go to talk, to share. You arrived there and there was always a greeting. Don Luis was willing to listen, attentive to customers when someone came out too drunk to avoid being left on the ground or getting a taxi. It was a bar that cared regarding its customers, that’s why people loved…they love Abbot and Costelo so much,” Contreras concluded, comparing the place to the rest of the establishments where, according to his experience, he barely sets foot outside. , that’s all.
From his first visit, the social communicator lasted the next 25 years, attending without fail to celebrate his birthdays, New Year’s parties and the disco party. The place saw him spend the best and worst moments of his life: drinking alone, with friends or partying.
Band performing at Abbot and Costelo. Year 2013
One of the memories that still resonates in his memory occurred in 2007. With a few drinks and a ring in his pocket, he went up the stairs to the console where Jairo was playing a ‘Metallica’ song, the video of which was playing on the screens.
It was a bar that cared regarding its customers, that’s why people loved…love Abbot and Costelo so much
“Brother, please read this sentence,” he said with a tone of euphoria to the owner.
“Are you sure regarding the mad cow you’re going to get into?” he asked incredulously.
“Of course, brother, but with Soda Estéreo,” he remembers to answer. Paul watched him cut the 80’s trash metal band’s song almost to the point of ‘kicks’ and put, in its place, ‘De Música Ligera’, by Soda Estéreo.
Inevitably people began to sing to the rhythm with Gustavo Cerati, Zeta Bosio and Charly Alberti. At that moment, Jairo said through the microphone: ‘Johana, Paul wants to know if you will marry him.’ Paul knelt down and took the ring out of his pants. His girlfriend, his current wife, hugged him and in her ear he whispered yes but that she would repeat it tomorrow when he was sober. Thus, the atmosphere exploded in the bar and, as he recalled, “the rumba began.”
A night at Abbot and Costelo: a journey through music
“You arrived and you felt that sonic tide of classic rock, it was listening to the ‘Beatles’, ‘Claptone’, ‘Dire Straits’, that is, the philosopher’s stones of rock,” said Contreras. Regardless of whether you attended a few months ago or 16 years ago, the customs did not change, they were the brand and identity of the place.
The projectors accompanied each song with its respective video, it was an environment to have a few beers and, according to their experience, talk. However, around 8 and 10 the tone began to rise, the notes of ‘Glam rock’, the eighties, and ‘Hard Rock’ were rotated by the well-known Jean Pierre, who with a serious but friendly countenance, He remained in control of the music following Jairo’s death.
(We recommend: No plans on weekends? Learn regarding the alternatives in Bogotá).
For me and for those of my generation it was like the center of worship. Like the music academy where we learned a lot and learned regarding new songs
“You might feel the rise and people stood up, it was a tide of heads shaking and, then, the rumba rock began with ‘Iron Maiden’, ‘Metallica’ and ‘Kraken’, there people were already shouting and jumping. Later he would lower his tone, as if to say ‘guys, it’s time to go home’ or at least go to ‘Púrpura’, the bar next door, to eat arepitas and continue partying.”
“For me and for those of my generation it was like the center of worship. Like the music academy where we learned a lot and learned regarding new songs because at that time we did not have YouTube or social networks,” said Alexander Blanco, administrator of different bars and restaurants throughout his life. He is currently 46 years old, but his first time at Abbot and Costelo was when he was 16.
It was 1993 and they found the establishment following leaving a place in the Las Aguas neighborhood, where there were small, old televisions playing music. When they arrived at ‘Costelo’ they came across three-barreled projectors on a large curtain.
“Seeing a rock band in giant size was already an experience with a spectacular sound, it was great,” he recalled a Bogotá in which listening to rock was strange and with few possibilities.
For Alexander, the best memory he has there was when he left school, and then following university, when he went to ‘play’ with friends. For this reason, 26 years later he decided to take his son Jorge when he turned 18 to see the place. “We both went, I took him and in fact we got drunk there, many people of my generation did the same, it was like a change, handing the baton to each other,” he explained.
The identity of the rock capital
It was like realizing that the place where we were young was gone
The death of Luis García was a hard blow for those who attended, because even though they knew that he was still under the command of Jean Pierre and Nidia, the daughter and sister of the founder, they recognized that Luis and Jairo were “the soul of the place.” ”.
The announcement of the closure was made through a publication on the social network Instagram. More than 300 comments regretting the event have been published since October 11, 2023.
“It was like realizing that the place where we were young was gone,” Contreras concluded.
On October 14, at the end of the farewell night, even though the lights had already turned on and the music was ending, no one left. In the chorus you might hear shouting “Costelo, Costelo, Costelo!”, and in the background you might hear phrases like “I don’t know how it can end” and “Where are we going to listen to rock now?”
Jean Pierre, with regret, but maintaining the appearance that characterized him, took the microphone for the last time. “Okay guys, thank you very much for your affection, love and understanding, but don’t worry, keep an eye on social media because there are surprises there,” he announced in return.
“As always and for the farewell of my entire life: we appreciate your collaboration, we have the Police outside and it’s time to leave, I love you very much,” he concluded. The last song finally stopped. There was no time for more.
Laura Nathalia Quintero Ariza.
EL TIEMPO School of Multimedia Journalism.
LATEST NEWS EDITORIAL.
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