Ostava and People-Watching

One of the great things about being back in Bulgaria is the opportunity to see for the first time some of my favorite Bulgarian bands perform live and stand literally only a couple of feet away from them. After Beloslava and Te, last night I got the chance to see Ostava live. The music and their performance in and of itself was great, but in addition the concert proved to be a terrific people-watching opportunity (which, as some of you know, is one of my favorite pastimes). The first rows in front of the stage were occupied mostly by teenage girls jumping around and dancing. This in and of itself was fun to observe... and I almost felt a tinge of envy at how free-spirited and energetic they seemed to be. There were "the best friends"--two girls who kept hugging each other, holding hands, and jumping in unison to the music but not in unison to its rhythm, and I couldn't quite tell whether this was due to intoxication or just general shared lack of rhythm. Then there was the "woman vamp"--a woman in her early 20s who looked like she had desperately been trying to copy Cruella De Vil's look (from 101 Dalmatians): straight black hair, black elbow-length gloves, red scarf around her neck, dragging slowly and sexily from a cigarette in a long cigarette holder. She was probably my favorite from the crowd, and I had spotted her right away even before the concert had started while she had still been sitting at the bar. Then there was that one crazy male fan who felt the need to stand right up front and gesticulate wildly to the music surrounded by female fans only.

Of course, I also ended up seeing some people I hadn't seen in years, but that almost seems like something mundane and ordinary in Sofia now.

Anyhow, back to Ostava. You can hear their latest single, Sex in the Morning, on myspace here. It's pretty good! I can't wait for their new album.