Rockabilly night

I went to Camden on Saturday night where I was hoping to find a real Rockabilly. I visited an event at the elephant head pub which was held every Saturday. Me and Linea, another student on my course, sat and waited to see a Rockabilly. At 8, nothing was going on but the DJ was playing the blues and some rock and roll. We were told there was an event over the road in the blues kitchen which was playing rock and roll. Outside the club we found two middle aged Rockabilly women.

 I was hesitant to approach a real life rockabilly but I soon found the courage to talk to them. The conversation was very brief but the red haired rockabilly told me that she has been a rockabilly for many years and it is also a part of her life style. She was once a mod and has been a psychobilly but being a rockabilly is now a part of her. At home she explained that she has furnishings, objects and equipment that are all a part of the rockabilly culture. She told me that Camden was one of the central places for Rockabilly’s.

Both women had the 50s style clothes, pin up hair and the rockabilly style make up e.g. the thick eye liner, eye brows and red lip stick.

We made our way from the blues kitchen back to the elephant head and decided to wait. Coming back into the elephant head, we realised the DJ was an old Rockabilly. She had the pin up hair; red lip stick and 50s style dress. The dress came in tight at the waist and swung out at the hips, even her boobs were like cones which were very popular in the 50s. When we spoke, I realised she was from the deep south in America. She played the song London Calling by the clash and La bamba which were one of my favourites.

http://youtu.be/PK2HANwsUWg

After a very successful night of mingling with some local rockabilly’s, I soon found myself talking to a skin head who was sitting next to me.

I was very judgemental towards skin heads after seeing the film made in England but the skin head I met changed my view completely. She told me there were two types of skin heads, the racist Nazi type and one which she called herself an apolitic skin head. Apolitic skin heads believe everyone is equal .She explained how in the 60s the English and Jamaicans came together and apolitic skin heads began listening to reggae and Jamaican music. In her eyes a true skin head believes other communities should come together as one and to not discriminate. She has been a skin head for 5 years, originally she was a punk. Everything about her was what i would imagine a skin head would look like, she had the long hair at the front but the back it was shaved. She wore the checked shirts and DMs.

 

Visiting the elephant head opened up my mind to new sub cultures and it gave me a truer understanding of their life and beliefs. Years ago sub cultures could not mix and that now they come together in places like the elephant head. I would highly recommend visiting the elephant head for research into sub cultures. As well as meeting rockabilly’s and skin heads, I also met punks, teddy boys and Goths.