Ewa on the Beach on fire

Tuesday June 26 On the road to Badia Polesine

Karen and I enjoyed the last few hours of our four day stay at the Pallazzo Hotel, then met the gang at the Diner to load up. Lorenzo and Anne were there, and we said our goodbyes to them. Anne is going to Germany for the summer, and Lorenzo is leaving on Wednesday, driving the Space Cossacks around, finishing up in Paris next Saturday.

We hit the road, but didn’t make it far before our first Autogrill stop of the day. A leisurely lunch was had, we’re not in any rush to get to Badia Polesine, but given that the van isn’t that fast, it takes longer than expected, especially with a second Autogrill stop. Jono maintains Lorenzo’s tradition of having an espresso at ever break. Once you get past the tunnels past Firenze, and the big city of Bologna, it’s all farmland and industry.

So we are amazed when we leave the highway and pull into a side street that leads to Park Hotel Le Magnolie, a country compound with hotel, restaurants both indoor and outdoor, a patio bar, a lily pond with a floating dance area and trails that meander all over the grounds. They probably do a lot of weddings here. We are met by Elena who seems to be managing the place, (quite possibly her mother owns it?) Elena shows us to our rooms, and afternoon naps happen just like that.

I think we’re the only guests here. There’s a few not quite elderly people in the lobby watching the futbol game. So, it’s a little creepy, but only because it could be. It’s actually quite charming. 

Around 7, I go out to the patio bar called the Spi-Ki-Zy, and meet Lukino, formerly of the legendary Ungawa Tiki Bar in nearby Bergantino, a favorite gig on the 2012 tour. Hr arranged tonight’s gig, and is hoping it does well so he can add another location for his freelance promotions. The band sets up and does a sound check, everything seems swell. The mosquitos are crazy hungry, but we’re better prepared this time, and the patio has citronella candles which also add a warm and Hawaiian ambience.

Lukino joins us for dinner in the fancy dining room. White tablecloth, white and red wines. Elena brings out penne pasta with fresh pesto, the first we’ve had in Italy. The second course was roast pork with gravy and a salad. We feel like we are in heaven.

The patio has filled up by 10:30, and more people are streaming in. The band turns on the amps to start, but the Twin that Jono is using starts to sputter, even with the volume off. One tube is glowing red. Nothing we can do except to plug him into Karen’s amp. It sounds OK, so we proceed and play for an hour or so to a attentive audience, many of whom came to dance. It’s a younger and great looking crowd, all have dressed up= tight jeans, 50s style skirts, rockabilly ware.

Lukino let us know that a woman wanted to do a fire dance, and had timed it to "Ewa on the Beach". As we start the song, she comes out in full hula girl costume, with flowered headdress, wristlets, grass skirt, bikini top and leis. And slowly it all comes off, down to a g-string and pasties. Somewhere she’s hidden some lighter fluid and flames appear. For her finally, she takes the fluid into her mouth and spits fire. All this took about five minutes. What a spectacle, I hope some pictures surface! (After the show, we look for her, but don’t recognize her with her clothes on :)

The set ends with a final incident, the kick drum head splits during the last song. More drama, and another chore we’ll have to take care of. Tomorrow, as tonight has been just fine.

Thank you Lukino and Elena for a fantastic gig! The middle of nowhere is always the center of something, and on a Wednesday night, why not expect 80 people to show up and dance like crazy for a ruff band from from far away.