“The night in the middle of The eighties were an incredible environmentof regained freedom, creative ecstasy and sexual exposure after the end of the civil-military dictatorship. Paladium in particular proposed something very cool, open, diverse, perhaps very different from what we imagine today as a discotheque or ‘the night’. It was a virtuous coexistence of performers and pioneers of the queer movement, old tango artists and the new wave of rock, all together in the same place, respecting their differences and proposing a space for free interaction. A lot of open-mindedness. I would love to go to a place like that nowadays, I don’t think it exists, at least not on that scale. Something like 1,800 people came in,” he says. Francisco Novick, producer “A Night at Paladium.”
The film director, belonging to the group of filmmakers Rutemberg CollectiveI take the initiative to film a documentary film that reconstructs the history of the nightclub Palladium, and its premiere in commercial theaters is scheduled for April 2025. The emblematic venue opened its doors in 1985 and closed in the early nineties, it was a cultural and creative meeting point where figures such as Charly García, Gustavo Cerati, Marta Minujín and dozens of references from rock, art and underground culture.
But before being screened in theaters, on April 4, this iconic temple of the Buenos Aires night will open its doors for the last time in a unique event that promises to remain in the memory of new and old generations. In the complex C Art Mediathe film’s preview will take place on the big screen, followed by a party for 3,000 people, which already has a limited pre-sale through Passline. According to the organizers, this tribute will have various surprises, special guests and an atmosphere that will recall the golden years of Buenos Aires’ nightlife in the democratic spring.
This return also brings to mind a previous event held in March 2023, which brought together thousands of nostalgic and curious people, filmed with several cameras and whose recording is part of the upcoming documentary. But the 2025 proposal promises to go even further, with a production that will reconstruct every detail of the original experience and attendees are invited to dress like they did in the eighties. “The main reason is to celebrate the conclusion of a process that took four years of work. The idea of leaving watching the movie and entering the bowling alley that you experienced in the cinema can be a very crazy experience, which is worth it,” highlights Novick.
Located on 900 Reconquista Street in Bajo Buenos Aires, mounted on an old power plant building that gave electricity to the trams, Paladium was a creation of Juan Lepes, father of the renowned chef Narda Lepes, and his partner Juan Luis Novickfather of the documentary filmmaker Francisco Novick. The conjunction of society in the mid-eighties allowed the space to be perfect for unconventional artistic performance events. The first one who played there was Charlie Garciawhile Patricio Rey and his Ricotta Rounds They recorded their concerts on October 18 and 25, 1986, making up the album that was released that same year.
“It was obviously a complex process, because I was not telling an outside or objective story. It was the story of my family, of close people, of my parents and my brothers, of people I love very much. So I was involved on an emotional level. Luckily there was a great willingness from everyone, from the artists who passed by, from Juan Lepes, alma mater of Paladium, of my parents and brothers, of course, everyone gave a hand. My dad, who founded the place with Lepes, did not want to participate in the film in front of the cameras, but he helped me a lot and opened a thousand doors. “He preferred to maintain the low profile that always characterized him,” recalls the filmmaker in dialogue with Noticias.
In an interview by Pablo Mascareño for La Nación, Juan Lepes recalled: “Paladium, the unforgettable beacon of the Buenos Aires night, was avant-garde and mainstream at the same time. On his stage he played Patricio and Rey and their Ricotta Rounds and on its track the organization of physical and aerial theater dazzled Of the Guard. The plastic artist Marta Minujín was as accustomed as Alberto Olmedo”. “When I went to London and saw a place called Palladium, I felt it could be a great name for a nightclub. I thought one day I was going to use it. On the other hand, before opening I was already clear about what my profile was going to be,” acknowledges the pioneer born in Casilda, province of Santa Fe and former architecture student at Di Tella Institute.
For his part, Francisco Novick reflects: “It is possible that there is a need for something cooler in the current scene, outside of the “niche” created by the market. I think the difference is basically one of scale. Go to a place this big where you can meet everyone, bohemia and artists, people from distant neighborhoods and the neighbor on your block. Luckily, at the previous party a lot of young people came, many of them had no idea what was happening at Paladium, but they were curious. Maybe what we are putting together will generate a spark, help in some way to promote alternative nightlife movements. “It would be a dream.”
Maybe that dream will be coming true in 2025. Places like Cement, Parakultural or Café Einstein It had certain aesthetic qualities of that time. These legendary clubs had an openness to dissidence, which, although they were not LGTBQ+, diversity coexisted harmoniously. Currently, this phenomenon has triggered its clubbing modality in different corners of the city of Buenos Aires. The Freedom Party, which takes place every week on an itinerant basis or the Back to the 80 and Retrowave parties are some of the options that can be found in various clubs and cultural spaces.
He Friday January 17 in it Matienzo Cultural Club, Located at 2959 Juan B. Justo Avenue in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the Freedom Party will celebrate its one hundredth edition by celebrating eighties music. The largest retro party in Buenos Aires will offer a set list with New Wave, Pop rock and post punk that promises to unite all generations and whose tickets are available at Passline. “It is a reality that, at our party and others of its kind, a very varied audience attends and of almost all ages, from 18 years old. On the dance floor of our event come people who lived through the 80s and 90s, and also those young people who did not go through those times and seek to live them through the music of Freedom,” he explains. DJ PurpleRain, co-founder of the eighties proposal that was born in 2022.
“Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Inxs, New Order, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, B-52, Blondie, Madonna, Prince, Billy Idol, The Clash, A-ha, The Ramones, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Culture Club, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Police, Queen, U2, Michael Jackson and The Cure, among others, they are the stellar presences in our set list,” he clarified. DJ Notorious responsible for the so-called Freedom Party, a name that pays tribute to the song of the great British singer George Michael, and added: “In addition, we offer the local aspect of the time, headed by Soda Stereo, Virus, Sumo, Charly García, Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, Grandfathers from nowhere. Also as a main dish Talking Heads, led by Leroy Rothman, will revert to Talking Heads, sharing stage with Sergio Rotman from Cienfuegos, and former Fabulosos Cadillacs, as a special guest.”
Considered the first itinerant party of its kind in the Buenos Aires metropolis, Freedom participated in various pockets of nightlife such as The House of Luca Prodan, La Cigale, the Matienzo Cultural Club, Moly, inter alia; and maintains a loyal and intergenerational audience, from approximately 18 to 50 years old, on its @fiesta_freedom Instagram account. “Music evokes memories and the feelings associated with them from the deepest depths. For me, having been able to enjoy this music since the late eighties, which due to age is the time when I began to enjoy the Buenos Aires night, is key. The eighties and nineties marked a before and after musically speaking in my life,” he expressed. Florence Fracas, psychologist and attendee at parties of that theme.
“It is very attractive to listen to music at thunderous volume, in its original versions and without commercial breaks, as happens on the radio. For adults, who listened to this music 30 or 40 years ago, it is very good to discover that the youngest and twenty-somethings know these songs and consider them classics of music,” he said. Andrés Accorsi, cartoonist and frequent visitor to 80s parties and added: “What we found to be a novelty in those times for young people is a choice of current musical taste. “Anyone who likes music feels good about the sound of the eighties, it has a good rhythm, good lyrics, it awakens joy and generates encounter, it does good for the soul.”
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