Last weekend I visited an exciting event, held in the city of Sombor. The town is lovely by itself, but imagine strolling through the main street, enjoying the architecture and at the same time listening to music. Oh, you could say that it is available everywhere and anytime if you have your earphones with you and a device to listen to music.
But what about live music? And coming from the balconies of those stylish buildings?
That is already another story!
I have the impression that the city of Sombor cares about the culture and well-being of its citizens. It has a theatre, library, cinema, and many schools, churches, administrative and judicial authorities, hospitals, markets, music associations, orchestras and recently it got also a philharmonic. During the summer, different types of art-related events are held.
My niece informed me about one of those events held on Saturday in the streets of this city. Maybe it was not my best day to visit such an event, but the not perfect things can be put away for an afternoon. We went, and I don't regret it. I regret just one thing, that I could not stay more time there. After all, this was called: The Evening of Street Musicians. but I stayed just during the afternoon.
So, from the title of the event, you guess that it had to o something with music. On the main street, there were several stages for the musicians, but also the balconies of the old buildings had the role of small scenes. Let's go together there and see :)
The stages were in the preparation phase, the musicians were maybe playing hide and seek with us... or just at home. But the most probable case is that they were walking with the audience from balcony to balcony and enjoyed the music played by their colleagues. The performances in these mobile scenes took place later when I already had to go home. A pity, but at least I could fully enjoy all the mini-stages and those musicians who were playing for all of us.
The atmosphere was so nice. A summer afternoon started as a very warm one, but the refreshing breeze came as help. The musicians... I think they all loved what they were doing. This musician in the striped T-shirt played a few Italian songs on his mandoline. O Sole Mio could be heard on the main street, but he didn't sing. He used a small instrument, something like a whistle for the main melody. In the same manner, he played the song Bella Ciao.
The girl from this balcony was singing songs accompanied by a guitarist. Well, don't ask me for the names of the songs, as I am bad at knowing the names of the new artists in the pop scene. I was familiar with those songs, I heard them somewhere, but indeed the names of the singers are not coming to my mind. The adaptations of this girl and guitarist were nice and they also received applause from the audience.
In the next photo, you see just some windows and an empty balcony, but if you observe it better you will see two people. Two guitarists that played very well, it was excellent! There were speakers up there, so the sound was not a problem, it was just that they were sitting almost inside so the audience could not see them well. Thinking about it now, maybe the balcony was not so safe (if we see the condition of the facade...). It is an old building that maybe needs maintenance.
So, moving from one building to the next one, we enjoyed in total 10 small performances from the same number of balconies. Around 30 musicians participated, counting those in the main stages too, that played later in the evening. As mentioned, I was attending just during the afternoon, but anyway it was a pleasure to be part of the audience for those local musicians.
Audience?
It is the time to see also that part of the event. From small children to older generations, all followed the musical route on the main street. There is plenty of space there so some also danced to the music. A nice Saturday afternoon for those who wanted to do something different, and attend music performances in this setup.
Indeed, this is not a usual way of listening to a concert. Just two cities in Serbia at the moment organize the event The Evening of Street Musicians, Novi Sad and Sombor. It was the third year that it took place in Sombor. The people like it and I am sure the tradition will not stop, maybe even expand to other places.
As there will be always an audience for those musicians playing on the balconies. Even if nobody could come, the statues that live on the main street will be there.
Real statues, and maybe also those that just pretend to be a statue. Would you say it is a real person if it would not move for a while? I guess it is not easy, to be motionless and keep silent. Though they move when they want to thank you in case you left some tip in the basket in front of them.
Not to forget to mention these two guys that were around us all the time. Cool stilt walkers that moved with the audience, from station to station, listening also to the music and having fun with the people. I was amazed by that skill as I see it difficult to maintain the balance, however, I know that everything can be learnt and practice is needed to acquire skills. I hope they also enjoyed that walk and didn't get too tired walking for several hours on those poles.
What about you?
Have you visited recently any street event that included music and other interesting details? Maybe a concert or a night out with friends accompanied by live music?
Good or even not-so-good experience related to a live event...? All counts :)
We will be glad to read your contribution on the topic in this small corner.
