If you are interested in listening to the original sound of bouzouki the way the locals do, one of the best and most entertaining ways is to enter a rebetadiko. It is something between a bar and a tavern where you can drop in for drink or even enjoy a meal while a music band plays rebetiko, the Greek ‘blues’ music. We visited one of the most traditional rebetadiko in downtown Athens, open at lunchtime too on weekends. Be prepared for dancing…
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The rebetadiko is called ‘Stoa ton Athanaton’ (it means ‘Arcade of the Immortals’) and although it is located right in the very heart of the city, inside the Central Market of Athens, it is almost impossible to find it by chance. For all that it is open in its current form for the last 40 years and it is a very well-known place for rebetiko (maybe the most popular of all), it retains the atmosphere of a hidden place for ‘insiders’ only.
We chose a Sunday afternoon for our visit; in Greece lunchtime starts around 14.30 – 15.00 so don’t be in a hurry to arrive earlier! The Market was closed and everything was so quiet and calm. For those who know what happens there during workdays and how crowded and busy is this place, it would be a big surprise wandering all alone…
The best way to find your way to the rebetadiko is to enter the Market from Sofokleous 19 street. On your right hand you will see a restaurant called ‘Stoa Athanaton’ (here is the kitchen of the rebetadiko) and right next a door that leads to a small hallway. Take the elevator to the first floor and you have arrived.
At first sight it looks like an old mansion which in fact it was. It was built in 1870 by a rich Athenian family before the construction of the Market (1884). After World War II, it became a coffee house frequented by musicians and singers of rebetiko. They came here early in the morning after they had finished their night shift in various bars of Athens and Piraeus, to drink their coffee and to sing and play music for their own amusement. This is how ‘Stoa Athanaton’ started…
Rebetiko was not always so popular as it is today. When it first appeared, around the late 19th century, it was the music of the underground. The life described in the lyrics was the life of deprived people belonging to the lower working class: prison, exile, betrayed love, drugs, these were the main themes. One very important representative of this period was Markos Vamvakaris who is considered the ‘patriarch’ of rebetiko.
It became ‘mainstream’ in the ’60s due to the personality of Vassilis Tsitsanis who managed to demarginalize rebetiko and bouzouki in general. The Greek urban popular music was for the first time truly popular, suitable for families of all classes. It’s they and their children and grandchildren who frequent today rebetadika to hear and to sign the formerly banned songs.
‘Stoa Athanaton’ is open from Friday to Sudnay with afternoon and night sessions: Friday, Saturday and Sunday 15.00 – 19.30, Friday and Saturday from 22.30 till early in the morning. The prices start from 8 euro (for drink only) and from 22 euro for a bottle of wine; for who want to eat here, there is a table d’hôte for 18 euro or free choice from the menu. Booking in advance is not necessary, although it would be better to do to secure a better table (tel. 210-3214362).
Be prepared for singing, hand clapping and smoke coming from the adjacent tables and of course for dancing (sometimes on the tables!).
Rebetiko gained international fame when ‘Misirlou’, typical oriental-style song, was covered by Dick Dale (1962), by The Beach Boys and later by The Black Eyed Peas, among others. It was included in the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction. Here is the original:
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