Tel Aviv, Israel — Blast! I’ve done it again. Instead of “Sussudio”, this time it was Phil Collins’ former outfit Genesis and the song “Invisible Touch,” and the dark alley I ducked into to yodel was not — I repeat, NOT — empty. Damnation!
Before it was too late and the scenesters milling around the alley realized I was not one of them, I zipped “Invisible Touch” back inside and followed the dirty young things into an abandoned looking dump. I only knew it was a bar and not a serial killer’s lair because the building looked exactly like the Kunsthaus Tacheles that I hung out in much of my time in Berlin. But inside, instead of being more of a cesspool than outside like the Berlinese mega-bar (though in Kunsthaus’s defense, a very arty cesspool), Rothschild 12 is super swank. Electrifying even — check out those lightbulbs! Ben Franklin would be proud.
Sometimes I can’t get over my craving for some Phil Collins so quickly, but Rothschild 12 snuffed my blazing passion for the lite-rock lothario by bringing the funk. It was exactly what I needed right in that moment, because the only thing I love more than Phil Collins is funk. (The only thing I love more than funk is Whitney Houston.) It turned out that this brief, five-song set was to be by far the best live music I’ve seen in Tel Aviv, though the Frank Zappa tribute band was a close second. The Hebrew Funk of Avihu Landver (אביהו לנדוור) sounded to like Rick James himself having a Bar Mitzvah, and though his band’s set was only 25 minutes long, made their point. The intimate venue is perfect for impromptu concerts, since I could reach out and touch the singer had I wanted, or I could have nonchalantly drank my caipirinha with a vague frown from my table had my heart not gone aflutter with the singer’s gyrations next to me. This setup suits the gamble you take ambling in spontaneously to a small bar that often has live music.
They always told me in New York to stop ducking into alleys. You know the speech: “Blah blah blah rapists blah.” Well, new city, new rules. I’m starting to think I should advise those in Tel Aviv to duck into every single alley they can.
1 year ago • Notes