One night in Napa
Life must be a party, working as a nightclub DJ, but there’s a bit more to it than that
If you are out in Ayia Napa without your better half and the kids to worry about and you get that craving to let hair down, get sauced and live it up then a night at Bedrock with Pete and Tony is hard to beat.
Bedrock Bar, which is situated barely two minute’s walk from the square in Ayia Napa, is a Flintstone’s-themed bar. But it’s not Fred and Barney luring the happy drinkers, rather a couple of English-Cypriot lads that have made quite a name for themselves, especially among the tourists.
Apart from performing hilarious dance routines and handling the hundreds of people queuing up to take their turn on the Karaoke, they have the almost impossible task of controlling up to 1,000 holidaymakers. And, let it not be forgetten that they are holidaymakers that have been drinking.
Remarkably, the acts on stage are neither rehearsed or planned but all done on the spur of the moment. The night we were there, these included burying their faces into girls’ breasts, ripping off their t-shirts to reveal their bare hairy chests and getting everybody in the bar to jump about like chimpanzees. I would imagine that older folks like me could be excused from such outlandish activities, but only if they are prepared to be embarrassed.
“We get the people going, they are on holiday, they pay money to enjoy themselves after working hard all year round. They wanna break so we give the tourists what they want,” explained Pete.
And it’s not just about going mad on the stage and getting everyone to follow what you do. “Everybody thinks that it is easy to work in Bedrock and get the people going because it is a busy place but it isn’t. You have to basically be a mind reader – you can’t just pick on anyone you like, you have to find the right buttons to know whether a certain person is up for a laugh or this person is here to watch the show.” A point they went on to prove as the party got started and those dragged up in front of everyone seemed to revel in the attention, including one whose boob job was called into question.
Pete and Tony have been working together for the last two years and their partnership has earned them a reputation in Ayia Napa. But relationships like this don’t just happen over night. “To do something like this every night on the trot you have to be close with the guy you work with.”
Surely though the energetic couple have dosed themselves up to put on such a high octane act? Absolutely not. They drink on the job or take any other kind of stimulants – which is hard to believe when you see them on stage. “When you get the right response from the people during our show, you’ve done your job and done it well. And that kicks the energy in for what we need to do every night.”
Pete adds, “People have said to me, you must be absolutely hammered to do the job you do. But that’s not the case, because if I’m hammered or if Pete’s hammered, how can you control 900 to 1,000 people. We have to 100 per cent pure focused on what we’re doing. That is the difference between the amateurs and us.”
It’s such a good act that even the guys’ boss was impressed. “After my second night on the job, the boss called me into his office and told me that I was fired. I asked what I had done wrong and he told me ‘what don’t hire people that are on anything like steroids or happy pills’. I told him I’d never done anything like that in my life but he wouldn’t believe me. He finally came round to my way of thinking though.”
And there are personal reasons involved too. “We both hate anything to do with drugs and especially me because I lost a brother when I was just a kid after some dope-head ran him over with a car. So I hate anyone or anything to do with drugs.”
With music blaring and crowds constantly moving it is difficult to see how they can concentrate but being on your toes is also a vital part of the job and both have come to learn that you must be ready to expect anything and be able to handle any situation.
“Only very recently, as I was on the stage singing, a guy came up on the stage behind me, took off my cap and poured a pint of beer over my head. That was a difficult situation but like I said before we are professionals; I didn’t hit him and I just said to the crowd ‘there is always one t**t every night and tonight we have nominated this guy as our t**t!”
But how to get the party started? “To get people going for example, we do a particular song like Jump Around and the whole of Bedrock, which is around 800 to 900 people at the time, gets down on their knees,” said Pete. “If they don’t do it, then they are classified as boring and we don’t want them in there. We just simply point out the people who don’t sit down and are still standing – so they end up going down as well.
“Then everyone has their hands in the air, the music starts and then we shout jump around. And then they all start jumping around like bloody lunatics and chimpanzees.”
Jumping in with a huge grin, Tony adds, “We have this little dance routine where I do the cool stuff if you can call it that and Pete comes along and rolls over the floor doing what is supposed to be some sort of break dancing. But when we ask the crowd to shout out the better dancer, unfortunately Pete always wins. I think it’s because of his beer belly or his ‘six-pack on holiday’ as he calls it.”
So you would think that with groping and dancing being part of the job, marriage, kids and cats are not part of the equation. Wrong again! They are both happily married with two kids. Don’t know about the cats though! Even Pete admited that “in our line of work we have to flirt as well. And that is purely to keep the girls coming back because at the end of the day, the girls attract the guys. 60 per cent of the population here at Bedrock is female”.
So how on earth are the allowed to get away with it? “My wife knows that this is my job,” Pete explains. “We are entertainers and we work for a living and put the food on the table. Our job is our job. There is nothing to hide either because our wives have come down with the kids to see us work and see what we do.
“We are here to perform and get paid and that is the main thing. Our wives know that when we finish work, we go home and that is why they trust us to do what we do here at Bedrock.”
It’s 2.30am, having jumped like a chimpanzee and narrowly missed a turn on the Karaoke, it is time for me to head home. But I will be back.
Bedrock Inn, 2 Ippokratous Street, Tel: 23723162
IF YOU CAN STOMACH MORE
Other great bars in Ayia Napa include Kahlua, Heaven Rock Garden, Bikini, Coyote’s, Guru, Lobby, Senzo, Vanilla and Lineker’s Bar.
For those who like clubbing the Carwash Disco is a must followed by Bagley’s, Castle, Black and White, Ice, River Reggae, Shagwells, Boogies Disco and the recently introduced Chameleon.
If you can’t stand the heat
For those taking a break from the high-powered rush of singing, drinking, dancing and more drinking, Ayia Napa also offers a wide range of other activities ranging from water sports, fun rides at a games park and restaurant/bars.
Although prices could be cheaper at the fun park on Nissi Avenue, it is definitely a great place to take the kids and former adrenaline junkie dads who can have a go on the go-karts.
If a dad is really feeling adventurers, he can try the sling shot and be jolted into the air like a cannon ball spinning upside down.
Meanwhile, the square of Ayia Napa, situated next to the park and the main church, also accommodate all ages while face painters, temporary tattooists and artists painting portraits ply their wares.
Good quality restaurants are also easy to
come by in Ayia Napa and a vast range of different cuisines are on offer almost everywhere. For those who appreciate a good steak in Ayia Napa, the Clarabel’s is ideal. Known for its steaks among other dishes, there is a chef at the front of the restaurant cooking the steaks for all to see.
Being a huge fan of steaks, I was the first to admit that the Steak Diane was one of the best that I have had in Cyprus. The cream and mushroom sauce served with the steak is especially rich in quality and taste.
