Pinar de Rocha closed: from Soda Stereo and Bad Bunny to Julio Iglesias, the established artists who went through the club before fame

The historic bowling alley Rocha Pine Forest was evicted and closed on April 7 by court order, in the midst of a strong police operation, for an alleged debt in the rental of the property, which left the future of one of the symbols of the suburban area in suspense. But, in addition to the different tracks, the parties and the eternal early mornings, the closure also made the history of the artists who passed through that stage when they were still far from becoming world figures.

Long before the stadiums, the awards and the millions of views, several singers stopped in Ramos Mejianeighborhood located in La Matanza.

Some arrived when they were barely a promise in reggaeton. Others, when they were still touring bars and clubs with a guitar or a band in tow. Today their names seem too big to enter a western bowling alley.

One of the most surprising names is Bad Bunnywhich was presented In 2017, when he had not released his first album and was known especially among Latin trap fans, the Puerto Rican performed at Rocha Pine Forest.

That night he sang songs like I got used to it, Tell them, For you, Don’t do it, If your boyfriend leaves you alone and caile. The show was in front of a few hundred people, a far cry from his Super Bowl show and the three sold-out nights years later at River.

The image today seems unreal. The artist, now the most listened to in the world, on stage with sunglasses and the Argentine National Team shirt during a show of just 15 minutes. On that tour around the country he made up to three presentations in the same night and one of those stops was at the bowling alley that occupies an entire block.

But Pinar had already been welcoming future reggaeton stars. A year before I had passed by there Ñengo Flow with songs like tell them47 and Real G 4 Life. Over time he would end up sharing songs with Bad Bunny himself and appearing on global hits like safaera that already accumulates 421 million views on YouTube.

That same 2016 he also had a visit from Archangelanother of the strong figures of reggaeton, with classics like So that you have a good time, you prefer me and A long time ago.

And as if that were not enough, that same year he also presented Ozuna dressed completely in white. At that time he was still a promise of the genre and sang songs like He doesn’t want to fall in love, If you let yourself go and Tell him that you love me.

That recital today seems from another life after winning several Latin Grammy Awards, Guinness records and recording hits with Shakira, J Balvin, Rosalia and David Guetta.

But Pinar de Rocha was not only a stop for reggaetón figures. He also saw Argentine artists pass by when they were still very far from imagining how far they could go.

one of them was Dukiwho in 2018 took the bowling alley stage when he still had no tattoos on his face, dyed blonde and was just beginning to become known after being “the boy from The Fifth Step”. However, even in that initial version, people were already chanting She Don’t Give a Fo.

Years later, the singer sold out two dates at the Monumental Stadium, became the first urban artist to fill the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and ended up establishing himself as one of the most important Argentine figures in Spanish-language music.

But the story even goes back much further. Because with more than 55 years since its opening in 1969In Pinar de Rocha there are plenty of legends.

One of those legends was Julio Iglesias. Before becoming one of the best-selling Latin artists of all time, the Spanish singer went to the bowling alley in 1980, at an early stage of his career. At that time he was not yet the international figure who would later fill theaters and stadiums around the world.

They also played there Patricio Rey and his Ricotta Roundswhen they were not yet filling stadiums and mixing rock, poetry and an almost theatrical staging led by Indio Solari. In 1989, with four albums already released and a growing audience, they began to establish themselves as one of the most popular groups in the country.

In those same golden years there was also Spinetta Jadethe project with which Luis Alberto Spinetta He explored sounds closer to jazz and fusion.

And if we are talking about legends, we must also mention the recital of Soda Stereo. In 1985, long before successfully touring throughout Latin America and becoming the biggest rock band in Spanish, Gustavo Cerati, Zeta Bosio and Charly Alberti They played in Pinar de Rocha, when they were still three kids with new songs like TV overdose and You need vitamins wanting to make a place for themselves in front of 10,000 people.

“We paid them the freight for the van that brought the teams and that was all the expense in order to perform, to be seen,” they said from Pinar about that night.

The presence of that band pretty well sums up what Pinar de Rocha was, a place where rock, tropical music, reggaeton and trap, among other genres, could coexist.

Therefore, the possible definitive closure of the bowling alley not only marks the end of a nightclub. It also puts an end to a scenario that witnessed the first steps of some of the biggest stars in music.