Bartender Pouring Shots of 7Up in the VIP Section (Photo by Lili Kocsis)
Hike up your black sequin mini skirt, tie up your screen print tee and put on some ankle boots. It is time to go out… just don’t let your parents know.
The word matinee normally refers to something seen in the afternoon. In Argentina, it is also a nightclub that is open from 8pm to 12pm for kids between the ages of 13 and 17.
Abadia is the most popular matiné in Buenos Aires. Located at Nazca and Mosconi in Barrio Flores, this massive club occupies the entire upper floor of a converted warehouse building.
It almost feels surreal at first. With a $30 cover charge, Abadia feels like a “grown up” club right from the beginning. There is a VIP section, a bar, two huge dance floors, and a stage. Crazy lights and fog machines are a normal feature in any adult club, and the Andy Warhol-type wallpaper is actually an improvement on many.
Instead of booze, kids sip on energy drinks or soda—plastic cups are filled with sweets rather than shots. To get your non-alcoholic refreshment, you have to head to the VIP section, and like most regular clubs you need a special wristband to get in. There are brightly-coloured pink leather booths with tables so kids can sit, talk, and most importantly, look cool.
So in a way, a matinee club is like a simulation of adult reality. There are the girls in short shorts and tiny dresses dancing on top of the bar and the boys with polo shirts and button-downs staring as reggaeton and cumbia blast from the club’s huge sound system.
As vulgar as you would expect youngsters imitating adult dancing to be, it wasn’t that bad. Sure there was grinding, girls gyrating, and couples attempting to kiss the life out of one another, but there was nothing overly offensive.
Still, the matinees generate mixed opinions. Sitting at his kitchen table, hair gelled in place, clean polo on, and ready for a night out, Nicolas (aka Nico) Corvalan loves them: “I think matinees are great, they show you what the nightlife is like, what a night in Buenos Aires is like.”
“The places themselves aren’t the problem,” responds his mother, María, sitting opposite him, “but it is when the older kids mix with the younger ones who are impressionable, that is the problem.” Not to be left out of the debate, Nico’s father, Raúl, shouts from the kitchen: “Kids are kids, they need experiences like these or they will never learn.”
Youthful Exuberance (Photo by Lili Kocsis)
Whatever way you look at it, to be 17 again would be fun. And so are matinees. True, there is a big gap between being a pre-teen and a teen, but in this environment everyone seemed to be respectful of other people’s boundaries and most importantly everyone was safe.
There wasn’t a moment when things got out of control, and bodyguards can be seen in all corners of the club. Even though the ID checking policy is pretty lax – the bouncers ask, “how old are you?” and then let you in if you give the right answer – the place felt secure. From what could be seen there was no overt drinking or drunken kids, they are in a protected environment and are content to stay in their kid-club world, no need to try and sneak into 18+ joints when the matinees are just as good.
As an added security measure, some matinees have even installed viewing rooms so parents can watch their children while they are in the club. Hidden cameras feed into a back room in the club and parents see what their kids are doing and how they are behaving.
The only negative out of all of this is perhaps kids now, more than ever, are too eager to grow up…but isn’t that how it has always been? When you are young you want to be old. When you are old you want to be young; it’s an age-old dilemma.
Overall, this was just a bunch of kids having fun, dressing up, and pretending to be grown-ups for a night.
