Luna's Castle, Panama

Backpackers 0: Locals 1

We stayed at Luna’s Castle for a little while in May 2010 and we had a blast in Panama. The old city was so beautiful that I wanted to buy a building and stay there forever, but we made do with the hostel instead. Their backyard party area was as antisocial as you can imagine, with the band and music playing for hours, night after night. We arrived during a particularly tense standoff with their neighbours, and after putting up with several days or more of what you see in the picture, the neighbours found the loudest stereo they could, put it on the terrace facing the hostel, and blasted out traditional Panamanian music 24/7 for three solid days. Everyone in the hostel was ready for an all-out war - well, if they could only get some sleep. The sound reverberated throughout the hostel and drove people insane. I sympathized with the locals and had brought earplugs in my standard equipment.

IDER at Electric Brixton

IDER

A cracking bunch of songs from IDER but not a lot of performance to go with them, despite the great chemistry from the duo. Hard to get these songs onto a stage without an expensive band to help, but a decent gig courtesy of my man Duff - very good songs, great voices.