Oviedo will say goodbye to one of its temples of live music on June 30 to make way for a large 3,000-square-meter supermarket in the Pumarín neighborhood. The emblematic disco and nightclub Estilo will lower its blinds in just over two months to put an end to almost 35 years of great concerts, celebrations and countless hookups that until now took place on Joaquina Bobela street. But the owners of the business will continue at the foot of the canyon, since their plan is to take the name of the room to the current Sir Laurens, in the nearby Eugenio Tamayo street. “Our brand will remain alive and with the essence of always, hopefully for many years”, indicate the creators of the historic premises, inaugurated on September 6, 1986.
The business venture arose as a response from a group of relatives to a series of labor mishaps when they were barely 30 years old. They were Alfonso Álvarez, an employee of a construction materials company; his then brother-in-law and commercial agent Secundino Blanco; and the political brother of the latter Emilio Rivero. They rolled their heads and gathered around 15 million pesetas (90,000 euros) to get the great hall then closed again after a decade of activity under the name of Brujas and just one year with the name of Vertigo.
“It was a time when every now and then a big nightclub opened, a year before the Real one did it,” says Alfonso Álvarez about the beginnings of a business adventure in which his sister Amada has also been a partner for a few years, and that He no longer has Secundino Blanco, after the latter reached retirement.
The business began to grow rapidly. “We totally hit the mark with the advertising slogan”, explains Amada about a campaign entitled “What there isn’t in Oviedo, there will be in September”, which caused great expectation in the city months before Estilo opened its doors. “Some speculated that it was a cafeteria or a supermarket, but they failed,” says the co-owner of an establishment that, after several crowds, was the subject of an investment of 100 million pesetas in 1989.
The nineties were a “glorious age”. The nightclub reached its peak closing some year with half a million spectators. Historical figures such as “The Last of the Row”, Manolo Escobar (twice), Ángela Carrasco or Juan Pardo, and more recently stars of the stature of Leiva, groups such as “Sidecars” or “Camela”, the group which he managed to fill every time he visited this musical space in Oviedo. “There were so many who played here that we can’t specify,” says Emilio Rivero.
However, the dimension of Style goes beyond the cultural field. During its more than three decades of history, it became a benchmark for wedding celebrations. “People from 30 weddings came to coincide at the same time,” says Alfonso Álvarez, who was also impressed by the large influx of people from all over Asturias. “People from the villages didn’t want to leave Oviedo without learning about Style,” he explains.
Meanwhile, countless anecdotes, especially about stories of love and heartbreak. “This Easter I asked for a taxi and it turns out that the driver had met his wife at the disco. I couldn’t believe it”, recalls Alfonso, underlining the role of Estilo as a flirting scene. “Once there were those who went out the back door to avoid their partner,” says the creators of the most traditional nightclub in Oviedo.
–
