CEMENTO
On December 30, 2004, while the band Nuca was finishing playing in Cemento, the fire at República Cromañón, another Omar Chabán venue, took place. When he took the Sancamaleón stage, the rumors that reached Constitución said that in the Once bowling alley, where Callejeros was performing, 4 or 5 people had died due to a fire. The members of Sancamaleón did not receive any order to suspend the show and due to the lack of information and confirmation of what was happening on the other side of the city, they began their show. Halfway through, concrete news began to arrive of the deaths of dozens of people. The weather was very strange and the band ended the show abruptly. After the incident in Cromañón, much more rigorous controls were applied to the premises, because this unfortunate event left 194 dead and at least 1,432 injured. Reason why Omar Chabán was imprisoned. Cemento did not open its doors to the public again, with Sancamaleón being the last group to perform live at the legendary venue. All recitals scheduled after that night were cancelled.
The property was acquired in 2011 by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires through Decree 184/2011, which transformed it into a parking lot for the School Infrastructure area, belonging to the Ministry of Education and Sports.
References:
https://realpolitik.com.ar/nota/40508/el-oro-y-el-barro-de-cemento-a-35-anos-de-su-inauguracion/
It was inaugurated on July 9, 1985 as a nightclub by businessman Omar Chabán. It was located at 1234/38 Unidos Street in the Constitución neighborhood. Initially it was intended as a rock-oriented nightclub, although shortly afterwards live recitals also began to be held. The most important Argentine rock bands passed through there in their early days, such as Los Violadores, Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, Riff, La Renga, Sumo, Rata Blanca, Guasones, Viejas Locas, Las Pelotas, Hermética, A.N.I.M.A.L. , Babasónico, Los Piojos, Callejeros, Flema, Fun People, Intoxicados, Bersuit Vergarabat, Catupecu Machu and Los Ratones Paranoicos, along with international bands such as Molotov and Control Machete, among others.
The local activities were not without controversy. The recitals of Punk music groups used to generate fights and disturbances. On several occasions it was closed due to pressure from local residents. Later, it was reopened but with police operations at the door to control people.
The unprecedented summit of Indio Solari and Luca Prodan singing four songs as a duet in the middle of the Redonditos de Ricota show, Batato Barea pissing in a fight and going to sleep in the middle of a performance, the multi-artistic proposal of Sumo and the Black Organization or Ricky Espinoza inciting to hordes of punks to spit on him, are some of the “sepia photos” that he left behind a stage that almost everyone passed through. Except Charly García, whom Chabán would always regret not having been able to convince to play there.
However, countless punk bands did have space and found one of their most solid trenches in Cemento. Attaque 77 debuted there and Los Violadores recorded one of their live albums. Countless groups also had the opportunity to play their first live shows. Even two of the wildest fights in concert history had to do with the explosive formula that turned out to be the combination of punk and Cement. On March 19, 1993, the riots generated by neo-Nazi activists at the concert of the Scottish band The Exploited gave rise, not only to the first of a long series of closures, but also to times of raids and police sieges in the vicinity of the place. Another event of public outcry occurred on August 10, 1997, when a violent fight at a punk festival generated the intervention of the then head of the Buenos Aires government, Fernando de la Rúa, who declared that he felt very concerned about what happened. From that moment on, the bowling alley was closed for four months.
During those years Cemento was used as a living set for several video clips, among others "Waiting for the end" by A.N.I.M.A.L., "La vida" by Arbol, "Labomba" by Los Brujos, "Algo personal" by Cadena Perpetua, "El Vago" by Carajo, "Deformed Calavera" by Catupecu Machu, "Sábado" by Divididos, "I'll never be a police officer" by Flema, "Enlace" by Ratones Paranoicos, “La Rubia Tarada” by SUMO and “Everything remains the same” by Crazy old ladies.
