In the eyes of the unsuspecting, 40×5 It could pass as one more bar, one of the many that abound in the vicinity of Beiró and San Martín. But no. This themed space is exclusively dedicated to the Stones and is a cemetery for their fans. For almost 20 years, Juan Ignacio Muñoz, its owner and founder, dedicates his nights to pay tribute to what he defines as “the greatest band of all time”. Fresh from the US, where he witnessed the first show without Charlie Watts, Muñoz reviews his story, the day he posed with the four and how their majesties blessed 40×5.
Exile on Main Street
2002 was a year of low blinds. Argentina was going through an unprecedented crisis and the ashes of 2001 covered the streets. At just 27 years old, Muñoz had worked for seven in a tourism company, but he was already fantasizing about taking a Copernican turn to dedicate himself to what took away hours of sleep: the Rolling Stones. “I wasn’t even from the neighborhood, I lived with my parents in Villa Lugano. One day I grabbed a classified ad that said ‘bar rental’ and I went to see it. I fell in love with the place”, account to Ambit.
With no previous experience in gastronomy or friends who could guide him, the young man began to wonder how to transform the old and “melancholic” bar that used to work there into a temple of stone culture. Laughing, he remembers: “The owner of the previous bar told me, so that I would not shrink with my vision of what I had to do, ‘I was fine, but Bin Laden killed me.’ He said that all the consequences economic were due to the attack on the twin towers. I always remember that phrase. “
With the chosen location, Muñoz quit his job and embarked on a road trip with no return. In those days, gambling for such a quixotic project was a challenge. He did not care about rough seas or social instability. The Stones were turning four decades old, and to celebrate it, 40×5 opened its doors and paid tribute to that round anniversary in the group’s history with its own name. And although the start was tough, as he admits, the perseverance and style began to pay off.
Little by little, the corner was populated with paintings, photos, a pinball and even a life-size doll of Keith Richards, one of the jewels in the crown. Today the area is a gastronomic pole full of beer gardens and clubs, with almost 45 bars still standing, but at that time there were no more than three.
Connection
Ten years after the inauguration, a powerful signal arrived. “The first coronation of the bar was in 2012, when Bebe Comtepomi invited me to be part of the Stones 50th anniversary trip. That was an important personal moment, which moved to the bar in some way. I contributed my memory, my fanaticism for books, roots and historical points. A very nice product came out, called ‘Stones de Oro’ and it’s posted on YouTube, “he says. But it didn’t end there. The adventure continued beyond the UK.
“On the way back I crowned with a party at the Marquee, playing with the name, which was the same where the Stones had debuted in 1962. On the same day, 50 years later, the largest celebration in the world for the Stones was made 40×5 and was called ’50×5 Tributo Bar’. People sold out 400 tickets without knowing who was going to perform. They played Blues Motel, making a set dedicated to the Stones, and the 50×5 Tributo Bar, formed by Chucky de Ipola on keyboards; Roy Quiroga and Sarcófago, from Ratones Paranoicos, on drums and guitar respectively; Zorrito Von Quintiero on bass and Andrés Ciro on voice, “he says. That was one of the many massive parties that 40×5 organized on emblematic dates of the British group.
In 2016, four years later, the Rolling Stones announced their fourth visit to the country, as part of the Olé Tour. That Latin American tour found the bar being the “campfire of South America” and “the point that was waiting for them”, in the words of its owner: “We were the ones who anticipated the dates and the ones who announced that on November 5 they were going to make the announcement. No we were wrong. ” In addition to fulfilling the desire of thousands of local fans, those three nights in La Plata brought a surprise for Muñoz.
“February 8 was a carnival holiday. I had seen the first show the day before. I had a strange calm; I knew that something was about to happen. Something told me that the moment was coming. That morning, I received an email with the band’s invitation to a meet and greet. I attended the appointment with a T-shirt with the logo of the bar, and in my backpack I carried another plain one, in case they told me that I could not pose with that one. I went to a press window at the Estadio Único. I had an assigned person who came to look for me and took me to take the photo. “
Standing in the middle, behind the pharaonic stage, between Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards and Ron Wood, and with his creature’s T-shirt, Juan Ignacio was another stone. Dream come true: “They were four of the best minutes of my life. That’s where I really felt the blessing. Today I feel that: that the bar is a blessed institution, because they know that it is a lung, that it is not a Hard Rock that is opening branches all over the world; that it is a small corner, that it is in a neighborhood, and that it became a vehicle of culture and encouraged hundreds and hundreds of fans to follow the Stones as far as they can. We organize trips to Brazil, to Chile to Uruguay. We travel by plane, by boat and by bus to see them. “That photo of the five is one of many that enhance the walls of the refuge.
And that was not all: 40×5 also appears in “Olé Olé Olé: A trip across Latin America”, the official DVD released in 2017 documenting the tour of the continent. Another nod made in London. In 2019, in the pre-Covid world, there was time for one more mischief. The interviewee and his crew organized a birthday party for Mick Jagger at La Trastienda. In the distance, a crowd sang happy birthday to the frontman. That video reached the recipient himself at least five times: “More than one person confessed to me that Mick was moved when he saw it,” says the organizer of that party.
Gimme Shelter
2020 marked the return of difficult times. The pandemic knocked on the door and the bar closed temporarily. The months were long; the corner no longer beat. Muñoz began to promote Instagram and used it to gather the faithful. There he shared news of the band and releases, even virtual listening to records. As the maxim of Leonardo Favio says, you cannot be happy in solitude. Some sales of snacks and beers in the future helped to put the situation on the chest. The loyalty of the clientele was intact.
Between marches and countermarches, 40×5 managed to overcome the malaria of a terrible year. Finally, on December 18, the stones rolled again and the blind was opened. The date was no accident: it was Keith Richards’ birthday. Juan Ignacio compares this experience to the closure of Sticky Fingers, the bar that former Stones bassist Bill Wyman founded 32 years ago in England. “It is incredible for me that a stone bar has fallen in London, one year after the 60th anniversary, and that 40×5 is still open. Obviously that makes me exalted,” he graphs.
When it finally cleared, a new blow shook him: the death of the mythical Charlie Watts. It was August 24. No one was prepared to fire a Rolling Stone. Muñoz found out from the publication of an English newspaper that his daughter showed him: “After the shock, crying and anguish at home, I made the quick decision to announce that I was going to open the bar so that people could meet, although We were not going to function as a normal bar. It was something totally sincere and honest, something very nice. We bought some beers and soft drinks, and people had the codes not to take advantage of the moment, not to empty ourselves. They asked us if they could go shopping something to the supermarket and we said that of course. Charlie Watts’ wake-up room in the world, if there ever was one, was in the 40×5 bar. The only place in the world where something like this happened was in the bar. ”
At 46, Muñoz is already preparing his suitcases to travel to Los Angeles and witness two shows of their majesties, “a band willing to continue until none are left standing,” he says. “The bar had its mark from the beginning. Beyond the fact that it does not waste any luxury and that it has many defects, it was not our thing to correct quickly or be aware of aesthetics, but it never stopped being a warm place, where people feel at home “, closes. The shelter is open from Wednesday to Saturday, from 6 pm, where the devil attends. La Patria Stone has its own Government House. And the tongue flames high.
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