What: Galactic Roller Disco: Voyage-Voyage
When: Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. to聽midnight
Where: CDI College, 950 Kings Rd., Victoria
Tickets: $20 online or at the Parsonage Cafe in Fernwood / $25 door (bit.ly/2t3T5hb)
It was finding a box of rollerskates tucked away in an old Nanaimo gymnasium storage room that sowed the seed for Guy Segal鈥檚 Galactic Roller Disco, now in its fourth year.
Segal was playing badminton on the hardwood floors of the old Franklyn Street gymnasium, used as a gym and auditorium since 1922, when he went to grab more gear.
鈥淚 wandered through many rooms and I found this box and inside that box there were old rollerskates and it鈥檚 sort of like I聽was transported,鈥� said Segal.
At 38, Segal鈥檚 formative music years were the 1990s, but his heart is in the 1970s.
鈥淭he 鈥�70s is like that era I subconsciously long for,鈥� Segal said. 鈥淢y parents had vinyl and disco records, and we were listening to them at home. I grew up listening to that. I still, in a weird way, consider myself from the 鈥�70s.鈥�
Segal is from Israel. He met a woman from Nanaimo while both were travelling in Australia. They fell in love, travelled more, had two children and came to settle in her hometown. Segal began producing music events and, after he and his wife separated, he moved to Victoria.
He produced his first Galactic Roller Disco in March 2016, with four local DJs at Archie Browning Sports Centre. It sold out 鈥� more than 350 tickets.
鈥淚t was insane,鈥� said Segal. 鈥淚聽really didn鈥檛 know what I was getting into.
鈥淭here was a lot of money on the line and rental rollerskates were coming in from Vancouver. I had a lot of strings to pull and a lot of favours to ask. It was a lot of work.鈥�
Half an hour before the show, a security-crew member told Segal there was a lineup. 鈥淣o, it can鈥檛 be true,鈥� he recalled thinking. 鈥淚t blew my mind.鈥�
The looks on people鈥檚 faces on the dance floor was all he needed. 鈥淧eople were transported in the way that I felt in that gym in Nanaimo,鈥� he said.
Rollerskating rinks were popular in Greater Victoria into the mid-1980s, but eventually died out. Inline hockey-style skating, rather than the traditional four-wheel 鈥渜uad鈥� skates, grew in popularity as a means of exercise in the 1990s.
About a decade ago, however, one-off roller-disco nights began popping up at rec centres, mostly for their retro value. About the same time, roller derby 鈥� which became a popular contact sport in the 1940s 鈥� had a similar resurgence.
Participants at this weekend鈥檚 event can choose to rent one of about 100 pairs of vintage quad skates from the legendary now-defunct Stardust rink in Surrey. The $20 ticket price includes the rental.
Beyond the authentic rollerskates and 1970s glam and vibe, the event is not a costume party 鈥� don鈥檛 expect a night filled with BeeGees music and KC and the Sunshine Band.
鈥淭he event is not to do this for nostalgic reasons purely,鈥� said Segal, adding he isn鈥檛 trying to recreate the era, but to offer a new perspective on it.
鈥淔or me, disco is the soundtrack for the movements of the 鈥�60s and 鈥�70s 鈥� the gay rights and the women鈥檚 rights movements,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 underground, it鈥檚 the rock band of dance music and dance culture, and, to me, it is directly related to the current dance-movement genres like house and techno.
鈥淚 think disco, beyond the glitzy happy-kinda-go-lucky surface of it, has a sort of deep truth to it on different levels.鈥�
Disco was one of the first genres to produce long-format tracks 鈥� long Donna Summer tracks that catered to deejaying and prolonged dancing.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 the unspoken foundation for dance culture and I want to really showcase it,鈥� Segal said.
This weekend鈥檚 19-years-plus event will include a dancefloor, bar and room for rollerskating. Many attendees, especially if they are novices, don鈥檛 choose to rollerskate more than about 40聽minutes to an hour, Segal said.
About 35 per cent of those who attended the first event brought their own skates, perhaps thanks to a local roller derby club in Victoria, said Segal. A handful of tickets will be reserved for the door.
DJs ShmeeJay and HoneyDisco HoneyLoop will perform on Friday. Saturday鈥檚 DJs include ShmeeJay, Lito Ford and DJ Trever.
The DJs have deep vinyl collections 鈥� bringing disco from the corners of Morocco or from obscure session musicians in New York, for example, but also play current disco, new edits and releases 鈥渢rue to the genre,鈥� Segal said.
