Like with anything that has been around for that long, there have inevitably been ups and downs, both for the community in general and for these parties that are intended to bring us altogether every once in a while.
In my humble opinion, it has been tended to be on the down end of the spectrum with a number of recurring issues that I've already spoken about at great length previous reviews, for most of them on more than one occasion. So I'm not going to linger on those apart from to acknowledge where I feel the event has still be found wanting.
I always like to start on a positive though, so let's celebrate the long overdue return of one of my favourite aspects of these events; the red carpet photography run!
I would also like to say that the theming was pretty decent. The last event
for Halloween was a good return to form on that front after a series of events
for which the theming was basically none existent or just completely
inappropriate.
For this event, they definitely had that party vibe down though. Balloons.
Cakes. Presents. Did I mention cakes already? Yup, all the classic party
requirements ticked off.
Oh, but this is one other, and this has certainly been a bone of contention in
the past. Because what good party doesn't have a suitably lively set of party
tunes for guests to dance and sing along to. And that's a really key point.
For a birthday party, the majority of guests should be able to recognise each
and every song. It should be one classic or hit after another which everyone
can get into.
The frustration is that good music really should be one of the easiest
elements to get right but the various different event organisers just seem
interested in picking in picking names and just leaving them to it without any
guidance. I genuinely don't remember the last event where I felt like the
music selection was suitable for theme.
Nevertheless, things actually got off to a good start this time. I'm not just
saying that because Perrie was up first behind the decks and she's a friend.
I'm saying that because she actually gets it and went to the effort of playing
a set that had a party vibe.
An early inclusion of Boogie Wonderland, not only had me giving her a 5 star
rating for her set, but also high hopes that maybe this events got it also and
we'd be in for a cracking set of tunes. Those hopes didn't last too long
though. Normal service was resumed with the typical generic dance music.
Bleh...
My other main complaint was that, in a bid to make this party as spectacular
as possible, they over-reached. A peak attendance of just under 700 people at
once was way beyond anything that we've managed in the past. And yes, it is a
wonder demonstration of how strong the community is.
But when you have a party that last for at least 6 hours (I'm not sure how
much longer it went on for after I left around that time), it provides a much
better experience for everyone if you can spread all those guests out across
that time period.
Yes, we had over 600 people for an hour or so early in the night, but things
then tailed off dramatically to the point where there were maybe only 200
people when I finally departed. Having a consistent occupancy of 400- 500
people for the entire duration would have given a more consistent atmosphere
as well as reducing the massive overcrowding that we had to tolerate early
doors.
At least we didn't have the navigation problems of the Halloween party.
Sensibly, and much s I suggested in the review of the party, the party locale
was nice and wide open so we didn't have anyone who wanted to explore the
place getting caught up in narrow choke points.
Happily for people like me, there were also plenty of photo op displays for
guest to pose by. I've already mentioned the return of the red carpet, which
was also were you'd find community founders Gizmo and Lisa living it large.
Also a pair of delicious and suitable grand looking birthday cakes. Although,
I'm not convinced they were legit cakes and not simply display pieces, but
whatever.... there was no shortage of cakes so all good on that front.
So, overall, how was it? From an organiser's point of view, I reckon it would
be considered a massive massive, what with the huge turn out of guests and the
number of them who were getting hyped. Even if a lot of that hype boiled down
to them having been given incentives to be there. It's amazing what the offer
of a bunch of giveaways can do to motivate people.
From a guest perspective, I'd say it was decent. Still issues with them
continuing to select music that a lot of people simply aren't interested in,
especially for an event of this nature but improvements in other areas. Still,
I feel like from conversations I've had, more and more people are choosing to
stay away from this events as they see them as shallow and nothing more than
cattle markets.
For that reason, I really hope that they can be made to be more compelling
attractions in the future, which will entice those disillusioned community
members, many of whom are extremely prominent and influential, into giving
these events another go. I really would love it if they could once again be
'cannot miss' events that everyone has to make an appearance at.
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