By Chaos, Freelance Writer
A section of the over-capacity crowd at Taylor Hall's "Short Shorts' party held at the Students' Union (UWI). Right: This young lady tries to decide on her next move at the 'Short Shorts' party.
AS PART OF its 50th anniversary celebrations, Taylor Hall staged its annual 'Short Shorts Outrage' party, which this year had a 'scary foam' theme, at the Students' Union on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies last Saturday.
The Gleaner arrived at 12:45 a.m. and the party was more than hot, it was actually steaming in places. Packed to over-capacity, the main dance area was bursting at its seams. Kurt Riley was at the controls, keeping the crowd in a frenzy with some songs from the 'Diwali' rhythm.
Getting into the venue however, was something of a chore, as the barricades, a strong security contingent consisting of both contracted guards and guard dogs, as well as members of the police force and a tedious ticketing and wrist band system, combined to keep the in-flow of patrons down to a trickle.
It was interesting to note that only the men were subject to frisking, as the women were waved on in. In one case there was a verbal confrontation that threatened to turn ugly between a male patron and a security guard, whom he felt had been 'disrespectful'. After being surrounded by a few others members of the contingent and a baleful glare or two from an angry looking German Shepherd, the male patron eventually backed down, but not before a few threats were shouted in the direction of the offending guard.
Inside was mayhem. The ticket system for the bar that has become de rigueur at these events was in place. For some odd reason however, the location where the tickets could be purchased was located almost as far away as possible from the two bars at the venue. In addition, the bars were 'drink-specific', in that one sold Smirnoff Ice and another Red Stripe and Heineken, a fact one could only discover by fighting - almost literally - their way to the bar an making their order, only to be sent to the other, forcing one to navigate through the madding crowd, and running risk to limb if not life in the process.
None of this seemed to matter in the long run however. As The Gleaner made its way around the venue, two young women could be seen doing their personal version of a pole dance - using a real life pole - very, very sexily gazing into each other's eyes as they gyrated to the beats being laid down.
Lighting was provided by Intec and as the selector switched to calypso, with the full-voiced approval of the crowd, the moving spotlights hit on couples and individuals engaged in getting their groove on as hot and heavy as seemed humanly possible. Dollar Wine and the song that dictates Move to the left, move to the right saw the crowd of at least a 1000 move in almost perfect unison to the songs' instructions.
With the Swiss Beats and Bounty Killer collaboration Not Guilty, the reins were handed over to Renaissance, who started off their stint by saying that while they did not want to 'dis' the promoter, they needed some drinks. Specifically water, Red Stripe and Heineken. Cold. Their wish was quickly granted.
The square enclosed area with the foam was pretty much ignored, with only three persons choosing to get wet and wild. Everyone else preferred not to get their short shorts, bikini tops, ultra low hipsters and other assorted garb wet, opting instead to do the Batty Rider and Position at the behest of Renaissance. The selectors, who kept referring to the 'short shorts' theme of the party all night, also played Lady Saw and Spragga Benz' Back Shot, Buju Banton's Gal Fi Beg and Little Lenny's Bum Flick while exhorting the young ladies on hand to use their bodies to their best advantages.
Renaissance also sent the crowd further into a lighter-flicking, hands-in-the-air 'tall up, tall up' frenzy with Elephant Man's Haters, Sean Paul's Gimmi Di Light, Capleton's Pump Up Har . . . and Beenie Man and Janet Jackson's Feel It Boy.
In the process, they also introduced a new way to ask a girl for desk by way of a dub plate on the Diwali, the exact details of which cannot be printed here. As they did so, an Ethiopian flag was seen making its way determinedly through the jam-packed centre of the undulating crowd.
At approximately 3 a.m., Baby Cham and Bogle made a surprise appearance on-stage, where Cham reeled off lyrics to a very appreciative crowd before encouraging Bogle to demonstrate his new dance, the 'wave'. However, their stint was cut short by the police, who put an end to the show eight minutes later, but not before Baby Cham reeled off a few lines from Babylon Bwoy and gun shots rang out into the night air.
