By Chaos, Freelance Writer
Partygoeers had a ball at the 'Smirnoff Experience' event held last Saturday at the Blue Mountain Inn, Gordon Town, St Andrew. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
BLUE MOUNTAIN Inn, Gordon Town, St. Andrew, was the place to be last Saturday night. The third 'Smirnoff Experience' party to be held in the island, was staged there and those who took time out to attend had a blast.
As is the usual format, there were two 'rooms', each with four deejays scheduled to play in designated time slots. When The Gleaner arrived, Alric and Boyd were playing alternative in Room One, spinning songs such as Insomnia by Faithless. Patrons, after having run the gamut of security guards, ticket takers and getting tagged, headed straight for the bar and then milled around, talking and watching what was going on or dancing.
Room Two, which was the more popular and packed for the night, featured Rory Marsh - Roy the Roach - from the United Kingdom (UK) laying down some house and dance beats from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. The event was a multimedia one, with large screens displaying scenes from Smirnoff Experience parties held around the world. Rotating floodlights lit up the sky at the wonderful venue, which was decorated in ways that had to be seen to be believed.
Very well organised, the 'Smirnoff Experience' was a ball. There was never a crowd at the bar, a rarity at these events, as patrons were promptly served. Total strangers danced, toes were stepped on without umbrage and the drinks flowed, to put it mildly. A 'last call for alcohol at four a.m.' sign was ignored way past that time, as patrons kept demanding their all-inclusive liquor.
'These bathrooms are not in service' signs at the doors to the male bathroom at Blue Mountain were also ignored, at least until 'Hendricks' was assigned to physically restrict access. "Dung so an' up so di bathroom dey," he told males who needed to relieve themselves, and responded to a suggestion that some plants that were directly in front of the bathroom be used by saying "Tink man a squatters? Ppon di flowers? Yuh must be crazy"
The music rang out into the night sky and practically everyone there was having the time of their lives. Room One featured Alric and Boyd between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., UK-based Nicky Holloway from 1 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., Kurt Riley between and 2:30 and 4 a.m. and 'Roy the Roach' from 4 a.m. onwards.
Room Two, on the other hand, had Roy the Roach, who gave way to Renaissance's Delano, who played between 1 and 2 a.m. He in turn was replaced by Argentinian Alfredo, who played until 3:30 a.m., then giving up the controls to selector Johnny Kool.
Practically every genre of music was explored by the deejays, as people danced, smoked and on the odd occasion, went crazy. One young lady even managed to get her toe cut and sent for raw vodka (she was very specific) to disinfect the wound, which was promptly delivered and used probably the only half-cup of alcohol which was not actually consumed on the night. Another young lady, with about four Henieken beers in hand, was physically stopped and told she would not be able to pass until she 'gi we a wine'. This proved to be true, as she was 'wined' by at least four total strangers for at least five minutes, her feet not even touching the ground for the entire time, as those involved were sprayed with beer from the bottles she had.
Argentinian Alfredo's, who refused to speak with The Gleaner, stint at 2 a.m. saw something of an exodus from Room Two to Room One, where Kurt Riley was in complete control, spinning a number of hits, which sent the crowd crazy.
In-between the two rooms, people sat on walls and checked out the 'scenery'. Some men got pinched by total strangers, women were approached by men who were way past the point of being drunk, while a running commentary was delivered by a group on a wall. One young lady from Mamie River actually fainted and was in a state of limbo, apparently having come to the event alone. Eventually, she was escorted off somewhere by a very concerned young man.
One of the few problems on the night was the 'No re-entry' policy, which in the wee hours of the morning caused a number of arguments with the security guards at the entrance to the venue. The guards, from Sentry Services Security, actually deserve commendations for averting what could have been a number of ugly situations with tact and patience on more than one occasion.
The shuttle service provided was also a source of entertainment. Running between Jamaica College and Blue Mountain Inn, as patrons began streaming out at minutes to five a.m., there were mad rushes each time one of the buses which were providing the service arrived. On one of the trips down, hilarity prevailed. People were singing along to the songs on the radio, one man shouted "Driver tun back! Me change mi mind, mi nuh ready yet!", shouts of 'Hey!' rang out and as the bus arrived at Jamaica College.
