By Chaos, Freelance WriterBEING AT 'Hypnotiq', held at the Constant Spring Golf Club in St. Andrew last Saturday night, was akin to being in a sardine can packaged by that Newfoundland company.
The place was packed. That, in fact, is putting it mildly. Anyone at the event last Friday night can attest to that. Sweat poured, music throbbed and alcohol flowed with quite a number of teenyboppers in the mix dancing to the sound systems that played, including Coppershot, Epidemik and Code Red.
Once inside the main dance hall, oxygen was at a minimum, replaced by 'weed' smoke and carbon dioxide. People gyrated, smoked, drank and argued with as much abandon as the 50cmsquared space allowed to each of them would offer. Again, 'Hypnotiq' was packed.
Although saddled with the ridiculous 'No Reentry' policy, the event suffered not one bit. Some of those seeking relief from the crush the main room offered found solace in the men's bathroom male and female alike. In fact, at times it seemed more like a lounge than a rest room, if not for the few men who went in and experienced performance anxiety when presented with a mass of ladies, both old and young, covertly staring in their direction when they tried to make use of the amenities, since the design of the bathroom does not allow much in the way of privacy.
After an hour between midnight and 1 a.m. of free 'Hynotiq', the bar seemed to do less than brisk business, with many patrons content to smoke, dance or sit outside the main room far from the madding crowd. With a bottle of Hypnotiq going for $2500 and the relative youth of the crowd very few people looked over 18 years old.
The selectors kept the crowd fed with a steady diet of dancehall and hiphop, with little in the way of variation from those two genres, which seemed to be exactly the way the crowd wanted it. They jumped and shouted to the hits as the main room got hotter and hotter. The selectors did a little less talking than usual, which again no one seemed to mind.
'Hypnotiq' the event, not the drink was supposed to be 'hosted' by Vybz Kartel, the man of Inna mi Karl Kani/With a bottle of tall Canei fame. Kartel was there, at least for the earlier stages, and although he did take the microphone for a brief moment or two, saying that he hosted the event would be something of an exaggeration.
At least two police cars rolled up to the Constant Spring Golf Club, with the officers taking a look around and then leaving, even at two in the morning. At about this time some people, finally tiring of the sweltering atmosphere and not having enough room to take a breath in, began to leave. However, they were quickly replaced, with steady streams of traffic entering and exiting the venue even in the wee hours of the morning.
'Hypnotiq', especially as far as the promoters are concerned, was a success and those present certainly enjoyed themselves.
