While it is still fresh in my mind, I thought I would take a few minutes to write about Saturday night's Red Raw. The first i'd been to in many years, I couldn't help feeling a lack of excitment, especially considering the exceedingly fond memories I had from the many I went to down at the Docklands during the 90's. However, I have to say that I did rather enjoy Red Raw this year, although i'm sure that had a lot to do with the people that I was with than anything else.
It was held at The Metro, which I admit I have a rather soft spot for. During my uni years, I would often spend many Thursday nights there for student night. Over the years, I have often gone there for special events and live acts, and have always found it to be a charming and surprisingly spacious venue.
The music, again, was rather good. The one criticism I had for Red Raw in the past was when DJ's tried to 'educate the crowd' (thank you Gavin Campbell). Let's put it this way; I went to Red Raw to dance and have fun, not to experience Groundbreaking Dance Trends 101. The music this time around had an emphasis on fun, and was often rather retro, much to my delight, while still keeping the crowd very happy. We spent much of the time around the main dancefloor, although I liked what I heard on the other two dancefloors too.
The usual suspects... Ant, Dale, Jimmy and Michael... were there with me, although this time we had Matt and Simon and a handful of their friends joining us, as well as Kirsty, who Ant works with, and her friend Stacey. Jared, who both Ant and I like, but who rarely seems to come out, also came along - so it felt like a great little team to spend the evening with. On top of this, I kept running into many friends, be it Allan, Geoff, or later in the morning, Simon, who got into a rather engaging conversation about Brokeback Mountain.
Human Nature did a great 1am show, doing a big dance routine for 'You Should Be Dancing'. Jimmy Barnes as the 'surprise' 5am show was... well... what you would expect. It certainly was a 'surprise' but not in the way I think Red Raw probably would've wanted and I certainly felt like I could've lived without seeing Jimmy Barnes screeching 'Disco Infernio' at a room of poofs.
We decided to do recovery, heading over to The Motel where the official recovery was being held. Despite a very shakey start, it worked out to be a fun day. I must admit I was rather peeved to discover that there was a $20 entry fee (everyone thought it was free with the Red Raw ticket). Also the late start (advertised as starting at 8am yet the doors didn't open till 9.30), and the total lack of organization meant that no alcohol for the first half hour, and no complimentary water and softdrink for the first half hour although promised this as we walked in... just yeah, no good! But the DJ's were great, and it was good to see so many people carry on the partying.
However, I tend to feel that this year is going to be more about home life and not so much about going out. I have to take my budget seriously, especially if I want to do this NLP course. But in all, I have to say that it felt like money reasonably well spent.
