Event: Yuma's Neon
Location: Queen's Park West was stated on the flyer. The ticket had Queen's Park West as well. The actual venue was Queen's Royal College Courtyard. No complaints...BUT if that's the venue, advertise as such nah!
Date: February 11th 2012
Ambience/Layout: Loved the lighting...neon lights lit up the QRC facade and entrance. Lights were still being strung up when we arrived, or maybe they were fixing things, but guys were on ladders/scaffolding fixing things near the entrance when we got there at close to midnight...not cool.
LOVED the elevated stage/DJ booth in the middle with the bars setup around the stage area. Everyone, and I do mean everyone in attendance could have gotten a good view of the stage/DJ area. Only issue is that because the courtyard area was used, the actual paved area was limited...made for a slightly more intimate feel than most fetes have.
Food/drinks: At the price of the ticket, we were slightly sceptical of drink quality..but those fears were laid to rest upon arrival. Patron shot booth just to the right of the entrance. NUVO at the bar, also noticed Bailey's and the rum cocktails booth...but personally I saw Nuvo available, nothing else really mattered :-) The guy in the group complained that Johnny wasn't provided...sooo Yuma, next time Johnny please and thanks. Those that had the rum cocktails said that the ones they sampled were yuck...guess it's a matter of taste (I don't drink rum so it all tastes the same to me). Food had to be purchased, as this was semi-inclusive. I only saw gyros on sale, but there was also a cold-stone cart with free mini-containers...yum!
Performances: ALL of the advertised artistes performed, and performed fabulously...the exception Sherwayne. Unless we missed him by arriving when we did, Yuma owes us for false advertising, cause when we left (when it was done!) we still hadn't seen him. The artistes that performed were FANTABULOUS...I don't know if it was the drinks that were flowing, the vibe of dancing in rain or what...but the energy off of the crowd and performers during the performances was contagious...it was impossible to remain unmoved.
Bathrooms: Porta potties so bleh. But there were facilities to wash hands, with soap and mirrors sooo it wasn't too awful. Men used the school bathrooms...make note it's an all-boys school, so imagine the condition of those washrooms.
The Crowd: Guess we arrived at a great time. Peeps who got there earlier said people weren't dancing much. We were late, yes yes admittedly a lot was my fault...but by the time we found a parking space (about 3 blocks away!) and get in it was almost midnight. We had made up our minds to enjoy ourselves, especially since for a couple of the crew this was last fete)...WE HAD a BLAST. the crowd when we got there seemed to be enjoying themselves, there were a couple groups that seemed to be hearing other music, 'cause we totally lost our timing when we glanced over at them. Rain started, some folks headed for shelter, we didn't bother...we partied in the rain *grin*
Rating: 4...lack of flushable bathrooms, poor advertising re venue and lack of Johnny caused the loss in points. Fix that and this will get a 5. Think I can do this again for 2013.
