OUSA was reaching for the moon for the Friday of Re-O, hosting a Minion-themed boiler room at U-Bar. Critic Te Ārohi was more than happy to go bananas and review the event – only to be greeted by a desolate dance floor. There were like 20 people there.
Of the OUSA-run Re-Ori events, ‘Despicable Beats: Minion Boiler Room’ reportedly had the most tickets sold. Unfortunately though, it also had the most no-shows of the week. Critic rocked up at the peak of the crowds just past 10pm, and the numbers only dwindled from there. We counted eight by 11:12pm.
U-Bar was well set up for a boiler room, with a central DJ table swapped out for the typical stage. A big upside to the lack of crowds was the lack of sweat and, in a U-Bar first, the floor did not appear to be sticky in the slightest.
Complimentary glow sticks proved popular with attendees. A good majority of the crowd channelled their inner Minion and dressed up for the event. Alongside the many Minions were a few Grus, his kids, and even a few inflatable bananas.
On offer as well were banana cream shots. Vodka, banana liqueur, and a hearty pile of whipped cream were served in shot glasses. The closest thing to food on a night out, the whipped cream provided much needed sustenance to keep the dance floor pumping. The bar staff were (as always) friendly and keen to say “bello” to attendees.
The DJs of the night brought the energy, both dressing up in Minion-esque drip. The music was a genre-bending experience, from house to DnB, and a few pop bangers thrown in between. A highlight of the night for Critic staff was the mixing of ‘Baddadan’ and the ‘Chicken Song’ together.
However, there was a notable lack of Minion-themed tracks to keep the vibes Despicable. Minion bangers such as ‘I Swear’, the Despicable Me theme, ‘YMCA’, and ‘Happy’ would’ve undoubtedly made the sparse crowd go feral. But there was nothing. Ba-nana.
Everything about the event was well organised, but it was just a case of bad timing. With promising ticket sales, an ideal U-Bar set up, and the hard work of OUSA events staff, it had all the potential to be a massive send. Unfortunately, though, the Friday night of Re-O is just not ideal for a DJ event.
Perhaps the only organisational hiccup was that Despicable was misspelt on the promotional poster, with “Descpicable Beats" being chucked in instead. Critic gets it, spell-check certainly has been useful in making sure we actually know how to spell despicable while writing up this review.
With Castle’s biggest nights always being Friday and Saturday night, it’s a hard ask to get students who froth DJ events to show up anywhere else. Especially a ticketed event. A Monday or Tuesday night slot on the Ori’ roster could’ve yielded a far better turn-out with the ticket sales that were accomplished.
Fingers crossed this isn’t the last boiler room event U-Bar sees for the time being – it has the potential to be an absolutely gru-some night on the dance floor. The ball is now in Studentville’s court; don’t ever make the Minions dance alone ever again. Poppaye!