Ballantines is really becoming a favourite because of the work they’re doing with Boiler Room. They are tapping into the Deep House market in a way that nobody else is and we are loving it so much. This time they brought down Maya Jane Coles but I was more excited to see Karizma/ Kaytronik play.
You could watch the event online but I believe that actually being there would’ve provided a better experience. Let me take you on what went down though (because that’s why you are reading this).
We had a stand in pretty long lines because they were manually checking the names and only 2 people were checking. This list had thousands of names on it because we only had to RSVP online. I really wish there was crowd control outside because the line turned into lines and just people standing squashed amongst each other at some point. I also wish they used a sort of eticket system to verify the attendees or even a database to search trough. Eventually most of us got in because Carfax is really big but others were stuck outside because they had run out of tags for people (yeah, I know).
The drinks were free, so you know that we all filled up but there was another problem, they only had 1 bar, so again, this resulted in chaos at the bar as they had a massive crowd all trying to be served. This usually wouldn’t be a problem but all our drinks had to be mixed, which required time. The lucky few that didn’t go through this were VIP but we weren’t all VIP. The final let downs for me were the toilets, we all had to share the same toilets, it was a really messy situation and the second thing was concealing the back area, which was where we all had to go for fresh air because it got stuffy immediately as we walked in.
Though there were a lot of negatives, I can’t say I didn’t have a good time, I mean I left at 1:40am. 2Lani ‘The Warriors’ being the opening act was the best move I had seen all evening because as we walked in upset, we were greeted by this really good deep house music and even if the bar seemed like a mission, we tolerated it. A favourite for me was Culoe De Song because he came on when I was tired of the heat and all the people. His set made me stay even longer. Another favourite was Karizma, I was really looking forward to seeing him play and he delivered a really good set. Black Motion were received well, I think they had to represent the most because they recently teamed up with Ballantines.
Despite all the negatives I pointed out about this event, I’d probably still redo everything because I had a great time.