Catz June Event 2013

Catz June Event

Post Apocalypse 

Friday 21st June, £55

It was the last day of May Week, and we were both feeling fairly (May) weak, our enthusiasm for partying waning almost as much as our ability to construct brilliant puns. Nevertheless, we beat on, betches against the current, borne back ceaselessly to the Catz June Event.

Genuinely the worst photo we could find

The queue wasn’t particularly arduous, and we were given sherbet lemons halfway in which upped everyone’s anticipation and stamina. We were pleasantly surprised upon entry when we were greeted with champagne and a fun jazz quartet, performing Carly Rae Jensen’s seminal masterwork, ‘Call Me Maybe’. However, the theme ‘apocalypse’ always had the potential to be vaguely embarrassing, and so it was. There was a tattered flag in the middle of the quad, and security tape in odd corners of the college but it wasn’t really a theme that seemed to suit a June Event – what’s a room with Tarot and henna got to do with the end of the world? To answer that rhetorical question: nothing.

Outside, a large square of material had been pinned over the quad, but the committee had neglected to fill it with attractions, thus making people a little self-conscious of walking over the large area. This improved as the night went on, but created a rather aimless space for the first half.

Queues were speedy, with the exception of the henna line which dragged on and on and on. Whilst we must be wary to remember that the Vatican wasn’t painted in a day, the artistic endeavour that was a single tear drop painted on one of our hands was arguably not worth the wait.

The food was good, if unadventurous, the burgers being a favourite, as well as the slightly more unusual popcorn machine. The falafels were also bizarrely popular. Bizarre because the two I (Mollie) tried were very gritty, and I had to abandon them immediately. I, (Lauren) however (cheeky narration shift!!), as a global falafel connoisseur, found them delicious. Drinks were plentiful and fun, standard mixers were offered, as well as wine and mysterious sugary cocktails, so everyone was fairly drunk and happy by 1am.

We were particularly impressed by the bar downstairs. If you’ve ever been to Sesame, it’s like that downstairs bit in Sesame which is dark and has karaoke and looks like a Chinese sex dungeon (not that either of us are experts in that area of interior design). A similar sense of glamour pervaded this space, with mirrors and glowing panels, and the offering of either ale or cider was fun. Fascinating sculptural installations of tin cans filled the tables, which felt slightly superfluous, until we discovered that it was hilarious to drunkenly throw popcorn at them (we can’t guarantee that everyone watching found it equally hilarious, however). This was complemented by the strange oxygen bar, which was novel and amusing, even if it did feel like you were just sniffing Strepsils.

The main disparity between a June Event and a May Ball has to be the entertainment. We enjoyed the series of acoustic and jazz sets provided, but felt the lack of a star attraction. The silent disco was a reliable if slightly tired favourite, and we never saw the dance floor of the main stage particularly packed. We didn’t see the King’s Men, but they must have been good, as various friends chased after ‘Ben the best-looking one’ whilst another member deemed ‘Have you seen the King’s Men?’ to be an acceptable chat up line. We hadn’t seen the King’s Men, (did we mention that already?) but were struck by his faith in their power.

For £55, though, it was definitely worth it. Yes, the night ended early, but there was also shisha and massage chairs and a belly dancer and a casino and a whole host of other delights we have neglected to mention. The theme may have been Apocalypse, but this June Event was certainly no Catz-astrophe! Haha!

Food and Drink:

4/5

Wow Factor:

3/5

Value for Money:

5/5

Star Attraction: Falafel (Lauren)

Biggest Turn Off: Falafel (Mollie)