Mezzanine Oxford Mayday Ball
The Oxford Ball use to be a black-tie social event for milk-racing toffs and their worryingly horse-like lady friends. It's been a tradition spanning generations for the assembly of BMW key-ring holders to have a 'jolly English knees up' collaborating May poles, Morris dancers and a bottle or two of chilled chardonnay. But it wasn't until this year that Wolverhampton's super-club Mezzanine, along side legendary promoter Charlie Chester, recognised that this gathering of buck-toothed Tories could be turned into a dirty great mash up for not just the Lord Snooty's of Oxford Uni.
Mezzanine set about transforming the once 'Ambassadors Reception' into a 12 hour dance jamboree that for the price of some Armani cuff links - even 'the great unwashed' could enjoy. Even those of us not studying an Oxbridge Honours in Sociology know that adding 15,000 revellers and 25 of the U.K's finest 'Vinyl Viscounts' would equal a party of immensely posh proportions! As the sun set over Oxfords Milton Common, the likes of Oakey and Tall Paul entertained the mixed masses in huge big-top based arenas.
Outside the four dance zones a Casino, Bungee Jump and end-of-the-pier style fairground fought for the loose change of straying party people. The laid-back garage tapes being played by the Bumper Cars at one time attracted a bigger crowd than Death in Vegas! Will Dave Pearce be playing his next spin from the control of the Waltzers? Goldie was disappointingly dark, Julsey was enjoyingly arrogant and Giles Peterson wowed everyone with a polished session of house, jungle and garage. Seeing so many tux wearers in one do either meant the clamp down on substance abuse had created an influx of bouncers or the Oxford Students weren't making any attempts at shaking off their stereotypes- even after event organisers issued a statement ditching the blacktie dress code.
t was amusing to watch how struggling dealers who'd ask a raver if he was 'sorted for pills' would later ask a suited boffin if he 'required any drugs'. "My boy if I wanted letters after my name it would be MA not MDMA!" As the sun began to rise over the muddy ankled crowds the jingles of those BM key-rings out-drowned the calls for 'one more' as the now K.O'd crews retreated back to their halls. Plum mouthed puns aside, Mezzanine gave a lot of undernourished 'daddies boys' a taste of true dance floor destruction. And as for the rest of us? Well it was business as usual.
Review by Nick Stevenson.
